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And then another miracle occurred,
. . . and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. (NASB) John 6:21 Conclusion. What an account! Jesus had performed
an incredible miracle that should have helped them see that He was divine,
that He was God. But instead they saw something else! He could multiply
food and feed 5,000 men plus women and children! They did not learn the
correct lesson. Their hearts were not sensitive. They missed the most
obvious truth. Their hearts were missing spiritual humility; as a result,
Jesus gave them another opportunity to learn the truth. The hearts of
the disciples were not sensitive to spiritual things. They were more
interested in what Jesus could do for them than in the real message of
the event.
Apparently they argued with Jesus, and He had to force
them into a boat. Jesus waited for a disaster to occur out on the dark,
stormy, sea. He waited until they were worn out, tired, and exhausted.
He came close to the boat and then started to walk by until they panicked
and called out. Then bold, silly Peter wanted to walk on water. Amazingly,
Jesus accommodated his request and then rescued him when he failed.
Neither Peter nor the rest of the disciples learned the
most important lesson. The primary lesson was not that Jesus could feed
a large crowd with two fish and five loaves, that Jesus could walk on
water, that Jesus could help Peter to walk on water, or that Jesus stilled
the storm. It is amazing how we can read and study the Bible and then
think we have learned the message of the passage. We often come away
with the wrong lesson because we are looking for the wrong things. The
real lesson, the real truth, the purpose of what the disciples should
have learned was that Jesus is God. The lesson
was not about food.
They did not have sensitive, spiritual hearts and they
were not very humble. Remember that they had their own goals. They had
argued with Jesus. Sometimes our goal in studying the Bible is selfish
- what can I get from it? The goal of Bible study is not what Jesus can
do for me - can He multiply fish and loaves of bread for me? The goal
of reading and studying the Bible is not that I can demonstrate my Biblical
knowledge. The goal of reading and studying the Bible is the discovery
of the message of the passage! What is God trying to reveal to me through
His Holy Spirit? May your prayer be, “Lord show me the meaning
of the passage, even if there are no loaves of bread or fish for me!”
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