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. 16 When evening came, his
disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 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.
20 But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.
Our text this morning almost seems to be a parenthesis, it seems to be in the way. We have Jesus feeding the 5000 and then in verse 25 we will pick up Jesus’ sermon
about the feeding of the 5000. Jesus’ walking on the water seems to be stuck here in the middle. The simple solution is that we are following the events chronologically and the teaching of Jesus regarding the feeding of the 5000 came the following day AFTER
he walked on water. That is true to be sure, but I don’t think that exhausts the significance of what we have here.
There are a number of things in the text that are worth consideration. For example, there is the issue of faith and how the disciples had little of it. This account
of Jesus walking on the water is then a rebuke to those who doubt and do not trust Him. Other theological minds will point out that Jesus is truly a man, a real man, not a phantom as some early heresies in the church thought.
Matthew’s account says that the disciples thought he might be a ghost but the bible is clear that Jesus did not only appear to be fully human, he was fully human.
And then, there is the glorious truth that our Savior, while He is in the world, even while he hung on a cross, was at the same time, sustaining and upholding the world…Jesus has authority and power over the very creation that He called into being.
All of those things are wonderfully true and worth our deepest consideration. But I would like to spend our time this morning pointing out yet another aspect of all
of this. John makes it clear in 6:22 and following, as he will when he recounts Jesus’ sermon beginning in verse 25, that the people who saw the loaves multiplied did not understand the point of the miracle, they did not understand its importance. They didn’t
make the connection between the bread in the wilderness under Moses, the manna, and THIS bread, also given in the wilderness and as we will see, when Jesus made this abundantly clear, that it is all about Him, they were offended and refused to follow Jesus
any longer.
In Mark’s account of Jesus walking on the water, he makes this point very bluntly: Mark has Jesus telling the disciples to not be afraid and then Mark writes. “Jesus
went up into the boat and the wind ceased and they were greatly amazed beyond measure and marveled, for they, (the disciples) had not understood about the loaves.” That
is very interesting. Mark doesn’t say, “They were astonished because they didn’t know Jesus could walk on water…” Or, “They marveled because they didn’t realize Jesus had power over creation.” No, he says that they marveled at Jesus walking on water because
they did not understand the loaves.
What in the world does their astonishment about Jesus walking on water have to do with Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000? In other words, the Holy Spirit is saying that
if the disciples would have truly understood about the loaves, when they saw Jesus walking on the water they would have said, Oh, of course He is walking on the water, makes perfect sense! They were missing something…but what was it?
Now it is true as verse 15 tells us that the crowds didn’t understand what was going on either. They thought to make Jesus king and to do so with or without His consent.
They thought that if they rushed him off to Jerusalem, forced him to the throne, that he would overthrow the Romans with some jazzy miracle. Remember what is going on in Jerusalem. They are at the time of the Passover. The celebration of God sending a Savior
to deliver His people from Egypt, what better time to pronounce Jesus as the king and have him smash the Romans! There is nothing in the entire chapter to suggest that the people were motivated in any way by the true spiritual issues that were at hand…Jesus
as Savior from sin, doesn’t even appear to be on their radar, they have cultural and world domination in their minds.
But back to our question this morning: What were the disciples supposed to have learned from the feeding of the 5,000 which Jesus will subsequently teach, that would
have helped them in dealing with frightening experiences on the sea? In the feeding of the 5000 Jesus is teaching the ultimate reality, the thing that the entire Kingdom is to be based on, without which there is no kingdom, there is no hope, without which
all of us are lost, namely, that HE is the manna of God.
The people ate the manna that Moses gave them, and they died, eat the food that I give, Jesus says, and you will never die. He says, I am your food…I am your provision…I
am your sustenance…and in partaking of Me, you will become one with Me, with My purpose and with My Father. Granted he hasn’t been this explicit yet, but he will be, but if they had maturity, they would have seen all of this in the loaves, but as yet they
could not see it.
In the meantime, Jesus puts them in a boat, after He has demonstrated that He is THE provider and THE provision and they are faced immediately with a trial, with a
difficulty on the sea.
Think of the transition that has been made. One moment the disciples are witnessing and participating in a mighty miracle and even being used in that miracle to the
astonishment of thousands of people. And then the next moment they find themselves in darkness, winds, waves, storm, anxiety, and danger. One moment feasting in effect upon the provision of heaven, marveling at who this Jesus is and How He feeds us, and the
next minute, wondering, where in the world is Jesus when you need him?
Does that sound familiar to you? Is that not the life of the church? We gather on the Lord’s Day, set apart by God for us, and it is as though the world stands still…God’s
word is open, God’s heart is open and He tells us to come to Him and we sing, even us whose voices are a bit suspect…and God loves it, because He loves us…in fact we read that God Himself sings…over us…we sing to Him, He sings over us…it is all so glorious.
He opens His word and feeds us and then again at the Eucharist our faith is called up to receive from Him the blessings of Christ Jesus. In that worship things…are safe…good…calm…full of wonder…we are our most true selves, in God’s presence!
And then…then we are sent out…out into the world, out into the darkness…the darkness of the world, the darkness of our own circumstances…we are met with difficulty…we
are met with trial…The wind is strong…and it is in our face and often, if we are honest, we find ourselves saying, Jesus, where in the world are you?
We live by and in the presence of God the Son in the power of God the Spirit because we are loved by God the Father. Yes, the winds blow. Yes, life is filled with
storms but Jesus is Master of the storm…and He will soon enough, calm them all. The question then and it is a good question, a necessary question: Do you understand the loaves? Do you understand the provision from heaven…and when it is offered to you,
do you know that you need it…do you know that you must have it…do you know and do you see past the bread and the cup to the One who is life and who is nourishing you to stand tall and with confidence knowing that the storm will be calmed!
Prayer: Father, when the storms come, I often find myself unprepared, afraid and even angry. Forgive me for not trusting You. Forgive me for acting as though You
don’t care or are unaware of what I am going through. I know that You are the one who not only sends the storm but has promised to be with me in it. I confess that too often, like the disciples, I don’t understand the loaves. Help me to grasp the great provision
that Jesus is and may I walk this day in the joy of what He has promised, in Jesus name, Amen.
Hymn: Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah