The Sign of his Presence

Have you ever been lost and alone? Maybe the group you were with wandered off and you were in a strange place and didn't know where to turn. Or maybe you found yourself in a risky situation and experienced the proverbial deer in the headlights reaction? What is it that makes circumstances such as these worrisome? Fear is the common reaction. Fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or is a threat in some other way.

One thing to notice about this definition is that fear is NOT the danger itself, fear is the unpleasant emotion. Yeah, so you might be saying, but in today's study we will see that In Jesus' presence, we have no need to fear. Even in the face of danger, pain, or some other threat, with Jesus we can rely upon the sign of his presence to calm our fears.

Today we look at John 6: 16-21 which is a continuation of the account of the feeding of the multitude. The crowd was so impressed with what they had witnessed in the miraculous feeding, that they tried to compel Jesus to become the king of their political revolution. When Jesus saw what they were trying to do, He retreated further up into the hill country to spend time alone with the Father. He dismissed the crowd and He urged His disciples to get into their boat to journey toward Capernaum on the other side of the lake. It was a situation similar to what we might say was you guys take the car and go on back to town. I am going to relax here a while and I'll meet you there. So the disciples did as their teacher told them.

Let's look at what happens. We begin our study with:

John 6:16-18

16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. Darkness had already set in, but Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 A high wind arose, and the sea began to churn.

So the setting is the disciples went on back to the boat. When they got ready to shove off Jesus had not yet arrived so they did as he told them, they went on without Jesus. Let's look more closely at the setting:

• It is already dark. They can't see any farther than any of their portable light sources could shine light. They are on an eight mile by thirteen mile wide body of water that is known to become rough very quickly. They don't have Jesus with them.
• They shove off and a high wind arose. Kind of like our weather this past week would you like to be out in deep water in that kind of weather? So not only are they on the water, at night, in the dark, the high wind would have made any of the flame sources all but useless. They, most likely, were REALLY in the dark in the middle of a storm.
• The sea began to churn. Not only the winds, but the sea itself began to churn. This describes not just wavy conditions, but rather rough seas. One source notes that in rough seas the waves on the Sea of Galilee can get about ten feet high.

Does this sound like a situation that you would desire to be in?  So, even despite all of these fearful conditions, it was a dark and stormy night AND Jesus was NOT in their midst, the disciples did as they were told. Let’s at least give them credit for that.

They had just experienced the popular crowds come to Jesus, they had experienced the miracle of the feeding of all of the crowd, and presumably, they might have been rowing back to Capernaum with twelve baskets of leftovers. They also experienced the people trying to draft Jesus as a revolutionary king.  While they could have easily questioned Jesus' directive to row across the sea at night, they chose to do as they were told, literally trusting their lives into Jesus' guidance. It was one of the best things that they did thus far in their ministries.

• How does this scene depict the spiritual struggles we often face in life?
• Why might Jesus allow us to go through stormy situations where His presence seems absent?

Now let's look at a few of the interesting details.

In 1986 two fishermen discovered an archaeological find that has come to be known as the “Ancient Galilee Boat” in the muddy shore of the Sea of Galilee. Radiocarbon dating indicates the remains to be from 100 BC to AD 100, the correct time frame for Jesus' era. Just a bit smaller than a lifeboat on the Titanic which measured thirty feet by nine and half feet, the ancient boat is approximately twenty-seven feet long and seven and one-half feet wide. While it doesn't look like it could, these dimensions indicate that more than 50 people could be fit upon a boat of this size. The size of the boat would have been able to handle the disciples, the leftovers, and, perhaps, some additional travelers.

They were heading to Capernaum. This city was on the northwestern tip of the Sea of Galilee and served as the hub of Jesus’s ministry for a time. Mark records that the disciples wished to go to Bethsaida. Peter, Andrew, and Philip were from there. Peter’s mother-in-law lived in Capernaum and it may have been Peter’s ancestral home before moving to the adjacent fishing village of Bethsaida. It may be that the disciples planned to go to find lodging for the night in their hometown area. The disciples knew that the twin cities offered better accommodations for the night than the deserted area they’d been in earlier. 

The high wind was a headwind that prevented them from making headway against the storm. The seas began to churn, waves of 5 to 10 feet, high winds, and presumably rain, would have made it certainly FEEL scary – the proverbial dark and stormy night.  Fear would have been a natural reaction for many. But the disciples still had a lot to learn about trusting Jesus. Even after the miracles that they had just witnessed, their trusting obedience quickly turned to fear foul doubt in the middle of the dark and stormy night.

So let's see what next transpires.

John 6:19-20

19 After they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea. He was coming near the boat, and they were afraid. 20 But he said to them, “It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

They are some three to four miles into rowing into the sea. This would have been almost about halfway across the narrowest part of the sea, or less than a third of the way across the widest. 

So they are out and away from any shore. So here they are, the wind is blowing, the sea is churning, and they are working hard and not making any headway when they see someone walking towards them. Think about this. It was dark, it was stormy, the seas were rough and Jesus walks straight to the boat. Have you ever wondered how did Jesus know where to go?  Mark recorded that Jesus from His mountain retreat saw the plight of His disciples (Mark 6:48) and came to assure these men His power was greater than the untamed wind and angry sea. Jesus knew where they were. Jesus knew how to get to them. Jesus knew they were fearful. Jesus knew

that this would strengthen their faith.

The Greek word used for fear is based on the noun phobos, the source for our word phobia. Psychology has identified hundreds of phobias and they are grouped into five distinct categories: animals, natural environment (such as heights or thunder), medical injury or bloodshed, specific situations (such as flying) and the broad category of “other,” such as the fear of loud noises or drowning. Thus, the disciples could have experienced several categories of fear: “nature”—the wind and waves, injury or bloodshed, and “other”—the loud and boisterous wind and the real possibility of drowning in the storm. When this fear arose when they saw Jesus walking on the water and Matthew adds, “‘It’s a ghost!’ they said, and they cried out in fear” They feared this was a non-human impostor from the spirit world, definitely falling into the "other" category of phobias. 

Jesus, knowing of their difficulty, their circumstances, their location, and their fear, readily identified Himself to the disciples. They heard the familiar and reassuring voice of Jesus calling to them above the storm and were prepared to follow Him. Matthew recorded that after hearing Jesus’s voice, Peter asked to come to Jesus on the water. Jesus invited him, Peter took a few steps, but then grew even more fearful as he took his eyes off of Jesus and realized where he was. He began to sink. But Jesus reached out and rescued Peter from the waves and chided him for his loss of faith, the lesson being that when you had your focus on God you could do anything even walk on water. But when you doubted, feared, lost focus on God, you fell back into the world and your old fears. Scripture exhorts us hundreds of times not to give in to our fears. 

Jesus revealed His divine nature by walking on the water, but just as miraculous is what happened when He got in the boat. 

John 6:21

21 Then they were willing to take him on board, and at once the boat was at the shore where they were heading.

Here is a couple of miracles that I have never really taken note of before. John added that the disciples gladly welcomed Jesus aboard the boat. They had initially feared Him, thinking He was a ghost. But His voice and His actions toward Peter had convinced them of His identity. Thus, they invited Him to bring His calming influence to their fearful circumstance. Matthew stressed that once Jesus and the thoroughly drenched Peter boarded the sailing vessel, “the wind ceased”.

John tells us that at once, the Greek word, eutheos, meaning “quickly” or “without delay,” (a word used over seven dozen times in the New Testament, forty-two times by Mark alone) indicating that immediately when Jesus stepped on board the boat, it was at the shore where they were heading. Once again, the disciples saw the miraculous power of God in the actions of Jesus. 

So it's oh look, a ghost. No, it's Jesus! Jesus let me walk out to greet you. OK. UH OH! I am walking on water, in the middle of a storm! HELP! Come on Jesus and Peter, get in the boat. Wind stops and they are immediately at their destination. Miraculous indeed!

Some see this as a second miracle of the evening. Others see not a miracle of transportation but an example of the effect of the presence of Jesus—despite the long night and strenuous effort required to battle the strong winds and churning sea, once Jesus had come aboard and was present with them, it was as if the remainder of their journey passed without their noticing. Both the Old and New Testaments, and hopefully our own personal experiences, testify to the impact God’s presence can have on individuals in trying circumstances. Though the circumstances might not be diminished in intensity or severity, God’s holy presence makes navigating them possible. And of course, others suggest that by the time Jesus reached His disciples in the boat, they were unknowingly already near the shoreline so that all they had left to do was to land their craft. 

Matthew explained the reaction of the shaken disciples at the moment Jesus brought peace in the storm: “Then those in the boat worshiped him and said, ‘Truly you are the Son of God’”. The power of God was evident when Jesus could transport himself on the water, and when the wind and waves were subject to His authority. 

Our human fears may not dissipate at once, but we have the assurance our Savior will come to us at once and partner with us in the midst of our fears whether we sense His presence or not. The command not to fear is an imperative for modern disciples of Christ who live in a world of challenge. Just as Jesus focused on the needs of the disciples to assist him in accomplishing his divine ministry, and Peter focused on Jesus when he walked on the water (at least until he didn't), we need to have our focus on God and what the needs of God's plans are when we are fearful. We need to trust in the sign of his presence and know that God will make it work to accomplish God's plans.

Like our closing hymn, we need but to Trust and Obey.