Read Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52 and John 6:15-21. Jesus had instructed His disciples to leave without Him. He probably did this because He realized the crowds would not attempt to follow them around the shore as long as He did not leave with them. They would stay to follow Him. After He dismissed the people, He went alone up the mountain to pray. That evening the disciples left and started to sail across the lake without Jesus as He instructed. Later our Lord, from the high ground where He was, saw His disciples fighting a storm. They had lowered the sails and were rowing toward land, but the wind was against them. It was blowing them away in the opposite direction in which they wished to go. Jesus then proceeded to follow them across, walking on the water.
1. Our Lord retreated up the mountain for several reasons. One was to pray; another was so that the crowds would not follow His disciples when they left but stay with Him. A third reason that John gives us is that the people were about to try to take Him by force and make Him king. Why was this something He wanted to avoid?
While the goal of the crowd was indeed what God had ordained and would come to pass, man’s ways are not God’s. God would achieve this but, in a way, not comprehended by the people. Before He became the King, He would be the servant who gave His life for all humanity. He had not come just to establish God’s kingdom on the earth but to redeem man back to God. If the crowds had attempted to make Him king at this time, it would have sparked a rebellion against Rome. Many would die in that conflict. It was not yet time for this judgment against Israel. That would come in due time. But when He died, it would be by Himself alone; all would forsake Him, even His own people as well.
2. From all three accounts list at least three miracles that took place in connection with our Lord rescuing the disciples from the storm.
a. Jesus walks on water. (So does Peter.)
b. The storm ceases.
c. The boat is immediately at its destination.
3. Mark tells us (6:48) that Jesus came to them, intending to only pass by them. Why do you think He was willing to leave them out there, struggling against a storm that was threatening to sink them?
He realized they had to struggle with problems to learn to trust God on their own. He would not always be there physically to do it for them. This storm and their struggle with it were in their best interest.
4. When Jesus had rescued Peter after his faith lapsed and had gotten into the boat, the storm ceased. This caused great astonishment on the part of the disciples because, it says, they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves. What things should they have learned from the incident of the loaves?
That God could miraculously work through them and would supply whatever they needed. He had done it in the feeding of the crowds; He could do it in the storm as well.
Read John 6:22-71. The next day, the crowds, who had followed Jesus, witnessed the miracles of the feeding of the five thousand and who had not gone far when they were sent away by Jesus the night before, were perplexed. They knew Jesus had not gone with the disciples, but neither was He there. So they set out, some in boats, others on foot and found Him near Capernaum. They asked Him, When, how did you get here? The reply our Lord gave them in verses 26 through 59 is commonly called the discourse on the bread of life. Note that our Lord does not answer their stated question but does deal with their actual need.
5. According to John 6:26, what was the real reason they were looking for Jesus?
They wanted more free food.
6. What instruction or advice did Jesus give in verse 6:27 to these people concerning their efforts to try to find Him?
Do not work for the food which doesn’t last, but for that which gives eternal life.
7. What question did these people ask in reply to that advice (See verse 6:28)?
What shall we do to do God’s work?
8. Jesus told the crowd that the work which God wanted them to do was what?
To believe in the one that God had sent (Jesus).
9. In verses 6:30-31, what do you think these people were trying to get to do?
They were trying to manipulate Him into performing another miracle to feed them.
10. What statement caused many of His followers to argue among themselves?
That He was the living bread, and whoever ate of Him lived forever.
11. Jesus, speaking to the Twelve to try to help them understand what He was saying about the bread of life, said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” What do you think He meant?
Physical food does not help. The Spirit of God is one who gives life. What I am telling you about the bread of life is to be understood on a spiritual level.
12. What was the result of this teaching (and probably the fact that Jesus refused to make more bread miraculously!)?
Many former followers no longer followed Him.
The Applications:
What are the applications of these passages to our lives today? Identify as many as you are able.
1. God’s way of accomplishing His work is far superior to the ways in which we would get it done. He looks at a much larger picture while we only focus on one small part. I do not doubt that some of the disciples probably wondered why their Lord simply did not allow the crowds to proclaim Him as king. With the popular support of the people on their side and our Lord’s ability to perform the miraculous, they could easily sweep into power and set up the kingdom.
But God’s way was perfect, though the disciples did not see it at the time. So it is in our lives today. There are answers that we want God to grant, answers which seem, by everything we understand, to be good and proper. Yet He does not answer as we expect. We must remember, during these times, He sees a much broader picture than we; that He is accomplishing things far beyond what we ask. While it might not make sense to us now, we must trust that He knows exactly what He is doing and that His answer will be perfect and complete.
2. God often leaves us in the boat in the middle of the sea with the storm raging around us for our own good. While we may think we are in danger, and in our efforts to press onward, we are making no progress, we are, in actuality, exactly where He wants us to be for the moment. He teaches us; then He tests us. The Twelve had been given power and authority by our Lord. They had seen God work through them as they were sent out. They saw that God worked through them in the feeding of the multitudes. Now could they trust that God could work through them in the midst of this storm?
In teaching math and algebra, I would explain the principles, go through several problems showing how the principles involved were to be used. Then I would assign problems for my students to do by themselves. While the instruction was important and watching me do a problem helped them understand, they learned far more by struggling with the problems independently. The students that worked on the problems, even if they were not wholly successful in solving them, learned far more than those who never attempted them but only listened and watched me do them.
The classroom of life in our heavenly Father’s course of instruction is very practical; He teaches us, then He tests us. His tests are often difficult and stormy, yet we know He is always there to still the storm if we should need it.
3. People followed Jesus for many reasons. However, much of the crowd was interested in only what they could get or gain physically. They wanted free bread, just as the woman our Lord met at the well in Sychar wanted the water Jesus offered her so she would not have to come and draw water from the well again. Some who followed Him probably thought to themselves, “Here is the Messiah. He is going to set up the kingdom, and this is my chance to get in at the beginning and get a good position later.” They followed Him because of some physical benefit they could receive rather than for any spiritual.
There are probably many today who follow our Lord for the same reasons. There are immediate physical, material benefits in following our Lord, at least in our culture. There are those today who proclaim faith in our Lord as a means of attaining health and wealth. Many are attracted for they see it as an opportunity to gain something physically or materially. They attend church and give so that God will bless them in these ways.
But what if there were no immediate physical or material benefits to be accrued by attending church or by making a profession of faith? What if were a cost attached to doing this? How many would follow Him because He is the Messiah and the rightful king? Would that affect or influence our faith in Christ?
4. The crowd that found our Lord following the feeding of the multitude and the stilling of the storm was sly. They wanted another miracle; they wanted Him to make more bread. Feed us, they wished. But when it seemed that our Lord was disinclined to do this, they tried to manipulate Him into it. They asked for a sign, a supernatural manifestation of divine power that would attest to His claims to be the Messiah. Then they reminded Him of what Moses had done for the Israelites as they journeyed to the Promised Land. He provided bread from heaven, the manna. The implication is clear; if you are as great as you say, as great as Moses, then match his miracle. Give us more bread just like he did.
Unfortunately, human nature has not changed for the better. We still try to manipulate God into doing what we want Him to do; we still try to bargain with Him to get our way. We want to enjoy better material benefits, so we ask God for a better-paying job. Yet when we ask, we say we ask so that we may give more to His work. We tell Him, if You do this for me, then I will faithfully attend church every Sunday. Get me out of this difficult situation, and I’ll do this for You. We forget that we are His creation; He alone is God. He will do what He will do; He will not be manipulated by us or anyone else. We are to serve Him regardless of what He elects to do. If He chooses to provide bread miraculously, great! Praise Him for it. If He chooses not to do so, praise Him for that as well! He alone is God.