I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to John 6:15-21
John
6:15-21 New International Version (NIV)
15
Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew
again to a mountain by himself.
16
When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17 where they got into
a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus
had not yet joined them. 18 A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew
rough. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus
approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened. 20 But he
said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” 21 Then they were willing to take him
into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were
heading.
-- one time, the great American
humorist Mark Twain went on a vacation to the Holy Land with his wife -- one
night, they were they were staying in Tiberius on the shores of the Sea of
Galilee -- the night they were there was one of those perfect nights -- the
moon was shining -- the weather was perfect -- it was a picture-perfect
romantic setting -- so, Twain decided to take his wife out on the lake in a
boat to enjoy the night and to enjoy each other’s company
-- They walked down to the pier by
the hotel -- Twain asked a man sitting in a rowboat how much he would charge to
row them out on the water for a little while -- Twain was dressed in his usual
white suit, white shoes, and white Texas hat
-- The oarsman looked at him for a
moment and evidently decided that he must be a wealthy rancher from the USA --
he said, "Well, I guess about twenty-five dollars" -- which was an
awful lot of money then -- Twain thanked him, and, as he turned away with his
wife on his arm, he said, "Now I know why Jesus walked across!"
[modified from: Ward Williams,
"Walking on Water," SermonNotes.com]
-- this morning, we are continuing
in our sermon series on the miracles of Jesus as recorded in the Book of John
-- if you remember, John records for us seven miracles in his gospel account --
we’ve already looked at four of these -- this morning, we’re looking at number five
-- Jesus walking on the water
-- remember, these miracles were done
for a reason, and John makes that very clear in his account of them --
everything Jesus did had a purpose -- it had meaning -- even His miracles --
and these were given as signs by Jesus
-- the miracles were as a sign to
the people of who Jesus was -- they proclaimed to the world that He was the
Messiah -- the very Son of God -- God Himself in the flesh
-- and, they were a sign to the
people that pointed to the reason Jesus had come -- which was vastly different
than what the Jews had envisioned -- as we just read in verse 15, the Jews were
looking for a Messiah who would be an earthly king -- a Messiah who would
restore David’s kingdom on earth -- who would defeat the Roman and cleanse the
holy land and restore the Jews back to their place of prominence
-- but, as we all know, that was not
why Jesus came -- that was not the reason God sent Jesus as the Messiah to
earth at this time -- the King came to die -- He came to offer Himself as the
final atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world -- to reconcile us to the
Father -- and to give us eternal life through faith in Him
-- this is what His ministry
demonstrated to the people -- this was what His miracles showed -- this was the
sign to the people
II. The Purpose of the Signs
-- so, that’s why every miracle --
every sign -- given to us by Jesus is different -- different miracles --
different settings -- different events -- different purposes -- different
audiences
-- the first miracle -- the turning
of the water into wine -- was a sign to Jesus’ new followers -- to those
handful of fishermen who followed Him when He told them, “come,” by the Sea of
Galilee
-- if you think about it, Peter,
James, John, Andrew, and the others really don’t know who Jesus is at this
point -- they know He is a rabbi -- they sense He is different -- some of them
are beginning to think He might even be the Messiah -- but, they really don’t
know -- their faith and trust and belief in Him is in the fledgling stage --
they’re just following Him as they followed John the Baptist earlier
-- so, Jesus gives them a sign -- He
uses the opportunity of the wine running out at an ordinary wedding to point to
Himself as the Messiah who has come to purify the world through His very own
blood -- we see this in the miracle of water turning to wine when Jesus
converts the water jars from their intended purpose as purifying vessels and when
He makes the wine appear, which represents for us the blood of Christ and the
New Covenant
-- this was an important sign, given
primarily to His handful of followers, to help them know who it was they were
following
-- the sign from the healing of the
official’s son was once again given to just a handful of people -- Jesus’ disciples,
the official, and his household -- it was intended to grow the faith of the
official and to confirm to the disciples that Jesus was empowered by God to
fulfill the prophecies of Isaiah in regards to healing the sick, the lame, and
the blind -- it pointed to the spiritual healing that Jesus would do on the
cross -- and this miracle resulted in an evangelistic movement in Capernaum, as
the official told others of the miracle and they began to put their faith and
trust in Jesus
-- the healing of the man by the
pool was a sign ultimately given to multiple people in Jerusalem -- it was
Jesus’ announcement that the Messiah had arrived -- we didn’t go into great
depth about the spiritual significance of the Pool of Siloam to the Jews when
we talked about this miracle -- but during the Feast of Tabernacles, the
priests would lead a procession of worshipers to the stream that flowed south
of the temple in Jerusalem within the walls of the city -- eventually making
their way to the Pool of Siloam, through which the stream flowed
-- men holding shofars would line the procession route
and would sound them loudly as the priests passed along the route and then
walked down the steps to the pool -- once there, the priest would kneel at the
pool and draw three "logs" of water -- about two quarts -- from the
pool
-- the next morning, the people
would gather in the outer court of the temple to celebrate the offering of the
water -- there were two holes in the altar for liquid offerings -- a larger
hole where wine was poured and a smaller hole reserved for the water offering
of Sukkot
-- this offering of the water from
the Pool of Siloam was accompanied by the reading of Psalms that prophesied the
coming of the Messiah -- and the people would cry out for the redemption and
healing of the Messiah
-- through this miracle of healing
the paralytic man by the pool, Jesus proclaimed He was the Messiah to the
disciples, the man who was healed, and to the Pharisees who heard the testimony
of the man
-- in the feeding of the five
thousand, we see Jesus carrying His message to the people, as the miracle
proclaimed Jesus as the God who provides -- that He was the Messiah -- the very
same God who provided manna in the wilderness -- each time, the audience who
witness the miracles grows and more and more people come to know Jesus as the
Messiah through the signs He is giving
-- but, in the miracle we are
looking at this morning -- Jesus walking on the water -- the message is not for
the people -- it is just for the chosen Twelve -- this was a miracle given just
for them, and no one else -- as we will see, He wanted to demonstrate to them
that they could rely on Him even if He they couldn’t see Him -- just because we
can’t see Jesus or His Spirit doesn’t mean He isn’t there
III. Scripture Lesson (John 6:15-21)
-- with that long introduction,
let’s dig into this passage and see what we can glean from this familiar story
of Jesus walking on the water
-- look back at verse 15
15
Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew
again to a mountain by himself.
-- all right, so this verse comes at
the end of the story of Jesus’ miracle of feeding the 5000 -- as we talked
about, the people didn’t understand the role of the Messiah -- they were
looking for an earthly king -- and, after receiving the sign that Jesus gave
them through the miracle of multiplying the bread, the people decided that
Jesus was the Messiah -- He would be their king -- and they intended to make
Him king by force
-- that’s a problem we sometimes
have -- we want to force God to do our will, rather than ask that His will be
done -- the people came up with the idea that Jesus should be king, and they
told God to bless their idea, and then they were going to make it happen,
whether He wanted it or not
-- Jesus knew their intent -- He
knew they had misunderstood -- He knew that even the disciples had gotten
caught up in the moment -- and, like we see so many times, He withdrew from the
crowd and went up on a mountain by Himself -- Matthew tells us that Jesus went
to the mountain for the express purpose of praying and spending time alone with
the Father -- probably, to pray about the response of the people
-- verse 16
16
When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17 where they got into
a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus
had not yet joined them. 18 A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew
rough.
-- apparently, Jesus had directed
His disciples to go on across the lake to Capernaum by themselves -- it is
implied that He would meet them there -- that He would join them later
-- so, they get in the boat and set
off across the lake late that evening -- it is dark -- they only have the
lanterns in the boat by which to see -- and, as they head across, a strong wind
begins to buffet the boat
-- we need to understand that this
wind is not just happenstance -- this is not just a normal event -- this wind
symbolizes the storms that come into the lives of Jesus’ followers
-- this is something that happens to
those who follow Jesus -- if you look at Scripture -- if you read the
biographies of the early church fathers or the renowned religious leaders of the
past -- or if you just look at your own lives -- you’ll quickly realize that
storms come following significant spiritual events -- this is Satan attacking
us to keep us from moving forward in our Christian lives
-- look at what just happened here
-- the disciples had seen Jesus do some miracles -- limited in size and scope
-- the healing of individuals -- the changing of water to wine in a handful of
jars -- but, they’ve never seen or experienced anything like they just saw as
Jesus took five loaves of bread and fed a multitude -- 5000 men, not counting
women and children -- some commentators think there could have been as many as
15,000 people who were fed that day -- and the disciples watched all this
happen and were awe-struck
-- this was a significant spiritual
moment -- this was a mountaintop experience for them -- this was life-changing
-- and, immediately after the event is over, they get buffeted by a strong wind
that blows against them, trying to keep them from going where Jesus sent --
sound familiar?
-- Satan will try to keep you from
experiencing spiritual mountaintops if he can -- that’s why storms and trouble
and tribulation come right before significant events in your life -- that’s why
you’ll come up with excuse after excuse about why you can’t go to that event --
I remember arguing with Pat about Emmaus -- I had him in my car, and he argued
the whole way to send-off that he needed to be at the Calvary Mule Day festival
rather than Emmaus, but I wouldn’t let him out -- and it ended up changing his
life
-- Satan will do what he can to keep
you from experiencing a move of God -- but, failing that, he will attack with
all his fury after your mountaintop experience, to keep you from moving and
growing and doing what God wants you to do
-- for instance, I have seen that
time and time again in the Emmaus movement -- I have seen men and women, both
young and old, leave that weekend mountaintop experience on fire for God, only
to go back to their lives and immediately face a storms and trials and troubles
that derail them and make them forget all they had learned
-- I have seen that in my own life,
when I’ve gone to spiritual retreats or conferences or experienced some
closeness with God -- immediately, I get attacked -- it seems like everything goes
wrong -- it can get overwhelming -- and, just like the disciples, you just row
and row and row and never seem to get where God wants you to get -- that’s
what’s going on in this passage
-- the question is “what do we do
about it?” -- “what can we do about it?”
-- verse 19
19
When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the
boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them,
“It is I; don’t be afraid.” 21 Then they were willing to take him into the
boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.
-- in the midst of their storm -- as
they battled the winds on the lake that night -- barely making any progress --
they look up, and see Jesus approaching the boat
-- Mark records that Jesus was actually
going to pass by the boat -- He wasn’t even going to stop -- until the
disciples see Him and call out to Him in fear
-- and, here is where the lesson was
being given to the disciples and to us -- what do we do when we are in the
midst of a storm? -- when darkness surrounds us and we’re buffeted by winds and
just can’t get our heads above the water? -- when we just can’t go where Jesus
wants us to go?
-- we should call out to Jesus for
help -- the disciples didn’t do that in this storm, not until they saw Jesus
walking by -- even then, they were terrified of Him -- as the other writers
say, they thought He was a ghost -- you get the sense they knew this was a
supernatural event, and seeing Jesus walk by was just another supernatural
feature sent to scare them and keep them away from their goal
-- the disciples failed because they
were trying to do things on their own -- they were trying to make it through
the storm on their own -- and that’s not what Jesus intended
-- there was going to be a time --
not far away -- when Jesus was going to leave the disciples alone -- they were
not going to have His visible and physical presence with them -- but, they were
still going to have to trust in Him and believe in Him and call out to Him for
help, even though they could not see Him
-- Jesus knew they were in the storm
-- He knew they needed help -- but, He was teaching them to trust in Him even
when they couldn’t see Him -- but, they failed the test
IV. Closing
-- John doesn’t give us the account
of Peter walking on the water here -- Mark doesn’t either -- but, it’s the same
story -- and do you remember what Jesus told Peter when he sank into the waves?
-- “Oh, ye of little faith, why did you doubt?” -- in other words, why did you
not trust Me? -- why did you not call out to Me?
-- despite seeing Jesus do great
things, like feeding the 5,000 -- and seeing how He could heal the official’s
son from a distance -- without even being there -- their faith was just not
strong enough yet to believe in the midst of darkness, buffeted by the winds
that night
-- when they finally realized Jesus
was near and were willing to take Him into the boat, they immediately reached
their destination -- they immediately made to where God wanted them to be
-- the only way we can do what Jesus
wants us to do is to trust Him and to call on Him in the storms -- to keep our
eyes of faith on Him, even though we can’t see Him -- to call out to Him with
hearts of faith, even though He is not physically present
-- Jesus showed in this miracle that
He is always near -- He is always willing to help, if we but call out to Him --
He showed His power over the storms of life -- both physical and spiritual --
and demonstrated that, as our Creator God, He controls all things, and can
suspend the natural laws of this world to accomplish His will and His purposes
-- He wants you to believe that He
is near -- He wants us to trust that He is with us -- even in the darkness --
even in the storms
-- let us pray
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