Bible Study series: John 6:16-24. This is a nature miracle, done by the will of the Father.

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John 6

At that link, I provide a lot more commentary.

In this post, links are provided for further study.

Let’s begin.

Scripture: John 6:16-24

¹⁶ When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, ¹⁷ and getting in a boat, they were trying to cross the lake to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come for them. ¹⁸ The lake was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. ¹⁹ When they had gone twenty or thirty stadia, they saw Jesus walking on the lake, and when he got close to the boat, they were afraid. ²⁰ But he said to them, “It is I! Do not fear!” ²¹ Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was on the shore where they were going.

²² The next day, the crowd standing on the other side of the lake saw that no other small boat was there except one and that Jesus did not go with his disciples, but his disciples had departed alone. ²³ Other boats came from Tiberias near the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had blessed it. ²⁴ When therefore the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got in boats and went to Capernaum, looking for Jesus. (John 6:16-24)

Comments

Review:

THE EIGHT SIGNS OF JOHN’S GOSPEL
	Sign	Verses
1	Turning water into wine	2:1-11, the “beginning” or “first” sign
2	Healing an official’s son	4:43-54 “the second sign”
3	Healing a disabled man at a pool	5:1-15; see 6:2, where many healings are summarized
4	Feeding 5000	6:1-14 (see 6:14 and 6:26)
5	Walking on water	6:16-21
6	Healing a man born blind	9:1-12 (see 9:16 and “such signs”)
7	Raising Lazarus from dead	11:1-44 (see “signs” in 11:47 and “this sign” in 12:18)
8	Rising from the dead	20:1-31 (see many other signs in 20:30)
Source: BTSB, p. 2141, slightly edited. I repost it here because this is cyber-space, so we don’t need to worry about cost per printed page.

And here is the purpose of the signs, without a complicated commentary:

³⁰ So then Jesus performed many other signs in front of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. ³¹ These were written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30-31)

The signs are for us to believe that he is the Messiah (or Christ), the Son of God. They are signposts, which point to Jesus and his glory. Evidently, Messiahship and Sonship are interchangeable here.

Now let’s go verse by verse.

16-18:

Capernaum was not so far from Bethsaida, and the disciples got in a boat by a prearranged plan made with Jesus (“Jesus had not yet come for them”). The scene was evening, and then after some rowing it had become dark. So things became potentially dangerous, but never fear, Peter, Andrew, James and John were fishermen (Andrew was probably a fisherman). They were experienced with storms that whipped up, because the lake sat in a bowl with hills surrounding it, so the winds came down the hills with strong force.

A “Jesus boat” was found in the mud on the shore of the Lake of Galilee. It could hold twelve men. Please google it.

Concerning the darkness, Carson writes: it “may also be symbol-laden: as in 3:2; 11:30, the darkness of night and the absence of Jesus are powerfully linked” (comment on vv. 16-18).

Borchert agrees: “Darkness may describe not only the setting but also the disciples’ theological situation as they entered a boat and headed from the east side across the lake to Capernaum on the northwest side (6:17)” (comment on 6:16-19a)

On the storms hitting the Lake (or Sea) of Galilee, Carson states the following about the geography and weather patterns: “The Sea of Galilee lies about six hundred feet [182.88m] below sea level. Cool air from the south-eastern tablelands can rush in to displace the warm moist air overt he lake, churning the water in a violent squall” (comments on 16-18).

19-20:

A stadion (plural: stadia) was about 605 feet or 185m. They had gone three or four miles or 4.82 to 6.42 km. Then, during the storm, Jesus walked on the water. And as he got closer, they became afraid. Then he reassured him. In Greek he literally says, “I am!” but most translations go with “It is I!” or some other variation. In this context, he is merely identifying himself, as the man healed of blindness did in identifying himself (John 9:9). See vv. 34-35, below, for the first of the I AM saying where he does allude to the I AM of Exod. 3:14.

21:

The disciples were wanting to take him into the boat because he reassured them that the figure walking on the water was indeed the Lord. They left behind their fear and actually brought him into the boat.

John seems to portray next part of the story as a miraculously accelerated speed to reach the shore, while Matt. 14:22-27 and Mark 6:45-52 do not have this (apparent) miracle. So we have these choices: (1).. Either this is a miracle which Matthew and Mark omit; (2).. Or John compressed the time, and Matthew and Mark end their versions with the wind stopping, without narrating how and when they got to shore.

Remember: the fact that a Gospel omits one or two details, while another Gospel includes the detail or details do not add up to a contradiction, but a difference, and a difference ≠ a contradiction. In fact, a difference ≠ an error. The Gospel authors had the freedom to include or omit data points as they saw fit, as they were inspired by the Spirit. They were not androids.

Please see the links and the simple addition at the end of the previous pericope (pronounced puh-RIH-koh-pea) to put things in perspective. Postmodern critics fish around for differences and then tell the world that the Bible is full of errors. They take things too far without understanding how ancient biblical narratives work. The critics are part of their own times, and I encourage everyone to see them for who they are and not take their jack-hammer analysis seriously.

Jesus fulfilled this passage. Yahweh (the LORD) alone can be lifted up by the waves.:

22-24:

These complicated verses add up to these details: (1) the crowd remained (literally “stood”) on shore where the disciples had departed from. (2) They learned or recognized or saw that Jesus had not left with the disciples on the previous evening. (3) The disciples had left without Jesus. So where was Jesus? (4) Other boats arriving from Tiberias came to shore, presumably rowed or sailed by other people. (5) They landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread blessed by the Lord. (6) Then the crowd observed or found out that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there where the miracle feeding took place. (Maybe they thought that the place was also blessed and Jesus and the twelve disciples would remain there to soak up the atmosphere, but of course if this was their thinking, they were wrong, but I’m only speculating.) (7) They got in the boats (or got back in their boats) and left for Capernaum, looking for Jesus.

They did not see the miraculous walking on the water, probably because it was done when it had already been dark.

This is a transitional pericope or section, and now we have the crowds looking for Jesus, but what was their motive? To be disciples or to get more food?

Jesus answers this question himself in the next pericope. Then he delivers a long teaching full of symbols.

GrowApp for John 6:16-21

1.. The boat got to the destination in a hurry. God wants to work miracles that get you to fulfill his plan for your life. How has he done this for you? Tell your story.

RELATED

14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels

12. Eyewitness Testimony in John’s Gospel

4. Church Fathers and John’s Gospel

3. Archaeology and John’s Gospel

SOURCES

For the bibliography, click on this link and scroll down to the very bottom:

John 6