John 6:16-21 “Actually, He Does Walk on Water.”

1:05They're also known as pond skippers or water bugs. You've probably seen these if you grew up around water, a lake, or a river, or something like that. But they are amazing because they can do the seemingly impossible, and that is walk on water. Like the bumblebee, which seems too fat to fly, it is hard to understand how that guy can stand on the water. But God has created those. Insects with thousands of microscopic little hairs on their legs. And each one of them is scored. There's a little groove which allows air to be trapped and allows them to exploit the surface tension of the water molecules and walk across the water.

1:50They also feast primarily on mosquito larvae, and so they are great to have around. I wish we would have had them last night when we were being eaten alive. Don't they seem more numerous and larger this year than any other year? I don't know. It's like the allergies are worse, the mosquitoes are worse. Maybe the end is near. Well, in today's text, Jesus is going to do what is humanly impossible. He's going to walk on water. But he doesn't do this as kind of a circus trick or something to just impress the people who get to see this. Rather, this is further evidence to back up his claim that he is who he says that he is: the Son of God. The one who has authority to judge, the one who has authority over life.

2:39Now, to get into the background of this chapter, just to remind you where we've been at the beginning of John chapter 6, Jesus and the disciples were both exhausted from a long season of ministry, and they were looking forward to a time of rest. So they went to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, and they were looking for that rest. Remember, Jesus had just learned that hair. Herod had murdered his cousin, John the Baptist. The disciples had been preaching and healing and casting out demons. Everybody was so tired. They were so busy they didn't even have time to eat. And so they get across the Sea of Galilee looking for that rest, and instead, what do they find? Thousands and thousands of people waiting for them, hoping to hear a word from Jesus. And so he spends all afternoon into the evening teaching them. It gets late, and the disciples say, Send these people away to go buy something to eat. But Jesus insists that they provide something for them to eat. So he takes five loaves and a couple of fish, and he multiplies them into enough food to feed those thousands and thousands of people.

3:45Now it's very late at night. Neither Jesus nor the disciples have had any rest still, the rest that they were pursuing and looking for. And so I want to go over to Matthew's account and take a look at how Matthew frames this situation. Take a look at Matthew 14. He writes, Immediately he 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.

4:18And that takes us to our text this morning, John 6:16 through 21. So let's pick up in verse 16. When evening came, his disciples went to the house. Went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. Jesus fed those thousands of people somewhere near the town of Bethzada, which is kind of on the northeast corner of the Sea of Galilee. And the disciples are traveling west across the sea towards Capernaum. It's about five or six miles away by boat. And Matthew records that after Jesus left his hometown of Nazareth, he made Capernaum, he and his disciples, their home base.

5:08And so every time they went for rest, every time they went back to just take a brief season away from ministry and the demands of ministry, they often went back to Capernaum on the northwest side of the Sea of Galilee. So it makes a lot of sense that after this long and demanding season that they've just had, that Jesus sent the disciples back to Capernaum for rest. And depending on exactly where they were, as I said, it's about five or six miles away by boat. But I want you to pay attention to the end of verse 17.

5:37Look there again. It says this. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. Now, on the one hand, these are simply facts. It's late at night, so it's dark outside, and Jesus had not yet come to them. If you've ever been on a boat, In the middle of a lake at night, or if you've ever been on a cruise ship out in the middle of the ocean, you know that there's dark and then there's on the water dark.

6:12And if you've ever been out on a boat where it's totally cloudy in a storm and you can't see the moon, you can't see the stars, it is so dark on the water you can barely see your hand in front of your face. And that's the situation here: it is dark. And Jesus hadn't come to them because he was still on the mountain praying. And John wants to be sure that his readers and we ourselves understand that Jesus is not in the boat with them.

6:41So those are the facts. But on the other hand, like all good historians, John is communicating something to us by what he chooses to present and how he chooses to present it. He's telling us something with this statement. He's doing more than just presenting facts when he says it was now dark and Jesus had not yet come to them. You may remember at the beginning of our series, and we covered John chapter 1 when John presents Jesus as the light of the world. And he talks about the fact that light and darkness are symbolic of spiritual realities, that light represents truth. And Jesus is the light of the world.

7:34So the disciples are rowing in the dark, and Jesus has not yet come to them. Spiritually speaking, they are in the dark. They have not fully understood who Jesus is, even after all they've seen. And when Mark presents this exact same situation, he confirms this interpretation. After he records this event in his gospel, take a look at what he writes, Mark chapter 6. 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.

8:18Friends, this is a picture of every person at some point in their lives. We are rowing in the dark, and Jesus has not yet come to us. Take a look at 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Paul says, the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him. And he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. When we're born, we are born dead in sin. Every part of us has been affected. By sin and the fall, our bodies and how they work, our minds and how we think, our hearts and what we desire. Every part of us has been affected by the fall. That's the nature of man after the fall. We are all rowing in the dark.

9:18And what Paul tells us is that the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, they are foolishness to him. We don't accept them, and we can't understand them because they are spiritually discerned. This is just what Jesus told Nicodemus just a few chapters ago in John chapter 3. Look again at that interaction between Jesus and Nicodemus. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. Jesus answered him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

10:05Unless you're born again or born from above, as that can also be translated, you can't even see the kingdom of God. Jesus says, that which is of the flesh is flesh, that which is of the spirit is spirit. Unless you're born again, you can't even see the kingdom of God. Guys, this is the point that John is driving home again and again and again in his gospel. Until God intervenes, until God by his Spirit causes us to be born again, we are all rowing in the dark. We are all apart from Jesus.

10:45We don't understand him. We don't understand our need for him. We will not go to him until he comes to us. But thankfully, Jesus, the light of the world, does come to us. And when he comes to us, because he is the light of the world, we are now no longer in the dark. We pass from darkness to light. We see and perceive and understand things that we could not see, perceive, or understand before when we were rowing in the dark.

11:17And so, friends, some of you are in that same boat. You are rowing in the dark. And you've been rowing in the dark your whole life. Just like the disciples, you need Jesus to come to you. You need him to come to where you are so that you can see and understand and believe the truth about who he really is. That's my prayer for you this morning. I'm praying and believing that Jesus is going to come to you through the Word of God and open your heart and mind to see and understand things that you've never seen and never understood before.

12:00And that you will place your faith in Jesus' life, death, and resurrection as your only hope for forgiveness and reconciliation with God. But you've got to come to that point where you see Him for who He is. You've got to come to that point where you believe that He is who He says He is. You've got to come to that point where you know that He is the Messiah, just like the disciples. Because until you see and understand those things, until you believe those things, you'll never come to Him, even if He comes to you through His Word.

12:31Verse 18: The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. The Sea of Galilee is surrounded by pretty large hills, and it's 650 feet below sea level. So, by comparison, the bottom of the Grand Canyon is 2,000 feet above sea level. The Sea of Galilee is 650 feet below sea level. It's a half a mile deeper than the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The deepest part of the Sea of Galilee is 150 feet deep. The deepest lake in Texas is Lake Buchanan. It's 132 feet deep. So, this is a massive body of water. And the fact that it's surrounded by these hills, it's so low and so deep, means that all of a sudden these enormous storms come up out of nowhere when the wind blows over those hills down into that valley and it causes these massive waves to come out of nowhere. Even in the recent past, waves as high as 10 feet on what is like a large lake, 10 feet tall waves. I mean, when waves are a foot or two high and you're out there on the lake in a boat, it feels like you're going to get thrown over. 10 feet high.

14:01At least four of the disciples are fishermen, and so they're used to dealing with storms like this. But on this particular night, John records that the wind is against them. They're making headway painfully. Matthew and Mark say the boat is being beaten. They use that word, the boat is being beaten by waves. So it just took everything they had to row against the wind and the waves. They're making headway painfully. And it must have been even harder for them given how exhausted they were when they got into the boat. It's been one of the longest seasons of their life. They just had one of the longest days of their lives. And now they're dealing with this. Five or six miles. You ever rowed 400 meters on a rowing machine? You'll keel over and die. Five or six miles in that kind of weather. Verse 19.

14:54When 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. If it's accurate that the disciples started off about five or six miles away from Capernaum, near Bethzeta, then if they've rowed three or four miles, they're somewhere between 50 or 75 percent away from their starting point. They're out in the middle of the lake somewhere.

15:34And this is really important because you'll hear people say that Jesus just appeared to be walking on the water. It just looked like he was walking on the water. Actually, he was kind of in shallow water near the shore, and because it was dark and everything else, they thought he was walking on the water, but he wasn't actually doing that. But, friends, if they've traveled three to four miles away from their starting point, they are in the middle of the lake that's 150 feet deep in the middle of a storm.

16:06And they are terrified when they see Jesus walking toward them. That's not hard to understand why they would be frightened. I love Matthew's account of the event. Take a look at Matthew 14 again. And in the fourth watch of the night, so this is 3 a.m. to 6 a.m., 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!

16:30And they cried out in fear. I mean, I would just love to hear the disciples tell that story sitting around together. They probably told that story for years afterward: like who screamed the loudest? Who wet his tunic? It's sea water. I mean, you have to think that anyone would be scared seeing someone walking towards you on the water in the middle of the storm, in the middle of the night, coming toward your boat. It's a terrifying experience.

17:09But backing up for just a moment, we can't forget the disciples are exhausted and they're badly in need of rest. Remember, they went across the sea the first time looking for rest. They didn't get any. Jesus has now sent them across the sea the other way looking for rest. And now they're in the middle of a storm. They're getting pummeled by waves every few seconds. They're making headway painfully. This is taking absolutely forever to get across the lake to find the rest that they so badly want and need.

17:41And it wouldn't surprise me at all if they were wondering, where is Jesus? He does this stuff for other people. He turns water into wine. He multiplies food. He heals incurable diseases. He drives out demons, and here we are, the guys who serve him and serve with him day and night. He knows how tired we are. We're in the middle of this sea, in the middle of this storm, and he's nowhere to be found. Why can't he help us out?

18:20I think about David's prayer in Psalm 13. How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? I mean, can you relate to David? Have you ever asked those questions or wanted to ask those questions? How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? We know that the disciples could relate. Because before Mark records this exact event that we're talking about in Mark chapter 6, a couple of chapters earlier in Mark chapter 4, he records a very similar event where Jesus and the disciples are on the boat again. Take a look at Mark 4.

19:19And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But Jesus was in the sea. Stern asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? Don't you care? Don't you care? We are all about to die and you're taking a nap. How do you sleep through that? It just shows you how exhausted he was, his humanity on full display.

19:59Will you forget us forever? We're dying here. We have all felt like this before. The disciples felt like this. God doesn't see us. God doesn't know or care about our struggles. But, friends, the reality is that although the disciples were far away from Jesus at this point and they couldn't see him, he never once took his eye off of them. And Mark chapter 6 captures this so well. Take a look at this. Jesus is up on the mountain praying, and Mark records this, and he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them.

20:50While Jesus is still up on the mountain praying, he sees that they are making headway painfully because the wind is against them. Church, he never took his eyes off the disciples, even when they were miles away on the sea. And this is true for us as well. That no matter how far you feel from God, no matter how far you may actually be from God, he never takes his eyes off of you. He is always watching you, even when you feel alone and deserted.

21:28Psalm 139 is a great comfort in times where you feel like that. Where shall I go from your spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. Listen to this. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night, even the darkness is not dark to you. The night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

22:18What an encouragement that God is always watching over us, that he never takes his eye off of us, that Jesus is always interceding for us. For us, as Romans 8 tells us that we are never forgotten. We are never alone. Friend, you are not forgotten. You are not alone. So the disciples are frightened, and Jesus calms their fear, saying what nearly every angel has to say to nearly every person they appear to in the Bible: Do not be afraid.

22:58And then Jesus says, It is I. It is I, do not be afraid. And in the Greek, this is ego ami. You can literally translate this, I, I am, or I am, I. In other words, what Jesus is doing is he is taking the name of God for himself. And John presents him doing this many times in his gospel. He takes the name, I am, for himself. Look at Exodus chapter 3. When Moses asked God, what should I tell these people when I go to them? God says, I am who I am. And he said, Say this to the people of Israel, I am has sent me to you.

23:52So I am is the name of God Himself. And here in John 6 is one of the many instances in the Gospels where Jesus takes the name of the Name, I am, for himself. No Israelite would ever do this. He is saying, you don't have to be scared. God himself is here with you. Do not be afraid. I am I. That statement, reinforced by the fact that he is literally walking on the water when he said it, had a profound effect on the disciples. John doesn't record this, but Matthew does. Take a look.

24:32And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, Truly, you are the Son of God. They went from being unsure about his identity to being convinced that Jesus is exactly who he claimed to be, the Son of God. Taking the name I am is one thing, but walking on the water, doing what was humanly impossible, proved that he was who he claimed to be, that he was the Son of God, the great I am. Then John records this in verse 21.

25:13Then they were glad to take him into the boat. I bet they were. When you find yourself being beaten by the waves, it is so. Such a comfort to know that the Son of God is in the boat with you. Friends, when you consider how people have responded to the trials and challenges of the past few years, the pandemic, the economic abyss that we are falling into, the anger and fear demonstrated by supporters of both political parties, I think it comes down to this.

26:08You either believe that the Son of God is in the boat with you, or you don't. What you believe about that, whether the Son of God is in the boat with you or he's not, I think that's the number one factor in how you respond to what happens to you and around you. When your boat gets rocked by a pandemic or by an economic system in free fall or war or a relationship ending or someone that you love dying, when any of those things happen to you, how you respond largely comes down to whether you believe the Son of God is in the boat with you or not.

27:00Because if you don't believe that the Son of God is in the boat with you, when those kinds of things happen, then you're going to respond by isolating yourself, hoarding your resources. You're going to stop trusting and loving other people because you have to look out for yourself. There is nobody that you can turn to. No one is going to watch out for you but you. But if you believe that Jesus is in the boat with you, you are still going to feel afraid when these kinds of things happen. That is only natural and normal for human beings to feel afraid when these kinds of things happen. You are still going to feel afraid. But we don't have to respond out of that fear and act as though we have no one to turn to, no one who can help us, no one who will never lose sight of us, no matter how far away that we seem to get from him.

28:11If you believe that Jesus is in the boat with you, that transforms how you see and experience everything that happens to you and around you. And that's what happened to the disciples. When Jesus got into that boat with them, the way that they saw the entire situation. Changed. And in their case, their circumstances did actually change. The wind and the waves died down. Everything was calm. They were immediately to the destination where they were headed, where they were going.

28:44That doesn't always happen for us. But knowing that Jesus is in the boat with us means that we can know that He is going to get us where we are headed. And that is not to a place of comfort and prosperity here in this world necessarily. It is to a place of eternal comfort and eternal prosperity in the new heavens and the new earth. Church, we've had some tough years, as I think just about every church has.

29:18Our boat has been rocked by various trials and challenges. But Jesus has never taken his eye off of us. He's never lost sight of us, even when our boat was getting hit over and over again by various waves, various trials and challenges that we've experienced. He was in the boat with us then, and he is still in the boat with us now. He is going to get us where we are going. We never needed to be afraid, and we don't need to be afraid today.

30:00Because we can trust Jesus, the great I am, the Son of God, fully and completely at all times. He knows what is best, and he does what is best, even when we are afraid and confused about what's going on inside of us and around us. That's a reminder that I've needed many times over the last few years. I know I'm going to need it again and again in the next season. As many of you know, our church provides sabbaticals for our pastors every six to seven years, and it's been six or seven years since my last one, and so I'm going to be taking a sabbatical starting in just a couple of weeks for a large portion of the summer. And in ministry, sabbaticals are extended times away from regular ministry so that we can focus on rest and spiritual renewal and personal development.

31:04And so my sabbatical begins officially two weeks from today, but many of the elders and I are going to be traveling next weekend to a conference. And so this is going to be my last Sunday preaching for some time. I'm so very thankful to God that you all are providing the season of rest and refreshment for us. And I thank God for it. And I thank you for it. The past couple of years have definitely taken a toll on me and my family.

31:39For many reasons, they were the hardest years of our lives. The lowest lows I have ever experienced. I experienced all of them in the last two years. I think the same can be said for my family, too. God has been good to us, but I do feel a bit like Jacob after he got done wrestling with God. Blessed, but now walking with a permanent limp. So I ask you to remember us in prayer throughout the summer.

32:21My wonderful wife made these cards that you can pick up if you'd like one. They have our prayer requests on the back. They're out in the lobby. We've already started seeing an outstanding counselor, and we're going to continue that throughout the summer and maybe beyond that. So I just ask you to pray for that, for me and Kendra. We're going to be taking a course called Emotionally Healthy Discipleship so that we can just grow as fully formed followers of Jesus. We're going to be spending most of June immersed at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., learning from Mark Dever and his staff, who have taken a great interest in us.

33:00And I'm going to be taking a preaching course toward the end of my sabbatical so that I can remember how to do this when I come back. But as we enter this season, I want to give an exhortation to my fellow elders and then to the members of our church as well. For the elders, Acts 20:28. This verse has been at the top of our meeting notes for 13 years. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

33:47I pray that while I'm away, you guys will remember the example that I've tried to set for you in teaching and encouraging each member of the church of leaving the 99 to go after the one over and over. Keep a close watch on yourselves while I'm away and continue to love and serve the flock of God entrusted to your care. For all of you, the church body, 1 Peter 4, 8 through 11, above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality. To one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. Whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God, whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies, in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

35:00I pray that all of you will remember my earnest love for you, the way that I have done my very best to make sure that all of you feel known and loved. I pray you'll open your homes and use your spiritual gifts to build each other up. I pray that when we return, we will return to a church that has grown, not stagnated, but grown spiritually and numerically, because you have been faithful in discipleship and evangelism. And many believers have been strengthened, many non-Christians have come to faith in Christ.

35:41That God may be glorified in proving that what we are doing does not rest on any one human being, does not rest on any group of human beings, but on the power of the grace and Spirit of God. I pray that God would be glorified through you. May God bless all of us richly in this next season. Let's pray. God, we are so thankful that you have come to us again through your word, that you haven't left us rowing in the dark, but that you have come to us. And because you are the light of the world, you have brought light to us.

37:03Through faith, we are now the light of the world. And God, we pray that our light would shine brightly, that the world would see and know that you are God, that Jesus, you are Lord, that there is hope for the hopeless, that there is victory for sin. And that this life is not all there is, but that we look forward to a glorious and joyful eternity. God, we thank you that you inspired the writers of Scripture to write down all of these things so that we would know them and we could believe them.

37:56We pray for those among us today who are still rowing in the dark. We pray that you would come and reveal yourself to them this morning, that you would grant repentance and faith, that they too might pass from darkness to light and could celebrate your glorious grace along with us. God, we pray for our church and our church's ministry this summer. Would you bless us and keep us? Make your face to shine upon us. Be gracious to us as we go, many of us different ways.

38:49We pray that you would help us to remember each other in prayer. Those who are able to get together, we pray that we would do that regularly. Encouraging each other, building each other up, not neglecting to meet together. God, I pray that the church would go after those who are missing, wandering, lost. And we pray for a great move of your Spirit. We pray for a great revival in our church, that you would restore to us the joy of our salvation.

39:33We love you, God. We celebrate the person and work of Jesus and His glorious gospel of grace. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.