2. Walking on the Sea John 6:16-27

3. Review Jesus and disciples had crossed the Sea of Galilee –Multitude followed on foot to be healed –Jesus taught and healed many Then He fed the multitude so they wouldn’t go hungry –The people then admitted that Jesus was the Prophet like Moses They decided to force Him to be their king –Jesus withdrew into the mountains alone, preventing their purposed action

4. Walking on the Water The incident where Jesus walks on the water is given in more detail in Mt 14:22-33 –Given in lesser detail in Mk 6:45-52 –Given least detail in Jn 6:16-21 Interestingly, even though recorded thrice, each author brings out different lessons –So we’ll look at all three accounts and see how they build upon on another We’ll also try to point out the various lessons to be learned

5. Mark’s account Mark 6:45-46 –Before Jesus goes to the mountain He told His disciples to take the boat and return to the other side He told the multitude to leave –He went to the mountain to pray alone Lesson: Don’t forget – take time to pray (Mt 7:7-8) –Easy to get caught up in the moment –Temptations are everywhere –Sometimes we should get away and spend time alone with God (Mt 6:6)

6. Mark’s account Mark 6:47-48 –When finished praying, He returned to the shore at a spot away from the multitude He saw the disciples straining to row –In the middle of the sea –With high winds at sea –At even (anytime after sunset, before dawn) Lesson: Sometimes the miraculous gets overlooked

7. Mark’s account Mark 6:49-50 –Jesus walks out to the boat arriving about the fourth watch 4 th watch was 3am to 6am –Let’s us know He had seen them in full darkness –Let’s us know how long Jesus spent praying –Let’s us know how strong the wind was »They only went halfway after about 8 hours »A strong, violent wind was blowing –Disciples were just men Got scared at a weird, unprecedented sight But they couldn’t see it was Jesus when He was near (Jesus saw them from the shore)

8. Mark’s account Mark 6:51-52 –After He gets in the boat, the windstorm immediately stops (another miracle) –And now the disciples are greatly amazed Walking on water was a clearly unnatural event But so was the feeding of the 5,000 –Lesson: Even the disciples could be hard- hearted They understood Jesus was Christ and Prophet But had not really fully grasped His deity Watch out for “hard hearts” in ourselves –E.g., some refuse to accept God could create the world in 6 days

9. Matthew’s account Begins with the same basic facts as Mark –Mt 14:22-27 Then adds an extra incident –Mt 14:28-29 –Peter has faith and wants to show his faith Perhaps challenging himself Starts well (he actually walks on water) Lesson: Faith needs challenges to grow –We should look for opportunities to do more

10. Matthew’s account Mt 14:30-31 –Doubts assail Peter How can he actually walk on water? What about the wind and waves? –Not a complete failure (he began to sink) –Lesson: We will all have setbacks as we try to grow »Don’t let them destroy your faith –Still enough faith to trust in Jesus to save him And Jesus does save him Lesson: –When we need Him, He is there (1 Pet 5:6-7)

11. Matthew’s account Mt 14:32-33 –The result is the same as in Mark –Matthew makes it clearer They worshiped Him –Understood Jesus was God Made a verbal confession of their belief

12. John’s account John 6:16-20 –Makes the miracles recorded in Mark clearer It was dark before the disciples began rowing –So Jesus seeing them struggling was certainly miraculous The distance they had made was 3-4 miles –So Jesus seeing them at that distance in complete darkness was certainly miraculous

13. John’s account John 6:21 –Adds another miracle Immediately they were at the other shore –Traveled the remaining 3-4 miles Lesson: Some miss this miracle or say it couldn’t have happened –Apparently willing to accept He had power to walk on water and calm the sea, but not to move the ship immediately across several miles –Is that even more hard-hearted than the disciples who didn’t understand the significance of the feeding of the 5,000?

14. Conclusion Many lessons to be learned when Jesus walked on the sea –The greatest lesson is to learn the deity of Jesus The disciples were hard-hearted, but even they got that message in the four miracles –Seeing them across distance, darkness, weather –Walking on water –Calming the wind –Transporting them the remainder of their journey –And we learn how much He cares for us Coming to them, allowing Peter to grow in faith, saving Peter, calming the wind, not making them row the rest of the way