John 6:17b-22

Good morning. The bullpen has been called and therefore I am back.

! So you're not our typical teacher, preacher, Nathan, this morning.

! Just me, Colson, a fellow church member.

So today we will be continuing our study of the Gospel of John, looking at 617b-22.

So we're not exactly following the ESV subheadings.

Those are not inspired, so that is totally okay.

If that makes you uncomfortable, you'll be okay.

So if you were here last week, don't worry.

There's plenty more to glean out of this text.

God's Word is an abundant source of wisdom for us,

is a gracious gift that we have it so readily available to us.

This story is familiar in our culture.

I've heard people say, you would have thought that he was walking on water

when they're talking about somebody awe-inspiring somebody else.

There have been many gadgets, gimmicks, video editing tricks to make people look like they're walking on water.

A story in our family actually has a similar thing where my grandfather recruited my dad and his brother

to help him repair some fence posts in the middle of his pond in Florida.

Kind of more of a muddy cesspool, but that's okay.

Their goal, or their idea rather, was to screw some plywood boards onto the bottom of some old boots

and walk out onto this muddy water.

As the story goes, my uncle made it a couple steps through the mud part and was fine.

And whenever things got a little more viscous, those planks created something of a vacuum,

and he was not really able to lift his feet anymore and started to sink and fall.

Humans were not made to walk on water.

This is a, very clearly, this is an idea that sticks in our minds as something that is supernatural.

But people who know this story, people that know this story know very little about the gospel

and don't know the reason why Jesus walked on the water.

So to cut through this familiarity, we will take an in-depth look at this story today

and understand that this was not a party trick to impress Jesus' friends.

This was an obvious demonstration and declaration of Jesus' deity.

Join me before we pray.

Join me as we pray before reading this text.

Dear Lord, thank you so much for this chance for us to gather together

to worship you through prayer, worship you through song,

and worship you as we read your word to us.

Help us to have clear ears and eyes to receive your wisdom

and clear minds to focus today.

Thank you for how much you love us.

Help us to love and revere you well

as we gather this morning and as we go through this week.

Please speak to us this morning through your word.

It's in Jesus' name that I pray. Amen.

So let's read John 16, 17b, starting with,

It was now dark, through the end of verse 22.

It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them, the disciples.

The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing.

When they had rowed about three or four miles,

they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat,

and they were frightened.

But he said to them,

It is I. Do not be afraid.

Then they were glad to take him into the boat,

and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

On the next day, the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea

saw that there had been only one boat there

and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples,

but that his disciples had gone away alone.

At a couple different times this morning,

I will make some comparing and contrasting points

with the other accounts of Jesus walking in the water

that we have in Matthew and Mark.

So I think it would be helpful for us to kind of have those fresh in mind

so we don't necessarily have to be flipping back and forth.

So I'm going to read through those now.

This is a good bit of reading,

so if you want to go there with me,

we'll start in Matthew 14 in verse 22 through 33,

the end of that section,

and then after that we'll go to Mark 6 to read Mark's account.

So a good bit of reading.

Buckle in.

It's God's precious word to us,

so it's great to hear.

So starting first in Matthew 14, verse 22.

Matthew 14:22

Immediately, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat

and go before him to the other side

while he dismissed the crowds.

And after he had dismissed the crowds,

he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.

When evening came, he was there alone,

but the boat by this time was a long way from the land,

beaten by the waves,

for the wind was against them.

And in the fourth watch of the night,

he came to them walking on the sea.

But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea,

they were terrified and said,

it is a ghost.

And they cried out in fear.

But immediately Jesus spoke to them saying,

take heart, it is I, do not be afraid.

And Peter answered him,

Lord, if it is you,

command me to come to you on the water.

He said, come.

So Peter got out of the boat

and walked on the water and came to Jesus.

But when he saw the wind, he was afraid

and beginning to sink,

he cried out, Lord, save me.

Jesus immediately reached out his hand

and took hold of him saying,

oh, you of little faith,

why did you doubt?

And when they got into the boat,

the wind ceased

and those in the boat worshipped him saying,

truly you are the son of God.

Okay, quickly now,

let's go to Mark 6,

starting in verse 45.

So Mark's account of the same story.

Immediately, he made his disciples

get into the boat

and go before him to the other side

to Bethsaida

while he dismissed the crowd.

And after he had taken leave of them,

he went up onto the mountain to pray.

And when the evening came,

the boat was out on the sea

and he was alone on the land.

And he saw that they were making headway painfully

for the wind was against them.

And about the fourth watch of the night,

he came to them walking on the sea.

He meant to pass by them,

but when they saw him walking on the sea,

they thought it was a ghost

and cried out,

for they all saw him

and were terrified.

But immediately he spoke to them

and said,

take heart in his eye,

do not be afraid.

And he got into the boat with them

and the wind ceased.

And they were utterly astounded,

for they did not understand about the loaves,

but their hearts were hardened.

Careful observers will note some differences here,

but these three accounts certainly agree

on the central details.

Each author has kind of turned this diamond

a little bit differently

to drive home particular points.

So today we'll focus on the distinctives

of John's account

and that ought to make us investigate further

what John is up to.

What is he emphasizing in his account

by looking at and turning things

this particular way?

As we go through our text,

I'll flag some of those particular distinctives

and we'll talk about the revealed emphasis

for each

and maybe a little bit of contrasting

about how that compares to Matthew or Mark.

So now that we know our text for this morning

and have some extra context

from Matthew and Mark,

let's consider our text this morning

in three-ish points.

The sea,

the disciples,

and the Lord Jesus.

So starting with point number one,

the sea.

So this is verse 17b through 18.

It was now dark

and Jesus had not yet come to them.

The sea became rough

because a strong wind was blowing.

So John writes this entire passage

in a way that reminds me

of three different camera focal lengths,

different levels of zoom and focus.

So here in this verse,

we have the widest angle,

so to speak.

Picture this with me for a second.

We have Jesus on the shore,

on the eastern side of the shore.

We also know that the disciples

are out here in the middle of the sea

and we know the storm is over all of them

and everything is dark.

So we have this really wide

amounts of information

that John is giving us for this.

And then let's look now at verse 17,

in particular verse B,

or part B.

from verse 15,

as well as the other accounts

of this pair of vents,

Jesus feeding the 5,000,

as Nathan covered last week,

and now Jesus walking on water.

We know that Jesus had withdrawn himself

from the crowds

and the disciples to pray.

But John includes a unique detail

about this retreat

by telling us in verse 15,

that's what he says in verse 15,

perceiving then that they were about to come

and take him by force

to make him king,

Jesus withdrew again

to the mountain by himself.

So he includes this detail

that the crowds wanted to take Jesus by force

and make him king

or leader of their rebellion.

Jesus had taken hours by this point

to be in solitude with God.

And if I was to employ

a bit of sanctified imagination,

as Nathan likes to call it,

I would suppose that Jesus

would have been redoubling his focus

on his perfect obedience

to the Father and his will,

submitting this temptation

that was brought to him,

that these people would force him

to be this rebellious king

apart from his mission

and submitting this temptation

to the Father.

Let's look at verse 18.

The sea became rough

because a strong wind was blowing.

The disciples are undoubtedly exhausted

by this point in the day.

They had been with Jesus all day

as he taught,

as he healed,

fed thousands of people

that were there.

The disciples gathered up

all that leftover bread.

And now after that long day of ministry

under our Lord,

I am sure they were hoping

for nothing else

than an easy sail

across the sea to Capernaum.

However,

Yahweh often uses

difficult circumstances

to sanctify us

and glorify himself.

The theme of dangerous waters

is present throughout the Bible.

From the unordered, chaotic,

lifeless waters in Genesis 1

that the spirit hovers over

to the predatory hunting waters

of the dragon pursuing the woman

in Revelation 12.

But concurrent within that theme

is the Lord preserving his people

through the dangerous waters

by bringing life into creation,

preserving Noah and his family

on the ark,

delivering Israel to the Red Sea

and the Jordan River,

escorting Jonah back to his mission

via the deep water and a fish.

The list goes on.

These dangerous moments

through scripture

are opportunities God has made

to exhibit his love,

his faithfulness,

and ultimately his glory.

Here, John has in view

Jesus on the shore,

the disciples on the sea,

the storm over them all.

But now we're kind of going to

zoom in a little bit

for the second point.

John changes focus to the boat.

So point number two,

the disciples,

looking at verse 19.

When they had rowed

about three or four miles,

they saw Jesus walking on the sea

and coming near the boat.

And they were frightened.

So we're now zoomed in

from that kind of extreme wide shot

that we started with

to focus on the labor and reaction

of the disciples to Jesus on the water.

The way it is written

is specific to say

what the disciples saw.

If this was a video,

I think we wouldn't necessarily

see Jesus in this shot,

but rather we would be looking

at the disciples

as they see Jesus.

So let's,

as they see him,

and now let's observe

what the disciples do.

So there's,

John gives three verbs

to describe the action

of the disciples here

in verse 19.

So first,

they had rowed.

So they had rowed

about three or four miles

at this point,

the shortest crossing

from that eastern shore

of the Sea of Galilee

that they started out

to Capernaum

up on that northwest edge of it

likely would have been

five or six miles.

So these tired men

against the wind

were about halfway

to their destination

and presumably slowing down.

They saw Jesus

as our second verb.

According to Matthew and Mark,

some of them thought

that the figure they saw

was a ghost,

but no matter what

they thought they saw,

John gives us their third verb,

they were frightened.

Certainly understandable.

They're in the center

of that large sea

in the middle of a storm.

If that was not enough

to not expect to see Jesus,

he was walking on the water.

That's a frightening thing to see.

They definitely would not

have expected to see him

like that.

So next,

John zooms in further

past the disciples

in their boat

and we get to our center frame

at our third point,

the Lord Jesus.

So here at the center point,

John has been zooming in

and in to get us here

so we ought to pay

close attention.

So let's consider verse 20

in three parts.

First,

but he said to them.

The inclusion of the conjunction

but connects this

to what was previously said.

It's answering something.

So I would suggest to you

that this is answering

the disciples' frightenedness.

Our second phrase,

it is I,

alternatively translated I am.

A little bit of awkward grammar

in English

for this to be translated I am,

but it is certainly

an appropriate translation.

I think it's getting

at a theological point

for us to translate

and understand this

this way.

So here in our center frame,

we get three phrases,

but he said,

I am,

do not be afraid.

And that center of the center

is that Jesus is Yahweh,

the I am.

This is not the only time

in John's gospel

that Jesus takes up

this divine name

which God revealed

to Moses in Exodus.

Another shiny example

occurs in John 8, 58.

Jesus said to them,

John tells us

the group of Jews,

truly, truly,

I say to you,

before Abraham was,

I am.

That third phrase

of verse 20,

do not be afraid.

Even with the meaning,

I believe Jesus and John

intend with the declaration

of Christ's identity,

him identifying himself

with God, Yahweh.

this sentence

or phrase,

do not be afraid,

does not seem to

immediately follow

in a worldly,

strict sense.

What I mean is this,

if Jesus was seeking

merely to comfort

his tired

and frightened disciples,

he could have said,

it's me,

Jesus,

God the Son.

I will make the storm stop

and bring you safely

to the shore.

Or,

good job rowing this far,

I'll take it from here.

I'm sure the disciples

would have loved to hear

those words.

And that would have given them

a kind of temporary

and shallow comfort.

Something that we

often may want

when we're going through

our own trials.

But Jesus said,

I am,

do not be afraid.

He did not assure them

that he would relieve

their discomfort.

He did not promise them

that their circumstances

would change.

He revealed to them

that he is God

and he is with them.

And because he was with them,

they did not need

to be afraid.

And this peace

that Jesus called them to

was not the first time

that Yahweh

had so encouraged

his people.

All through

the Old Testament,

we see a regular exhortation

to not fear

for the Lord

is with you.

We will look briefly

at two examples

that are too beautiful

for me not to read.

But before I get to those

in Isaiah,

I will list some other

references for you,

though this is certainly

not an exhaustive list.

Joshua 1.9,

2 Chronicles 20.17,

Jeremiah 30.10,

and then from

the worshiper's perspective,

Psalm 23

and Psalm 118,

Psalms 118:6

verse 6.

So, let's look

at our examples.

So firstly,

Isaiah 41,

Isaiah 41:10

verse 10,

says this,

Fear not,

for I am with you.

Be not dismayed,

for I am your God.

I will strengthen you,

I will help you.

I will uphold you

with my righteous right hand.

And second,

Isaiah 43,

Isaiah 43:1

verse 1,

through the first part

of verse 3.

But now,

thus says Yahweh,

He who created you,

O Jacob,

He who formed you,

O Israel,

fear not,

for I have redeemed you.

I have called you by name,

you are mine.

When you pass through the waters,

I will be with you.

And through the rivers,

they shall not overwhelm you.

When you walk through fire,

you shall not be burned,

and the flame shall not consume you.

For I am Yahweh your God,

the Holy One of Israel,

your Savior.

Wow.

Also,

while we're in Isaiah 43,

Isaiah 43:16

verse 16 says this,

Thus says Yahweh,

who makes a way in the sea,

a path in the mighty waters.

This awesome description

of Yahweh in Isaiah

is typologically fulfilled

here by the Lord Jesus Christ.

This makes it clearer than ever

that this storm was not just

for the disciples

to have a hard time sailing back.

Rather,

it was a red carpet

for the king to declare

and demonstrate his authority.

Right before our passage today,

in verse 15,

John gave us that detail

about the crowd's desire

to force Jesus

into being the head

of this uprising.

Now,

the people were certainly right

to notice the kingliness

of Jesus,

but they missed the nature

of his kingdom

by a mile.

Here,

in the middle

of the Sea of Galilee,

Jesus shows

that his disciples

that he is a king

unlike any other.

Unlike Caesar,

Pharaoh,

Nebuchadnezzar,

Cyrus,

Ahab,

Hezekiah,

Solomon,

and David,

Jesus makes a way

in the sea,

a path in the mighty waters,

just like Yahweh.

Although Jesus

is the rightful king

of kings,

many did not receive him

then and do not

receive him now.

Let's read John 8,

59,

the verse after

Jesus tells the Jews

before Abraham was,

I am.

So they picked up stones

to throw at him,

but Jesus hid himself.

That's a sad verse.

They are not rejecting

a new governor

to oversee taxes,

trade,

and war.

They are rejecting

the king of the universe.

This ought to grieve us.

Jesus graciously reveals

to these people

that hate him

that he is God,

but they have hardened

their hearts

and closed their eyes

and ears.

Hebrews 3,

7 through 8

reads like this,

Therefore,

as the Holy Spirit says,

today,

if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts

as in the rebellion.

in verse 13,

But exhort one another

every day,

as long as it is called today,

that none of you

may be hardened

by the deceitfulness

of sin.

So not all receive Jesus

as we just read.

Some reject and rebel

against him.

But what do

the disciples do?

Let's zoom back out

to the boat

from Jesus

to see the disciples' response.

Then they were glad

to take him

into the boat.

John has a slightly

different angle

on this detail

than the other two accounts

in Matthew and Mark.

Matthew and Mark

both recount this action,

he, Jesus,

got in the boat

with them,

or in Matthew,

he says they

because Peter

is also with Jesus.

And I expect

some of you

are thinking,

what difference

does it make?

Jesus got in the boat.

What difference

does it make?

How exactly

it's written down?

I propose to you

that John is making

this slight change

in who is the subject

or actor

in this phrase

for more than

just to be quirky

or different

than his friends

Matthew and Mark.

Rather,

I propose to you

that John is being

very particular

in his language

and setting the story

within the macro argument

of his gospel

and as Nathan mentioned

last week,

the structure

of chapter 6.

So let's take

a closer look

at each of those two

aspects.

First,

that macro level.

We know John's

stated purpose

for his gospel

from John 20, 31.

These are written

so that you may believe

that Jesus is the Christ,

the Son of God,

and that by believing

you may have life

in his name.

I hope that by the end

of our study of John

we will all have this verse

deeply ingrained

in our memories.

John is quite concerned

not only with telling us

these miracles

and awesome deeds

and teachings

of Christ,

but with what our response

will be to them.

He has done this

by highlighting

and contrasting

the different responses

to Christ

that he saw

while he was serving

under Jesus.

In John 8,

when Jesus reveals

to the disciples

before Abraham

was,

I am,

what was their response?

They wanted to stone him.

So here,

I think John

is very particular

in his arrangement

to make sure

we notice

the disciples' response.

They gladly received him.

I would not be shocked

to learn there is

a literary structure

to make this contrast

between John 6 and 8

more clear than it already is.

Maybe we'll find out

when we all get

to the end of John 8.

As for the structure

of this chapter,

chapter 6,

in verse 13,

the disciples gather up

the remaining bread.

And just after our text

in verse 35,

Jesus says,

I am the bread of life.

Then,

in the middle

of those pieces,

you have the disciples

receiving into their boat

the I am,

the bread of life.

This is certainly

no accident.

For the rest of our shot

here from John

in verse 21,

he tells us

what is happening

with the boat.

And immediately,

the boat was at the land

which they were going.

So this is

a miraculous deliverance.

The great I am

has brought them

all the way

through the waters.

Praise God

for his Holy Spirit

inspiring brilliant minds

and revealing himself

to us.

This is more

than just John.

This is all

of the Old Testament

beauty working together.

This is Jesus

fulfilling again and again

these types,

these slots

that are made

from the Old Testament

and fulfilling them now.

There is a slot

or type

of who it is

that heals the sick,

feeds the multitude

in the wilderness,

makes a path

in dangerous waters.

And where God

filled that slot

throughout the Old Testament

now we see

Jesus doing

all these things

because he is God.

Very interestingly,

this is the second

miraculous demonstration

of Jesus' divinity

in our passage.

First,

Jesus is walking

on the water

in verse 19

and now second,

here in verse 21,

Jesus has immediately

delivered his disciples

through this dangerous storm.

Jesus' declaration

of his divine identity

is exactly between

those two powerful wonders.

This is an opportune time

to clarify

some possible misunderstandings

or maybe even

an apparent contradiction

of some earlier statements

that I made.

I said,

Jesus did not assure them,

his disciples,

that he would relieve

their discomfort.

He did not promise them

that their circumstances

would change.

And we just read

that he did in fact

relieve their discomfort

and change their circumstances.

So we have this concept

of God allowing

and using difficult

or dangerous circumstances.

So I think it's worth it

to briefly explore

this idea for just a bit.

A quick survey

of some picked

Old Testament examples.

There's many more than this.

Joseph was sold,

accused,

and jailed in Egypt,

but God was with him.

David fled from Saul

and later his own son,

but God was with him.

Shadrach, Meshach,

and Abednego

were thrown into the furnace,

but God was with them.

Daniel was thrown

into the lion's den,

but God was with him.

Paul was shipwrecked,

but God was with him.

Stephen was stoned,

but God was with him.

All of these examples

and many more

teach us that trial,

suffering,

and hardship

will come.

But Jesus is God

and he is with us.

Here,

Jesus did deliver

the disciples

through the storm,

yes,

but they did endure it

alone for miles.

God brought Joseph

out of jail,

yes,

but he did endure it

for many days.

Jesus did receive

Stephen into his presence,

but he was martyred.

While we are enduring,

it is tempting to believe

that we are on our own

and that God

is no longer

faithfully with us.

God cannot deliver you

through the storm

if he does not

first allow you

to be caught in it.

John ends this passage

by zooming back out

again into that

extreme wide shot.

So now we are

at point one prime,

the other side

of the sea.

Let's read verse 22.

On the next day,

the crowd that remained

on the other side

of the sea

saw that there had been

only one boat there

and that Jesus

had not entered the boat

with his disciples,

but that his disciples

had gone away

alone.

This verse

is most clear

what John is doing

in framing up

this passage

for us

as he is kind of

resetting

that first shot

that we got

in verse 17b

through 18,

but instead of

Jesus on the shore,

disciples on the boat,

storm above,

it's now the crowd

on the shore

and then he's giving

another description

that Jesus did not

get on the boat

with his disciples,

so he's kind of

restating all this

information that we

learned earlier

in the passage.

So this is kind of

that repeat of information

to follow the structure

to make us pay attention

of what did we miss

from A

to that repeat of information

in A prime.

So we would be wise

to ask how this section

relates back to that

center frame

that we talked about,

Jesus' declaration

of his divine identity.

So here,

the crowd noticed

and knew

that Jesus did not

get on the boat

with his disciples,

but they also knew

that he was no longer

with them

on that eastern side

of the sea.

The crowd is curious

as to how

Jesus crossed the sea.

This is the people

that knew their waters,

knew the sea well.

Some of them

most likely

would have been able

to surmise

that Jesus certainly

did not walk around

in that time.

So John explores

the interaction

between Jesus

and the crowd

through the rest

of the chapter,

which we will not

obviously get into today.

So now that we have

followed John

as he started wide,

zoomed in on the boat,

zoomed in on Jesus,

and then back to the boat,

and back to that whole scene,

let's consider

some closing applications.

Number one,

believe the declaration

that Jesus is God.

Every day,

as we work,

parent,

eat,

live,

and go,

we must not lose sight

of the truth

of Jesus' deity

verified by his resurrection.

Application number two,

believe Jesus' promise

that he is with us.

Because Jesus

has verified his divinity

through his resurrection,

when we hear his promise

that he is with us,

we get that from

Matthew 28, 20,

that he will be with us

to the end of the age

as we go.

We can have confidence,

trust,

faith in it.

If Jesus had given us

that promise to hold to,

but he did not come out

of the tomb,

we would be fools

to hold to it.

Praise God

that we do not have

to be those fools.

And application number three,

do not be afraid.

Because Jesus

has finished his work,

if we are in him,

we no longer have anything

to fear.

Embarrassment,

awkwardness,

persecution,

trials,

even death,

do not have any claim

over us.

The pastor of Hebrews

put it this way

in Hebrews 2,

14 through 15,

which reads,

Since, therefore,

the children share

in flesh and blood,

Jesus himself

likewise partook

of the same things,

that through death

he might destroy

the one who has

the power of death,

that is the devil,

and deliver

all those

who through fear

of death

were subject

to lifelong slavery.

That fear of death

was the means

the devil employed

to keep us

subject

to lifelong slavery.

But now,

in Christ,

we have the freedom

to not succumb

to that fear.

If you are not in Christ,

if you do not have faith

in the perfect life,

atoning death,

and glorious resurrection

of Jesus,

you cannot overcome

death in and of yourself.

You need the power

of another.

Stop trying to work

yourself to heaven.

You must believe

that Jesus is the Christ,

the Son of God,

and by believing,

you may have life

in his name.

You may be thinking

that you do not fear death,

and that's good,

but consider,

when I'm selfish

with my time,

it's because I know

that death is coming.

I won't be able

to watch that movie,

play that game,

read that book forever,

so I ought to do it now,

says my sinful flesh.

But let's pick up

that exhortation

from Hebrews 3

that we read earlier.

We ought not

to allow one another

or ourselves

to be hardened

by this,

to naturally

prioritize ourselves

above other things.

We grumble,

fight,

and hoard

because we fear,

but our Lord

and Savior

has defeated death.

He is with us,

therefore,

we no longer

must be afraid

and we are freed.

So now,

we are to use

that freedom

to serve

and love one another

and so fulfill

the law of Christ.

Pray with me.