When you're groping in the dark

¹⁶ When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, ¹⁷ where 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. ¹⁸ A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. ¹⁹ When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened. ²⁰ But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” ²¹ Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading. John 6:16-21

It's a slightly puzzling story, this account of Jesus feeding the 5000 (that’s John 6:1-15) and then walking on the water, the second of those two miracles especially.

Various questions arise.

First, how did Jesus and the disciples become separated after the feeding miracle? Verses 16 and 17 suggest that the disciples expected him to be back with them by the time evening came and they needed to head off for Capernaum in their boat - but he “had not yet joined them”, so they set off without him. Matthew and Mark agree with John that he had gone up into the mountains to be alone, but no reason is given why he seems to have kept them waiting in vain. Did he let them down? Or did they simply misunderstand his intentions?

Second, when he came to them walking on the water in the dark (spooky!), what was the point of this spectacular display of sheerly supernatural power? I heard it suggested recently that “it’s almost as if he is showing off!” Nobody gets healed, after all, or raised from the dead, and the disciples’ danger doesn’t seem to have been as dire as in, say, Matthew 8:23-27, so a miracle like this could be said to be, well, rather superfluous. What is he doing?

Who are we to question the ways of God? He does as he pleases, and is not answerable to us, so it seems almost impertinent to raise these questions. But we can be sure that he never acts in ways recorded in scripture without some good reason, so hopefully it’s not wrong of me to probe a little (remember Job!). I can think of at least two lessons we can draw, one of them somewhat “theological” (so please bear with me if that’s not your thing!), the other comfortingly pastoral.

First, the theological point. This hinges on the fact that the whole episode is set in the context of the Jewish Passover Festival (chapter 6 verse 4). This, of course, was the great event when God delivered his people from slavery in Egypt under the leadership of Moses, and miraculously fed them in the barren wilderness. Moses was a pivotal figure for the people of Israel, and the first five books of the Old Testament are linked with his name.

In the last of those books, Deuteronomy, he predicts the coming of “a prophet like me from among you” (Deuteronomy 18:15-18), and this expectation – of a once-for-all, greatest-of-all prophet - was eagerly awaited by the Jewish people. By feeding a large crowd (the estimate of five thousand men didn’t include women and children, by the way) in a deserted place, was Jesus making a claim to be that once-for-all prophet? The people certainly drew that conclusion: “After the people saw the sign Jesus had performed, they began to say, ‘Surely this is the prophet who is to come into the world’” (verse 14).

John doesn’t spell it out, but he clearly wants his readers to see Jesus in a new light; not only the Son of God, the living Word, but also the prophet who is even greater than Moses, the prophet long awaited by the people.

Christian tradition has often referred to Jesus as our “prophet, priest and king”, but, perhaps understandably, we tend to downplay the “prophet” part. Priest, yes, of course – in fact he is both priest and sacrifice, making atonement for us by the shedding of his blood; and king, of course that too - the one to whom we pledge glad allegiance and obedience.

But prophet? This covers a variety of roles: inspirer, rebuker, leader, teacher, guide, comforter, encourager; in essence the very spokesman of God in human form. Perhaps this can give us today a fresh angle on how to relate our Saviour.

As for the walking on the water… no, this wasn’t an example of Jesus show-boating! It was an illustration of the fact that in a time of fear and trouble for the disciples, Jesus was watching them and came to them, even though humanly that was impossible.

Every Christian of any experience will know times when the absence of Jesus seems to be more of a reality than his presence; as the disciples must have done, we are puzzled and ask the question “Where is he? Why doesn’t he come? Why has he left me?” Prayer may seem unanswered; the going seems to get harder every day; we may feel abandoned.

But the message of this second miracle is that though we can’t see him, he can see us; though we struggle to come to him, nothing can prevent him coming to us.

For me, Paul puts it perfectly in Romans 8:35-39: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No! In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us”. Nothing, not even the loneliness of a storm-tossed boat in the dark of night “will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”.

Are you feeling the absence of Jesus today? Even groping in the dark? This remarkable event can only encourage us, if nothing else, not to give up on him. He is there, though you cannot see him. And he will come, even though you have no idea when or how. His beautiful, simple promise doesn’t change: “It’s me! Don’t be afraid!”

Dear Father, when I feel afraid or anxious or lonely, when my prayers seem to go unheard and unanswered, when I even feel abandoned by you, please help me to hold on until I see Jesus with the eye of faith. Enable me to hear his voice “It’s me! Don’t be afraid!” Amen.