Thursdays Child John 6:16-21 A Heck Of A Ride

As I read this passage, I remembered a Thursdays Child from June 2009. It was titled "Thursdays Child Matt 27:44 & Mark 15:32." I talked about the two criminals being crucified with Jesus and how Matthew just mentions the two criminals, Mark says both criminals mock Jesus, Luke is the only one that says one of the criminals repents. My question was, why do we only teach Luke's version? I know it makes for a better Sunday School class, and it teaches that no matter what we've done we can always ask for forgiveness, but I had really never heard the other two versions taught. It just goes to show, if you don't read the Bible on your own, you miss stuff like this. One of these days I'm going to write about some of the more obscure scriptures we don't hear much about. I do feel like I'm suppose to go all the way through John, then we'll see where God takes us.

I bring up the post from a few years ago because, John 6:16-21 is another one of those passages that isn't taught very much, if not at all. It's about Jesus walking on the water.

Yes, churches do teach about Jesus walking on the water, but they usually, if not always teach Matthews version. Matthew talks about the disciples seeing Jesus, and Peter getting out of the boat and walking on the water to go meet Him. I understand why we teach that version. It teaches about having faith in Jesus. When Peter took his eyes off of Jesus he started sinking in the water, and Jesus reached down, grabbed his hand and saved him. That's at Matthew 14:22-33 if you want to go check it out. In Mark 7:45-52 it just says Jesus gets in the boat and they go to the other side of the lake. For me, John's version is the most intriguing. Maybe because I'm into the supernatural stuff, but at the end of John's passage it doesn't say they just went to the other side of the lake. It says starting in verse eighteen "Soon a gale swept down upon them as they rowed, and the sea grew very rough. They were three or four miles out when suddenly they saw Jesus walking on the water toward the boat. They were terrified but He called out to them 'I am here! Don't be afraid.' Then they were eager to let Him in." Now here is the best part for me. The last half of verse twenty one says. "IMMEDIATELY the boat arrived at their destination." It doesn't say they continued on, it says immediately. I wonder how the disciple reacted. One minute they're in the middle of the lake, then, in a split second they are on the shore. I picture them looking around at each other, baffled. I know my words would have been "Whoa, what the heck just happened here?" Don't forget about the version in Matthew, because it's important to teach faith and to keep looking to Jesus to guide us but, I think it's also important not to get stuck in a rut. We need also to teach that Jesus did some pretty amazing things that sometimes sneaks under our radar, and we don't really grasp how great some of the things were that He did. How do we catch these things on our radar? Let God's word sink in as we read. If we read the Bible looking for inspiration from God, He will provide that inspiration, then maybe one day we can have a supernatural experience like the disciples, and we'll be able to say "Wow, what a heck of a ride!"

Always ask questions, always keep searching, and He will always keep providing the answers.

Thanks for searching with me.

Paul