John 6:16-21: The 'I AM' on the Water

(1) Bible Study Questions

Discuss: Have you ever been in a situation when you thought you were in real danger of drowning? Are you able to share about it? What happened so that you survived?

As a related question, do you like boating? How do you feel when the waves get choppy and the wind rough?

1. Why do you think the ancients appreciated and looked forward to a sea of glass, clear as crystal? (Rev 4:6, 15:2)

2 Why do the disciples get into the boat to cross over after the feeding of the 5,000? (vv. 15-17; Matt 14:22)

3. Why did Jesus withdraw to a mountain by himself? (v. 15; Matt 14:23; Mark 6:46)

4. What can we learn from Jesus withdrawing at this time?

5. Describe the situation that the disciples find themselves in during the night (v. 19; Matt 14:24; Mark 6:47). Who is responsible for them being in that situation? What can we learn from that reality?

6. Does the sight of Jesus quell the fears of the disciples? Why or why not? (v. 20; cf. Mark 6:49; Matt 14:26)

7. Jesus literally says to his disciples in the boat, “I am. Don’t be afraid.”

8. Given the way Jesus uses this phrase elsewhere in the Gospel of John, what might Jesus be communicating beyond merely identifying himself? (cf. John 8:58-9; Exod 3:14; Job 9:8)

9. There is a sequel to the sign of Jesus walking on water in verse 21, which is easy to miss, and which only John records for us? What was it? What might it mean? (cf. Ps 107:23-31)

10. How can we apply the events of the fifth sign and its sequel to the situations in which we find ourselves?

(2) Sermon Script

Introduction: The Need For Safety At Sea

The sea is a dangerous place. One of the most tragic factors in Australia's recent migration policy is the drowning of around 1200 asylum seekers attempting to get from Indonesia to Australia, particularly and unfortunately during the Rudd-Gillard years. [1] Similar things also happen in the Mediterranean with people fleeing war. How those persons would have wished they could have met their maker in their boats and then been brought immediately to their desired haven. Sadly, they didn’t. That's 1200 eternal souls whose miserable and difficult lives were cut short and their destinies are now set as they await the judgment.

The ancients rightly feared the sea. The sea was a place of chaos and death. That’s why in the new heaven and the new earth, the sea is glass, clear as crystal (Rev 4:6, 15:2). It is flat and calm, and has no threat. The sea is a dangerous place, but not for Jesus. In our passage we see Jesus walking on water and bringing the boat back to shore. [2]

Context: The One About To Be Compelled Compels (cf. Matt 14:22, Mark 6:45)

It is the night after the feeding of the 25,000, and Jesus knows that the crowd will compel him to become king. And so Jesus did some compelling of his own. John says in verses 16-17:

6:16And when evening came, his disciples went down to the seaside, 6:17and getting into a boat, they began crossing the sea to Capernaum. By this time it had now become dark [...]

But Matthew tells us why the disciples did this. The disciples did it because Jesus compelled them. Matthew chapter 14 verse 22:

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side while he dismissed the crowd. (Matt 14:22 NIV)

Why did Jesus send them away? I think Jesus didn’t want the disciples being influenced by the crowd. The disciples still held false ideas about the Messiah. They wanted Jesus to be a conquering king, not a suffering servant. So Jesus couldn’t risk the disciples listening to the crowd.

Strategic Withdrawal (v. 15, cf. Matt 14:23; Mark 6:46)

Then John tells us in verse 15 that Jesus "withdrew again to a mountain by himself." It is a strategic retreat. Matthew and Mark tell us he did this to pray.

Jesus took time out to pray. The ground swell of popular opinion to make him king was a distraction. Their attitude was, “Become our king, fight the Romans for us!” This was satanic thinking. It was thinking that would steer Jesus away from the cross, if he would let it. So Jesus was determined not to listen, and instead, talk to God, for his mission was, in his first coming, to be killed, not to kill.

And if Jesus does this, how much more should we? Do we need to “withdraw to a mountain by ourselves” metaphorically speaking, to retreat for a short time in the midst of legitimate busy-ness of serving others, and to submit to God the distracting missions that human thinking sets before us, and to pray, to ask God for help, wisdom, strength, courage, boldness, faithfulness, integrity, humility, patience, endurance, in short, Christ-likeness? Jesus in the midst of busy ministry fled the temptation set before him by retreating to pray. And so should we.

By nightfall, Jesus was up the mountain, alone. We don’t know how long he prayed for. He might have had a bit of a sleep as well. We just don’t know.

Stuck In The Middle Of The Lake In The Middle Of The Night (v. 19; Matt 14:24; Mark 6:47)

At this time, the disciples were attempting to cross the lake. And now they were experiencing difficulty. Actually, the rowing was torture for them. The winds and the waves opposed them. And there they were, stuck, in the middle of the night, in the middle of the sea (cf. Mark 6:47), [3] rowing against wind and waves.

That the Lord Jesus compels his disciples cross the lake doesn’t assure them of smooth sailing, does it? “Cross the sea in the middle of the night”, says Jesus. And sure enough, the disciples confront life-threatening conditions on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus sends you, and Jesus may also send troubles to you while he sends you. Jesus is again testing his disciples so that they will trust him. And remember, he will not test them beyond what they can bear.

Perhaps you have obeyed God, and en route you’ve discovered wind and waves, metaphorically speaking. The God who sends you across the sea stirs up the sea he sends you across. And these tests unsettle and unnerve you. But just like Jesus feeds the world, so Jesus is the master of the sea. And the Lord Jesus is never far from his struggling followers. Verse 19:

6:19And having rowed about twenty-five or thirty stadia [around five kilometers], they saw Jesus as he walked upon the sea and came near to the boat, and they were afraid. [4]

The Sign: Walking On Water

There is something more terrifying then violent wind and waves. It is seeing someone walking on them. They think it is a ghost (Mark 6:49; Matt 14:26). But it is more frightening than that.

For Jesus says in verse 20, “It is I; Don’t be afraid.” Or more literally, Jesus says, “I am. Don’t be afraid.” Jesus identifies himself, but he identifies himself in a way that has a double meaning. It is Jesus, not a ghost. But those words, “I am” have a deeper meaning. Jesus will soon say, “Before Abraham was born, I am”. And the Jewish leaders will pick up stones to stone him (John 8:58-9). They saw in the words blasphemy, because God had revealed himself to Moses as the “I am” (Exod 3:14). And now Jesus reveals himself to the disciples as “I am”.

Jesus is the “I am” treading on the waves. He is the LORD, Yahweh, God as he revealed himself in the Old Testament. As Job says, “He [God] alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea” (Job 9:8 NIV). Jesus, the one who stretched out the heavens (John 1:3), now also treads on the waves of the sea. That is the first sign for the disciples in this short passage of the Gospel of John.

A Sequel to the Sign: Immediate Safe-Haven

But there is something John records that the other Gospel writers don’t. For John, there is a second miracle in this sign. Verse 21:

6:21Because of this, they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat came to the shore to which they were heading.

The disciples were in the middle of the lake one moment, straining at the oars. Then Jesus stepped into the boat, and the next moment he had brought them to their desired haven. Jesus translated them instantly from storm to harbour, from rowing to resting.

How often do kids in the back seat say, “Are we there yet, are we there yet?” And how often do the parents in the front seat wish they could just snap their fingers and arrive, and give a final answer of ‘yes’ to all the nagging from the back seat? Yet, it seems that on this occasion, Jesus did just that.

It is a sign, or at least part of the sign. It points to who Jesus really is, because bringing boats back to base is what God does. Let me read Psalm 107 verses 23-31:

²³Others went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters. ²⁴They saw the works of the LORD, his wonderful deeds in the deep. ²⁵For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves. ²⁶They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away. ²⁷They reeled and staggered like drunken men; they were at their wits’ end. ²⁸Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. ²⁹He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. ³⁰They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven. ³¹Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men. (NIV)

Jesus is the LORD, Yahweh, who stills the storms. Jesus is the LORD, Yahweh, who brings the terrified sailors back to their safe haven. He knows when they’ve had enough. He answers their terrified cry and saves them.

Conclusion

It is good to know that we have such a Lord, isn’t it? It is good to know that if Jesus sees that his disciples are tired and weary, if Jesus notes that conditions are beyond them, that they are in over their heads as they follow his commands, then he doesn’t test them beyond what they can bear. He cares. He is powerful. He is able to bring unexpected relief, if he desires. He can do it, and this story tells us he has done it.

So we can take heart. Jesus is the one who goes away from his disciples so he can be with his Father. That’s us now. Jesus is away. And while he goes away, he commands his disciples into difficulty and hardship. And that’s you and me. We strain and struggle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. And perhaps we find that things just keep going wrong, blindsiding us. Waves crash over us from port, starboard, fore, and aft.

But Jesus is always close at hand, even when far away. He said, “Surely I am with you always, even unto the end of the age”. And he is. This is our faith. He knows his disciples’ needs before they cry out. Jesus treads the sea, showing himself to his disciples as God. And when he sees they can take no more, he brings them safely to their desired safe haven. And this Jesus who did this on the Sea of Galilee back then is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Let’s pray.

[1] http://resources.news.com.au/files/2012/06/22/1226405/958799-aus-file-asylum-casualties.pdf.

[2] And even though all four Gospels record the feeding miracle, only three record its sequel, Jesus’ walking on the sea. Luke doesn’t record this miracle of walking on the sea. And only John records that Jesus brought the boat back safely to the desired haven.

[3] I have only tried to surf twice. Success for me was staying on the board. My second attempt was my last. There was no one else in the water. And I must have got caught in a rip, because the figures on the beach were much smaller than they should have been. And I realised I was heading out to sea. My dad was on the beach, and he became smaller and smaller in my vision. And so I started straining to get back in, and wondered whether this was it, and whether I would drown. Fortunately, the current became more favourable to my continued existence, and I found my way coming back to shore.

[4] Some have wanted to take the miraculous out of this sign. Jesus was walking on the beach, and the disciples were closer to the shore than they thought. But the Gospel writers are quite clear. Jesus is walking upon the water, not on sand. And Matthew and Mark locate the boat in the middle of the lake, a considerable distance from land (Matt 14:24; Mark 6:47).

(3) English Translation

(4) Exegetical Notes

John 6:16-21: The Fifth Sign: Walking On Water And Bringing The Boat Back

The event of Jesus’ walking on water is recorded more fully in Matthew 14:22-33 and Mark 6:45-52. Matthew mentions Peter’s attempt to join Jesus by himself walking out on water. In John the walking on water occurs as the fifth sign, though it is not so named, and is located after the feeding miracle (John 6:1-15), and before the ‘bread of life’ discourse (John 6:22-71).

In verse 16, the phrase ἐπὶ τὴν θάλασσαν (‘upon the sea’) seems to refer to descending down to the seashore prior to embarking upon the boat, given that an explicit reference to ‘getting into the boat’ (καὶ ἐμβάντες εἰς πλοῖον) follows in verse 17. The reference to ‘the sea’ (τὴς θάλασσας) is to a frightening place that is descended (κατέβησαν) into.

The theme of darkness is seen again in verse 17. In John 3:2 and 13:30, the darkness of night and the absence of Jesus are powerfully linked, though whether this is significant to verse 17 is uncertain.

In verses 18, a ‘great wind blowing’ (ἀνέμου μεγάλου πνέοντος) reminiscent of the wind that parted the Red Sea at the Exodus, ‘wakes up’ or ‘arouses’ (διεγείρετο) the sea (v. 18).

In verse 19, the disciples are said to have rowed “about 25 or 30 stadia”. A ‘stadia’ is roughly 200m, which means that the disciples had rowed around 4.6 to 5.5 kilometers. The lake, the Sea of Galilee, upon which the disciples have set out, is roughly 20km by 12km, so the boat is essentially in the middle of the lake, and the disciples are probably tired out, in the dark, and fighting for their lives against the sea. The perfect participle ἐληλακότες of ἐλαύνω means ‘to cause an object to move by means of a strong force or vigorous action, to drive, press hard on the oars’, suggesting their exhaustion and real difficulty.

Some argue that John didn’t intend a miracle, but that Jesus walked on the seashore. Some have made the argument that the preposition ἐπί with the genitive τῆς θαλάσσης (v. 19) means, ‘by the shore’, ‘along the water’s edge’, that is, the disciples in the boat rowed along the seashore and saw Jesus wading in from there. The argument is that ἐπί with the accusative τὴν θάλασσαν means ‘on the sea’. But ἐπί with the genitive τῆς θαλάσσης can mean ‘on the sea’ (e.g. ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης: Rev 10:5), and Matthew and Mark locate the boat in the middle of the lake (e.g. ἐν μέσῳ τῆς θαλάσσης: Mark 6:47), and John has already used ἐπί with the accusative τὴν θάλασσαν (see above on v. 16) to mean ‘to the lake’, ‘to the seaside’ and not ‘on the sea’. Moreover, if the boat was in only a few inches of water, it is difficult to understand why the disciples as experienced sailors would be terrified (Carson 1991: 275). It is true that John 21:1 describes Jesus revealing himself in the location of the sea of Galilee using ἐπί with the genitive (Μετὰ ταῦτα ἐφανέρωσεν ἑαυτὸν πάλιν ὁ Ἰησοῦς τοῖς μαθηταῖς ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης τῆς Τιβεριάδος), in a situation where Jesus is only located on the beach and in no sense on the water. But the context in John 20 is that John is establishing a location of seaside Galilee for the resurrection appearance there narrated, as against the Jerusalem appearances of John chapter 20.

The Old Testament background for the walking on the water commences in Job 9:8-11, where it is written of God:

He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea […] He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. When he passes me, I cannot see him, when he goes by, I cannot perceive him. (NIV)

Yahweh walks on the water, “The LORD treads upon the waves of the sea”, and also in Mark 6:48, Jesus is said to have “wished to pass them by”. When God revealed himself to both Moses and Elijah, God is said to pass him by (Exod 33:19, 22; 1 Kgs 19:11).

In verse 20, Jesus identifies himself with ἐγώ εἰμι, “I am” in its absolute form. While it is primarily a form of self-identification (cf. John 9:9) intended to allay the disciples’ fears, the phrase being based on the verb ‘to be’, is necessarily connected to the name Yahweh, the LORD (Exod 3:14 LXX) and is used of claims to divinity in John’s Gospel (e.g. John 8:58). The use of ἐγώ εἰμι here is an anticipation of the later ‘I am’ statements (Carson 1991: 275-6). In this context, the use of the phrase by Jesus implies that his coming and appearance is a divine epiphany. The phrase “do not fear” that Jesus uses after his self-identification is often used where Yahweh appears.

In verse 21, Jesus together with the disciples in the boat immediately came to their destination, the seashore of lake Galilee near Capernaum. How is that they are in the middle of the sea in verse 19, see Jesus walking on the water in verse 20, and then immediately came to land at Capernaum after a long night struggling against the oars? It is another miraculous ‘sign’ of who Jesus is. Psalm 107:23-31 speaks of merchant boats and their sailors. The LORD is the one who speaks and stirs up a tempest that lifted high the waves so that their courage melts away (vv. 25-26). Then they cry out to the LORD (v. 28) and he stills the storm to a whisper, and the waves of the sea are hushed (v.29), and God guides the mariners to their desired haven (v. 30).

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