image courtesy of publicdomainpictures.net

John 6:32-36 (KJV)32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. 36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.

One of Jesus’ greatest sermons was one He preached from Capernaum. The sermon was not just great because Jesus preached it (and everything Jesus preached was great), but it was great because of the wonderful illustration Jesus gave the crowd the day before.

He fed 5000 men with two fish and five little barley loaves.

Now I’m not going to preach this text again. I preached it on Sunday, and if you were here you heard it – if you weren’t asleep! I do want to emphasize the great truth that Jesus taught us in the feeding of the 5000.

If you give what you have to Jesus, He will multiply it.
If you surrender to Him and let Him work in you, you will be blessed.
Those who looked to Jesus in faith were fed, blessed beyond measure.

After feeding the 5000, Jesus walked to Capernaum while His disciples rode in a boat. He preached another sermon to His disciples while they were on the sea.

Jesus Our Shepherd Is Never Far From Us

Jesus separated from His disciples. We read

John 6:16-21 (KJV) And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea, 17 And entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them. 18 And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew. 19 So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid. 20 But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid. 21 Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.

In order to understand all of what happened, we have to compare John’s Gospel with Matthew’s Gospel. John gives us part of the story, and Matthew another part. John tells us that the disciples went down to the boat and started rowing away without Jesus on board. But Matthew tells us that this was Jesus’ idea. Matthew writes:

Matthew 14:22-23 (KJV) {following the feeding of the 5000} Jesus constrained (commanded) his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. 23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.

Jesus sent the disciples on to Capernaum while He prayed. As Jesus prayed, Jesus watched His disciples. Now why did Jesus send His disciples away?

Faith demands that we step out where Jesus says.
Faith demands that we believe Jesus loves us.
Our Shepherd Is Never Far From Us!
Our Shepherd watches over us!
Our Shepherd prays for us.
Our Shepherd loves us.

Jesus was teaching His disciples that He is faithful. Though He was alone in prayer, He watched over His own. There are times in our lives when it seems as if God is far away, but He is not. Jesus is praying for us. We are told in …

Hebrews 7:24-25 (KJV)24 But this {One}{Jesus}, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing HE EVER LIVETH TO MAKE INTERCESSION FOR THEM.

My salvation has permanence because my Jesus ever lives to pray for me … and for YOU, too, if you are His. Jesus watches over His people. He prays for you, and prays for me. He was praying on the mountain, praying for His people. The Apostle said:

Romans 8:34-35 (KJV)34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, WHO ALSO MAKETH INTERCESSION FOR US. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

No matter what may come in our lives, no matter what valley we go through, Jesus makes intercession for us. He prays for us. He loves us. Fear is what we often foolishly do. We worry. We need to stop worrying and fretting, and trust the Lord.

If He put us in the boat, the waves won’t get us!

Matthew writes ..

Matthew 14:24-26 (KJV) But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. 25 And IN THE FOURTH WATCH OF THE NIGHT Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.

The sea is tossing and turning. The disciples are not in a ship with sails, but a boat that was rowed. A row boat!

John 6:19 (KJV) So when they had rowed about FIVE AND TWENTY OR THIRTY FURLONGS

They had rowed twenty five to thirty furlongs, which is equivalent to 3-3.5 miles. It’s dark. It’s scary. Matthew tells us ..

it is the fourth watch of the night

which is the last part of the night between 3 am – 6 am. The waves are rolling the boat, tossing it to and fro just like a rag doll. Then the disciples see something walking on the water. Matthew tells us that they thought it was a spirit – a ghost. The scary movie music is playing in their heads. I suspect they began to row faster and harder, trying to get away from this “creature”.

John Expected Jesus To Come

If you read verse 16 again you will see this.

John 6:16 (KJV) And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea, 17 And entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them.

When we read those words before we didn’t pause over them. The disciples have gone on ahead of Jesus. They are 3.5 miles from shore, and it is between 3-6 am. And John says:

and Jesus was not come to them

John expected Jesus to come. That’s what it sounds like to me.

John is known as “The disciple whom Jesus loved”. This was a title that John gave to himself. John never called himself by name in his Gospel, but referred to himself as:

The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved

We see John at the Last Supper with Jesus:

John 13:23 (KJV) Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom ONE OF HIS DISCIPLES, WHOM JESUS LOVED.

Jesus is trying to eat, and John is laying all over Him. John is on Jesus’ bosom. You would expect Jesus to say

“Get off Me, I’m hungry”

but He doesn’t and never will. Jesus loves John more than He loves Himself. Jesus loves us more than He loves Himself. Jesus will go to Calvary for John, and John knows it. When Jesus hangs dying on Calvary He looks down from that terrible Tree and what does He see?

John 19:26-27 (KJV) When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and THE DISCIPLE STANDING BY, WHOM HE LOVED, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! 27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.

Jesus is bleeding out. He sees the disciple whom He loved standing with His mother Mary. As a good Son He wished to take care of His mother. John, this is now your mother. Mama, this is now your son! Oh beautiful love of our Savior! He loved John and John knew it. John wrote in another place:

1 John 4:18-19 (KJV)  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.  [19]  WE LOVE HIM, BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US.

John knew that he was loved of Christ. That was why he stood at the foot of that Cross when so many others ran away. John knew that Jesus loved him.
Jesus was dying because Jesus loved him.

When Jesus was buried, and Mary Magdalene found the tomb empty on that blessed Sunday she ran and told Peter and John. The Bible says:

John 20:2-4 (KJV) {Mary Magdalene} runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and TO THE OTHER DISCIPLE, WHOM JESUS LOVED, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the {tomb}, and we know not where they have laid him. 3 Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the {tomb}. 4 So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the {tomb}.

Though Peter, it seems, had a head start in that foot race to the tomb that day, the “disciple whom Jesus loved outran Peter”. What gave him the strength to do so? It was that he identified himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. Oh yes, John loved Jesus, but more than this John reveled in the truth that Jesus loved John.

Following the resurrection of our Lord from the dead Simon Peter got up a fishing party, and asked all the disciples to attend. This was a busted fishing party. All day long they fished, and caught nothing. But then from the shore a fellow hollers out.

“Children, have you caught any?”
“No” they holler back.
“Put the net on the other side of the boat”

They did so, and caught 153 great fishes the Bible says. What do we read?

John 21:7 (KJV) Therefore THAT DISCIPLE WHOM JESUS LOVED saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher’s coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.

The disciple whom Jesus loved recognized Jesus FIRST. Peter jumped in the water to get to Jesus on the shore, but John recognized Jesus first. He was the disciple whom Jesus loved. Now Jesus loved all His disciples, but John was more keenly aware of the love of Jesus than the others. This is why when they were in 3.5 miles off shore John expected Jesus to be there.

And I think John is the reason that Jesus came.
The text doesn’t say this, but it’s my belief.
Why else would John write “Jesus had not yet come”
and they are 3.5 miles from shore.

John knew Jesus was coming.
Because Jesus loved him!

John 6:19-21 (KJV) … they were afraid. 20 But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid. 21 Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.

When Jesus got in the boat “immediately the ship was at the land whither they went”. Jesus has already preached a message to His disciples. His message is:

“I love You”
I will watch over you”

Now Jesus Preaches His Love To The World

I haven’t forgotten our responsive reading, part of a sermon our Lord preached at Capernaum. In this sermon Jesus reminds the Israelite how much that they are loved of God.

John 6:32-33 (KJV)32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

When Israel was in the wilderness God gave them bread from Heaven. He gave them “manna”. Why was it called “manna”. The Bible says:

Exodus 16:15 (KJV) And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.

“Manna” literally means “What Is It?”. It was bread from God, but they had no idea what it was nor how it came about. Moses didn’t give the manna … God did. The Israelites didn’t know what “manna” was, but manna is easy to define.

Manna represented the love of God to His people.
Manna = LOVE!
But Manna also represented the coming Christ.

In order to benefit from the Manna Israel had to go and gather it. It was there for all, but only those who received it would be blessed. Jesus Christ is the Manna of God. He is the

Bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world

Bread is made by gathering and crushing wheat. The wheat must die in order to become bread to feed us. Jesus was the wheat of Heaven come down to earth. The Prophet wrote of Him:

Isaiah 53:2-6 (KJV) For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Jesus loves us. Jesus loves you. Jesus loves me. This is why we come to Him surrendered. Jesus told those in Capernaun that day:

John 6:35-36 (KJV) … I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. 36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.

Many see the Christ but never come to Him believing in His love. He loves you, and calls you to His side. If you will receive Him as He is, believing that He loves you, then you will be saved. Jesus said:

John 6:40 (KJV)  And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

He has made a promise to us. Will you believe in Him. Will you go to Him? Will you believe He loves you? Will you?