Notes on John 6: 1 – 21

After our read through, our first thought was why did the lectionary compilers use this passage, which contains two important miracles, as a second service Gospel text! But as we discussed we agreed that it made sense because the action takes place in one day and leads into some very important teaching from Jesus on the “Bread of Life” in the rest of the chapter. In the Jerusalem Bible this passage is entitled The “Fourth Section” of the Gospel.

Also, over the next four Sunday evenings the lectionary continues with John 6: 24 – 35 then John 6: 35, 41 – 51, followed by John 6: 51 – 58 and John 6: 56 – 69. So during the month of August evening congregations and preachers could get a comprehensive look at John chapter 6! In one of our first meetings we had thought about the possibility of having some concentrated preaching on particular passages, and here it is set in the lectionary. It is a pity that today most evening worship is not used as a preaching service but as a more meditative or quiet time. Looked at as this bigger picture of John 6 preached over four Sunday evenings, it becomes clear that Jesus Walking on Water has to follow the Feeding of the Five Thousand.

One of the things which struck us about the passage was the different revelations and their effects on both the crowd and the disciples. Following the feeding of the crowd, which both crowd and disciples witness, the crowd recognise Jesus as the prophet they are expecting, and try to make Jesus into their king. What sort of king do they wish Jesus to be? Their perception of Jesus, and what he is, is wrong, and Jesus has to escape alone. Later that same day the disciples receive another revelation: of Jesus walking on water this time. They are unsettled and terrified by what they see yet, even in their terror, once they realise that it is Jesus who is revealing himself in this way, they want to take him with them. Revelations of Jesus are our learning process. We learn by trying new things which we struggle to understand, then we move on with developed understanding. Spiritual development is a similar process.

Both these miracles appear in the Synoptic Gospels, which we thought was significant. It is interesting and perhaps important that Peter, who has an important role in the Walking on Water miracle in the Synoptic Gospels does not appear in John’s retelling of the miracle. There is another occasion in which Peter plays an important role in the other gospels but not in John’s Gospel. We wondered briefly why this should be but did not spend long, as we could never know.

We wondered about the attitude of the boy whose lunch was used for the miracle. How did he feel about Andrew taking his lunch off him? That led us to thoughts about our own giving. Do we give generously or would we have hidden some of our metaphorical “lunch” to make sure we did not go hungry; or would we have offered everything we had brought to Jesus?

We spent some time looking at verses 6 and 7, where Jesus asks Philip a question to test him. Does God test people? Did Jesus know what he was going to do? How much of this is John telling the story for his own purpose? God gives us opportunities which we can take or not and in this way it could be said that God tests us. Are we ready for these opportunities and prepared to see them? We all test things out throughout our lives as part of our learning process. God is in everything we do and in everything around us, so in our own testing of situations it could be argued that God is testing us as we test ourselves. Some people believe that God will never give us situations which we cannot bear and will help us through our testing times. In the Old Testament Job is an example of someone in a testing situation.

When it comes to it neither Philip nor Andrew have much faith in Jesus, as their answers prove (verses 7 and 9). Sometimes churches have a negative response to things which have to be done, while others step forward in faith trusting in Jesus to provide. An example was given of “Caring for Life”. Small offerings to God are rewarded by large results.

One image which struck us and has struck us before is that of Jesus’ withdrawals from public ministry. Jesus often withdraws before or after He performs a miracle, or when He is under pressure from the crowd. He withdraws to prepare and to recover spiritual strength. On how many occasions does Jesus withdraw like this?

In the boat the disciples are afraid of the revelation they receive. Are we sometimes afraid of revelation? Once they know that it is Jesus who is approaching they invite him into their storm-tossed boat; but before He can get in they are taken to where they were going. We saw this as a metaphor.

We did ask the inevitable question that people ask today – did it happen? Our answer – does it matter? Something happened which is important to enlighten our understanding of all that God is and wants us to understand. Do we tell our children these stories any more, or do we hedge them round with qualifications as to how it might have happened? Are we afraid of miracles because of science?

What would we preach on?

1. Many would not preach at evening worship but perhaps would use one of these miracle stories as a meditation

2. The second miracle – the storms of life and keeping our eyes on Jesus

3. Jesus’ withdrawals to pray - how to maintain a busy life

4. The Walking on Water miracle from another gospel and bring Peter into the story