The Bread on the Sea

Introduction

This week were in John 6:16-22

fewest verses I’ve ever preached at PSBC but after Chuck last week I think I can get away with it.

If I could title this sermon this week - I picture an outrageous headline, like “Florida man uses snapping turtle to rob gas station. Turtle unharmed”

The news headline title of this sermon would be “Fishermen Spot God Walking in Middle of Lake. Offer to Give Him a Lift.”

Today were looking at Jesus walking on the water - bonus were going to look at three different gospels as well. I didn’t say this would be the shortest sermon - just the fewest verses.

Review & Context

Review Last week

began John 6

Series titled “To whom shall we go?”

Everything in John 6 culminates in a short back and forth between Jesus and Peter (who is speaking for ALL the disciples)

Read John 6:66-69

Summarize John 6

Crowd following Jesus is growing exponentially because of Jesus’s miracles

Reaches a peak right after feeding 5000

People come from all over Galilee looking for Jesus

Jesus gives the bread of life discourse

John 6:35, 51 “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall not thirst… I am the living bread come down from heaven. If anyone eat of this bread he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

The crowds recoil at these statements - John 6:42 “Is this not Jesus whose father and mother we know”

Who does this guy think he is??

God. He thinks he is God.

Context

Last week we established the context of John’s gospel as primarily concerned with showing Jesus to be God

Not a teacher or a miracle worker. Not a revolutionary. Not a prophet. Not an example to human kind. God in the flesh!

He proves he is God. But they are not interested in a savior or being saved from sin and death.

John 6:1-15 -

Jesus was seeking solitude on the mountain by the sea of Galilee with the disciples

Crowds find him because He is wildly popular - healing, miracles, being combative with religious authorities

Hoping for a show or some sort of miracle

Wanted a Healing miracle or sign/wonder -

Varying expectations and self-interested desires for the Messiah

Full Belly

Fun Miracles

Freedom Fighter

Ultimately, expectations fall flat - Jesus is not interested in being an earthly King (John 6:15) He walks away.

We landed on this evaluation that the crowds and disciples make of Jesus after His Miracle

How we respond to Jesus shows us what we expect from Jesus

Crowds -

impressed, desire Jesus to be king V. 15

rightly understood that Jesus was from God - how else could he do such miracles?

Their response to perceiving that Jesus is the Messiah tells us how they view him and by extension - God

Who Is the Messiah?

Primarily about meeting the needs of the people

He wants to bring prosperity to Israel

A King with power and authority

Introduces us to a Transaction Based Relationship with God

Main - We exist to follow God’s laws and when we do that God blesses us.

This is the cycle that Israel was stuck in

By being God’s people and by following the rules they were in God’s favor. This entitled them to blessings.

Basically : We follow - you give us the stuff we need

This is a Small, Human view of who God is and what He is about - it’s not the character of God that we see throughout the scriptures either.

It’s easy to see how that the theocratic society of ancient Israel got it wrong. It’s harder to diagnose the way that we (the church) get this wrong today.

Battle for Bread is of deep concern to US - but far from our greatest NEED

The Savior on the Sea

Jesus walking on the water is right a famous event in scripture

Recorded in Matthew 14, Mark 6 and here in John 6

To get a whole picture of the event it’s helpful to reference all three accounts

Three separate accounts with interwoven meaning

The scriptures are ONE - one revelation written by God to reveal the Son to us!

When we do this, we get the following picture - this is the account from all three

The Event

Jesus perceived the crowds intent to make him king

He knows the hearts of men - Jesus is fully man AND fully God. He can discern what is in their hearts

Before the people can act of this collective desire though, Jesus heads them off.

He dismisses the disciples to the boat

Matt and Mark both tell us that Jesus sent the disciples away to the boat they came

Presumably he told them His plan

To dismiss the crowds

To pray on the mountain

To meet with them in Capernaum - maybe they think he’ll walk or catch a ride in a boat.

He dismisses the crowds and goes up the mountain to pray

Night Arrives but Jesus Doesn’t

Jesus is alone on the mountain

The disciples are rowing across the sea of Galilee

They have about 1.5 miles to paddle in total - not far

Matthew tells us at the fourth watch (3-5am) the disciples are STILL rowing

Why? The winds were pushing them out to the middle of the lake.

Geography makes for strange weather on Sea of Galilee

“Boiling water” and “White caps”

Disciples have been rowing for hours to no avail - scary situation

John records 30 ‘stadia’ - stadia is about 600 feet

Significantly off course

Jesus “Sees” The Disciples (Mark) - And Goes to Them

Jesus is on the mountain MILES away - he perceives because of his divinity

Middle of the night, almost morning, Jesus goes out to them.

How? He walks…

The Disciples See Jesus - And Panic

Howling winds, sea spray, rowing, it’s dark, you’re trying to survive - then you catch a glimpse of a figure out walking where you KNOW there’s no land.

Matt & Mark record that they Cried out - they screamed!

You would scream too!

Jesus calls out to the men in the boat “It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

They recognized Jesus because he doesn’t name himself - just “It’s me guys”

When you see something really unusual your mind tries to find a way to make it make sense.

You’re home alone and you think you see a shadow in the other room - “Oh, that’s just my coat hanging on the door.”

But the disciples had nothing for this one - no way to explain it away! That looks like Jesus walking on the water!

They think - ghost. It’s illogical but still something.

Peter goes one step further (pun) in Matthew - he does a double check

Peter Walks on Water

Peter asks Jesus to call him out onto the water with him. Jesus says “Come on with your bad self”

Peter walks out - makes it to Jesus - then is frightened by the wind a waves and starts to sink.

Peter Cries out - Jesus pulls him up, rebukes his lack of faith and they get into the boat

The Double Miracle

Two things happen Jesus and Peter get into the boat

The wind and waves stop

They immediately arrive at the shore - that’s right. The disciples were the first people to teleport

Three Observations - Three Gospels

Each gospel account, Matt - Mark - John include details that give us a picture of what Jesus is doing here by walking on water.

We should ask the question - Why? Why does Jesus do this? Why do the gospel writers include it?

The answer is revealed in each gospel and taken together they form this perfectly clear picture of Christ’s purpose in this awesome display of power.

“It is I” John 6:20

Jesus doesn’t say, “It’s me Jesus”. He says “It Is I”

This is not a phrase that Jews would use EVER - why?

Exodus 3:13-14

This phrase “It is I” is better translated “I am”. It’s is God’s name. God commanded the Israelites to hold His name in high esteem and never say it in vain.

Israel took this to an extreme and forbid the name to ever be uttered, even when reading a text of scripture so as not to disobey the command.

When Jesus says here “I am” - he is making a very clear statement - I am God

“Truly, You Are the Son of God” - Matt 14:32

This is the disciples response in Matthew to Jesus’s triple miracle (walking on water, calming the storm, transporting them to land)

It’s also a reference back to Matthew 8:23-27 where Jesus calms a storm the first time

but we will notice the disciples response to Jesus there is much different

“What sort of MAN is this, that even the winds and sea obey him?”

They have had a change of heart from the first storm to this one...

When Jesus calls out “I am” - they believe it. And their response is the right one to seeing God in the flesh

Last week when we looked at the feeding of the 5000, the crowds were thinking “This is the prophet” - they were rightly identifying Jesus as the messiah - but their response was all wrong

They were more interested in miracles and prosperity than in meeting God

They wanted what God could offer much more than they wanted God himself.

But in the boat this night, when the disciples see the Messiah for who he really is, what do they do? - they worship.

That’s the right response to a display of Jesus’s power.

“He Meant to Pass By Them” - Mark 6:48

“Pass by” in Mark has always stuck out to me and Dr. Steven Wade was the first to turn me onto this insight years ago in a seminary class

Pass by is an old testament reference here in Mark

In hebrew this word is - YABOR and it is used in several crucial places in the Old Testament

Exodus 12:12

The passover

God reveals himself and his power to Israel through judgement on Egypt.

Exodus 33:18-23

Israel has just rebelled and worshipped the golden calf while Moses was on the mountain receiving God’s law. Moses goes back up the mountain after seeing what Israel was doing and he pleads with God for mercy - he asks God to show him his glory.

I would but you cannot look at me and live. So I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand and I will pass by you and you can see my back (the train of my robe)

God reveals himself partly to Moses - so that Moses can bear witness about him to Israel

1 Kings 19:9-13

God’s prophet Elijah is in mourning, running from persecution, Israel has fallen away from the Lord.

Wind - Earthquake - Fire - whisper (thin silence)

The Lord reveals himself to Elijah in a whisper to encourage and direct him.

John 6:16-22

Jesus reveals himself to the disciples by walking on the water. By calming the storm. By calling himself “I am”.

But there is a subtle difference in this event from the OT events.

This is not a PARTIAL revelation of God - No

The disciples don’t get a passing glimpse or hear a whisper but the God of the universe get into the boat with them!

Colossians 1:15-20

English Standard Version Chapter 1

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Jesus comes to us the same way - with no desire to impress or wow you with the supernatural or miraculous. Not in lightning. No miracle healings. No voice from the sky. Not in signs and wonders. Not in secret revelation that comes to you in dreams. The last thing the the Lord desires is you attention because of miracles, and signs and wonders - why? because for the God of the universe, these things are small. It’s not His greatest desire and it’s not our greatest need.

Your greatest need is to know Christ and worship him as Lord because this leads to salvation. When we reduce Jesus to what he can provide for us in this life, then that’s ALL you get.

Make no mistake he does provide for us - even the lost - Matt 5:45

English Standard Version Chapter 5

For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

God’s provision is not a mark of salvation - worshipping him is.

The real and pure work of Christ is the work of redemption - saving sinners. That’s the miracle. That a holy God would stay his wrath for a sinful and wayward creation like us. That he would do so at the cost of his own son.

Anyone can look at stars and mountains and think “wow.” Anyone can be healed, or fed, or rescued from danger and be blown away - but that’s not real worship. That’s an exchange.

It’s not wrong to see the Lord’s hand in these things at all. Why else would he be so gracious but to induce worship and trust. The Lord delights to provide for his children.

John 20:29 “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Transaction Based vs Worship Based Relationship with God

Two Ways of Relating to God

Transaction Based

Foundation of my relationship with Jesus is what He provides

Quid Pro Quo / Pay to Play - I obey, I check the boxes, the Lord blesses me sometimes

Ticket to Heaven

Fix it Felix - kids, marriage, finances, relationships - the bible is a tool to make me a better person

Purpose and Being - I get peace, purpose, belonging, sense of well being,

Worship Based

Foundation of my relationship to Jesus is based on His character - who he is and what he has done

You’re response to God is based in the character you see him display on the cross, dying for a sinner like you!

He is your delight - God’s people are your family - His mission is your mission - You are a disciple and you make disciples.

Obedience is not a chore but a delight.

How do I diagnose this?

Ask yourself why you’re here this morning? Why go to the trouble? To feel better about your week? Check a box off as DONE?

What are your motivations for being obedient to God?

To avoid punishment or shame?

That God would make things go well in your life if you behave?

How do you fill your time during the week? When you have a spare moment, do you pray or read God’s word?

Maybe you’re waiting on God to write something in the sky to tell you what to do or where to go. You’re looking for a sign that God is real or that he loves you!

English Standard Version Chapter 11

29 When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.

Wake up! Jesus says the sign you get is Him! Jesus, His Word, His Church - these are the miracles you’re looking for. Right in front of you! See and hear and repent and believe on Christ!

If we fall into a transaction based relationship with God you have to realize - it’s NOT the gospel. It’s not GOOD NEWS.

God’s word is so true that simply by obeying it without worshiping God, you may still receive some benefit. You might be a better boss. You might have better behaved kids. You might feel a sense of purpose. People from false religions all over the world experience this every day.

But hear this, if you live God’s principles but fail to worship the prince of peace - your reward is in this life.

You may have a full belly and thriving business but your inheritance dies with you and there is no room prepared for you in God’s house.

Good News - if you’re here, in a transaction based relationship to God, there’s not some long path back. There’s no penance to be paid. Christ has paid it.

Jesus says,

English Standard Version Chapter 11

9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

This isn’t referring to bread or prosperity but to God’s salvation that He provides through Jesus. That’s your invitation today church.

Just turn and ask. The Father is waiting to hear your voice calling out. He wants to step into that boat with you. He wants to call you out to him on the waves. Will you ask him? Will you go?