Hopelessly Devoted

The title reflects a song sung by Olivia Newton-John in the late 70s, entitled Hopelessly devoted to you. That’s the direction I want this sermon to go, in encouraging each one of us to be hopelessly devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

I enjoy the old westerns; whether it be John Wayne or Don Knotts.  One of the popular Western genres deals with the search for gold.  Oftentimes, instead of finding real gold, all that is uncovered is fool’s gold.  Fool’s gold is actually pyrite.  Historians state that Captain John Smith even sent an entire ship full of pyrite back to London in the early 1600s, thinking it was real gold. 

To discover the difference between the real gold and the pyrite, or fool’s gold, takes a little bit of work.  Visually, it is extremely difficult, though fool’s gold is said to tarnish after awhile.  That doesn’t really help in the immediate moment, does it?  However, if you get out your trusty pocketknife, you will find that real gold is soft and can easily be cut.  Pyrite cannot even be scratched.  If you rub both of them and put them up to your nose, the gold has no smell to it.  However, the Pyrite smells like sulphur or rotten eggs.  (That makes the discovery of Fool’s Gold stink all the more.)  Also, if you take a hammer to both of them; the gold will flatten and the pyrite will simply give off sparks.  

This is somewhat like what is seen by those who look and talk like Christians, but are not truly Christians.  Sometimes, they can fool a lot of people.  And from a distance, without checking into them, they may look like real Christians.  But upon closer scrutiny, we discover that they are not who they claim to be.  When trials and difficult times come their way, they run away or collapse under the pressure.  When there is a choice between sacrifice and even death, versus personal benefit and continued life on this earth, those who are not really Christians will always avoid personal trauma and sacrifice.  When things don’t go the way they want them to go, they will even reject Christ and pursue something else.  

John MacArthur states:  “not all “disciples” are true believers ([as seen in] v. 66), but all believers are “disciples”—devoted followers of Jesus Christ. . . . The Bible makes it clear that all Christians are true disciples . . .”

Today, we’ll be looking at two different responses to Jesus and the signs which He did.  The first was that of the disciples as we discuss “Savior Focus.”  The second group is the well-fed crowd who were very self-absorbed, which we’ll call “Self Focus.”  

The world needs to see devoted followers of Jesus Christ. 

Just going along with Jesus for the food and the fun and the fellowship; for what I get out of this, is not at all what it means to be a believer in Jesus Christ.  Too often that is what the world sees.  So as we look at these verses and the two groups, you should find yourself identifying as to which camp you belong.  If it’s not with the first group, then you need to repent and make the adjustment to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior alone.

One Who Is a Devoted Follower of Jesus Christ has a Focus on the Savior. - 6.16-21

Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.  The sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing.  Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened.  But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”  So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

According to Matthew’s account, after the crowd had been dismissed which had just been fed, and the disciples had gathered the baskets of leftovers, Jesus sent the disciples off on their own.  In Matthew and Mark’s account, they use the word He made, which means to compel or force. We can gather that they were all going to meet at Capernaum, so the disciples were to go over in a boat without Jesus.  

Since Jesus was not yet with them, they left, most likely at dusk or after dark.  We see that a storm came up.  Here’s where a little geography lesson helps us to understand their surroundings.  The Sea of Galilee is said to be around 700 feet below sea level; whereas, the surrounding hills are over 2,000 feet above see level, making a difference of a little over half a mile.  One scholar states:  The cooler air rushes down the slopes and strikes the surface of the lake with great force, churning the water into whitecaps and creating dangerous conditions for small boats. 

Matthew and Mark paint a very dramatic picture of their boat being set off course out towards the middle of the sea.  The boat was battered by the waves and the disciples were straining at the oars.  Matthew and Mark also give us a little bit of a time reference showing us that it is now between 3 - 6 AM.  Here in John, we can deduce that they left between 6-9 PM.  So minimally, we can guess this has been going on for around 6 hours.  Then to top that off, John states they had rowed about three or four miles.  They must have been totally exhausted.  John says they were frightened.  

We might wonder where Jesus is while all this is going on with the disciples.  Remember, verse 15, as well as Matthew and Mark, tell us that He was praying.  My friends, we can always be assured that Jesus' timing is always perfect.  He was completely in tune with His Father’s plans.  I believe we can learn something more from this.  The more time we spend praying, the better we’ll be able to see what God wants to do in us and through us.  

Just like a superhero show, Jesus enters into the picture.  Jesus is walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat.  Interestingly, the word for walk does not show any struggle into a biting, intense wind.  It is the same word used for any other time a person is walking.  That makes perfect sense when we remember that this is the Lord of the universe.  This is the One for Whom nothing is too hard.  According to Matthew, they were quite aways from the shore.  He uses the word stadia which is approximately 1/8 of a mile; and it was many stadia.  

John doesn’t tell us why the disciples were frighted.  At least half of them were experienced fishermen, so this would not have been their first storm.  My assumption is that their fear was not because of the storm.  In Matthew and Mark, we read that their response was, It is a ghost.  Obviously, they had not seen anyone walking on water before.  What else were they to think?  This was beyond anything that might be considered normal. 

So why would Jesus do this?  I believe it is to once again show them that He is God.  As the Creator and Sustainer of all that is, only He would be able to be in absolute control of all the elements.  After all, he had to overrule several basic laws of physics to be able to do this.

Then we read that Jesus reassures them that He is not a ghost.  At this point of recognizing Who He truly was, they were more than glad to receive Him into the boat.  But notice that something else supernatural takes place.  After Jesus was in the boat, they were immediately at the shore.  But that’s not all.  This was almost like a miracle smorgasbord. 

When we look at the parallel passages in Matthew and Mark, we find other miracles.  Good ole Peter also had the privilege of walking on water, short-lived as it was.  Then, after Jesus and a very wet Peter got into the boat, the wind immediately stopped.  In other words, we will find four different miracles that take place here.  Jesus walking on water; Peter’s short-lived walking on water; the wind immediately stopping; the boat being immediately at the shore. Surely, the disciples would understand that Jesus is God for real.  

And actually, I believe they did.  Mark and Matthew state that the disciples worshipped Him, as well as commenting, You are certainly God’s Son.  

So, we are seeing that the disciples seem to be picking up even more as to Who Jesus is.  However, we probably should take a look at how others see Jesus who have also experienced and seen Him do the miraculous.

One Who Is Not a Devoted Follower of Jesus Christ has a Focus on Self. - 6.22-29

The next day the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there, except one, and that Jesus had not entered with His disciples into the boat, but that His disciples had gone away alone.  There came other small boats from Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks.  So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats, and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus.  When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You get here?”  Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.  Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.”  Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?”  Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”

It appears that a fairly large group had spent the night on the other side of the Sea.  Matthew even suggests that they were possibly hoping for more food.  Then they started getting the picture.  They knew that there was only one boat there and when the disciples got into it, Jesus had not been with them.  So, they set out on a pursuit of trying to find Jesus.  We might wonder why they would have set out for Capernaum.  I can think of a couple of possibilities.  One is that they may have known that this was like a home town for Jesus, according to Matthew 4.  Another might be the fact that some of them may have overheard Jesus’ instructions to the disciples to go to Capernaum.  Thus, they would have assumed that He would have met them there.

As I read through this, I’m tempted to be excited by the fact that they were actually looking for Jesus.  However, we realize that they were not looking to find Jesus for any other reason than their own personal satisfaction.  The disciples worshipped Jesus as a result of experiencing the miracles, showing that He is God.  The crowd seemed to want Jesus for more personal benefit. 

As I thought through this, I was reminded to make sure that the Gospel message is all about what God wants it to be.  It is never intended to satisfy man’s hunger or longing or personal desires.  According to Scripture, man does not naturally hunger or long for God.  The Church would do well to make sure we present the Jesus of the Bible and not a version that satisfies the appetite of people.

When they found Jesus, they asked the obvious question as to how He got there, since they had no clue.  It is interesting that Jesus does not even deal with their question, as it would not matter to them.  It wasn’t even important.  He cuts right to the heart of the issue.  Their curiosity was not for the benefit of their souls.  They were merely thrill-seekers; pleasure-seekers; wanting what they wanted on their terms.  Leon Morris states: They were moved not by full hearts, but by full bellies.  In the Gospel of Mark, we see that even the disciples didn’t really get it until after Jesus met them on the water.  

Jesus is not suggesting that physical nourishment is not important.  What is being presented is that spiritual well-being outweighs physical well-being in the Kingdom of God.  And just like only the Son of God could provide physical food miraculously, only the Son of God is able to provide spiritual food. 

But sadly, the people still didn’t get it.  It is very much like so many today.  They ask the question, What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?  Do you hear this?  What shall we do?  We see this question throughout the Gospels from so many different individuals, from the spiritually elite to the spiritually ignorant.  We hear this question from all walks of life today, from the intellectual to the simple person.  Life has been this way for centuries where humanity thinks that we can actually do something to get into heaven.  

Jesus responding by giving them an answer which didn’t make much sense to them.  The only work they could do to get into heaven was believe in Him whom He has sent.  The New Testament clearly tells us that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.  There is not a single act or work we can do that will gain us entrance into heaven except believing in the Lord Jesus Christ whom God has sent.  The works come about as a result of a person being saved and led and empowered by the Spirit of God.  

Reflections

When people look at you, do they see a hopelessly devoted follower of Jesus Christ? Or do they see someone who claims to be a believer, but only on your terms and for what you can get out of the relationship?

When we understand Who Jesus really is, it makes sense to respond as the disciples and many others did; in absolute worship, hopelessly devoted to living for Jesus.  

Earlier, when Jesus provided the physical food so they would not go away hungry, they did not have to work for it.  All the crowd had to do was to accept it.  Likewise, when Jesus offers eternal life, all a person needs to do is simply accept it and stop trying to work for it.

As you’ve been listening to this message and allowing God to move in your heart and mind, which of these two groups do you find yourself in at this moment? My friend, if you are not certain that you are part of that first group, even with all your shortcomings, then take time today to ask Christ for His forgiveness, taking away your sins, and giving you a brand new life; eternal life through Jesus Christ.