John 6: 16-21
6:16 And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea,
6:17 And entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them.
6:18 And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew.
6:19 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.
6:20 But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid.
6:21 Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went
Verse 16.-17..Possibly going to Peter"s house in Capernaum.
This series of events found in two of the other gospels as well/thus we call that part of The Harmony of The Gospels. The events also are covered in Matt.14: 22-33 and Mark 6:45-52.
In Matthew"s gospel the events are a little different.Jesus sends the multitude away and then goes off into the mountains to pray. The deciples set off for Capernaum rowing a ship/large boat. They went about 25 furlongs.A furlong is 220 yds/1/8th of a mile.
I will be finishing this series of events from Matthew"s gospel.
Verse 24..They are rowing in the 4th watch of the night 3AM -6AM .
Verse 25 JESUS was walking on the water .They did not recognize Him.They thought He was a spirit or ghost.
Verse 27But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. What words that we all love to hear in the midst of our storms. Man can"t give us those words of assurance like Jesus can. Peter notices this Man who fed 5000, turned water to wine and who is now defying the laws of gravity by walking on the water.
Verse28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
Verse29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. Imagine"Jesus and Peter walking on the water. Just like Taz posted a little while ago"dancing with Jesus. We can do the unexpected when we are focused on Him and in His will. " Nothing is impossible to them that believe."
Problem is""our old human nature is not perfect.
Verse30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. Jesus would rather us to remain strong ,but he knows our frame is but dust and the hands of the loving Master reach down into the raging waters and pulls out our brother Peter. Of course Jesus admonishes him for his short lived faith.
Verse31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
We have no answer from Peter. And we have no answer either when we give up so easy on certain days.
Verse 14:32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
14:33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thouart the Son of God.
Yeah ".They are starting to get it. "Of a truth THOU ART THE SON OF GOD." And being God in the flesh He does not prevent them from worshipping Him.
Conclusion"There are many gems here as well. For me.;don"t lose focus on Christ Jesus. Nothing is impossible with Him. He can and does do the impossible. This happened after prayer. Why did He pray?John: 8 :29"I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him. "
Brother Chuck you remind me of a fine wine, you improve with age brother! Sometimes I wonder about how strong ones faith can be, we see even the apostles with Christ, the Son of God right before them and yet thier faith on occassion is not strong enough or wavers at times. I seriously wonder at times who has/had the greater faith, those who beleive without ever having actually having met Christ in the flesh or those who did?
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The Tazman aka Martin Price
Proud father of a Devil Dog
I was thinking last night after the study...that our faith is our greatest possession. Have a great day.School is out now.I just have to go back and cover up my computers. I hope Jimmy is doing good.Aaron is doing much better with his behavior. I thank God for that. He goes to a daily church camp. They are a no non sense type so I hope he doesn't get kicked out. My wife brought up an interesting point at a psychological staffing last week. She said ,"If the church is going to walk in those pro-life lines they better come up with some programs to take care of these special needs kids." I married a feisty one.
I appreciate your complimaent that you made this morning.It was probably the nicest thing anyone has said to me in a decade. Your a kind man Taz.
Brother Chuck
chuck- i've heard many preachers talk about Peter's lack of faith, but i look at things just a little different, i guess. i see Peter getting out of the boat, but where are the others? he is the only one that had faith enough to even move toward Jesus! i read a good book a while back titled-"if you want to walk on water, you must get out of the boat". it was about getting out of you comfort zone and stepping out on faith and doing what you feel the Lord leading you to do. God will take you out of your comfort zone if you give yourself over to Him. i have been taken so far out at times, i still don't know how i made it thru what God had me do ( i even had a chance to preach a few sermons at church, and for someone that's as shy as i USED to be, that's really out of the boat!). we need to have Peter's kind of faith-to go where Jesus is, and not wait for Him to come to us. others may not follow, but you will still be in the presence of Jesus. oh, and one more thing-i've looked for it and can find no place that says Jesus actually picked up Peter to carry him back to the boat. Peter walked back on the water with Jesus; even though his faith had dipped-he was still able to walk hand in hand with Jesus. i can't think of a better place to be!
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Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work ~Isaiah 54:16
Good point Knifemaker. Those condemning Peter are the ones with dry feet.
Chuck, Another great post and lesson. One thing I noticed in Luke's account was "Jesus would have passed them by", but they cried out to him. The Grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, but God will not save one who doesn't want to be saved. If we call out to him, he will save to the uttermost.
Jn. 6: 16-21 Jesus/Peter walk on water.
