Sermon
Jesus Walks On The Water
December 2, 2001
Pastor Donald Sheley

I'd like for you to take your bulletin, for in the bulletin are the notes for your sermon today. I'll not, as you know, be able to cover much of it, but at least it gives you the opportunity to know what I really wanted to say if I had time. If you're a guest with us today, we're delighted that you've joined with us. I met a number of new people at the last few services, and it's a joy to have new people with us constantly.

Our approach to our study of the Scripture is simply to go verse after verse, chapter after chapter, and we've learned that in that approach we can learn much of what the Scripture is trying to teach us. We have arrived in our study in the gospel of John in chapter 6 at verse 15. And if you'd like to take the pew Bible, I think it's around page 717. If you're using your own personal Bible it's John 6:15, or if you'd just like to use the notes that are printed for you in the bulletin. And I would suggest that you each have your notes. If you don't have any, just raise your hand and our ushers would be delighted to provide them for you, because they have so much more than what we're able to cover, and so you'll want to have them and take them home with you.

John says, "Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them. Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid. But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid." Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going."

Now Mark's record has little more detail to it, and so we'll read from Mark chapter 6. There's also a record of this event in Matthew chapter 14. But Mark says, "Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away. And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray. Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land. Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by. And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw Him and were troubled. But immediately He talked with them and said to them, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid." Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled. For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened."

Now, in verse 15 of John 6, just prior to the verses we read, it says, "Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone."

After the feeding of the five thousand, the Jews had owned Him with their lips as prophet, and they were ready now to crown Him as their king. Let me give you the background to the setting of their earnest efforts to try to make to Christ king. Throughout the ministry of Jesus, on 130 different occasions as recorded in the four Gospels, the subject is the kingdom of God. That was really what was on the heart of Christ. That's what He preached about. He came preaching the kingdom of God, but His concept of the kingdom was different than the concept that those to whom He preached had in their mind.

There's was a nationalistic concept of the kingdom. And here's where it came from: they dreamed of a day when they as a nation would become the prominent nation of the world, as it was during the kingship of David and Solomon. Of which, theirs were remarkable kingdoms. And it was the nation of Israel that dreamed the day would come again when God would restore that kingdom equivalent to what David and Solomon enjoyed, and they again would be the prominent nation and the world would come and bow before them. And so, their desire is, and their idea is, we want a king; and they see this man perform these marvelous deeds. And so they make only one conclusion: He's our king, and we'll force Him to be our king.

But now Jesus' concept of the kingdom was different. He makes it very clear. My kingdom is not of this world, my kingdom is within you. His was a spiritual kingdom where Christ is king, and when He rules in our hearts and lives, that's where His kingdom is. His kingdom is here. It's a spiritual kingdom, and He came here to set up that spiritual kingdom in all of our hearts - we who receive Him. So when He speaks of the kingdom, His message is different. And when He speaks to those who listen, they decide now is the time we want Him and we're going to force Him to be our king.

Now in our notes, dropping down a few lines: After the hunger of the crowd had been satisfied, Jesus immediately sent His disciples away before He dismissed the crowd. Now why should He do that? Well, Mark does not tell us, but most probably we have the explanation in John's account. John says that after the crowd had been fed, the effort, of course, which we've talked about to make Him king takes place; and that was the last thing Jesus wanted. It was that very way of power that once, finally, and for all, He had rejected at the time of His temptations.

Do you remember when Satan took Him out into the wilderness and tempted Him? One of the temptations, it says: Again, the devil took Him up on to an exceedingly high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory. And he said to Him, all these things I will give You, if You will fall down and worship me. And Jesus said to him, away with you Satan. Thus, Christ was not interested in their way of bringing in the kingdom, which was a nationalistic kingdom.

On down, So Jesus sent away His disciples, lest they too should become inflamed by this movement, and then He could calm the crowds and bid them farewell. Now the crowds have dispersed, the disciples have gotten into their boat and started their journey to the other side of the lake, and Jesus went up into the mountain to pray. Thick and fast the problems were descending upon Him. There was the hostility of those committed to their Judaistic faith, the orthodox people; there was the frightened suspicion of Herod, the ruler of Galilee; there were the political hotbeds who would make Him a nationalistic Messiah against His own will. And at this particular time there was many a problem on Jesus' mind and many a burden on His heart, so He goes away to pray.

Now I want to stop here for a moment. I think one of the great thrills of studying the Scriptures is taking out of the historical context some of the great truths that can apply to our lives. Here Jesus is under pressure. They're going to take Him by force if they have to. They're going to make a scene out of it. He knows that Herod is becoming more and more suspicious. He knows the hotbed up there in Galilee is cooking up a revolution. He knows all of this. What does He do? He immediately slips away for prayer. There's a marvelous truth in that.

Over the years, it's been my joy to read through the Bible and the New testament hundreds of times. For a number of years I made it my goal to read the New Testament through every week. And what I did, my prayer was always, dear Lord Jesus I don't want this just to be another occasion to reading; I want You to reveal to me a truth that I missed in all the times I read this, just speak to me.

I remember some years ago, as I was going through the Gospels, I was overly, just tremendously, impressed with the way Jesus handled sinners. He handled them with such graciousness. Here is this little lady caught in her act of fornication and sin and adultery, and everybody else wants to stone her, and Jesus' response is, neither do I condemn you. And I was so set back because I think sometimes we preachers, including me, have at times gotten too harsh with sinners. And maybe chase them out of the church, because we got so harsh. We don't like sin, but Jesus displayed such a love for sinners. He didn't like the hypocrites -- He didn't have time for them; they were two-faced people. But He loved sinners. That's who He liked to go have dinner with.

And I said after I went through that time, thank you dear Jesus; I hope this affects the rest of my life and preaching. May I have a tenderness toward sinners. And if you're a sinner today, I love you. Jesus loves you.

On another occasion, reading through, and I came to this same situation: every time Jesus is up against the wall, it seems to us, He's got pressure coming on. He's got to make some decisions about who are going to be His followers. Remember, He goes to the mountain to pray over who He's going to select for His disciples. When Jesus is under pressure or at a great time of decision, He always slipped away for prayer. Now my natural reaction is, and I'm sure it's yours, once something comes up we want to solve it immediately. We're going to react. We're going to get our mind going. We're going to think. There's got to be a solution to this, and we immediately put it into operation.

I've learned in the last few years when I know the pressure is on and I've got some real decisions to make, I head for my prayer room. Now that sometimes varies. This old building, as you know, was a supermarket and around the supermarket there was a catwalk, and in that catwalk were all the heaters and the plumbing and all the electricity. I decided when we moved into this place I was going to select one of those catwalks as my place of prayer. So way up here in the catacombs I've got a prayer place. And even though this place could be full, it's totally quiet. But I've learned when the pressure is on get out of the scene for the crowd, and head for the prayer room.

Now that can be practical for you folks too. Some of you are businessmen, some of you are raising families, and sometimes the pressure in the home gets cooking; and if you start reacting, sometimes it comes out in anger. If you just say, look at, I'm going to do what Jesus did. I'm going to go to the bedroom and close the door and stay here until I get this thing resolved in my own heart. Then I get the mind of Christ and I get at peace with myself and I know what God wants me to do, then I go out and handle the situation. I'll tell you, it'll change everything. It really will.

So Jesus goes to the mountain to pray. Now it's interesting, because this will come into the story here in just a moment. Historians tell us that this event took place probably in about the middle of April. And they can so date it that they say it was the time of the full moon. And when you understand the Sea of Galilee, it's long; it's about thirteen miles long, but at the widest point it's only about four miles. So remember, Jesus had left Capernaum, gone over to this spot to be alone, and all the these people trace Him right around the lake top. They meet Him over here and that's where He feeds them. So He's told the disciples to go back to Capernaum, He'll meet them there.

But the Sea of Galilee is very, very small. So Christ is up here on the slopes, over here, and He can see on that moonlit night; He can see those ships out there. You can see across that lake. It's so small. He's up there praying, but as the story unfolds they're out there beating those waves with their oars trying to make it to the other side.

Now let's come back to our story. I'm at the top of page 3. "Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them."

Now slip down just a few lines. John says nothing of the reason for the embarkation. He simply tells of the journey. He mentions the coming darkness, which is understandable. But it is not easy to see why he tells us that "Jesus had not yet come to them." They hardly expected Him to come walking on the sea, as their subsequent terror shows. And so probably, as Westcott, Westcott is a great theologian of the past, he writes: "Jesus had directed the apostles to wait for Him, at some point on the eastern shore on their way to Capernaum, but not beyond a certain time."

So here's what I'm suggesting: what Jesus said to these -- I'm going to calm these crowds down and I'm going to send them on their way and I want you to take off, but when we get to a certain point up here along the lake, I want you to stop there and wait for Me because I'll walk over there then we'll take the rest of the journey down the seashore to Capernaum.

Now most likely, when they arrive Jesus is not there. He's not come to them so they continue on rowing towards their destination. That's the reason why Mark puts that, I think, in there. Jesus had not arrived. He's still in prayer and He's still taking care of the crowds.

Now our text says that the disciples got into their boat. We've talked about the Sea of Galilee as not being a large body of water, and there are some considerable mountains close by which can cause strong winds squalls. Now let me explain. I'll draw you an imaginary picture. Here's the Mediterranean Sea, and here's the seashore. We have the Gaza Strip down here, and this is Palestine. It's not very wide. It's not very long. It's not a big piece of ground. But here's the Mediterranean and then we have mountain Herman, and then dropping down 640 feet below the sea level of the Mediterranean, is this little Sea of Galilee. In fact, if you journey on down the Jordan River and get to the Dead Sea it's about 1300 feet below sea level.

So what happens is you get a turbulence stirring out here in the Mediterranean, it crosses over Mount Herman, slips down on those mountain slopes and immediately starts churning the waters of Galilee. It comes off the Mediterranean. They can't see it coming; it's those winds whipping up, finally up over Mount Herman, down on the little lake, and all of a sudden - that little lake could just the churning immediately. It's caused because of the way the wind flows in that area.

So it says that the disciples are there and they started their journey at dusk, and they rowed until approximately 3 AM at dawn. One of the writers says it was in the fourth watch of the night that Jesus came to them. So let's get acquainted with the Jewish timetable. The first watch of the night is from 6 PM to 9 PM. The second watch is from 9 PM to midnight. The third watch is from midnight to 3 in the morning, and the fourth watch of the night is from 3:00 on, till sunrise. So somewhere after 3 AM in the morning - and they've been out there now, if they started at dusk they've been out there probably nine hours beating those oars and those waves of the storm. And then, it happens - Jesus comes to them walking on the water.

Page 4 and 5 of our notes: I put this in here because I find this a fascinating thing. This event had many interesting and many false interpretations as theologians have attempted to explain away the miracle. You know folks, I've never understood why preachers can't preach miracles and believe in them with all their heart. Sometimes it's the preachers who do their best to do away with the miracles. You know if they don't believe the Bible, why do they get into the ministry? Why don't they be a taxicab driver? Do something else. If you don't believe in medicine, why be a doctor? If you don't believe in the Bible, why be a preacher? But the greatest problem in the church is these smart theologians who get real smart and do away with the miraculous in the Bible. Tragic.

One theory claims that there were stones in the water and since Jesus was walking close to the shore, He was walking on the stones. I have a question. If the water was that shallow, why did Peter sink? Right? I don't know how anybody can come up with that kind of an explanation: Jesus was just walking on the rocks by the seashore.

Now another explanation translates the word 'on', as found in Matthew and John, as 'around'. It's a preposition, so they're claiming that Jesus walked around the lake. He walked on the seashore. Now I give the explanation of one of the theologians, but drop down to the bottom of the page. The problem in translations, it's much like we use words differently. Let's go to the bottom of the page. It says, and Mr. Barclay he gives us the Greek translation, and you can read it there in Greek, the Greek preposition 'epi' is rather like our English word 'on'. The basic meaning refers to one thing being on top of another, though it is not impossible to use it of being close by.

Thus, if you say I live on Fourth Avenue, you really mean that your house is beside Fourth Avenue. You do not mean that your house is in the middle of the avenue. But we use the word 'on' when what we're really trying to say is my house is beside the avenue, but we don't say it that way. We say my house is on Sneath Lane. Do you get it? But the fact that 'on' may have more than one meaning doesn't bother us. The context shows us which one is meant. And we cheerfully use the word in which ever way the need of the moment dictates. So the fact that in John the expression means by the Sea, does not give its meaning here. We must take the context into account.

It is relevant also to see what the other accounts say, and we find that Matthew has exactly the same expression as John. And in his case, the subsequent request is of Peter that he may be bid to come walk on the water. We're going to talk about Peter walking on the water next Sunday, but he says come on the water. Now he employs the same preposition, epi, on, which makes it very plain that in this story the meaning is on the sea and not on the seashore.

You say, Pastor, why did you bring that up? Because here's what smart theologians often do, they will take a word; you see this has a double meaning, on or beside, and because they don't want it to mean on they tell you it means beside. They accept a translation which fits their interpretation or their rejection of the miraculous. What I'm saying is the word as used means He was on the water not on the seashore. Okay?

I'm in the middle of page 5. There is one interesting aspect of this story which Matthew states: "Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side." The word 'made' could also be translated 'compelled' to compel by force or persuasion or to constrain. The picture Scripture paints here is one of disciples who did not want to go to the other side, but who were persuaded, even compelled, by our Lord. He deliberately sent them out into the lake. Now here's the observation that I want to make here: is that the disciples were doing exactly what Jesus told them to do. They are out in the middle of the lake in the darkness, fighting the storm; all because Jesus told them to do so.

Let's skip the next paragraph and drop to the bottom of the page. Please know that just because life takes on some storms does not suggest that we are out of the will of God! No let's stop here for a minute. You say, why did you put that there Pastor? Because there's a popular preachment broadcasting across today in religious television that tells you once you become a Christian everything is hunky-dory. (Congregation laughs) There are no more problems. You're going to have material prosperity. There's no reason to be sick. If you are, you're subnormal spiritually. But look at, these guys are out fighting the storm in the middle of the lake. And Jesus - they're doing the will of God. They're in the middle of the will of God.

And the reason why I say this is because as your Pastor I meet this frequently. I had a situation last evening in our evening service. A little lady came in and I saw her weeping before the service, through the service, and I knew that she had a storm that was really boisterous in her life. It had to be because of the way she was reacting. I didn't learn about it till afterwards. But what she was wrestling with is somebody told her that what was happening is because she was out of the will of God. That's sad. Because if I'm taught theologically that every time something goes wrong and the storms in life come there's something wrong with the spiritually, that's going to rock my faith every time something happens.

And it's not that way folks. Just because we are Christians we're not protected from all the rest of the issues of life and all the pressures and all the heartaches. We just have Jesus to help us through them. That's all the difference. But anyone who tells you that you're out of the will of God because you've got storms in your life, don't believe it. Those disciples were exactly where Jesus told them to be in the middle of that storm, and they kept rowing till Jesus arrived.

Now let's go to page 6. The disciples were in trouble because they had steered their boat into contrary winds at the direction and in obedience to Christ. Those of us who have decided to follow Jesus are going to be sailing our vessel into the winds of life. We are going to have our troubles and our trials. But obey anyway.

Moses would never have felt rejected by a complaining people if at the burning bush he had decided not to obey Jehovah. Daniel would never have had to face the lion's den if he had not decided to be faithful to God. Just think of how much persecution Paul would have avoided if he had just stayed in Tarsus. But then these men would have never known the refreshing winds of the Holy Spirit flowing through their lives. Yes, following Christ will take us into some fierce storms, but the rewards are even greater.

Put your notes down. Where's Jesus all this time? Praying. Sitting up there on the slopes. It's a moonlit night and He sees all that's taking place. He sees that little boat bobbing in the waves; because on a moonlit night, in April, in Palestine, looking out over that small body of water, He knew exactly what those disciples were wrestling against. Now remember, we're trying to learn spiritual lessons from these. The Bible tells us that Christ ascended on high. He's our great High Priest. He ever lives to make intercession for us. And as our great High Priest, he's touched with the things that touch us. Now I don't forget that when I'm in the middle of a storm. Then the storm's going to be easier because I know that my great High Priest is interceding on my behalf, and He always knows what I'm involved in. He knows the path I've taken. He knows that I'm not perfect but I'm trying to be obedient, and in my obedience I'm caught up in one of these great wind squalls. But as Jesus was sitting there watching the whole thing from the seashore, so my great High Priest ever maketh intercession for me, and He does for you.

Here's the second lesson I want you to learn: in the middle of your storm just remember the great High Priest is praying. Don't forget that. And if I know He's praying for me, I know in His time He will come to me. Now I'm sure those disciples, they had beat those waves for nine hours; they were dead tired, they wished He had come in six hours. But He waits till His time.

And there's another thing I've learned about God, I call Him my cliffhanger God. He always waits till I get clear out there on the cliff - you know what I'm talking about. And you wish He had come an hour earlier, or a day earlier, or a month earlier, but He knows all the time I'm out there fighting those waves. But He comes in His time, but He will come. That's interesting, isn't it?

Now, there's one other lesson, I've got to hurry, and that is those disciples did not become afraid because of storm. Now get this. They had been out on that lake many, many times. They knew those squalls came and they knew they were unexpected. All they did was just keep rowing. And I can see old Peter out there saying, buckle down, pull down the sails, we're going to make this, and all of them are really rowing his hard as they can. They had to do that frequently. This was commonplace. So they're not afraid of the storm, but when you read the text their fear comes in the way Christ comes to them in their storm. Now that is interesting.

And I have wrestled with this . I say, Lord Jesus, I started early in the week, I want to understand this spiritual truth. Those disciples were not afraid of the storm, but they were afraid of the way You came in the storm. What's the spiritual lesson I can learn from that? There has to be something deep, something that I can grab a hold of. And I'm still wrestling with it, but I'll put it out so you can wrestle with me.

Old Philip Yancy, a great writer, wrote a book entitled "Finding God in Unexpected Places". It's a fascinating book. What he does: he takes the situations of life, we are found in the middle of that situation, and God begins to work the situation, but we don't understand the way He's working it out. And it's usually the way He starts working it out that brings us the greatest fear. And so I'm saying, God, if it's not the storm that creates the fear - it's the way You come to us in unexpected ways in the middle of the storm that creates the anxiety.

You say, how does that work out Pastor? I think what happens is I'm caught in this turbulent time of life and I'm perceiving that somehow it's going to work out this way. I've got it all worked out in my mind. But I keep rowing, I keep my course. That's what they did, so I do the same thing. And then I see certain things start happening. This event takes place, and this person does something, and this situation happens, and all of a sudden it's what's happening around me that creates the fear; and what it really is is God coming on to the scene moving the situations so He can bring me to the conclusion. And it's usually the way God begins working in my life, in the middle of the storm, that brings the greatest fear.

I had a lovely lady at the first service come to me and she said, Pastor. Her husband was there, she said, would you talk with us after the service? I said, sure. She said, I now understand, but I haven't for a long time. She said, my husband and I have been married for eight years and we prayed for a child. And she said, when we learned that our child was on the way we rejoiced. And she said, then after five months I lost the child by miscarriage. She said, I was devastated. She said, God, why do You do things like this? And she said for a long time, because I didn't understand the workings of God in my storm, it affected my faith deeply. In fact the husband said, sometimes I still even wrestle with it. But out of that dealing with God certain physical problems, health problems, were corrected and now God has blessed them with child after child. But it was God arranging - resolving some areas that they weren't aware of physically, and to them it was a tragedy the way God came walking in on the scene. But now they realize after looking back, He doeth all things well.

So listen: and I still haven't gotten to the bottom of it. You're probably going to think about this; how does God...how does my reaction of fear when I'm in the middle of my storm and God starts His way coming to me, and He starts doing what needs to be done in order to get into my boat. Because once He's in the boat the storm's over. Right? That's exactly what happens.

So I made it my prayer this week - because I still haven't gotten to the bottom of this truth. I just share it with you. I say, God, help me to be spiritually sensitive enough that when I'm in the middle of the storm and You're starting to come to me in different ways, and You're starting to work out the details so that this thing is all going to come out right, help me not to be fearful when You're at work. Help me to have a trust. And I know why those disciples were troubled when Jesus came on the water, because it told us; their hearts were hardened because of unbelief. Ahh! So I'm saying, God, give me a heart to trust You that any way You want to resolve my storm - if You want to come walking on the water, if You want to come skipping across the clouds -however You want to do it, dear God, help me to be sensitive enough to You so I become thrilled with the fact You're involved.

See now, if those disciples would've had faith; old Peter said, look at He's walking on the water. He's coming to us. - now he was part of...Say hey, we've got a ghost coming on here. Do you see the difference? It's a world of difference in reaction. Faith says, God, I don't know why this happened, and I don't know why this event has come, but I know soon this storm - and You're at work and this storm will come to an end. And when it does, and You're in the boat, everything is okay.

It's a fascinating story, isn't it? Join me next week and we'll think some more about it because we're going to get into Peter walking on the water next week. We criticize that guy for falling, but just remember folks, he's the only man other than Christ in history that ever walked on water. Don't criticize him for falling. Let's talk about him next week, shall we? I can't next week, you're going to have the singers. It will be the week after that, the 16th.

Father, these stories are more than history to us. They are truth, and from these stories we can learn some wonderful things that help us as individuals. We learned today that when we are confronted with pressure, go to prayer. We've learned today that storms are just a part of living. They're not a part of faith's failure. We've learned today that when we're in the middle of the storm, You're sitting on the slopes watching the whole thing take place. You're our great High Priest. And we've tried to learn today to recognize You at work in the midst of our storm and not to fear or become troubled at the way You're working everything out.

Now that's a hard one for us to learn. I'm trying to learn that too. But help me to learn it, dear Jesus, to be at peace, be not afraid, You're at work. And for people today, for those who sit in this congregation, some of them are going through turbulent times personally; some of them have been out of work, some of them are wrestling with health issues, some of them with family issues, some of them with marriage issues. The storm is raging. And I know that. Somehow, Jesus, make Yourself very real to these folks today; that You're in charge, You're interceding on our behalf and in Your time You will come to us, enter our life and all will be at peace. Help us to learn that. In Jesus' name, amen. You've been a wonderful crowd to preach to. God bless you.