The Presence That Casts Out Fear

Transcript

If I haven’t had the privilege of meeting you yet, my name is Andre, and I get to serve as one of the pastors here at Trinity Church. And so if we haven’t met, I’d love to meet you, get to know you, and see how I and we can serve you. But it is wonderful to be with you all this morning. It’s wonderful to get to open the Word of God together. This morning we go back to the Gospel of John, continue our study through our series, and we find ourselves in chapter six. And so if you have a Bible, I want to invite you to open your Bible to John chapter six. And the text for this morning is going to be verses 16 through 21. But for our reading, I want to actually start at verse 15. And so John chapter six, beginning at verse 15, can I invite you to stand for the reading

of the Word of God, friends? Six fifteen,

perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. 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, then they saw Jesus walking on the sea, 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

(ESV)

. This is the Word of the Lord. You may be seated, friends. Would you pray with me?

Making Sense of Miracles

Father, would you help us this morning to see Jesus more clearly, to love him more than perhaps we ever have before, and to worship him more fully? We ask this in his name and for his glory, amen. From the miraculous feeding of 5,000 people to walking on water in the middle of a storm, Jesus sure had an interesting earthly ministry. How do we make sense of this story of Jesus walking on the water, and kind of a condensed version of it, too? And the story seemingly just sort of being dropped into the middle of this broader theme of bread, and this broader theme of eventually what Jesus would get to of eternal life. What do we make of this story where Jesus is walking on the water, and then they’re at the shore? Jesus feeding the crowds, Jesus saying later in the chapter that he is the bread of life,

and in this chapter, which clearly points to him being the only way a person is to be saved, why is there this mention of him walking on the water and getting into the boat with his disciples? Last week, Pastor Samuel mentioned that John chapter 6 is the grand central station of Johannine textual criticism. Are verses 16 through 21 then the ticket booth for grand central station? Is this where we get to see something special about Jesus that will help us better understand the rest of the chapter, that will help us wrap our heads around the miraculous feeding of the 5,000, that will help us wrap our heads around the teaching of him being the bread of life, of him being the only way anyone can be saved? Yes, it is. This text helps us to arrive at a deeper understanding of who Jesus is and what it is that he’s

doing here. Now the overly simplistic way to read this story is just to say, Jesus calms the storms of your life, amen, and we just leave it at that. On the flip side, the unnecessarily and perhaps the unhelpfully complicated way to read this story is to kind of dig into all of the nitty gritty details of the storm, the disciples, their reactions, their lack of reaction, et cetera, and miss the simple fact that when he enters the boat, instantly, they’re glad. They go from fearing for their lives, they go from panic, they go from chaos to joy instantly when Jesus enters the boat. Now this is always the case when the word of God is preached. Our prayer is that God would help us to see what he wants us to see here, not to just draw out some pithy little quotable phrase or some little life lesson to go home with

this Sunday afternoon. If you’ve been here with us through this series so far, you should have noticed by now that in this account of Jesus’ life and ministry, what John keeps on doing, at least in these first six chapters, but what he’s continually doing is he’s pointing the reader back to the book of Genesis, and he’s pointing the reader back to the book of Genesis to help them understand that there’s a connection between this Jesus and the God that created everything, and the God that provided, and the God that cared for Israel. In the first chapter, he points to Jesus being the logos, the word that was in the beginning, pointing us to how God created everything with just his word, and he existed before anything else that he created. And in the text that we heard preached last week, we heard of the feeding of the 5,000

done miraculously, which should make our minds go back to the feeding of Israel in the wilderness miraculously, with manna falling from the sky. And here we see Jesus walking on the water, and what’s the context here? Darkness, darkness over the waters. This should take our minds to Genesis 1, where there was a deep darkness, and the Spirit of God hovered above the water. We’re being told over and over again in the Gospel of John that Jesus is that very God who spoke all things into existence, who was there before anything else was, who provided, and cared for, and walked with Israel, being faithful to his people, being true to his word to bring about the Messiah that he said he would bring through his people. The Jesus of the New Testament, dear friend, is the God who created all things with just his word. John is continuously pointing us to that.

The Storm Sent

And that God, as we see in verse 15, retreated prior to this story to be alone right at that moment when the people to whom he’d been preaching, when the people that he was calling to faith were about to make him king, right at that moment where they’re like, look at this, listen to this teaching, look at this man, look at this Messiah, look at this prophet, we want to make him king. Well, the people had their plan, but it wasn’t his plan. You see, Jesus came to be a completely different kind of king than what the people wanted. He came to accomplish his purposes in a very different way than what the people expected. And we catch a really interesting glimpse of that here in verses 16 through 21. In seeing in how, in God’s wisdom, this story of Jesus walking on the water towards his

disciples in the boat fits into this, really this mammoth chapter of the Gospel of John, this morning we’ll consider our text in just two parts. First we’ll look at the storm, and then we’ll look at the calm, and what it is that these two elements show us about what Jesus’ presence accomplishes in the lives of his followers. Let’s look at the storm. If you’ve read through the New Testament before, in reading these verses, 16 through 21, you’ll recognize the story. Besides being in the Gospel of John, the story of Jesus walking in the water in the midst of a storm towards his disciples, it’s also in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. Now, the details will vary a little bit between these three accounts, but the heart of the story remains the same. But nevertheless, the careful student of Scripture should ask the question, when reading the

different Gospels and seeing the differences in the stories, why are there differences? Why don’t they align perfectly? Why aren’t all of the details the same across the board? Why not just tell the story in the same exact way, Matthew, Mark, and John? Well, the differences account for the different Gospels, show us alternate views of the same scene. The story is the same, but the perspective is different. The audience to whom these Gospel writers are writing are different audiences, and then the goal of the writing differs as well. And what that ends up doing, actually, is instead of creating contradictory or conflicting stories, it actually gives us a more complete story, looking at it from different angles and giving us different things to consider. The differing accounts of the life of Jesus from varying perspectives actually undergirds the trustworthiness of Scripture.

If the accounts were identical, we’d wonder if they were just copies, one of the others. If there are three people pulled into a police station to tell a story, and the story down to the most minute of details aligns exactly, the police would understandably be like, this sounds rehearsed. And so if we read the Gospels, and word for word it’s just the same thing over and over, we would ask, did they just copy one another? But instead what we have are these different stories, or these different sides of the same story offering different details, considering different audiences, and showing how this story would have been perceived by the different Gospel writers. And that actually gives the story a lot more credibility. That actually gives the story a much more complete picture. And so that’s what we’re seeing here with this story. But nevertheless, in order for us to see the whole picture, I actually wanted us to read

the other two accounts. They’re not very long, and so if your Bible is still open, flip back to the Gospel of Matthew, and we’re going to look at chapter 14. Matthew 14, beginning from verse 22, we read the following. Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he dismissed the crowds, he went up to the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. But the boat by this time was a long way from land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night, he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, it’s a ghost. And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, Take heart, it is I.

Do not be afraid. And Peter answered him, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water. He said, Come. So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid. And beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me. Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying, Oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt? And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, Truly you are the Son of God. Now flip over to the Gospel of Mark, chapter 6, and we’re going to look at verse 45. Mark 6, 45. Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.

And after he had taken leave of them, he went up to the mountain to pray. And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea and he was alone on the land. And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid. And he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.” Do you see the parallels? Do you also see the differences?

Do you see the differing details, the different sides of the story? What we do see in all of the accounts is we see a storm. We see fearful disciples. We see Jesus walking on the water towards them. And most importantly, we see this detail of how much his mere presence changes everything. Just his presence, just him showing up changes everything for the disciples. Notice that in Matthew and Mark, we read that Jesus made the disciples go out to the sea where they would encounter the storm. This is a fascinating detail, because it’s something that we can miss when we think about the fact that they went out to the storm, or they went out to the sea and they happened to encounter a storm. But that’s not what the scriptures tell us. The scriptures tell us he made them go. He sent them out there.

Now one thing we have to remember when reading that is, it’s not like this is just like your buddy being like, hey, go over there. This is God. God sends them out there. He knows what will happen to them once they get out there. He knows what they’re about to go through. He knows the storm that’s waiting for them. He knows the terror that they’re going to experience, and he says, go out on the water. Before we start thinking that things just sort of happen to us in life, that we just kind of run into difficulties, that we just sort of encounter trials, we just sort of encounter challenging things in our lives. Remember saints, God is always fully in control. He uses the very things that we don’t want to be going through, the very thing that we don’t want to experience, the very fear that we don’t want to feel, the very doubt, the

anxiety, the uncertainty, the turmoil, the suffering, the pain, the loss. That’s not an accident in your life. That’s not happening by chance. God is not reacting to the thing that you’re going through. God sends you into the trial. God uses the trial. God gives you, dare I say, that gift of a trial. He uses the very thing that we don’t want to be going through. Why? To draw us closer to himself, to fulfill his purposes in us, to let us see who he is more fully because, man, our vision is just everywhere else but him when things are good, when we’re comfortable, when we’re fed, when we have extra baskets of food, extra fridges and our garages full of food. No worries about how we’re going to pay the bills, where the prayer of daily bread seems quaint. This life is full of trials, but none of those trials, not one, comes to you and I except

by the hand of a loving heavenly father who knows what’s best for you. None of it is an accident. None of it is outside of God’s control. None of it surprises him. On this storm that the disciples are in, is this just like a little bit of wind, a couple of waves splashing into the boat a little bit? You see, storms on this body of water, this particular body of water, were no joke. In Jesus’ time, not only was this a scary place to be when the wind hits, but in the Jewish understanding, in the understanding of people who understood Jewish literature, Jewish history, Jewish poetry, bodies of water, particularly large bodies of water, they brought about fear, they brought about trepidation, they brought about uncertainty. For the Jewish person of the time of Jesus, water was symbolic with uncertainty, symbolic with fear, something ominous.

I mean, just consider Revelation 21, where John writes that the new earth will have no sea. Why would he say that? For all of the beach lovers here, they’re like, well, that’s not good. Why would John write that? Well, many commentators think that he’s writing that because what he’s trying to communicate is that nothing perilous or tumultuous will be present in the life to come. The picture or the idea of the body of water in Hebrew writings was this is a place of violence. This is a place of death. This is a place to be feared. And this is what’s in the mind of these Jewish disciples as they’re in the boat, in the middle of a storm on the Sea of Galilee, which was prone to hurricanes. Why? How is it that a lake, essentially, is going to have hurricanes? Well, it’s situated in this really interesting place, down 600 feet below sea level, in the

middle of some mountains. And so these winds would swoop down the mountainside, and by the time they would get to the water, the temperatures would mix, and it would actually create something like a hurricane on this lake. And so they’re in the middle of what’s probably a hurricane. In their minds is this whole understanding of the sea is where we die. This is it. This is the end for us. And we can’t forget the fact that a third of these guys were fishermen. They made their living. They spent their time on the water. Why would they be afraid? Wouldn’t they be used to it? I know Josh isn’t afraid when he goes out on the water. These guys were terrified, seasoned fishermen, well acquainted with this body of water. But in their understanding, this is where we die. They’re fearing for their lives. Beyond the fact that they’re essentially in a hurricane, Matthew and Mark say that this

took place in the fourth watch of the night. That’s between about 3 and 6 a.m. What does that mean? They’ve been battling this hurricane all night. Can you imagine? Can you imagine four, five, six, seven hours just fighting for your life, stuck, unable to row, unable to make any headway, just crying out? So yeah, they were terrified. And you and I would be terrified too. And when everything seems like it’s just a total loss, this is it. This is where we go to heaven. The situation is made much more terrifying by the fact that when the disciples look out into the darkness, they look out over the water, where you can’t see very far ahead at all. They saw something walking in the middle of the storm, walking on the water. Matthew and Mark say they thought it was a ghost. What or who else could be walking on water, A, and walking on water in the middle of a

Peace in His Presence

hurricane? But the one thing that terrified them most here was actually about to bring calm back into their world. That takes us from the storm to the calm. Friends, what brought about the calm in these disciples? And in reading the other accounts of this story, what was it that calmed the sea? What was it that stopped the hurricane? Jesus. His very presence calmed these men who were fearing for their lives. It calmed this storm that was about to capsize the boat and kill these people. If we look at all the miracles that Jesus performed, and we just kind of span the spectrum of the different miraculous things that he’s done, and we miss the fact that in each of these miracles they were actually meant to point us to him, then our seeing and marveling at the miracles themselves is actually useless. These were all meant to be signs, and signs pointing to what?

To him. Were these things incredible? The feeding of the 5,000, the turning water into wine, the healing paralyzed people, stopping wind and waves, speaking peace to hurricanes? Were they mind-blowing, life-changing? Yes, absolutely. But Jesus rebukes people later on in this chapter because all they want are signs. All they want are miracles. Hey, show us something else that’s cool. Give us another thing to kind of grab onto and tell our friends about. Let us see something interesting, something novel again. Jesus rebukes people who approach their faith in this way. His feeding them was meant to show him what it looks like when God provides, when God cares for his people in abundance, and to show them that the bread that they desire is most fully provided by him. Why? Because he is the bread of life. The fact that he walks on water in the middle of a storm, calming the storm, is amazing.

But what’s really amazing and what caused the disciples to tremble and what should grab our attention is the fact that the God who created everything in the world, who sustains it by his power, stepped into his own creation and lived as a man in order to give life and salvation as a free gift to all who would believe in him. That day, on the stormy sea, in the dark of night, the disciples watched as their creator, who was controlling the very storm that was threatening their lives, walked toward them on water and spoke peace to wind and waves. Friends, do you realize that God still walks into the lives of sinners and speaks peace into the chaos that is our lives? I don’t want to overly simplify this story. I don’t want to be like just, you know, make this like digestible and overly simplistic.

But God spoke peace into their lives, not just into the storm that was threatening their lives. They felt gladness and they felt peace because of him. When God steps into the life of a person where everything is upside down, where everything is chaotic, where everything is chaotic, where we’re headed to hell, and he stops that and he pulls the person back and he gives hope where no hope was to be found, that’s a miracle. He’s still doing that. He’s still saving people. He’s still changing people. He’s still drawing in his enemies and those who hate him and making them children. Do you see that? Do you marvel at him? It’s amazing. Brothers and sisters, if you haven’t already noticed, this story really isn’t about the disciples at all. It’s about Jesus. It’s about who he is. It’s about what he does in the midst of this terrifying situation where everything is chaotic,

where everything is uncertain. And they’re seeing somebody, a ghost, out on the water in the middle of a hurricane. What calms them? Instantly, the voice of Jesus, the presence of Jesus. Why does the text not speak about Jesus calming the storm here in John, like the other gospel accounts do? Why this difference? This seems like an important detail. It seems like a really cool thing if we’re going to really point to Jesus having power. Could it be that John’s focus is to point to Jesus’ provision with the feeding of the 5,000 and him being the bread of life? Him pointing to what’s actually required for salvation? Could it be that John wants to point out the fact that as soon as Jesus got into the boat, that’s when everything was okay? That it didn’t take the storm dying down. It took God stepping in to calm them.

That’s what matters. As has been mentioned a number of times in this sermon series, throughout the gospel of John, we see a number of I am statements. These statements where Jesus clearly asserts his deity, where Jesus clearly shows that he’s God. And the term when used in the Greek is the term ego eimi, which is a repetition of the term I am. It’s essentially just saying I am, I am. In essence, what he says when he’s speaking to the disciples is I am that I am. I am the I am. So when the disciples see him walking on the water, understandably fearful, the very thing he chooses to say to them, to calm them, don’t be afraid. It’s me, the I am. It’s God. God is with them. God stepped in. I haven’t forsaken you. I haven’t forgotten you. I didn’t send you out here by accident.

I didn’t abandon you. I’m here. The I am is with you. Consider the beautiful truths recorded by David in Psalm 23. As we think about what it means for God to be present, remember what David wrote. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For you are with me. Do you see that? What calms David? What gives him peace? What takes away the fear of this deep, dark valley, this place of death and despair? Is it the promise that, hey, David, we’re almost through the valley. It’s almost over. The trial is almost done. Is it the hope of a better valley to come?

Is it the hope of more green pastures, more still waters? I will fear no evil for you are with me. Wherever I am, whatever is happening, however chaotic, however scary, you’re with me. I’m okay. The shepherd led him into the valley. Have you ever noticed the fact that he makes me lie down in green pastures? He leads me besides still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake, beloved. The shepherd didn’t let David go off on his own after doing all of those things and leading him to all of those places. He led him into the valley of the shadow of death, just like Jesus sent his disciples into that storm. Just like he’s leading you through whatever it is that you’re going through, whatever trial you find yourself in, your comfort, your peace, your gladness, it may never actually

end your trial. I hope it does. But your comfort is that he’s with you. He’ll never abandon you. He’s saying, don’t fear. I’m with you. I’m here. This doesn’t make it hurt less. This doesn’t make it less terrifying. This doesn’t make it less challenging. But the one who loves you and the one who knows you and the one who knows how to make you more like Jesus is with you and everything he does is for your good. We are full of fear, doubt, uncertainty, but Jesus is so full of peace and joy and love. He’s always in control. When Jesus steps into the storm, everything goes quiet. The response of the disciples when Jesus intervenes, Matthew says that they said, truly, you are the son of God, Mark, and they were utterly astounded, and John, and then they were glad. What happens when a believer sees God show up is Psalm 4610 in action.

The Bread of Life

Be still and know that I am God. And so, beloved, do you see the flow of this chapter and what God is telling us in this part of John’s Gospel? Jesus satisfies man’s greatest desire. He calms the greatest doubts and fears that we have. He provides true fulfillment, true satisfaction. Jesus is so much better than anything else in this life. When he steps into our lives and when he abundantly provides for us, everything becomes good in the most meaningful way, good even when circumstances aren’t good. The feeding of the 5,000 was to show who he was. The walking on water was to further expound that truth, and in the following section, he’ll explain how purpose and meaning and life itself aren’t possible apart from him, the bread of life. J.C. Ryle, in his commentary on this text, wrote this wonderful thought. Did they stumble at the announcement that he was the bread of God and gave life to the

world? It would surely help their weak faith to remember that the very day before they had seen him suddenly supply the wants of a great crowd with five loaves and two fish. Did they stumble at the doctrine that his flesh was food indeed and his blood drink indeed? It would surely assist their feeble spiritual sight to remember that the very night before they had seen him walking on the face of the sea, they had seen with their own eyes that there was a deep mystery about our Lord’s human nature and that although he was real and true man, there was at the same time something about him far above man. Is your faith weak, friend? Perhaps the object of your faith is just too small. Perhaps the object of your faith is closer to man. Perhaps you need to consider who it is that we gather here to worship, who it is that

saved you and made you new. Perhaps like Peter, you and I need to hear from Jesus in the midst of our storm, in the midst of our struggle. Oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt? Beloved, I want to spend a moment in quiet prayer before I close this. Let’s reflect on the one who, when he enters our lives, changes everything in our lives. He changes our story and the story of our children, the story of their children because he pours his goodness and his kindness and his mercy and his grace into the lives of sinners who don’t deserve it and he makes them a new creation. He changes everything. Spend a moment quietly pondering and praying to the one who casts out all fear and doubt and who brings about a peace beyond what we can comprehend, whatever circumstance we might find ourselves in.

Would you take a moment in the quiet of your heart to pray to this Jesus and I’ll close this. King Jesus, you are beautiful, powerful, beyond all words. The fact that we can call out to you, cry out to you and know that you hear us is a miracle. The fact that you would love us, call us to yourself and give us your righteousness, it’s well beyond what we can process with our feeble, limited minds. So we give you all praise, honor and glory because you are worthy of it. Help us to have a greater view of you, our Lord. Help us to love you more than we love anything in this life and help the hope of heaven, the hope of eternity with you, worshiping you, enjoying your fellowship, your communion. Drive us to live more fully, to make your name known on this side of heaven.

Lord, we love you. Forgive us for when our love is weak and help us to live lives that truly point to the greatness of the one who saved us and made us his own. It’s in your name that we pray. Amen.