James Nisbet Commentary - John 6:21 - 6:21

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James Nisbet Commentary - John 6:21 - 6:21


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CHRIST’S PRESENCE IN TROUBLE

‘Then they willingly received Him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.’

Joh_6:21

A strange transition. From witnessing a mighty miracle, and helping it instrumentally, amidst an admiring crowd, the disciples experience solitude, darkness, winds, waves, storm, anxiety, and danger. But Christ knew it, and Christ appointed it, and it was working for their good.

I. Trial is part of the discipline which all true Christians must expect.—It is one of the means by which their grace is proved, and by which they find out what there is in themselves. Winter as well as summer, cold as well as heat, clouds as well as sunshine—are all necessary to bring the fruit of the Spirit to ripeness and maturity. We do not naturally like this. We would rather cross the lake with calm weather and favourable winds and the sun shining down on our faces, But it may not be. In our darkest hours we may seem to be left.

II. But we are never really alone.—The Lord Jesus Christ has power over the waves of trouble just as over those of the sea. He came to His disciples as they were rowing on the stormy lake, ‘walking on’ the waters. He walked on them as easily as we walk on dry land. They bore Him as firmly as the pavement of the Temple, or the hills around Nazareth. That which is contrary to all natural reason was perfectly possible to Christ. The Lord is not only the Lord, but the Maker of all creation. Learned men talk solemn nonsense sometimes about the eternal fixity of the ‘laws of nature,’ as if they were above God Himself and could never be suspended.

III. Let all true Christians take comfort in the thought that their Saviour is Lord of waves and winds, of storms and tempests, and can come to them in the darkest hour, ‘walking upon the sea.’ There are waves of trouble far heavier than any on the Lake of Galilee. There are days of darkness which try the faith of the holiest Christian. But let us never despair if Christ is our Friend. He can come to our aid in an hour when we think not, and in ways that we did not expect. And when He comes all will be calm.

Bishop J. C. Ryle.

Illustration

‘The practical remark has often been made, that many of the things which now frighten Christians, and fill them with anxiety, would cease to frighten them if they would endeavour to see the Lord Jesus in all, ordering every providence, and overruling everything, so that not a hair falls to the ground without Him. They are happy who can hear His voice through the thickest clouds and darkness, and above the loudest winds and storms, saying, “It is I; be not afraid.” It has been thought by some that the words, “It is I,” might be more literally rendered, “I am,” and that they are intended to refer to the name of God, so familiar to Jews: “I am.” It is a pious thought, but hardly in keeping with the context and the circumstances of the occurrence. Our Lord desired first to relieve the fears of His disciples by showing them Who it was that they feared: and the Greek words for “It is I,” are the only words that He could well have used.’