A study of John 6:16–21

“When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.”

John 6:16–21 (ESV)

Definitions of the original language in the context of this passage:

-Evening: “ὀψία”, “opsia”; adjective, nominative, singular, feminine | subject of the dependent clause — late afternoon, evening, nightfall.

-Disciples: “μαθηταὶ”, “mathētai”; noun, nominative, plural, masculine | subject — learner, pupil.

-Went Down: “κατέβησαν”, “katebēsan”; verb, aorist, active, indicative, third person, plural | finite verb — descend, come down, to go down.

-Capernaum: “Καφαρναούμ”, “Kapharnaoum”; noun, accusative, singular, feminine | proper name — Capernaum = “village of comfort”; a flourishing city of Galilee situated on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee or Lake of Gennesaret, near the place where the Jordan flows into the lake.

-Dark: “σκοτία”, “skotia”; noun, nominative, singular, feminine | subject — darkness, darkness due to lack of light.

-Became Rough: “διεγείρετο”, “diegeireto”; verb, present, passive, indicative, third person, singular | finite verb — of the sea: to be agitated, to rise.

-Strong: “μεγάλου”, “megalou”; adjective, genitive, singular, masculine | attributive adjective — great, loud, violent, mighty.

-Wind: “ἀνέμου”, “anemou”; noun, genitive, singular, masculine | subject of the dependent clause — wind; a violent agitation and stream of air.

-When They Had Rowed: “ἐληλακότες”, “elēlakotes”; verb, perfect, active, participle, plural, nominative, masculine | contemporaneous participle — push, carry, drive, row; of sailors propelling a vessel by oars.

-Jesus: “Ἰησοῦς”, “Iēsous”; noun, nominative, singular, masculine | proper name — Jesus, Jehoshua; Jesus = “Yahweh is salvation”; Jesus, the Son of God, the Saviour of mankind, God incarnate.

-Walking: “περιπατοῦντα”, “peripatounta”; verb, present, active, participle, singular, accusative, masculine | participle — to walk, to make one’s way, progress.

-They Were Frightened: “ἐφοβήθησαν”, “ephobēthēsan”; verb, aorist, passive, indicative, third person, plural | finite verb — be afraid, fear, be frightened.

-They Were Glad: “ἤθελον”, “ēthelon”; verb, imperfect, active, indicative, third person, plural | finite verb — wish, want, to be resolved or determined (In John 6:21: happy to take Jesus into the boat).

-Immediately: “εὐθέως”, “eutheōs”; adverb | temporal adverb — at once, immediately.

-Land: “γῆς”, “gēs”; noun, genitive, singular, feminine | prepositional object — earth, land; main land as opposed to seea or water.

Observation/Summary (short explanation of what the passage says in your own words):

In the evening, Jesus’ disciples went down to the Sea of Galilee, got into a boat, and began to cross to Capernaum. It was dark, and Jesus had not joined them yet. As they sailed, a strong wind started blowing and the sea became dangerously rough. After they had rowed for hours and only traveled a few miles, they saw Jesus walking on the rough waters towards their boat and they were frightened. But Jesus told them it was Him and not to be afraid. After this they happily received Him into the boat and all of a sudden they were at the shoreline they had been traveling to.

Implication (what does this mean to us):

In the verses previous to these, we read of Jesus miraculously feeding 5,000 men, plus thousands more women and children. After this miraculous feeding, and the previous days and weeks of hearing Jesus’ teaching and seeing other miracles, this crowd decided He was the long awaited Messiah they believed would come and establish Israel as an earthly kingdom again. They were correct that Yahweh had promised a Messiah, and Jesus is that Messiah, but they were wrong about the type of Messiah He is. Jesus will return again to establish His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven, but in His first coming He came to defeat sin, death and the evil spiritual forces that rule this world (Deut. 4:19–20, 32:8, 16–17, 37, 43; Psalm 82; 1 Cor. 2:6–8; Eph. 1:20–21, 6:12; 1 John 4:4) . He came to provide an infinitely greater deliverance for the entire world, rather than simply just delivering Israel from Roman oppression. They received His miraculous healings and ate His miraculous food, but they did not understand His teaching. For this reason they sought to make Him king by force, so Jesus brought an end to the gathering and withdrew higher up into the hill country by Himself (John 6:15).

Mark and Matthew’s accounts of this incident also add that as Jesus perceived the crowd would try to make Him king by force, He immediately sent His disciples down to the boat, dismissed the crowds and then went up into the hill country to be alone and pray (Mark 6:46; Matt. 14:22–23). One reason for this abrupt action is likely that Jesus did not want His disciples to be caught up in the nationalistic fervor of the crowd. They wanted Him to take the throne, defeat Rome, and restore Israel as a sovereign kingdom. But again, Jesus came to accomplish something far greater. He would not stoop to be the type of Messiah the crowd demanded Him to be, and He did not want His disciples getting swept up in this way of thinking either. So Jesus commanded them to return to the boat and cross over to Capernaum, while He graciously dismissed the crowds and then went up to a mountain, or a high hill depending on your perspective, to be alone and pray.

This miracle of Jesus walking on water is recorded in 3 of the gospels, and in all of them it takes place directly after the feeding of the 5,000. And as the text tells us, as the disciples embarked in the boat, it was evening time and had become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. He was still up on the mountain praying and watching them as they crossed. Then, the wind picked up and the sea became very rough. Storms are common on the Sea of Galilee due to the fact that it is about 600 feet below sea level and surrounded by hills. In the evening, cool air flows in from the west and the warmer, moist air above the sea is displaced, and this often results in violent wind storms.

The first account of a similar scenario takes place in Matthew 8, where the disciples encountered a storm on the Sea of Galilee while Jesus was in the boat with them. In that case they frantically awoke Jesus and He calmly commanded the wind and sea to be still. In this instance, Jesus sent His disciples into the storm without Him, but He was still watching them and aware of their circumstances.

So, this is the situation the disciples found themselves in: After a long day of ministering to the crowds with Jesus, and seeing Him perform many miracles as well as teach many things, they are now by themselves in a storm in the dark. They went from the high of the miraculously feeding of the crowd, to the low of struggling in a storm. But as we see, Jesus was always watching them and ready to intervene to help. And Mark makes this perfectly clear in Mark 6:48 when he writes that Jesus, “saw that they were making headway painfully for the wind was against them.”

This would likely have been very frustrating for them, and we can all relate. The disciples were doing exactly what Jesus commanded them to, but they were being stopped by this violent storm. Sometimes it can be tempting to wonder if Jesus is aware of our struggles or if He even cares. Sometimes we can feel like we are just pointlessly rowing into the wind. But Jesus absolutely does care. He looked down on us, saw us enslaved to sin and left the splendor of heaven to die on a cross to free and redeem us to Himself. He is also now intimately aware of our difficulties and He is with us in the middle of them always; working to bring us through them and to accomplish eternal good for us and others.

As we read on, verse 19 says “after they had rowed 3 or 4 miles…”. Keep in mind that they rowed 3 or 4 miles in a strong wind and rough sea. This means they were halfway across the sea, firmly in the middle of it, because the distance to Capernaum from where they set sail is roughly 6 miles. And Mark 6:48 also adds that at this point it was the “4th watch of the night.” This means it was between 3–6 in the morning. So they had been struggling in this storm for hours. It is at this point that Jesus goes to them, walking on the water. His heart was with them the entire time, but He did not directly intervene until the right time. Jesus is never late. He always arrives and acts precisely when He means to. With that in mind, we can all confidently walk in the plan Jesus has for us, because we know however bleak things may seem, Jesus is with us, and He will always accomplish His good and perfect will at the proper time.

Continuing on, John’s account of this event tells us that when they had reached this part of the journey, “…they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened.” And Mark 6:49–50 adds the detail that they were afraid because they thought Jesus was a ghost of some kind. Mark and Matthew’s accounts of this event make it very clear that they were in the middle of the sea. They were nowhere near shore, and Jesus was absolutely walking on the water. This was undoubtedly a miracle.

In verse 20, as Jesus approached the boat He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” The phrase translated as “It is I,” appears in the Greek as “Ego eimi,” and this is literally translated as “I am” in the appropriate contexts. Some commentators think John recorded Jesus’ words this way to further the literary motif of the different “I am” statements of Jesus in the gospels (John 4:26, 8:24, 25; Matt. 14:26…). That is possible, but other commentators , such as D. A. Carson, do not think this is part of the “I am” motif that runs through the gospels. This is simply just an instance where Jesus is telling His disciples, in plain language, that it is He who came to them on the water. Personally, I think Carson and others are right in acknowledging the “I am” motif, but also in saying this is not a part of it. To be clear though, it might be, and that is not a bad way to interpret this passage. Whatever the case, this is definitely an example of Jesus coming to His disciples in the middle of a storm, and calming all of their fears and frustrations with His presence. And He is without a doubt, the great “I Am” (Exodus 3:6).

In Matthew 14:28–32, we also read that this is when Peter asked if he could walk to Jesus on the water. When Peter started to sink, Jesus grabbed him and pulled him into the boat, and then the wind stopped. John tells this abridged version of the story because His intention is to focus on the supernatural power of Jesus and on how Jesus can calm our fears, frustrations and sorrows in even the most dire of circumstances. Just as He can calm the wind and sea with a word, He can calm our raging or despairing hearts.

Lastly, in verse 21, they realized it was Jesus and happily took Him into the boat. Even more than that though, despite being in the middle of a storm, in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, they immediately arrived at the shore. It had taken them hours of struggle to get only halfway to their destination, but once they received Jesus, their impossible task was divinely completed. This was yet another incredible miracle done by Jesus and attested to by multiple, credible eyewitnesses. At least one lesson we can draw from this is that our hard work is good and right, but without the divine power of Jesus it is useless. We cannot even begin to take on any task, much less accomplish it, without the divine help and enabling of Jesus. We cannot even draw our next breath apart from His enabling, how much more so are we unable to weather the storms of life and accomplish the work He has set before us without Him?

This and other accounts of Jesus calming the stormy sea held deep meaning to the ancient person who heard them; especially the Jews. In the Old Testament the sea or the “waters” often represent chaos, disorder and danger. So, Jesus’ choice to exhibit His power over the stormy sea sends a strong message of His complete, sovereign power over all of time and space as the externally existent, all-creating God of the universe. And his descent from the quiet mountain top to walk on the stormy sea and get in the boat with His disciples, should also cause us to think of His descent from the splendor of heaven into the brokenness and suffering of this world to save us. Jesus is a God who takes a direct, personal interest in our lives. He personally comes into our suffering to experience it with us, and to carry us out of it. We may and indeed will experience suffering and difficulty in this world. But Jesus, the one who calms the storm with a word, and walks on the water, will bring us through this dark valley into glorious, joyful eternal life with Him in His kingdom.

Response (How does this change how I think, act and pray?):

First, we should notice the obvious. Jesus has the power to walk on water and calm the wind and waves with a word. He is the eternally existent Creator God of the universe who has complete authority over all time and space. Also, He is intimately aware of our struggles, and He is actively involved in bringing us through them. Sometimes, in being faithful to the commands of Jesus, we may feel like we are just rowing into the wind or spinning our wheels in the mud. But Jesus is always working and bringing about good from even the most bleak of circumstances. He wastes nothing, and that includes our hardship and suffering.

Second, while it is good and right for us to obey Jesus’ commands and work hard to accomplish His will on this earth in the various ways He calls us to, we must always remember that apart from Him we can do nothing. The work of building the kingdom is His work and it is accomplished by His power, not our own. We can’t even wake up in the morning apart from His gift of life to us, so how much more so are we unable to effectively share His truth and love with others, or accomplish the various tasks set before us each day? He is Lord, and apart from Him we can do nothing and we are nothing. But with Him all things are possible, and with Him we are not nothing. We are His beloved children who He died and rose again to redeem to Himself for glorious, eternal life where there will never be crying, suffering or death ever again.

As we row hard through the storms of life, Jesus is with us. Everyone who repents of their sin and trusts in Jesus as their one and only Lord and Savior can have this sure and confident hope. If you are reading this and you do not know Jesus, please turn to Him now in faith. He sees you rowing into the wind in your life right now, and He wants to get into your boat and help you. But He won’t force His way in. Like the disciples in this passage, He will wait to be invited. He loves you, but He won’t force you to love Him. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that He rose from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9–10).

Self Reflection:

1. Where does it feel like I am just “rowing into the wind” in my life right now? How can the certain presence and help of Jesus give me a new perspective on my circumstances?
2. How does the supernatural power of Jesus over every molecule in time and space, and over all things seen and unseen, give me confidence that no matter how bad things may look right now, He is working all things together for eternal good?
3. What does the fact that Jesus came down to the stormy waters of this world, from the heights of heaven, tell me about His love and care for me?