Wednesday's Word-That There's a FAST BOAT!

On with the adventure toward one of my top 5 favorites in the Bible, I wanted to come atcha with ANOTHER MIRACLE this week! So, flip to John 6: 16-24, and let's get on our way! Oh, and don't forget your life jacket...this could get intense! !)

MIRACLE #2:

For the record, this is NOT the second miracle Jesus did. It is NOT even the second miracle recorded in the book of John, but it IS the second miracle I'm going to talk about.

Jesus had just finished feeding 5,000 people dinner (yes, five THOUSAND-but probably more like 15,000 people when you count women and children). Right. THAT would be the miracle right BEFORE THIS miracle. Jesus went to be by himself (a rare occasion) while his disciples jump into their boat and head out for Capernaum. It's dark, it's windy and the waters are rough, and they're exhausted (but well fed). They've been rowing for 3-3.5 miles by now (ie. they are in THE MIDDLE of the lake). This is where I have to stop and tell you a story...

When I was about 8-11yrs old, my family moved to Madrid, Spain. (Remember? My dad was a pilot in the Air Force) Anyhow, ALMOST daily in the summertime, I would walk to the pool with my friends. I have this vivid memory of my friends and I trying our darndest to actually walk on the water at the swimming pool. We would get a running start (followed by the whistles from the lifeguards and WAAAALK!)...splash. We would try to tiptoe in...splash. Anyone else ever try this? Okay, get ready for it:

I cannot walk on water.
There! Secret's out! Phew! That was intense!

Okay, so moving on...Jesus is on the mountain by himself, disciples are in THE MIDDLE of the lake in a boat. And...OUT. WALKS. JESUS.

NOT-"out SWIMS Jesus."

NOT-"out ROWS Jesus."

NOT-"out SURFS Jesus!"

OUT-WALKS-JESUS!

At this point, his disciples are scared. Imagine a bunch of fishermen rowing in the middle of the lake, out WALKS...A MAN-you'd be scared, too! That's just something you, um, don't see everyday in the middle of a lake? So, Jesus basically says, "Guys, guys, it's just me, don't worry!" Their response (paraphrased)? "OH! PHEW! I thought something WEIRD was happening, but it's just YOU!" !)

The good news about this week is that this "Miracle #2" is actually a TWO-FER. We get two miracles in one small bit of Scripture! The part that comes next pretty much boggles my mind!

"...immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading." (vs. 21)

"IMMEDIATELY?"

Remember! Jesus is a CARPENTER!

He's NOT a fisherman!

He is NOT a navigator!

He also, consequently, is NOT a Baker (He fed those 5,000+ people bread)

OH! And, if you're thinking from last week...He is also NOT a winemaker!

But, when He got into this boat, the boat

IMMEDIATELY

REACHED

THE SHORE WHERE THEY WERE HEADING!

Now, I don't know if this was some sort of Biblical molecular transport, or if it was something like THIS, but either way, this was phenomenal!

The next day, that crowd that Jesus had fed started looking for Jesus because they noted that the disciples got in their boat WITHOUT Jesus and rowed away, and verse 24 tells us that "Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus." I think John included this part so that instead of there only being 12 eyewitnesses that a miracle had happened, there were 5,000 or so.

So, what I hope you take away from this passage is this: That Jesus has some sort of supernatural ability to do things that NO ONE ELSE can DO (ie. walk on water. Remember? I tried. I failed), and that He is MORE ABLE to do a job that a professional could NEVER make happen (These professional fishermen could have NEVER made their boat immediately reach the shore)!

'Til next week, Smooth Sailing!