Eyewitnessed

Tuesday 21^st February

Read John 6:16-21

“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.” (NIVUK)

The lake is 200m below sea level, so when John says they ‘went down to the lake’ (v16), it is a literal descent he speaks of. One consequence of the descent is that, as the sun sets, the micro-climate changes and wind rushes down as the moist humid air of the lake rises creating sudden squalls (v18). The direction of their journey means the disciples were rowing straight into the teeth of the breeze, resulting in their slow progress across the lake. 

All these details remind us that we are not reading simple stories designed to make Jesus seem amazing, we are dealing with eyewitness testimony and intimate local knowledge. If everything else around a miracle is accurate we should have even greater confidence that Jesus strolled across the disturbed water to His disciples, in the dark, in a storm, with unerring knowledge and control. Although the accounts in Matthew (14:22-34) and Mark (6:45-56) are longer and provide different details, all three accounts concur that what occurred was miraculous. Jesus had as much control over water as He did over bread. He was not some simple human miracle worker, He was the One who commanded all by His powerful Word, and all obeyed Him.

As John would later write, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. ² The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. ³ We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. ⁴ We write this to make our joy complete.” (1 John 1:1-4) (NIVUK). Take confidence in what John saw and heard and proclaim it to others boldly!