Devotional - John 6:15-21 - Jesus Walks On The Water

Passage To Study:

John 6:15-21

[15] 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. [16] Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, [17] got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them. [18] Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. [19] 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. [20] But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” [21] Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.

What are the facts of the passage?:

Jesus perceives that the people were going to try and make Him King by force, so He departs to the mountain alone.
When evening came, the disciples go down to the sea, get in a boat and head toward Capernaum without Jesus.
A great storm rises up.
The disciples see Christ coming to them walking on the water, but they don't recognize Him and become afraid.
He reassures them and tells them not to be afraid. They receive Him into the boat.
Immediately, the boat was at the land.

What do those facts mean?:

Following through on the thought we put forward in the last couple of devotions, here we see Jesus remove Himself from people whose goals were not consistent with His Father's plan for them. Christ was here to obey the Father. Nothing else was acceptable to Him. He would stand for no deviation from the plan the Father had put into place.

The goal the people had was not necessarily a terrible one. In fact, it was quite an honorable one. What could possibly be wrong with making Jesus the King? How could that possibly be against the will of God? St certainly is hard to fathom, especially since the people involved seemed to ''mean well" in what they wanted to do. The Romans were the oppressors. They were evil and unjust. Certain God would want them out of the way? Way would this not be the right time and place - especially since they had a miracle-worker on hand!

All of these are excellent questions. I have no answer to them, not really. The only answer I have is straight from God's own mouth, so to speak. It simply was not, for reasons of His own, the time for Christ to assume the Kingship. That time will come, but not now!

How do those facts apply to my life?:

The time of God's will is a touchy matter. We want it now - but God sometimes wants us to wait. Waiting is not easy. But wait we must if we are to be in submission to the mend and will of God.

What should I do in response?:

I must be careful that God is God in my decisions and plans.

Day

Jesus Walks On The Water