THEN THEY WILLINGLY RECEIVED HIM

“When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take Him by force, to make Him a king, He departed again into a mountain Himself alone.  And when even was now come, His disciples went down unto the sea, and entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum.  And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them.  And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew.  So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid.  But He saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid.  Then they willingly received Him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.” (John 6:15-21).

The sixth chapter of the Gospel of St. John tells the story of the miraculous feeding of above 5,000 people when Jesus multiplied two small fish and five small loaves of bread.  We find that account in the first 14 verses of the chapter.  The last two thirds of the chapter contain Jesus’ great teaching on the Bread of Life.  Sandwiched in between these two sections, however, is the story that we quoted above.  Some may read over this story, thinking that they have read similar stories in the other gospels; but there is something profound contained in this account that we would do well to revisit. 

Immediately after the miracle of the loaves and fish, the people wanted to proclaim Jesus king; but He resisted this and removed Himself to a mountain to pray and commune with His Father.  It’s important to note that Jesus was not interested in being king over an earthly realm and leading a rebellion against the Roman Empire that was oppressing God’s people at the time.  His Kingdom was a heavenly Kingdom which was not of this world, and His message was one of repentance, not insurrection.  The people were too far from God’s will to recognize this.  Their image of the Messiah was nothing close to the one that the words of their prophets had proclaimed.  He was not sent to be a warrior-king, but the meek and lowly Lamb of God Who would be sacrificed to take away the sins of the world.

It was now getting late, and as evening was coming on, the disciples got into a ship and headed over the sea toward Capernaum.  St. Matthew’s account of this story in chapter 14 of his Gospel tells us that Jesus “constrained His disciples to get into a ship.”  This was more than a casual suggestion.  He compelled them to go on without Him while He sent the multitudes away.  Jesus often constrains us into situations and difficulties in life that we would never choose for ourselves.  The Lord uses those things to refine our character, but also to teach us valuable spiritual lessons that will serve us well as we walk with Him.  We often feel like the Lord has left us alone as we go through trials; but His eye is always on us, and His ear is always listening for our call.

One morning, when I was hurrying to get to my job at an appliance manufacturing plant, my van broke down at a traffic light at a busy intersection.  Nothing I did could convince the vehicle to start back up.  I was blocking the one lane leading to the plant, and everyone behind me was not very happy, I’m sure.  Realizing that the situation was out of my hands, I quietly submitted to whatever God wanted to do.  I then called my wife and asked her to come with our other car to jump start the van. 

By this time, traffic had slowed down since my shift had already started.  I had called my boss to let him know that I was going to be late so that he could have someone cover my job for a bit.  Soon my wife came in our other vehicle, and we jumped the van which started right up.  As we were working on connecting the jumper cables, a taxi pulled up in the lane beside us and the driver looked over at us and then moved on.  We drove both our vehicles home, and I parked the van in our drive until I could work on it to see what was wrong. 

As I was gathering my things to move them to our car, the same taxi that had pulled up beside us at the intersection pulled into our driveway.  The driver got out of it and came to our door.  When we answered the door, we were surprised to see a woman who we had been in fellowship with years ago standing there.  When we invited her inside, she began telling us that she was not in a very good place spiritually in her life; but when she drove through that intersection that morning and recognizedus, she was convicted in her heart and determined to come see us.  She told us that my wife’s face was shining as if she were an angel!  We had the great joy of sharing the words of Life with that lady that morning!  The lesson that we learned was invaluable, though: all things work together for good to those who love the Lord and who have been called according to His purpose.  God had a plan all along, we just needed to have patience to see it unfold.  Had I gotten upset over breaking down, or being late for work, or had my wife been upset for having to come out so early, that woman may have never seen the joy of the Lord in our faces.  She may have just kept driving and never found the help she needed.  When Jesus constrains us into situations in our lives that are uncomfortable, pay attention!  He may just be working out something miraculous that will bless others and benefit our walk with Him.

It was after dark when the disciples found themselves in heavy winds and a rolling sea.  Matthew uses the words, “the wind was contrary.”  I’m sure that we all have been in circumstances where it seemed like everything was working against us – like there were forces that were blowing contrary to the direction that we were trying to go, or the goals that we were trying to achieve.  Storms are an inconvenience anytime; but when they are working directly against us and slowing our progress to a crawl, they can be very discouraging.  That is when we need to remind ourselves that we serve a King Who is the Master of the winds and the waves!

When they had rowed about three or four miles, they spotted Jesus walking on the water in the fourth watch of the night (which was between three and six a.m.) and coming near to the ship.  It’s interesting to note that Jesus made better time on foot, walking on water, than twelve strong men did rowing against the wind! 

The disciple’s initial reaction was fear, and they cried out saying “it is a spirit.”  We, too, may be afraid initially when the Lord manifests Himself to us in some new way.  It is then that Christ challenges us to trust Him and believe that we can be like Him.  Jesus said, “He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father.” (John 14:12).  It is often difficult to receive the things of the Spirit because they are so contrary to our natural, carnal way of thinking.  Walking on water was certainly one of those things that the disciples had never considered was possible, but here it was showing itself as a new reality!  The Apostle John, who was there that night, later wrote, “As many as received Him [Jesus], to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” (John 1:12).  The disciples were faced with a choice: reject what logic was telling them was impossible, or receive the Lord and accept the fact that all things are possible with the Lord.  We, too, are faced with the same choice over and over in our spiritual journey. 

Jesus’ next words were astonishing.  He said, “It is I; be not afraid.”  Why was it that they need not fear?  It was because Jesus said “It Is I.”  Recently, I heard a minister who said that the Greek words that are translated as “it is I” in this verse are the same Greek words that in John 8:58 are translated “I am.”  In that verse Jesus is declaring to the Jews that He is the “I AM” referring back to when the Lord revealed His name to Moses at the burning bush when He said, “I AM that I AM.”  The message here is that Jesus is the abundant supply to our every need, and that we never need to be afraid.  We don’t have to rely on our own strength, wisdom, or abilities.  Jesus is willing to supply our lack if we believe.  He tells us that “I am your Helper, I am your deliverer, I am your strength, I am your healer, and I am your salvation!”  We just need to receive Him, and He gives us the power to become the sons of God.  Look at all the statements that Jesus makes that begin with the words “I am.”  It is never about what we lack in our lives outside of Jesus.  It is more of Jesus that we lack!  I don’t need more wisdom; I need to believe that Jesus is my wisdom!  I don’t need more spiritual power; I need to believe that Jesus is my power!  I don’t need more righteousness; I need to know that Jesus is my righteousness!  When we cry out to the Lord and say, “I need…” then He always answers with, “I Am…”

“Then they willingly received Him into the ship.”  God will never violate our free will.  Our progress in spiritual things is always the product of our willingness to receive Christ and every fresh revelation of Himself that He shows us.  This is what the scripture means when it says, “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18).  There were some of Jesus’ disciples who would not walk with Him anymore after hearing His words at the end of John chapter six (John 6:66).  They were unable to receive Him willingly because they considered His words to be “hard sayings.” (John 6:60).  There are times when the Lord speaks sweet, encouraging, uplifting things to us, and then there are times when He speaks hard sayings.  That is when we must trust in the Lord with all our hearts, and not lean on our own understanding.  God’s ways are far above our ways, and His thoughts above our thoughts!  There are times when we’re just not going to figure Him out, and we must trust Him that He knows best.

“And immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.”  When we are willing to receive the Lord and His grace in every new circumstance of our life, then, instead of everything being contrary to us, we find that we immediately arrive at the place where we needed to be in the first place!  Life’s trials can certainly slow us down – or even stop us outright; but when we are willing to receive the lessons that such challenges present us with, we will find that we quickly make up any loss that we incurred. 

“Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped Him, saying, Of a truth Thou art the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:33).  It is such experiences as these in our lives that bring out the pure praise and worship that the Lord so desires from His children.  At the end of the day, if we can look to heaven and say “Of a truth Thou art the Son of God,” then patience has had her perfect work, and the Lord has had His way in us.