Chapter 13 John 6:16–21

Literary Context

The feeding of the large crowd (6:1–15) declared by means of “showing” that Jesus, as the true host for humanity, was providing a kind of hospitality only he can provide, symbolized by his serving of food to the people out of the meager lunch of a young child. Following directly on the heels of this “showing” is a “telling” pericope in which Jesus offers a direct confession about himself. This pericope serves as an interlude between the feeding miracle (6:1–15) and the revelation that Jesus is the bread of life (6:22–71), allowing the Gospel to declare with emphasis the identity of the Son of God as he made it known to his disciples. This entire section of the Gospel (5:1–8:11) is focused on the confession of the Son of God, and this pericope is directly at its center.

IV. The Confession of the Son of God (5:1–8:11)
1. A. The Third Sign: The Healing of the Lame Man on the Sabbath (5:1–18)
2. B. The Identity of (the Son of) God: Jesus Responds to the Opposition (5:19–47)
3. C. The Fourth Sign: The Feeding of a Large Crowd (6:1–15)
4. D. The “I AM” Walks across the Sea (6:16–21)
5. E. The Bread of Life (6:22–71)
6. F. Private Display of Suspicion (7:1–13)
7. G. Public Display of Rejection (7:14–52)
8. H. The Trial of Jesus regarding a Woman Accused of Adultery (7:53–8:11)

Main Idea

Jesus is the “I AM,” the voice behind the unconsumed burning bush in Exodus 3, the one who walks across the stirring sea, who speaks on behalf of God in the first person. The presence of Jesus silences our fear and exposes our need to receive him in his fullness.

Translation

Structure and Literary Form

This pericope corresponds to the basic story form (see Introduction). The introduction/setting is established in vv. 16–17, explaining the location, setting, and people around whom the plot’s conflict will focus, even noting the absence of Jesus. The conflict in this pericope in vv. 18–19 centers around the fear of the disciples who are on a stormy lake, upon which they see Jesus walking on the sea toward them. The resolution occurs in v. 20 when Jesus speaks to them, presents himself, and addresses their fear. Finally, v. 21 offers the conclusion/interpretation of the pericope with the description of the disciples’ response to Jesus and the conclusion of their journey.

Exegetical Outline

D. The “I AM” Walks across the Sea (6:16–21)
1. 1. The Disciples Depart without Jesus (vv. 16–17)
2. 2. Jesus Walks on the Stirring Sea (vv. 18–19)
3. 3. The Encounter with (the Son of) God (v. 20)
4. 4. The Disciples Receive Jesus (v. 21)

Explanation of the Text

This short pericope not only has a functional significance in chapter 6 and a central location in a large section of the Gospel (5:1–8:11), but it is also loaded with content. It is one of the most popular miracles and a significant confessional statement by Jesus. Our explanation of the pericope must keep in balance all these factors.

6:16 As evening came his disciples went down to the sea (Ὡς δὲ ὀψία ἐγένετο κατέβησαν οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν θάλασσαν). The narrative transitions from the large crowd, from which Jesus removed himself (cf. 6:15), to the disciples at the end of the day, who make their way to the sea, that is, the Sea of Galilee. The temporal reference, “As evening came” (Ὡς δὲ ὀψία ἐγένετο), serves as a transitional marker to signal that a new scene has begun.1 The absence of Jesus will be explained below (v. 17). Reflecting continuity with the previous pericope, this verse answers the implied question in regard to the location of the disciples at the end of the feeding miracle.2

6:17 and after getting into the boat they were going to the other side of the sea to Capernaum. And darkness had already come and Jesus had not yet come to them (καὶ ἐμβάντες εἰς πλοῖον ἤρχοντο πέραν τῆς θαλάσσης εἰς Καφαρναούμ. καὶ σκοτία ἤδη ἐγεγόνει καὶ οὔπω ἐληλύθει πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὁ Ἰησοῦς). The disciples are described as getting into the boat and beginning their journey across the sea on their way to Capernaum. The narrator concludes the introduction of the pericope with a slightly odd statement that emphasizes the absence of Jesus. In a literary sense, the narrator is setting up the story to come for the reader. Yet it is the awkwardness that directs the reader toward what is central for the narrator: the disciples are alone, for Jesus is not with them. Such a statement bridges well with the conflict shortly to be introduced. The narrator’s use of “darkness” (σκοτία) echoes back to its use in 1:5, adding further to the conflict of the scene the disciples’ inability to recognize Jesus (see 6:19).

6:18 And the sea began stirring when a strong wind blew (ἥ τε θάλασσα ἀνέμου μεγάλου πνέοντος διεγείρετο). The conflict of the pericope is introduced as the narrator notes that as the disciples were on their way across the sea, a strong wind came upon them so that the sea “began stirring” (διεγείρετο), with the imperfect functioning as an ingressive.3 There is abundant evidence of the suddenness of storms on the Sea of Galilee, which is likely what occurred on this occasion.4

6:19 When they had rowed about three or three-and-a-half miles they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming close to the boat, and they were afraid (ἐληλακότες οὖν ὡς σταδίους εἴκοσι πέντε ἢ τριάκοντα θεωροῦσιν τὸν Ἰησοῦν περιπατοῦντα ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης καὶ ἐγγὺς τοῦ πλοίου γινόμενον, καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν). The conflict of the pericope reaches its climax not when the sea waters were stirred but when the disciples’ categories were stirred as they watched Jesus walking on the water toward their boat. According to the narrator, they had already traveled twenty-five or thirty stadia (σταδίους); a stadion was the length of a Roman stadium, which was about 197 meters or about 607 feet.5 When one stadion is multiplied by twenty-five or thirty, the total distance the disciples had travelled in their boat was between 2.87 and 3.45 miles, hence our translation, “about three or three-and-a-half miles.” Thus, they had already gone a good distance across the sea before coming into contact with Jesus.

After rowing three or more miles across the sea, the narrator describes how the disciples “saw Jesus walking on the sea” (θεωροῦσιν τὸν Ἰησοῦν περιπατοῦντα ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης). Contra Bernard, the statement must mean more than Jesus was walking “beside the sea shore.”6 The language used and the distance from shore is making the unavoidable claim that Jesus was walking directly on the surface of the water. Such a miraculous act is simultaneously a declaration, a statement without words, and the disciples “would have recognized an epiphany of the one true deity.”7 From “the beginning” the Spirit of God was “hovering over the waters” (Gen 1:2); here the Son of God was walking over the face of the waters. Even more, with nearly identical language in the LXX, Job declares that God alone “treads on the waves of the sea” (Job 9:8). What the disciples “saw” was nothing less than the Creator in control of his creation. There are no categories that adequately describe or contain such an event. Only the absorption of this category into the identity of God can explain what happened and about whom it speaks. At that moment, the sound and feel of the waves grew strangely mute; they were undoubtedly in the presence of God. The narrative’s depiction of the conflict concludes with an unsurprising response of the disciples: “And they were afraid” (καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν), much like Moses in Exodus 3:6. Like Moses, the disciples were in the unquantifiable presence of God, and as with Moses it would be God who would speak first.

6:20 But he said to them, “I AM; do not fear!” (ὁ δὲ λέγει αὐτοῖς, Ἐγώ εἰμι, μὴ φοβεῖσθε). Excluding a host of explanatory details, the narrator describes how the approaching Jesus arrives and addresses his disciples. Jesus speaks to his disciples with a phrase that could be translated more simply as a phrase of common speech, “It is I” (Ἐγώ εἰμι) rather than with the sacred divine formula for the name of God, “I AM.”8 Some interpreters surmise for this historical event that Jesus is speaking in common idiom and is simply trying to identify himself as someone known to the disciples, without any intention of making a christological statement.9 But nothing in this historical event is common, for Jesus speaks as he stands firmly atop a stirring sea. In John specifically, the statement “I AM” (Ἐγώ εἰμι) has a central status in the identification of Jesus, the personal expression of God (cf. 4:26; 6:35; 8:58).10 With this clear intention of the Gospel, situated within the context of Scripture and in the immediate context of a theophanic appearance, Jesus’s words must be taken as anything but common. Standing where only God can stand, Jesus declares what only he can claim: “I AM,” the one of the unconsumed burning bush (Exod 3) who alone can walk on the waves of the sea (Job 9:8). In this context, then, the command of Jesus, “Do not fear” (μὴ φοβεῖσθε), is a gracious response of hope and promise to his confused and fearful disciples.11

6:21 Then they were willing to receive him into the boat, and immediately the boat came to the land to which they were going (ἤθελον οὖν λαβεῖν αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ πλοῖον, καὶ εὐθέως ἐγένετο τὸ πλοῖον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς εἰς ἣν ὑπῆγον). The conclusion of the pericope and its interpretive guidance provided for the reader is difficult to determine. The narrative gives little insight into the details that followed the encounter with Jesus and his entrance into the boat. Only two things are given an explanation. First, the disciples “were willing to receive him into the boat” (ἤθελον λαβεῖν αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ πλοῖον). This statement suggests the narrator wants to show the disciples’ receptive reaction to Jesus. Nothing further is explained, like whether he actually entered the boat or rather walked the entire way across the lake. The important fact was how the disciples responded to him.

Second, the narrator explains that “immediately the boat came to the land to which they were going” (εὐθέως ἐγένετο τὸ πλοῖον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς εἰς ἣν ὑπῆγον). Without any notice or explanation, the boat—with the disciples inside (and presumably Jesus)—arrives at its intended destination. This does not suggest that they magically arrived but simply that no further activities took place. There need not be a new miracle, which Barrett finds in connection with Psalm 107:23–32, where God calms the waves of the sea and “guided them to their desired haven” (v. 30).12 Rather, the land simply serves to bring closure to the chaotic scene.13 It might even be better (and warranted) to translate the adverb as “soon” (εὐθέως). In this way, the narrator concludes the pericope, providing circumstantial details in regard to the trip they had taken in the boat and the revelation they had received about God in the first person.

Theology in Application

In the center of an important section of the Gospel, as Jesus is beginning to be noticed by friends and foes, Jesus takes the opportunity to make himself known to his disciples and, therefore, to the readers through the Gospel’s witness. In what is a moment of both wonder and worship, the Gospel declares in God’s own words the identity of the Son. In this pericope, the reader of the Fourth Gospel is exhorted to encounter the “I AM,” the one of the unconsumed burning bush (Exod 3) who alone can walk on the waves of the sea (Job 9:8).

Walking across the Stirring Waters

The archetypical symbol of water, connected to everything from creation to cleansing, is a dominant motif in the ancient world and the OT and is particularly significant in the Gospel of John. With this in view, there is a striking comparison between this pericope and its stirring waters and 5:1–18, in which the lame man (and a great multitude of the sick) huddle around so-called magical waters because they believe within them is the healing power of God. They believed that God, or at least his power, was in some way contained within the waters—precisely at the point where the waters stir. But neither God nor his power were contained in those waters. God and his power were entirely located in the person of Jesus, who walked across the surface of the stirring waters of the Sea of Galilee toward his disciples. Not only does the water fail to contain any power of God, but the water of the stirring sea failed to control God as he effortlessly walked across its surface with its waves only serving to wash his feet. Moses asked God to remove the water (cf. Exod 14); Jesus can walk directly over it. All the potent imagery of water in the OT has been placed “at the feet” of Jesus, the feet that approached the disciples in their boat. The church is to kneel at the feet of Jesus, the feet that walk on water.

God in First Person

The voice in the burning bush (Exod 3) is the voice of Jesus Christ, who treads the waves of the sea. We have already been told Jesus reveals the Father (1:18), and in this pericope he speaks for him directly. Amidst all the interest in religion and spirituality, it is imperative that Jesus be understood as the only true spokesperson for God. God has spoken in the first person, the person of Jesus Christ. The church has heard the Word of God and thus declares that there is no other person through whom one can be saved (Acts 4:12). This is spoken not by our own authority but by God’s own. We are the children of the first person, the one who came through the storm of our darkness to address us, announcing to us the thing we needed most: himself in the first person.

No Fear

In the presence of God, fear is both natural and unwarranted. In comparison to us and our reality, God is terrifying; yet when God is embraced there is no safer place. Psalm 46 serves as almost a commentary on the command of Jesus: “Do not fear” (6:20). The psalmist declares that the presence of God creates a safe place; nations and kingdoms are rising up, yet at the mere sound of God’s voice the earth melts (Ps 46:6). In the presence of God the command is clear: “Be still [or, “cease striving”] and know that I am God” (v. 10, emphasis added). Jesus commands his disciples not to fear because his presence had already announced by the psalmist: “The LORD Almighty is with us” (Ps 46:11). The command extends beyond the psalms or the Sea of Galilee and enters the heart of the Christian, for whom God is present through the Son and his Spirit, and for whom the mere voice of the Lord is a constant support. Be still, Christians, for the Lord is with us.

Receive Him!

The vagueness of the narrative in regard to the events following the encounter with Jesus makes emphatic what was described: the reception of Jesus by his disciples. They were confused and scared, yet they were willing to receive him. They welcomed Jesus even though he could not have been less defined and explainable. They did the only thing they could do: trust him, which was the same thing they had to do when he first said to them, “Come and see” (cf. 1:39, 46).

The call of the Christian and the task of discipleship can be described quite simply as having the same objective: trusting in the inexplicable and all-consuming God made known in Jesus Christ. Without all questions being answered and doubts being solved, the Christian trusts in the God who need say nothing more than “I AM” in order to calm our fears. The Water-Walker has come and stands before the whole world, declaring as he did to his disciples on the stirring sea, “I AM.” Will you receive him? Is there truly any other “I” that should take precedence?