John 6:17Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

But, burning with love for Him, they go down into the boat. The evangelist does not indicate the time without purpose. He does so to show their ardent love.

Why, then, does Christ leave them and withdraw? Still more, why does He appear alone, walking on the sea? In the first case, He taught them what it was like to be without Him and wished to increase their love for Him. In the other, He again showed them His power.

Just as they did not hear His teaching only together with the people, so also they did not see His miracles only together with the people. Those who were to receive authority over the whole world had to possess something more than others.

What miracles, you ask, did they see alone? The Transfiguration on the mountain, the present miracle on the sea, and many great miracles after the Resurrection. From these I also infer others.

They were going to Capernaum without certain knowledge, but only hoping to meet Him there, or even during the voyage. John hinted at this when he said that "it was becoming dark, and Jesus had not come to them. A strong wind was blowing, and the sea was rising."

Yet even when all this had occurred, it is said, "Jesus had not yet come to them." In this especially lay the danger, and the absence of Christ increased the fear of those sailing.

Therefore those who are not present with Him are necessarily exposed to storms. They are as if cut off from Him, or else they are withdrawing through departure from the divine laws. Because of sin, they distance themselves from Him who is able to save.

Therefore, if it is grievous to be in spiritual darkness, and if it is hard to sink in the bitter sea of pleasures, let us receive Jesus. This will free us both from dangers and from sin unto death.

A visible proof of what has been said can be seen in what happened. It will, of course, be found in the disciples.

The evangelist himself shows this quite clearly when he says: "He who hates his brother abides in darkness," 1 Jn 2:11. This darkness of brotherly hatred grows, it grows with each day, and Jesus still does not come.

When darkness increases, love grows cold, and iniquity abounds, these are the waves that toss the boat. The storms and winds are the threatening voices of evildoers. Then love grows cold, the waves intensify, and the boat is tossed.

For because iniquity abounds and the love of many grows cold, the waves intensify, the darkness thickens, and the wind rages. Yet the boat sails. "He who endures to the end shall be saved."

And how does He come? Walking upon the waves, trampling underfoot all worldly pride, and suppressing all that is lofty in the world. This happens when the time arrives and when the season of the age comes.

In this world tribulations multiply, evils multiply, sorrows multiply, and all these things accumulate. Then Jesus comes, walking upon the waves.

Yet these tribulations are such that even those who have believed in Jesus and strive to endure to the end tremble lest they grow weak. When Christ walks upon the waves, trampling the worldly heights and exaltations, the Christian trembles.

They open the Gospel, they open the Scriptures, and they find that all this was foretold there. For thus the Lord has done. He trampled the heights of the world, that His humble ones might glorify Him.

It is rightly said of the darkness, because the Light does not come: "It was becoming dark, and Jesus had not come to them." As the end of the world approaches, errors increase, fears intensify, injustice increases, and unbelief increases.

Finally, the light, which the Evangelist John himself quite definitely calls love, for he says, "He who hates his brother is in darkness," 1 Jn 2:11, is more and more often extinguished. That darkness of hatred between brothers increases, increasing day by day, and Jesus still does not come.

Why does all this increase? Because of the multiplication of lawlessness, love grows cold in many, Mt 24:12. Darkness increases, and Jesus still does not come.

When darkness increases, when love grows cold, and when injustice abounds, all this is the waves shaking the boat. The storms and winds are the cries of the slanderous. From this love grows cold, and from this the waves rage and trouble the boat.

That is, He alone rested there, and in view of this the disciples went down from there to the sea. Entering the boat, they set out for Capernaum, thinking that Jesus Christ would again walk across the sea on foot and come to them a little later.

For this reason this evangelist said: "And immediately it became dark, and Jesus had not come to them." Everything else happened as he wrote.

During that walking on the sea, the disciples were frightened and cried out. During this one, they were only afraid, since because of habit their fear was less. There, when Jesus Christ said, "It is I; do not be afraid," the disciples still did not believe.

Therefore Peter said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the waters," Mt 14:27-28. But here they believed at once, because they were already accustomed to this. Then the wind did not become calm until Jesus Christ entered the boat.

Now, as soon as His voice was heard, stillness came. He did not even enter the boat, but while they wished to receive Him, the boat suddenly came to shore, and He Himself was behind it.

The Lord went up into the vessel. Immediately it reached the shore, and in this way the Lord arrived again in Capernaum. So many great miracles were gathered into this brief span of time!

For the disciples, they were a strengthening of their faith in the Lord during that troubled time. They also served as preparation for the new truths which the disciples and outsiders were to hear from Him.

As may be seen from Jn 6:17, Jesus Christ, having commanded the disciples to set out alone for the western side of the sea, promised to come to them in the boat at some point on the shore.

From this one may conclude that the disciples first had to keep a coastal course toward the northern end of the sea.

But suddenly a northeast wind arose and began driving the boat southwestward into the depths of the sea. In this condition they probably wished to reach as soon as possible the place to which they had been commanded to sail by the Lord.

Nevertheless, they struggled until the fourth watch, but did not reach the shore. At that time, when they were in the midst of the sea (Matthew and Mark), having sailed about twenty-five or thirty stadia (John), they saw Jesus walking on the waters.

Mark adds that He was making His way past them (Mk 6:48). Exhausted by the struggle with the waves and by fear for their lives, they did not believe their eyes.

They took Him for a phantom, and fear seized them still more. But Jesus Christ encouraged them with His voice.

Here follows the account belonging to the Evangelist Matthew alone, concerning the Apostle Peter walking on the waters (Mt 14:28-31).

The Evangelists end the story differently. First of all, John seems to contradict Matthew and Mark.

According to the latter, the disciples received Jesus, and in Matthew also Peter, into the boat, and the wind ceased. John says, “They wanted to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were going” (Jn 6:21).

It might seem that the meaning is this: the disciples only wanted to receive Jesus into the boat, but this proved unnecessary, because the boat reached the shore.

Yet it is not necessary to represent the matter in this way. “They wanted” is contrasted with their previous state, their fear that they were seeing not Jesus, but a phantom.

That fear had now passed, and they wanted to receive Him into the boat, whereas before they wanted to flee from Him.

“Immediately” is contrasted with their previous very prolonged and unsuccessful struggle with the waves. It is not necessary to understand the word as meaning that Christ did not have to sail several stadia with the disciples.

Five or ten stadia still remained to the shore. “Immediately” means only that the sailors, now with Jesus, reached the shore as quickly as before they had long and unsuccessfully striven to reach it.

What the first Evangelists indicated by the words “and the wind ceased,” John expresses with the words, continuing the same thought: “immediately the boat reached the shore.”

Then Matthew and Mark seem to contradict one another. The first says that the disciples worshiped the Lord and confessed Him to be the Son of God after they were convinced of the miracle of Jesus Christ walking on the waters.

The latter says (Mk 6:51-52) that the disciples’ heart was hardened, and that they had not understood the miracle of the loaves, but only wondered and were amazed at the new miracle.

From this, however, it follows only that the disciples, struck by the greatness of the miracle, bowed before the Lord and confessed Him as the Messiah.

At the same time, they wondered that Christ performed such extraordinary and unheard-of deeds. The Apostle Peter, from whose words Mark speaks here, observes such a disposition and reflection in the depth of the disciples’ souls.

He considers it a defect, a hardening of heart. According to him, the miracle of the feeding was so great that after it there should have been no room for any questions.

They should not have questioned the power or possibility for Jesus Christ to perform even such a miracle as walking on the waters.

Since the first three Evangelists say that evening had already come before the feeding (Mt 14:15), a second evening must be understood here. Among the Jews, the first was from three to six o’clock, and the second from sunset until nightfall.

In the time of Christ the Jews divided the night into four watches of three hours each. The fourth watch was from three to six o’clock in the morning.

The whole sea from east to west measured forty stadia. According to John, therefore, the disciples were in the middle of the sea.

But by the expression “in the midst of the sea,” the Evangelists Matthew and Mark only mean that the disciples were far from shore. Consequently, amid the disturbance of the sea, they were in danger.

The apostles entered the boat and set out alone, without Jesus, to the other side of the sea. The Evangelist John says that they went to Capernaum. The Evangelist Mark says that Jesus constrained the apostles to go ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida. The Evangelist Matthew mentions only the other side of the sea.

The question arises: where did the apostles go, and where did the feeding of the people occur? The disciples of John informed Jesus of their teacher's death when He was in Capernaum. Immediately Jesus set out by boat with the returned apostles to a deserted place near a city called Bethsaida, Lk 9:10.

The crowds of people also followed, or ran, after Him there. Since from this deserted place the apostles returned by boat in the direction of Capernaum, or of Bethsaida situated on the same shore, one must conclude that Jesus, on receiving news of His Forerunner's death, withdrew with His apostles to a deserted place near the city called Bethsaida Julias, northeast of the Sea of Galilee.

The apostles then returned alone to the opposite shore, the northwest shore, on which two cities stood not far from each other: maritime Bethsaida and Capernaum. Consequently, the miracle of feeding the people with five loaves and two fish was performed on the deserted northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. The nearest city to it was Bethsaida Julias.

It has been suggested that the Lord, traveling by boat with the apostles toward Bethsaida Julias, landed before reaching that city, because He had compassion on the crowds hastening along the shore. If this supposition is correct, then the place of the miraculous feeding of the people is very difficult to determine.

On the other hand, it was easier for Him to dismiss the people when they saw that even His closest followers and disciples had been sent away. Thus, as twilight thickened, He succeeded in gently and gradually persuading the people to leave Him.

When all, except the most enthusiastic, had gone to their homes or caravans, He suddenly left the rest also. He quickly withdrew from them to the summit of the mountain, that He might pray there alone.

He felt that a fearful and solemn turning point was approaching in His life on earth. By communion with His heavenly Father, He wished to strengthen His soul for the difficult work of the next day and the heavy hardships of the many following weeks.

Earlier also He had spent a night in mountain silence, in solitary prayer. But that was before the choosing of the beloved apostles, and before the good signs of the first and joyful period of His ministry.

With wholly different feelings, the divine High Priest ascended the rocky ledges to this majestic mountain altar. In the temple of the night, it seemed to raise Him nearer to the stars of God.

The murder of His beloved Forerunner brought nearer to His consciousness the thought of His own approaching death. The storm that began to howl in the mountains, the wind rushing with a roar through the ravines, the lake raging before Him with foaming waters, and the boat, which He could see in the moonlight breaking here and there through the clouds, tossed by fierce waves, all corresponded strikingly to His present state of soul.

But there, on the deserted summit of the mountain, in that stormy night, He could receive strengthening, peace, and ineffable blessedness. For there He was alone with God.

The Lord's position amid this popular outburst was difficult. If He had sailed or gone to Galilee with the disciples at that time, the people would have followed Him step by step. The agitation could have spread through Galilee and beyond, threatening danger to the work of Christ.

Moreover, the hearts of the disciples, still not free from sensual expectations, might have responded sympathetically to the people's agitation. The Lord first separates the disciples from the people, and therefore urges them to set out at once to the other side.

Then, after calming the people's agitation and dismissing them, according to Matthew and Mark, He withdrew to the mountain for solitary prayer. The disciples set out alone in the boat to the other side, to Capernaum or to the land of Gennesaret, according to Matthew and Mark.

"And Jesus had not come to them." This feature completes the accounts of the first evangelists. It shows that the Lord, having urged the disciples to depart alone, had promised to come to them, and they were waiting for Him, though perhaps they did not suppose that He would join them so wondrously.

Perhaps on the way from the Bethsaida, that is, Julias, wilderness to Bethsaida near Capernaum, Mk 6:45, in the land of Gennesaret, according to Matthew and Mark, they expected to meet the Lord at some point on the seashore. There was also a shore road by which the Lord could have gone after dismissing the people.

But the strong storm carried the boat into the middle of the sea, and the Lord met them otherwise than they expected.

When the disciples were in the middle of the lake, the storm intensified. "The sea arose because a great wind was blowing," as the ancient translation has it. The later translation says, "it was stirred up." The latter is closer to the letter of the original, διηγηρετο, while the former is closer to the thought of the scene.

The boat was beaten and tossed by the waves. Jesus saw the distress of the disciples from the mountain of prayer.

About the "fourth watch," that is, the morning watch, by our reckoning around the fourth hour after midnight, Mk 6:48, 47; Mt 14:23-25, the disciples "saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat, and they were afraid." They "supposed it was a ghost," Mt 14:26.

"It is I; do not be afraid," Jesus says to them. According to St. Matthew, Peter volunteered to go to Jesus on the water, but became frightened and was saved from death by Jesus, Mt 14:28-31.

Then Jesus entered the boat with the disciples, and the wind ceased, Mt 14:32. Or, as St. John says, "and immediately," ευθειος, "the boat was at the land," that is, the boat came to shore.

John writes: ηθελον ουν λαβειν αυτον εις το πλοιον. Chrysostom thinks that although the disciples wanted to receive Him, they did not receive Him into the boat. This opinion does not agree with the narrative of St. Mark, Mk 6:51, and Matthew, Mt 14:31.

Chrysostom was so carried away by it that he even supposed two different events in the evangelists. But there is no need for this if John's words are understood thus: they wished to receive Him. This would only mean that a circumstance known from other accounts is left unstated.

Meanwhile, ἦθελον λαβειν, according to usage in Plato and Xenophon, means that they rejoiced to receive Him.

That it pleased the Lord to remain alone, and that He dismissed the disciples, is also briefly indicated in John's Gospel by the words of verse 15: "He departed to the mountain alone."

From the combined testimony of the evangelists, we understand that the Lord Himself calms the agitated people. By His authoritative word He stops that passionate ferment which wished to make Him king by force.

Then the Lord dismisses the people, and many go along the northern shore into the region of Galilee. We recall that the event occurs in Perea, or more precisely in the region of Ituraea Trachonitis.

But part of the people, as is clear from verses 22-26, remains to wait for the Lord near the mountains of Bethsaida Julias, "where they ate the loaves and were filled." In the morning, seeing that the Lord is not there, the remaining people enter boats and come to Capernaum. This is discussed below in more detail, verses 23 and 24.