He Came to Them on the Sea

The crowd wanted to make Jesus king, and He withdrew to the hillside by Himself (John 6:15). John now turns to the disciples. When evening came, they went down to the sea, got into a boat, and set out across the water toward Capernaum (John 6:16-17). Matthew and Mark tell us Jesus had sent them on ahead (Matthew 14:22-23) (Mark 6:45-46). John simply notes two things: it had grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them (John 6:17).

John 6:16-18 — Dark water, no Jesus in the boat

The same men who had passed out bread and fish to thousands that afternoon were now alone on a black lake. A strong wind was blowing, and the sea was getting rough (John 6:18).

There is no hint that they had disobeyed. They were in the boat because they were following Him. That needs saying, because many men assume that a storm means they took a wrong turn. Sometimes obedience rows straight into the wind, so that God gets the glory when He brings us through. Not one gust on that lake blew outside His decree (Psalm 148:8).

And notice that Jesus was not in the boat. He was not absent from them in knowledge or in care. Mark tells us He saw them straining at the oars (Mark 6:48). He was on the mountain praying while they rowed (Mark 6:46). A Christ who seems absent is not a Christ who is unaware.

John 6:19 — Walking on the sea

They had rowed about three or four miles when they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat, and they were terrified (John 6:19).

Their fear makes sense. Men do not walk on water. The Old Testament reserves that for God alone. Job credits God alone with spreading out the skies and walking on the sea’s high swells (Job 9:8). The psalmist remembers God leading Israel straight through the deep along a route no one could trace (Psalm 77:19). The waters that no man can tame are a floor under the feet of their Maker (Psalm 93:3-4).

That is who was walking toward them. The bread on the hillside showed the God who fed Israel in the wilderness (Exodus 16:15). The walk on the water shows the God who rules the sea (Psalm 89:9). John lays these two signs side by side and lets them speak.

John 6:20 — He told them who He was

Then Jesus spoke. He told them plainly that it was Him, and that they had no reason to be afraid (John 6:20).

On the surface, it was what any friend would say in the dark so that you know his voice. That is the plain sense, and we should not skip it. He did not leave them guessing. He named Himself and calmed them.

But notice what John has put in front of us. The words themselves were ordinary, the kind any man would use to say it’s him. What was not ordinary was the man saying them. He was standing on the sea, doing what Scripture says only God does. So the plain words in the dark came from the God who rules the waves, and that is why they settled the disciples’ fear.

And here is the comfort. The One who rules the sea did not come to terrify them. He came to them in the middle of their storm. Isaiah had promised that God stays with His people in deep water and that no flood will carry them off (Isaiah 43:1-2). The Lord who could have stilled the storm from the mountain chose to walk out into it.

John 6:21 — Brought to shore

Once they knew it was Him, they were eager to have Him aboard. And John tells us that the boat reached the shore they were heading for right then (John 6:21).

John says no more than that, and we should not say more than John. Mark adds that Jesus climbed in and the wind died down (Mark 6:51). John wants us to see that when Christ came, the crossing was over. The psalmist describes sailors at their wits’ end, crying out to the Lord, and the Lord quieting the storm and bringing them safely into port (Psalm 107:23-30). That is the pattern here. Their arrival was not the reward of good rowing. It was the Lord’s doing.

Christ did not need their boat, their oars, or their strength. He walked across the very water they were fighting. Yet He came to them, and He brought them where they were going.