Guest Contributor: Zhang Jun Fa
John 6:16-21
Jesus walks over the water to His disciples
The Sea of Galilee is actually a freshwater lake. It is just called ‘sea’ traditionally.
Why Jesus has to ‘walk’ over the ‘sea’?
First, we need to know that ‘sea’ is a picture of sin.
Isaiah 57:20 ‘“But those who still reject me are like the restless sea, which is never still but continually churns up mud and dirt.’
Matthew 8:32 ‘“All right, go!” Jesus commanded them. So the demons came out of the men and entered the pigs, and the whole herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake (the sea) and drowned in the water.’
Matthew 12:43 ‘“When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none.’
Job7:12 ‘Am I a sea monster or a dragon that you must place me under guard?’
Daniel 7:2-3 ‘In my vision that night, I, Daniel, saw a great storm churning the surface of a great sea, with strong winds blowing from every direction. Then four huge beasts came up out of the water, each different from the others.’
Revelation 13:1 ‘Then I saw a beast rising up out of the sea. It had seven heads and ten horns, with ten crowns on its horns. And written on each head were names that blasphemed God.’
The beast out of the sea is a picture of anti-Christ. And the beast out of the earth is a picture of false prophets.
Satan is copying what God is doing. But we shall stand firm, because God’s way is higher. (Isaiah 55:8-9)
Proverbs 9:5-6 ‘“Come, eat my food, and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways behind, and begin to live; learn to use good judgment.”’
Proverbs 9:17-18 ‘“Stolen water is refreshing; food eaten in secret tastes the best!” But little do they know that the dead are there. Her guests are in the depths of the grave.’
Drink the living water, don’t drink the sea water. Eat the bread of life, don’t eat the bread of death.
So the world we are living in is just like a sea of sin. Then, what are we like? We are like fish in the sea.
Habakkuk 1:14 ‘Are we only fish to be caught and killed? Are we only sea creatures that have no leader?’
Matthew 4:19 ‘Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!”’
Matthew 13:47-48 ‘“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a fishing net that was thrown into the water (the sea) and caught fish of every kind. When the net was full, they dragged it up onto the shore, sat down, and sorted the good fish into crates, but threw the bad ones away.’
And the fish are dragged up onto the shore is a picture of ‘Rapture’.
(1 Thessalonians 4:17)
Now, let us quickly review how God led Israelites out of Egypt and into the promised land.
The Israelites (God’s people) were like slaves in Egypt. Before the Exodus, they ate the Passover lamb (Jesus’s flesh). Then the Israelites came to the Red Sea (sin), so Moses raised his staff (the Cross) and the waters were divided, and they crossed the Red Sea on dry ground (the way to Salvation). Finally, the Israelites entered the promised land (Heaven).
Isaiah 51:10 ‘Was it not You Who dried up the sea, the deep waters, and Who made a path through the deep sea for Your saved people to cross over?’ (NLV)
Dear Friends, we have to enter the narrow door, and Jesus is the ONLY way to Salvation. Amen!
And, finally, we understand why Jesus has to walk over the sea. Not only because Jesus is sinless, but He is also trampling Satan, anti-Christ, false prophets and all sins under His feet!
Genesis 3:15 ‘And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”’
Psalms 74:13 ‘You split the sea by your strength and smashed the heads of the sea monsters.’
16-17 Don’t go before Jesus, pray that God will go before us. (Deuteronomy1:33)
19 The disciples were terrified, because they though Jesus was a ghost.
(Matthew 14:26; Mark 6:49) Be confident with God’s power, not with Devil’s power!
20 “Don’t be afraid. I am here!” Are you afraid?
Genesis 3:10 ‘He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”’
This is the first time in the Bible mentioning about ‘afraid’. Are you afraid? Or are you living under condemnation with fear?
Isaiah 54:4a ‘Fear not; you will no longer live in shame. Don’t be afraid; there is no more disgrace for you.”
Isaiah 54:9-10 ‘“Just as I swore in the time of Noah that I would never again let a flood cover the earth, so now I swear that I will never again be angry and punish you. For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken,” says the Lord, who has mercy on you.’
Romans 8:1 ‘So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.’
So Jesus is not like a small little boat that would sink in the roaring sea, He is Noah’s ark! When you are in the ark, you are saved! Even when you fall down, because you don’t fall outside the ark, you fall inside the ark! So don’t be afraid!
21 ‘Immediately they arrived at their destination!’?! How did that happened? Because the disciples’ destination is not anywhere else. The true destination is called ‘Immanuel’. (God is with us)
Revelation 21:1 ‘Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea (sin) was also gone.’
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