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WALKING ON WATER

John chapter 6, v. 15 to 21

The crowd was following Him because He was a miracle worker. It was not hard for Christ to read the mind of this excited mob. Probably the leaders were already instigating a movement to start a revolution against Roman rule in Palestine by proclaiming Jesus King and driving away Pilate.

It was a crisis that called for quick action. Although He was born a King this was not the route by which He was coming to kingship. This is another evidence of the remarkable character of the claim of Jesus to be King: He is King by right and title.

He will not become King by any democratic process. He is not "elected" King by the will of the people. He is King by the will of God. He will finally become King by force: "Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel" (Psalms 2:8-9 - NKJV).

At first He had the disciples with him (verse 3). But He sent them hurriedly by boat to the western side (Mark 6:45; Matthew 14:22) because clearly the apostles were sympathetic with the revolutionary impulse of the crowd. The disciples were in no hurry to start back to Bethsaida in Galilee (Mark 6:45), Capernaum in John (verse 17) and only left when it was late evening and dark, but Jesus had not come to go with them.

He had later sent the multitudes away also and gone up into the mountain alone. He was alone in every sense, for no one but the Father understood him at this stage, not even his own disciples. He went up to pray (Mark 6:46; Matthew 14:23). Seeking solitude was an important priority for the Lord Jesus (see also Mat 14:13). He made room in his busy schedule to be alone with the Father.

Spending time with God in prayer nurtures a vital relationship and equips us to meet life's challenges and struggles. We must develop the discipline of spending time alone with God: it will help us grow spiritually and become more and more like Christ.

The Lord was in the mountains, in the place of prayer. The disciples were down on the Sea of Galilee in a storm and in darkness; they were in the place of peril. What a picture this is of our own day. Our Lord has gone on to the Father and is seated at the Father's right hand. We today are down here on a storm-tossed sea in the place of peril.

The Sea of Galilee is 650 feet below sea level, 150 feet deep, and surrounded by mountains about three thousand feet high. It is subject to sudden windstorms that cause extremely high waves. Such storms are expected on this lake, but they are nevertheless frightening when rowing a small boat on its surface.

At the fourth watch, which was the morning watch, from three in the morning until daylight, the disciples were three or four miles out on the sea, only half way across, making little progress because of the storm.

It was then that they saw the Lord walking on the water, coming closer and closer to them. They became afraid because they didn't recognise Him, and thought it was a ghost (Mark 6:49). They didn't expect Him to come, and they weren't prepared for His help. Faith is a mindset that expects God to act. When we act on this expectation, we can overcome our fears.

And it is good to think that the morning watch is that in which He will come for us at the Rapture. Christ is the bright and morning star for the church, and He will take the church out of the world. We don't know the date of His coming but all indications are that we are in the fourth watch of the night.

He told them not to be afraid. We often face spiritual and emotional storms and feel tossed about like a small boat on a big lake. In spite of terrifying circumstances, if we trust our lives to Christ for his safekeeping, he will give us peace in any storm.

John does not give the account of Peter walking on the water, which only appears in Matthew (Matthew 14:28-31). There the impulsiveness of Peter appears as usual. Peter was not putting Jesus to the test, something we are told not to do (Matthew 4:7). Instead, he was the only one in the boat to react in faith.

Peter's impulsive request led him to experience a rather unusual demonstration of God's power:

• He could walk on the water till he saw the wind whirl the water round him, and then he began to sink.

• Peter's trust in the power of Christ gave way to his dread of the wind and waves.

• Peter started to sink because he took his eyes off the Lord and focused on the high waves around him.

• His faith wavered when he realised what he was doing.

But when Peter was actually beginning to sink, although a fisherman and a good swimmer, he cried out "Lord, save me quickly!" This was an urgent and the shortest of prayers because of the circumstances. The Lord took hold of Peter and pulled him up while still walking on the water, but this was no problem for Him.

We may not walk on water, but we do walk through difficult situations. If we focus on the waves of tough circumstances around us without looking to Christ for help, we too may despair and sink. To maintain our faith when situations are difficult, we must keep our eyes on His power rather than on our inadequacies. Although we start out with good intentions, sometimes our faith falters. This doesn't necessarily mean we have failed.

When Peter's faith faltered, he reached out to Christ, the only one who could help. He was afraid, but he still looked to Him. When we are apprehensive about the troubles around us, and doubt Christ's presence or ability, we must remember that He is the only one who can really help.

The wind grew weary or tired, exhausted itself in the presence of its Master (Mark 4:39). As a result, his disciples worshipped Him, and Jesus accepted it. They were growing in appreciation of the person and power of Christ, from "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?" (Matthew 8:27) to later declaring "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16).

Even after watching Jesus miraculously feed 5,000 people, they still could not take the final step of faith and believe that he was God's Son (Mark 6:52). If they had, they would not have been amazed that Jesus could walk on water. The disciples did not transfer the truth they already knew about Jesus to their own lives.

We read that Jesus walked on the water, and yet we often marvel that he is able to work in our lives. We must not only believe that these miracles really occurred; we must also transfer the truth to our own life situations.

 

R David Jones

 

 

 

 

 

15 Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.

16 Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea,

17 got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.

18 Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing.

19 So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid

20 But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."

21 Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.