John 6:17 - Printer Friendly

ESV: got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.

NIV: 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.

NASB: and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.

CSB: got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. Darkness had already set in, but Jesus had not yet come to them.

NLT: But as darkness fell and Jesus still hadn’t come back, they got into the boat and headed across the lake toward Capernaum.

KJV: And entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them.

NKJV: got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.

The crowd's reaction to Jesus' most public miracle is inherently dangerous, especially for the disciples. The crowd is acting aggressively (John 6:15). Worse, Roman authorities won't look kindly on anyone involved in political unrest. Worst of all, the massive popularity of Jesus risks inflating the disciples' sense of self-importance. As with all His miracles, there is a lesson to be learned, and so Jesus separates these men from the situation (Mark 6:45). Interestingly, the gospel of Mark makes a point of mentioning that, at the time the disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee, they did not yet understand Jesus' miraculous feeding (Mark 6:52).

This command also serves to set up an additional miracle and an additional lesson. According to this verse, "Jesus had not yet come to them." This phrasing seems strange, unless one remembers that John wrote long after the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were in circulation. His assumption is that those stories are known to the reader. Mark chapter 6 provides more details on Jesus' instructions and His observation of the men during their struggle.

As the next verse will indicate, obeying Jesus' commands led the disciples directly into a tough spot. This is an often-missed truth of the Christian life: obedience does not always produce comfort. In fact, there are times when following God's will means experiencing backlash from the world (Acts 5:27–33). There is a purpose to those trials, however, and we can rest assured knowing that God watches over us all the time (Psalm 146:9).

John 6:16–21 contains the fifth of John's seven miraculous ''signs'' proving that Jesus Christ is God: Christ walking on the water. This passage also describes a ''hidden'' miracle, not counted in the main seven, involving the disciples and their boat. This incident is important for what it teaches about difficulty and suffering. The disciples found themselves in rough seas, after Jesus told them specifically to sail across the Sea of Galilee. Their hard time was not the result of disobedience; rather, their hard time came because they obeyed. Not all struggles are punishments, and not all storms come due to rebellion. At times, obedience to God means heading into a storm.

In chapter 6, Jesus feeds thousands of people who had been following Him. He does this by miraculously dividing the contents of a small meal, leaving more left over than He had to begin with. At first, the crowd is amazed and they enthusiastically praise Jesus. After sending the disciples across the Sea of Galilee and rescuing them from a storm by walking on the water, Jesus once again addresses the crowd. This time, He emphasizes the spiritual lesson behind His prior miracle. In response, most of those who had been praising Jesus turn away in disappointment.

John chapter 6 occurs some months after the events of chapter 5, bringing the narrative to about one year prior to Jesus' crucifixion. As with the rest of the gospel of John, the purpose is not to repeat information from the other three Gospels, but to focus on Jesus' status as God incarnate. This chapter continues to expand the list of Jesus' miraculous signs and the witnesses to His divine nature. Here, Jesus also gives the first of seven ''I am'' statements found in this gospel. Chapter 7 will once again skip ahead to a major public step in Jesus' path to the cross.

The disciple John wrote the gospel of John decades after the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls "signs"— to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.