John 6:19, commentary and pictures

After the feeding of the multitude the disciples left by boat while Jesus withdrew from the crowd that sought to make Him king, and when they had rowed about twenty-five or thirty furlongs they saw Him walking on the sea drawing near the ship and were afraid. They had spent many hours rowing in darkness through a violent storm against a fierce adverse wind, and though strong men accustomed to the water, all their rowing was futile and drove them off course. Jesus had watched them with tender care from the shore and came to them by miraculous power walking calmly and firmly on the storm-tossed waves, but they failed to recognize Him and mistook Him for a phantom foreboding death until His well-known voice identifying Himself turned their terror to joy. The mighty work reveals His divinity and the majesty of God who holds the winds and controls the waters, though unbelief explains it away as delusion. He came as a messenger of life rather than of death, teaching that when followers have labored until their strength fails they are to stop relying on their own efforts and trust Him, for personal faith in a personal Saviour brings spiritual union with Christ who is the Bread of life.

Setting After Feeding

The rowing about twenty-five or thirty furlongs and seeing Jesus walking on the sea belongs to what followed the feeding of the multitude, which the people regarded as a divine work identifying Jesus as the prophet foretold by Moses. After that miracle their conviction that He was the long-awaited Deliverer grew stronger, and they expected Him to set up an earthly kingdom for Israel that would break Roman power, provide for armies, and give the nation dominion. When the crowd sought to make Him king by force, He withdrew from them and the disciples departed by boat, and the appearance on the water comes in that departure.

The walking on the water stands together with the feeding with loaves and fishes and with Christ's declaration that He is the Bread of life, a declaration that caused some of His disciples to turn from Him. It came after the feeding with the loaves and fishes and before He told His hearers He was the bread of life.

Walking on the Sea

The disciples had rowed far from shore, about twenty-five or thirty furlongs, spending many hours rowing in darkness through a violent and furious storm against a fierce adverse wind that drove them off course. All their rowing was futile even though they were strong men accustomed to the water, and they were trying to reach the point where Jesus had promised to meet them. Their hearts failed with terror and they longed for the Master's commanding presence for safety, regretting that they had left Him. Jesus crossed the sea to the other side without a boat and came toward them by miraculous power on the night after the multitude was left. He walked calmly and firmly on the storm-tossed, white-capped waves and drew near the ship while it buffeted high running waves and spray dashed over it, tossing up and down and careening over the waves. His form was revealed by a flash of lightning as He stepped firmly on the white-capped billows.

The disciples failed at first to recognize Him and mistook Him for a phantom or spirit foreboding immediate destruction and death. Unspeakable terror seized them so that their grip on the oars fell powerless while they kept their eyes fixed on Him, with the boat rocking beneath them. They kept their eyes fixed on the figure and then cried out for help as He calmly advanced as though He would pass them. Jesus had not forgotten them or lost sight of them but watched over them with tender care from the distant shore, seeing their danger and reading their thoughts. He was determined not to let one perish, waiting until their ambition was subdued and they humbly prayed for help, with their unholy ambition quelled and their hearts subdued. His coming showed that they were not forgotten or left alone in their distress, and help came when their ambition was subdued and they humbly prayed.

When they recognized Him He turned toward them and calmed their fear with His well-known reassuring voice identifying Himself and telling them not to fear. Their apprehension left and their fear gave way to joy, the storm was forgotten, and they hailed Him with speechless joy as their Deliverer. The account also includes Peter's attempt to walk toward Him and its result, and the sudden stilling of the tempest with the boat's arrival at land. The verse reveals the majesty of God and His works, that He holds the winds in His hand and controls the waters and at one glance beholds the highest heavens and the midst of the sea. Though finite beings on the broad deep waters are mere specks in His sight, angels are sent from His excellent glory to guard the little boat, showing wonderful works far above human comprehension.

The event was sufficient proof of His divinity, though unbelieving people explained it away by reasoning that the disciples had been deluded, showing how unbelief denies the force of the miracle. The mighty work astonished those who heard about it and stirred curiosity about how He had crossed the lake. The disciples later faithfully recounted it to the wondering crowd in the synagogue as the explanation of how and when He had crossed. The verse records an earlier time when Jesus walked upon the water to rescue the disciples from death in peril on the sea. They later remembered it in another storm as proof that He had saved them in a like danger while wondering if He had now walked away upon the waves and left them to the tempest instead of saving them again.

Teaching and Application

As part of Christ's teaching in John 6, the rowing far out and seeing Jesus drawing near belongs to the lesson that mere outward connection with any church will not save a man, and that only personal faith in a personal Saviour brings the soul into spiritual union with Christ. As part of that same chapter presenting Christ as the bread of life, it belongs to the education that the Word of God is spiritual food, even His flesh and His blood, to be fed upon by taking it into the mind. To eat the Word in this sense means to be diligent students of the Word, understanding it, practicing it, and making its divine principles a part of life. John 6 thus defines the righteousness of Christ that must be accepted in order to have on the wedding garment and be accounted a fit guest at the wedding, reaching God's standard of character for the marriage of humanity with divinity. That fitness comes through surrender to God and a firm stand for Christ, rather than through presumption, measuring character by human ideas, and continuing in sin.

The willingness of the disciples to stop relying on their own efforts and trust Jesus, after struggling unsuccessfully until their strength failed, illustrates how His followers may labor until their strength fails and then entrust the work to Him. He pities their weakness and can accomplish what had seemed too difficult. Coming to the storm-tossed boat, He came as a messenger of life rather than of death, though His drawing near at first filled them with fear because they thought His appearance meant death was near. His well-known reassuring voice dispelled fear and gave hope and joy, changing despair into faith and hope, so that with His presence they no longer feared death.