Luke 16:19-31 (New International Version)
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23In hell,[a] where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'
25"But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'
27"He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, 28for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'
29"Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'
30" 'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
31"He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "
Psalm 97 - 98
Psalm 97
1The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice;
Let the many islands be glad.
2Clouds and thick darkness surround Him;
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
3Fire goes before Him
And burns up His adversaries round about.
4His lightnings lit up the world;
The earth saw and trembled.
5The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the LORD,
At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
6The heavens declare His righteousness,
And all the peoples have seen His glory.
7Let all those be ashamed who serve graven images,
Who boast themselves of idols;
Worship Him, all you gods.
8Zion heard this and was glad,
And the daughters of Judah have rejoiced
Because of Your judgments, O LORD.
9For You are the LORD Most High over all the earth;
You are exalted far above all gods.
10Hate evil, you who love the LORD,
Who preserves the souls of His godly ones;
He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11Light is sown like seed for the righteous
And gladness for the upright in heart.
12Be glad in the LORD, you righteous ones,
And give thanks to His holy name.
For He has done wonderful things,
His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.
2The LORD has made known His salvation;
He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.
3He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
4Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth;
Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.
5Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre,
With the lyre and the sound of melody.
6With trumpets and the sound of the horn
Shout joyfully before the King, the LORD.
7Let the sea roar and all it contains,
The world and those who dwell in it.
8Let the rivers clap their hands,
Let the mountains sing together for joy
9Before the LORD, for He is coming to judge the earth;
He will judge the world with righteousness
And the peoples with equity.
1The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice;
Let the many islands be glad.
2Clouds and thick darkness surround Him;
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
3Fire goes before Him
And burns up His adversaries round about.
4His lightnings lit up the world;
The earth saw and trembled.
5The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the LORD,
At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
6The heavens declare His righteousness,
And all the peoples have seen His glory.
7Let all those be ashamed who serve graven images,
Who boast themselves of idols;
Worship Him, all you gods.
8Zion heard this and was glad,
And the daughters of Judah have rejoiced
Because of Your judgments, O LORD.
9For You are the LORD Most High over all the earth;
You are exalted far above all gods.
10Hate evil, you who love the LORD,
Who preserves the souls of His godly ones;
He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11Light is sown like seed for the righteous
And gladness for the upright in heart.
12Be glad in the LORD, you righteous ones,
And give thanks to His holy name.
Psalm 98
1O sing to the LORD a new song,For He has done wonderful things,
His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.
2The LORD has made known His salvation;
He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.
3He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
4Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth;
Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.
5Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre,
With the lyre and the sound of melody.
6With trumpets and the sound of the horn
Shout joyfully before the King, the LORD.
7Let the sea roar and all it contains,
The world and those who dwell in it.
8Let the rivers clap their hands,
Let the mountains sing together for joy
9Before the LORD, for He is coming to judge the earth;
He will judge the world with righteousness
And the peoples with equity.
The Panic After the Picnic
The twelve apostles are quite amazed at what has just happened- somehow, Jesus has taken five little loaves of bread and two little fish, and changed them into food for a crowd of around 20,000 people. They still cannot figure exactly how Jesus did it- but they know they collected twelve baskets full of leftovers. It is a picnic never to be forgotten.
The crowd reacts by immediately connecting Jesus with the Prophet predicted in the book of Deuteronomy, and gripped with a strong case of Messianic Fever, they seek to make Jesus King. But Jesus will have none of that- Jesus knows it is not time for that- so while it was still daylight, He tells the disciples to get into the boat and head across the Sea of Galilee on a journey that should take a couple of hours- Jesus says He will join them later- and then He sends the crowd away and He goes up further up on the mountainside to pray.
That starts one of the longest nights ever for the twelve apostles- perhaps the longest until Jesus’ arrest. Soon after setting sail, they suddenly find themselves in a horrendous storm of powerful winds and raging waves. They struggle to get their tiny boat across the Sea, and they find themselves in a panic after the picnic[i].
Today, what can we learn as we watch the apostles panic right after the most amazing picnic in all of history? What do we learn as we watch Jesus arrive on the scene? Let’s go to the text and see.
First, please note that it’s essential for us to Get the Story Straight. The account of this amazing sea journey is found in three of the four gospels, and it gives a great opportunity to see how the writers emphasize different details of this story in order to accomplish the overall purposes of their gospels. When we started our study of John, we looked at his stated purpose over in John 20.31, “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” We also know from John that, according to John 21.25, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” So the gospel writers had plenty of material to choose from, and John, writing probably 60 years or so after this happened, still has a vivid memory of this. Yet he chooses, under God’s inspiration, to leave out certain details that Matthew and/or Mark include. But keep in mind that it seems as if John writes thinking that we have read either Mark or Matthew.
All three of the writers place this as coming on the very night that Jesus had just fed the 5000 men plus their wives and children- a crowd of perhaps 20,000 people. But it’s only in Matthew and Mark that we learn the reason they are in the boat sailing across the Sea is because Jesus commanded them to do it. We also learn from both Matthew and Mark that the disciples are so frightened when Jesus comes to them, they think they see a ghost.
It’s only Matthew that talks about Peter getting out of the boat and walking on the water. It’s only Mark who makes the comment that the apostles didn’t understand about the picnic miracle they’d just witnessed; and it is only Matthew that tells us they worshipped Jesus.[ii]
So if we put it all together, here’s the picture of what happened. Jesus wants to be alone and pray, so He tells the apostles to head to the other side of the Sea and promises to meet them there. Jesus then dismisses the crowd, and goes up on the mountainside to pray- and off go the apostles. Unfortunately, they run into this storm, not an unusual event on the Sea of Galillee, since it sits some 700 feet below sea level, and the the trigger for the storm is the wind blowing down from nearby Mt. Herman, soaring some 9000 feet. They struggle for at least 8 hours- until they see someone or something coming to them, walking on the water! They think they see a ghost- but when He gets very close, they realize it is Jesus. He tells them, “Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."
Peter is so excited that he jumps out of the water and walks towards Jesus; yet when He realizes what he thinks about what he is doing and takes his eyes off Jesus, he begins to sink only to be rescued by Jesus. When the two of them get into the boat, the sea immediately becomes calm- and suddenly the boat arrives at shore. The apostles are amazed and confused, yet compelled to worship.
Quite an amazing event. So What Does John Want Us to Learn? He does supply fewer details; Marks account is 50% longer Matthew’s account is twice as long. Yet, only John includes the large segment of teaching that follows that Jesus gives on His being the bread of life such that more than one scholar suggests it almost interrupts the “bread of life” teaching. So what is John’s emphasis? Why does he include it?
Scholars make several interesting points. For one thing, while the rest of chapter six clearly builds on the picnic, the panic at sea is never mentioned again by John. It’s never referred to at all, either by Jesus or the apostles. It’s never mentioned in the apostolic preaching in Acts as one of the mighty works. But clearly, because it is in the writing of Matthew, an accountant who probably didn’t care much for sailing in the first place, and in the reflections of a hardened seaman like Peter that we find Mark writing for us, as well as John, another seaman, it stuck in their mind- and why not? How do you forget an 8 hour ordeal like this- and especially Jesus defying the laws of nature by walking on the water, by enabling Peter to walk on water, by calming the sea, and then by bringing about some sort of time-warp as the boat immediately reaches its destination.
So, why did John include this? I believe John Piper is right when he says the clue is John’s statement that “Jesus had not yet joined them.” John writes that anticipating the fact that we know Jesus will be with them. Pick it up in verse 16. 16When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. 18A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough.
So what is the point? Jesus is absent from them- and there is a terrible storm. John tells us three things about it: it is dark, the waters are rough, and Jesus is not yet with them.
What is it about darkness that bothers us? Why do noises always seem louder in the dark? Why do our imaginations always run the wildest when it is dark? Why are we jumpier when it is dark? Why are children afraid of the dark? The problem with the dark – and I know this is profound and will shock you- the problem with the dark is that we cannot see- and what bothers us the most is not the known, but the unknown. So all our fears and anxieties and worries and uncertainties are heightened when it’s dark. In the dark, the apostles don’t know which way they are going or how they are going to get there. They cannot see the waves that are coming and lifting their boat and then dropping it like a toy..
That’s when John drops in the line, “Jesus had not yet joined them.” They find themselves afraid in the dark – because Jesus is not yet with them.
Plus there is a storm. The storm is outside of their control. The storm with its blowing winds and raging waves suggest to us circumstances that we find ourselves in that are absolutely out of our control. They keep rowing, rowing, rowing- they row for 3 miles or so- and for nearly 8 hours- not getting anywhere- totally unable to do anything about the storm.
Let’s face it- at heart, a lot of us are control freaks. We like to be in control. We like to control our surroundings. As Richard Phillips puts it, we want life to be the controlled environment of a shopping mall. Think about it- when we are in a shopping mall the temperature is always the same, it never rains, and we pretty much know just what to expect. Except on rare occasions, we are usually perfectly safe when we are in a shopping mall. We can find food and clothing there. And usually, even if we go to a totally new mall we’ve never been to before, we can predict ¾ of the stores that are going to be there. But we are uncomfortable when none of the surrounding seem familiar.
Here’s what is significant: When Jesus is absent, they are terrified by the darkness and the storm. When Jesus is absent, there is uncertainty. When Jesus is absent, fear takes over and imaginations run wild. But then we read: 9When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified. 20But he said to them, "It is I; don't be afraid." 21Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.
Now having read the other gospels, we know that they had gotten in the boat while it was daylight- and now it is 3 AM in the morning. They’ve been rowing and battling the wind, and have gotten nowhere. They are scared – even the fisherman among them. They cannot see anything. The tiny ship is tossing around, when suddenly, they see a figure- and in their state of fear, believe they have seen a ghost.
When Jesus arrives He speaks to reassure them- “it is I”- “Don’t be afraid” and I suspect John almost is writing with tongue-in-cheek when he says, “they were willing to take Jesus into their boat.” Both Mark and Matthew tell us, the sea became calm. When Jesus is present- everything is calm.
And then, again, in some kind of a time-warp, they find the boat reaches their destination where they are heading.
So what is the main point? If you were here last week, you will remember that we said there is no situation in life that Jesus is not sufficient for. That’s reaffirmed for us here: Jesus is sufficient for any situation. Given the incredible display of His miraculous power as Jesus Walks on Water, as Peter Walks on water, as Jesus calms the sea and as Jesus speeds the boat’s arrival, what situation are we likely to find ourselves in that Jesus- the Lord of nature- is not sufficient for?
So why did Jesus do this? Why did Jesus send them into the storm? This storm is not an accident- Jesus didn’t say, “Oops, shouldn’t have sent them out there.” This storm is the plan of God for their lives. It is for the apostles- a secret storm, as it were- in which they alone are allowed to experience first-hand an incredible display of Jesus’ power. God uses this storm to give to His apostles whom He is training special insight into His presence.
Jesus grew their vision for ministry through feeding the 5000 men with their families; now Jesus is growing their faith for all of life through this storm. J. C. Ryle puts it this way: “Trial… is part of the diet which all true Christians must expect. It is one of the means by which their grace is proved, and by which they find out what there is in themselves. Winter as well as summer, cold as well as heat, clouds as well as sunshine – are all necessary to bring the fruit of the Spirit to ripeness and maturity.”[1]
Now we see that Jesus’ presence is sufficient to see them through the picnic and he panic.
Why is that so? What is about The Power of His Presence that means so much to John?
The crash of the economy over the last year and a half has been a tough blow to the health and wealth prosperity preachers. I heard one of them say recently that now, “This is a time for renewed faith. If you have faith, you will achieve your dreams.” Why, we just need to dream bigger. Of course, Isaiah 43 points us to the biggest problem with the health and wealth or prosperity gospel. These are familiar but encouraging words.
But now, this is what the LORD says—
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
The 12 apostles had faith, but I doubt their dream was to be in a life-threatening storm on the Sea of Galilee.
They are in this situation because they are demonstrating their faith through obedience.
Where is Jesus? Watching them from up on the mountainside and praying for them, according to Mark’s gospel. Jesus knows about the storm, He knows about their fears, He knows about their desperation, and He lets them fight the storm for 8 hours.
But Jesus also has a perfect sense of timing- He knows just how long to let them fight the storm. He knows they fear for their lives- but He is also praying for them. Then Jesus steps in and supernaturally intervenes in their lives.
But notice something about John’s telling of the event- something he doesn’t mention- that when Jesus got in the boat that the waters became calm. He does emphasize that somehow they immediately arrived at their destination; but why not the calming of the water? For John, the emphasis is the presence of Jesus- and He will walk on water –a stormy, raging sea- to be with us.
And the fact is that the only ones who get to see it and experience are the apostles. The crowds do not. This is a miracle just for the twelve.
As followers of Jesus, it is our privilege to get to see more of Jesus- and if you will, have more of Jesus- than the world around us. Will see next week that many of Jesus’ superficial followers who got the free picnic will walk away from Jesus- they were not privileged to see Jesus walk on the water and realize how He supernaturally intervenes in our lives.
The crowd that had been present earlier that day did not get to see the incredible display of Jesus’ power. As one writer puts it,
· “They can’t say, ‘Yes, I know Jesus, my Creator, is walking with me because He has PROVEN it to me through things like storms on the Sea or storms in my finances.’
· They can’t say, “I don’t worry like I used to because my Lord has brought me through some of the most impossible situations that I could’ve imagined; so I know I can trust Him.’
· ‘The crowds don’t get this personal saving God drawing near to them in times of distress and comforting them by His presence.
· They don’t get to learn that following Christ may be difficult, but it’s worth it because He is worth it and He is faithful.
· While in this passage it might look like the disciples have a rougher time because the crowd is not traveling by boat, the reality is that Jesus is their reward and their anchor.”
That’s why John writes all this- to draw the readers to not settle with being part of the crowd, but to rather place our faith in Jesus Christ.
For anyone who is a believer, God has already supernaturally intervened in our lives. He’s already taken us who are sinners- who are spiritually dead in our sin, and made us alive in Christ Jesus. Friends, if somehow we every think that there was anything in us that made God save us, then we do not understand how horrible our sin is and how radical the cross is.
Now, if God is capable and willing to supernaturally intervene in our lives through salvation, He is also more than capable and willing to intervene in our lives on an everyday basis no matter what situations we face. That was the point of Isaiah 43; that’s the hope that Romans 8.28 and following make clear. 28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. And what is that purpose? 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.
Now let’s face it, at the time of certain events in our lives, we cannot always see what God is doing. You’d think as we got older it would get easier, but let’s be honest, up close, the print may be hard to read even though we are older. We have to step further and further back to read it. God’s desire is not to make our lives easy and always pleasant, though we experience much from God’s blessing us; His purpose- His desire- is to make us like Jesus.
So What About Us?
Unbelievers: look at the evidence
19th century social commentator Thomas Carlyle, who walked away from Jesus during his college years, once wrote, "God sits in heaven and does nothing."
As the apostles rowed, rowed, rowed their boat that night, I wonder if there were moments when they thought God is sitting in heaven doing nothing; or that Jesus is somewhere doing nothing, when in fact God was at work in that storm growing their faith and Jesus was looking out over that lake and praying for them.
God uses the storms of life to draw us as His children closer to Him than we ever imagined and we can look back in amazement at the intimate fellowship He provides.[iii]
While Thomas Carlyle was babbling his social theories, another Scotsman, John Paton, was leaving a prospering inner-city ministry and heading off to the New Hebrides island called Tanna in the South Pacific to share his faith among people who were known cannibals.
Paton’s wife died just a few months after arriving on the island, not long after the birth of their son, who also died. Paton’s life was in constant danger; he had to hide from angry tribesmen from time to time who sought to kill him. Sometimes he was aided by one group on the island, other times by another group on the island, and he was never really sure who to trust. Here’s one of those occasions that he writes about when he was hiding in a tree, at the mercy of an unreliable chief, as hundreds of angry natives hunted him for his life. He writes, “Being entirely at the mercy of such doubtful and vacillating friends, I, though perplexed, felt it best to obey [by hiding as the chief told… (me). I climbed into the tree and was left there alone in the bush. The hours I spent there live all before me as if it were but of yesterday. I heard the frequent discharging of muskets, and the yells of the Savages. Yet I sat there among the branches, as safe as in the arms of Jesus. Never, in all my sorrows, did my Lord draw nearer to me, and speak more soothingly in my soul, than when the moonlight flickered among those chestnut leaves, and the night air played on my throbbing brow, as I told all my heart to Jesus. Alone, yet not alone! If it be to glorify my God, I will not grudge to spend many nights alone in such a tree, to feel again my Savior's spiritual presence, to enjoy His consoling fellowship. If thus thrown back upon your own soul, alone, all alone, in the midnight, in the bush, in the very embrace of death itself, have you a Friend that will not fail you then?”[2]
Have you ever had a time like that- a time of sweet fellowship with our God and Savior in the midst of the storm?
Friends, as we row, row, row our boats through the picnics and the storms of life, let’s not panic, but rather trust Him deeply as we enjoy the journey- trusting Him in the storms to be watching and praying- so that our faith will grow and He will be glorified.
[1] J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John, 3 vols. (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1999), 1:101.
[2] p. 200, Autobiography
[i] As George Hutchinson, who often worships with us, writes, “It is not unusual that upon the back of sweetest refreshments and manifestations of Christ the people of God meet with a stormy and sharp exercise.”
[ii][ii] yet they were amazed. It seems they might have had trouble processing all that Jesus was doing- because this is the fifth sign that we find in John’s gospel. First there was the turning of the water into wine; then there was the healing of the little boy who was dying; then the healing of the man who had been paralyzed for 38 years; then the feeding of the 5000 men plus their families; and now, Jesus walks on water. The apostles are struggling to process everything. But despite that, Matthew tells us about the response of worship that they have.
[iii] Maybe this was all part of what Peter was reflecting on when he writes in 1st Peter 1:6-9: “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”
The crowd reacts by immediately connecting Jesus with the Prophet predicted in the book of Deuteronomy, and gripped with a strong case of Messianic Fever, they seek to make Jesus King. But Jesus will have none of that- Jesus knows it is not time for that- so while it was still daylight, He tells the disciples to get into the boat and head across the Sea of Galilee on a journey that should take a couple of hours- Jesus says He will join them later- and then He sends the crowd away and He goes up further up on the mountainside to pray.
That starts one of the longest nights ever for the twelve apostles- perhaps the longest until Jesus’ arrest. Soon after setting sail, they suddenly find themselves in a horrendous storm of powerful winds and raging waves. They struggle to get their tiny boat across the Sea, and they find themselves in a panic after the picnic[i].
Today, what can we learn as we watch the apostles panic right after the most amazing picnic in all of history? What do we learn as we watch Jesus arrive on the scene? Let’s go to the text and see.
First, please note that it’s essential for us to Get the Story Straight. The account of this amazing sea journey is found in three of the four gospels, and it gives a great opportunity to see how the writers emphasize different details of this story in order to accomplish the overall purposes of their gospels. When we started our study of John, we looked at his stated purpose over in John 20.31, “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” We also know from John that, according to John 21.25, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” So the gospel writers had plenty of material to choose from, and John, writing probably 60 years or so after this happened, still has a vivid memory of this. Yet he chooses, under God’s inspiration, to leave out certain details that Matthew and/or Mark include. But keep in mind that it seems as if John writes thinking that we have read either Mark or Matthew.
All three of the writers place this as coming on the very night that Jesus had just fed the 5000 men plus their wives and children- a crowd of perhaps 20,000 people. But it’s only in Matthew and Mark that we learn the reason they are in the boat sailing across the Sea is because Jesus commanded them to do it. We also learn from both Matthew and Mark that the disciples are so frightened when Jesus comes to them, they think they see a ghost.
It’s only Matthew that talks about Peter getting out of the boat and walking on the water. It’s only Mark who makes the comment that the apostles didn’t understand about the picnic miracle they’d just witnessed; and it is only Matthew that tells us they worshipped Jesus.[ii]
So if we put it all together, here’s the picture of what happened. Jesus wants to be alone and pray, so He tells the apostles to head to the other side of the Sea and promises to meet them there. Jesus then dismisses the crowd, and goes up on the mountainside to pray- and off go the apostles. Unfortunately, they run into this storm, not an unusual event on the Sea of Galillee, since it sits some 700 feet below sea level, and the the trigger for the storm is the wind blowing down from nearby Mt. Herman, soaring some 9000 feet. They struggle for at least 8 hours- until they see someone or something coming to them, walking on the water! They think they see a ghost- but when He gets very close, they realize it is Jesus. He tells them, “Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."
Peter is so excited that he jumps out of the water and walks towards Jesus; yet when He realizes what he thinks about what he is doing and takes his eyes off Jesus, he begins to sink only to be rescued by Jesus. When the two of them get into the boat, the sea immediately becomes calm- and suddenly the boat arrives at shore. The apostles are amazed and confused, yet compelled to worship.
Quite an amazing event. So What Does John Want Us to Learn? He does supply fewer details; Marks account is 50% longer Matthew’s account is twice as long. Yet, only John includes the large segment of teaching that follows that Jesus gives on His being the bread of life such that more than one scholar suggests it almost interrupts the “bread of life” teaching. So what is John’s emphasis? Why does he include it?
Scholars make several interesting points. For one thing, while the rest of chapter six clearly builds on the picnic, the panic at sea is never mentioned again by John. It’s never referred to at all, either by Jesus or the apostles. It’s never mentioned in the apostolic preaching in Acts as one of the mighty works. But clearly, because it is in the writing of Matthew, an accountant who probably didn’t care much for sailing in the first place, and in the reflections of a hardened seaman like Peter that we find Mark writing for us, as well as John, another seaman, it stuck in their mind- and why not? How do you forget an 8 hour ordeal like this- and especially Jesus defying the laws of nature by walking on the water, by enabling Peter to walk on water, by calming the sea, and then by bringing about some sort of time-warp as the boat immediately reaches its destination.
So, why did John include this? I believe John Piper is right when he says the clue is John’s statement that “Jesus had not yet joined them.” John writes that anticipating the fact that we know Jesus will be with them. Pick it up in verse 16. 16When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. 18A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough.
So what is the point? Jesus is absent from them- and there is a terrible storm. John tells us three things about it: it is dark, the waters are rough, and Jesus is not yet with them.
What is it about darkness that bothers us? Why do noises always seem louder in the dark? Why do our imaginations always run the wildest when it is dark? Why are we jumpier when it is dark? Why are children afraid of the dark? The problem with the dark – and I know this is profound and will shock you- the problem with the dark is that we cannot see- and what bothers us the most is not the known, but the unknown. So all our fears and anxieties and worries and uncertainties are heightened when it’s dark. In the dark, the apostles don’t know which way they are going or how they are going to get there. They cannot see the waves that are coming and lifting their boat and then dropping it like a toy..
That’s when John drops in the line, “Jesus had not yet joined them.” They find themselves afraid in the dark – because Jesus is not yet with them.
Plus there is a storm. The storm is outside of their control. The storm with its blowing winds and raging waves suggest to us circumstances that we find ourselves in that are absolutely out of our control. They keep rowing, rowing, rowing- they row for 3 miles or so- and for nearly 8 hours- not getting anywhere- totally unable to do anything about the storm.
Let’s face it- at heart, a lot of us are control freaks. We like to be in control. We like to control our surroundings. As Richard Phillips puts it, we want life to be the controlled environment of a shopping mall. Think about it- when we are in a shopping mall the temperature is always the same, it never rains, and we pretty much know just what to expect. Except on rare occasions, we are usually perfectly safe when we are in a shopping mall. We can find food and clothing there. And usually, even if we go to a totally new mall we’ve never been to before, we can predict ¾ of the stores that are going to be there. But we are uncomfortable when none of the surrounding seem familiar.
Here’s what is significant: When Jesus is absent, they are terrified by the darkness and the storm. When Jesus is absent, there is uncertainty. When Jesus is absent, fear takes over and imaginations run wild. But then we read: 9When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified. 20But he said to them, "It is I; don't be afraid." 21Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.
Now having read the other gospels, we know that they had gotten in the boat while it was daylight- and now it is 3 AM in the morning. They’ve been rowing and battling the wind, and have gotten nowhere. They are scared – even the fisherman among them. They cannot see anything. The tiny ship is tossing around, when suddenly, they see a figure- and in their state of fear, believe they have seen a ghost.
When Jesus arrives He speaks to reassure them- “it is I”- “Don’t be afraid” and I suspect John almost is writing with tongue-in-cheek when he says, “they were willing to take Jesus into their boat.” Both Mark and Matthew tell us, the sea became calm. When Jesus is present- everything is calm.
And then, again, in some kind of a time-warp, they find the boat reaches their destination where they are heading.
So what is the main point? If you were here last week, you will remember that we said there is no situation in life that Jesus is not sufficient for. That’s reaffirmed for us here: Jesus is sufficient for any situation. Given the incredible display of His miraculous power as Jesus Walks on Water, as Peter Walks on water, as Jesus calms the sea and as Jesus speeds the boat’s arrival, what situation are we likely to find ourselves in that Jesus- the Lord of nature- is not sufficient for?
So why did Jesus do this? Why did Jesus send them into the storm? This storm is not an accident- Jesus didn’t say, “Oops, shouldn’t have sent them out there.” This storm is the plan of God for their lives. It is for the apostles- a secret storm, as it were- in which they alone are allowed to experience first-hand an incredible display of Jesus’ power. God uses this storm to give to His apostles whom He is training special insight into His presence.
Jesus grew their vision for ministry through feeding the 5000 men with their families; now Jesus is growing their faith for all of life through this storm. J. C. Ryle puts it this way: “Trial… is part of the diet which all true Christians must expect. It is one of the means by which their grace is proved, and by which they find out what there is in themselves. Winter as well as summer, cold as well as heat, clouds as well as sunshine – are all necessary to bring the fruit of the Spirit to ripeness and maturity.”[1]
Now we see that Jesus’ presence is sufficient to see them through the picnic and he panic.
Why is that so? What is about The Power of His Presence that means so much to John?
The crash of the economy over the last year and a half has been a tough blow to the health and wealth prosperity preachers. I heard one of them say recently that now, “This is a time for renewed faith. If you have faith, you will achieve your dreams.” Why, we just need to dream bigger. Of course, Isaiah 43 points us to the biggest problem with the health and wealth or prosperity gospel. These are familiar but encouraging words.
But now, this is what the LORD says—
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
The 12 apostles had faith, but I doubt their dream was to be in a life-threatening storm on the Sea of Galilee.
They are in this situation because they are demonstrating their faith through obedience.
Where is Jesus? Watching them from up on the mountainside and praying for them, according to Mark’s gospel. Jesus knows about the storm, He knows about their fears, He knows about their desperation, and He lets them fight the storm for 8 hours.
But Jesus also has a perfect sense of timing- He knows just how long to let them fight the storm. He knows they fear for their lives- but He is also praying for them. Then Jesus steps in and supernaturally intervenes in their lives.
But notice something about John’s telling of the event- something he doesn’t mention- that when Jesus got in the boat that the waters became calm. He does emphasize that somehow they immediately arrived at their destination; but why not the calming of the water? For John, the emphasis is the presence of Jesus- and He will walk on water –a stormy, raging sea- to be with us.
And the fact is that the only ones who get to see it and experience are the apostles. The crowds do not. This is a miracle just for the twelve.
As followers of Jesus, it is our privilege to get to see more of Jesus- and if you will, have more of Jesus- than the world around us. Will see next week that many of Jesus’ superficial followers who got the free picnic will walk away from Jesus- they were not privileged to see Jesus walk on the water and realize how He supernaturally intervenes in our lives.
The crowd that had been present earlier that day did not get to see the incredible display of Jesus’ power. As one writer puts it,
· “They can’t say, ‘Yes, I know Jesus, my Creator, is walking with me because He has PROVEN it to me through things like storms on the Sea or storms in my finances.’
· They can’t say, “I don’t worry like I used to because my Lord has brought me through some of the most impossible situations that I could’ve imagined; so I know I can trust Him.’
· ‘The crowds don’t get this personal saving God drawing near to them in times of distress and comforting them by His presence.
· They don’t get to learn that following Christ may be difficult, but it’s worth it because He is worth it and He is faithful.
· While in this passage it might look like the disciples have a rougher time because the crowd is not traveling by boat, the reality is that Jesus is their reward and their anchor.”
That’s why John writes all this- to draw the readers to not settle with being part of the crowd, but to rather place our faith in Jesus Christ.
For anyone who is a believer, God has already supernaturally intervened in our lives. He’s already taken us who are sinners- who are spiritually dead in our sin, and made us alive in Christ Jesus. Friends, if somehow we every think that there was anything in us that made God save us, then we do not understand how horrible our sin is and how radical the cross is.
Now, if God is capable and willing to supernaturally intervene in our lives through salvation, He is also more than capable and willing to intervene in our lives on an everyday basis no matter what situations we face. That was the point of Isaiah 43; that’s the hope that Romans 8.28 and following make clear. 28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. And what is that purpose? 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.
Now let’s face it, at the time of certain events in our lives, we cannot always see what God is doing. You’d think as we got older it would get easier, but let’s be honest, up close, the print may be hard to read even though we are older. We have to step further and further back to read it. God’s desire is not to make our lives easy and always pleasant, though we experience much from God’s blessing us; His purpose- His desire- is to make us like Jesus.
So What About Us?
Unbelievers: look at the evidence
19th century social commentator Thomas Carlyle, who walked away from Jesus during his college years, once wrote, "God sits in heaven and does nothing."
As the apostles rowed, rowed, rowed their boat that night, I wonder if there were moments when they thought God is sitting in heaven doing nothing; or that Jesus is somewhere doing nothing, when in fact God was at work in that storm growing their faith and Jesus was looking out over that lake and praying for them.
God uses the storms of life to draw us as His children closer to Him than we ever imagined and we can look back in amazement at the intimate fellowship He provides.[iii]
While Thomas Carlyle was babbling his social theories, another Scotsman, John Paton, was leaving a prospering inner-city ministry and heading off to the New Hebrides island called Tanna in the South Pacific to share his faith among people who were known cannibals.
Paton’s wife died just a few months after arriving on the island, not long after the birth of their son, who also died. Paton’s life was in constant danger; he had to hide from angry tribesmen from time to time who sought to kill him. Sometimes he was aided by one group on the island, other times by another group on the island, and he was never really sure who to trust. Here’s one of those occasions that he writes about when he was hiding in a tree, at the mercy of an unreliable chief, as hundreds of angry natives hunted him for his life. He writes, “Being entirely at the mercy of such doubtful and vacillating friends, I, though perplexed, felt it best to obey [by hiding as the chief told… (me). I climbed into the tree and was left there alone in the bush. The hours I spent there live all before me as if it were but of yesterday. I heard the frequent discharging of muskets, and the yells of the Savages. Yet I sat there among the branches, as safe as in the arms of Jesus. Never, in all my sorrows, did my Lord draw nearer to me, and speak more soothingly in my soul, than when the moonlight flickered among those chestnut leaves, and the night air played on my throbbing brow, as I told all my heart to Jesus. Alone, yet not alone! If it be to glorify my God, I will not grudge to spend many nights alone in such a tree, to feel again my Savior's spiritual presence, to enjoy His consoling fellowship. If thus thrown back upon your own soul, alone, all alone, in the midnight, in the bush, in the very embrace of death itself, have you a Friend that will not fail you then?”[2]
Have you ever had a time like that- a time of sweet fellowship with our God and Savior in the midst of the storm?
Friends, as we row, row, row our boats through the picnics and the storms of life, let’s not panic, but rather trust Him deeply as we enjoy the journey- trusting Him in the storms to be watching and praying- so that our faith will grow and He will be glorified.
[1] J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John, 3 vols. (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1999), 1:101.
[2] p. 200, Autobiography
[i] As George Hutchinson, who often worships with us, writes, “It is not unusual that upon the back of sweetest refreshments and manifestations of Christ the people of God meet with a stormy and sharp exercise.”
[ii][ii] yet they were amazed. It seems they might have had trouble processing all that Jesus was doing- because this is the fifth sign that we find in John’s gospel. First there was the turning of the water into wine; then there was the healing of the little boy who was dying; then the healing of the man who had been paralyzed for 38 years; then the feeding of the 5000 men plus their families; and now, Jesus walks on water. The apostles are struggling to process everything. But despite that, Matthew tells us about the response of worship that they have.
[iii] Maybe this was all part of what Peter was reflecting on when he writes in 1st Peter 1:6-9: “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”
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