Seek Jesus as the Son of God

I would ask you to open your Bibles to John chapter 6, please, to the Gospel of John, chapter 6, number 891 in your pew Bibles, 891. we will look at verses 16 to 27 this morning, but I'll read a little bit before just to get the context for our section here. So let's start at verse 14, John chapter 6, verse 14. When the people saw the sign that Jesus had done, the feeding of the 5,000, They said, a strong wind was blowing.

When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, it is I, do not be afraid. And then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. On the next day, the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had only been one boat there and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples but that his disciples had gone away alone other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks so when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there nor his disciples they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum seeking Jesus.

And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here? And Jesus answered them, truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, but not because you saw the signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which a son, a man will give to you, for on him God the Father has set his seal.

Let us pray. Oh God in heaven, we are a desperate people in need of your help. God, help us to seek you. Help us to seek you like the crowd sought Jesus. I pray, Lord, that you'd help us to seek you in truth and with pure motivations, not to fill our bellies up with bread that will disappear but let us seek you for eternal life let us gather here together as your people to seek Christ the King the divine King who can give us great and wonderful things Lord we are a weak people and we are easily distracted so would you help each one of us, me included to receive from your word the food of eternal life and to see Jesus clearly so that he would be glorified and we would rest easy in him.

Lord, we're thankful for the spirit of grace that you send to your people so that they can have ears to hear and a heart to receive. So I pray that we would receive him now as we look to Jesus together. In Jesus' name, amen. I'm the second youngest of nine children, and there's seven boys and two girls in my family. And my dad really did a lot of things at the beginning when he had children.

The boys went hunting all the time. They knew how to change oil and shoot guns and all that fun stuff. And I think by the time he got down to me, the second youngest, he was just tired. And I think I've said that before behind the pulpit. I love my dad, I really do. But the thing is, I never learned the things of, and hunting was a big thing at the beginning of the family there, and I never learned to hunt, never learned to fire a weapon, never shot a gun at all until I went into boot camp in A school.

And it was very fascinating because I went into the Navy to be a military police officer. And when I went in, it was the first time I ever shot a pistol, m16 rifle m500 shotgun and i didn't think too much about it i never really been into guns really but there's something about it when you fire a gun there's a certain power there that you can hold in your hand and although you know the shotgun gave me a lot of booboos booboos at first right here before i learned how to shoot it it was so much power that was in that gun and there was something to it that was really exciting and i understood why so many people are into guns and it got me thinking men and I think everyone but especially men love to control big and powerful things when something is powerful and can do a lot of things we love to grab hold of it and control it and it reminds me of my brothers again who are much older than me they would let me drive their car in the neighborhood we have a pretty big neighborhood growing up and I would sit on my brother lap and he would work the pedals and I would drive And it was the most exciting thing in the world This huge machine and it at my fingertips Of course if I wanted to go off my brother would stop it but it felt great I think there something about these big powerful things we love to control and manipulate. And this is what the 5,000 men want to do with Jesus after he had just fed them during the Passover feast.

Jesus wanted to bless, the crowd wanted to be blessed, but being so focused on the physical blessing being fed and not the spiritual blessing it pointed to, they tried to force Jesus to be the king to provide these physical things with them to them whenever they wanted. Like a man putting his hands on and controlling a powerful tool or weapon. They wanted Jesus to be a king they can put their hands on and handle according to their own will and get these physical blessings whenever they wanted them.

And in the text we have today, they are going to continue to seek after Jesus for this vain reason. And after finding Jesus, Jesus is going to correct this error. But first, we get this narrative of Jesus walking on the water. And it seems to almost interrupt this whole narrative of the crowd and Jesus. But it actually fits in this overall narrative very well.

The story of Jesus walking on the water reveals a king that is not something you could put your hands on and forced to do what you please. But instead, Jesus walking on the water reveals a divine king that is far beyond what we can manipulate, in which he brings a far more wonderful blessing than we can imagine. Far beyond getting food that will perish.

So instead of being what the crowd thinks Jesus is, we'll call a petty king that can give petty things, Jesus reveals himself to be a divine king that can give divine things. Now, I thought all night about that rhyme, so you better like it. That's all I got. So again, instead of being what the crowd thinks, he's simply a petty king that can give petty things.

If we get our hands on him, Jesus, in this text today, reveals himself to be a divine king that can give divine things. So let's first look at the revealing of a divine king. We'll then look into the crowd searching for a petty king, and then we'll finish with Jesus correcting the crowd that they should seek to receive the blessing of the divine king instead.

So let's look at the revealing of a divine king first. Verses 16 and 17. Let's look at that again in John 6. When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. You see, after Jesus fed the crowd, they tried to make him king, as we just discussed.

And Jesus retreats to the mountain. Remember, that's what we covered last week. And the other Gospels, Matthew and Mark, namely, tells us that before he goes to the mountain, he dismisses the crowd and dismisses his disciples to a boat. And so after supper, after he fed them, sometime in the evening, the disciples get into the boat, head to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which would be to the west, to Capernaum.

Capernaum is like the headquarters of Jesus' ministry in the north. And so it makes sense that when Jesus dismisses the disciples, he says, go back to the other side of the sea and go back to Capernaum, which would be on the west side of the Sea of Galilee. And just like how a problem presented itself before the feeding of the 5,000, remember that? All these hungry people, no food.

So a serious problem presents itself here to reveal the glory of Jesus being a divine king. Look at verse 18 to see that problem. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. Now the Sea of Galilee had elevated hills and mountains all around it. So the sea is kind of down low, and you have mountains and hills surrounding it. And wind would rush down from the hills into the sea and create these sudden and severe storms on the sea.

Winds on the Sea of Galilee and these storms can be anywhere from 30 miles per hour to 75 miles per hour. It's intense. This is still an issue today in the Sea of Galilee. Warnings will be issued for all boats to get off of the sea because a storm is coming and it is dangerous for the boats to be out. And these are modern boats, mind you. And we're talking about here 2,000 years ago, the disciples are in a rowboat.

It would be a very dangerous situation. Imagine the situation the disciples in a rowboat are in here. The problem gets even worse, though, in verse 19, when they had rowed about three or four miles. So they had rowed about three or four miles, and essentially they would be in the middle of the Sea of Galilee at this point. They would be in the very middle of the Sea of Galilee, and Matthew and Mark tells us that this was sometime between 3 and 6 a.m.

Now if you remember, that means they've been rowing all evening and all night. And this is even more incredible because it usually takes two hours for a rowboat or something of that nature to get across the sea. So instead of taking them two hours to get across the sea they been at it for several hours I remember traveling to Chicago talking about boot camp a lot now I don know why but my brother Chris graduated from boot camp.

He was actually in boot camp during 9-11. So after 9-11, he had graduated, and so I was 11 years old, and my dad took us all in the car to go to see him graduate in Chicago. And from where I lived in Michigan, Waterford, to Chicago is about a four and a half hour trip. But for various reasons that I don't even remember all of it, there was a lot of traffic and what have you.

It took about 12 hours. And if you ever experience that, it is the most exhausting and frustrating thing to anticipate a trip for a few hours to turn into that long of a thing or deal. So you can imagine, I wasn't even driving and I was frustrated and tired. My dad was more so. And you can imagine the disciples here would be tired and frustrated because they don't have a bunch of horsepower taking their boat across the sea.

They have to row and row and row and row. It would be a tiring, frustrating problem. And I would imagine they'd be scared too because they can't pull out their phone to see, okay, how bad is this storm going to get? Because if you remember other parts of the gospel, the storm could get so bad that they think they're going to die. And so you can imagine, they have no idea how bad it's going to get.

They'd be frustrated, they'd be tired, and they would be scared. And as if the situation couldn't get any worse, it does. All of a sudden, as their boat faced west, and the rowers would face east, The rowers see a very alarming thing in the distance. We see in verse 19, when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea, coming near the boat, and they were frightened.

Matthew and Mark, the Gospels, Matthew and Mark, they tell us that they were frightened because they thought they were seeing a ghost. Why would they be frightened and why would they think they're seeing a ghost? Because they are seeing something that is not possible for a mere mortal to do. They are frightened, they think they see a ghost because they are seeing something that no man can do.

In fact, Mark's gospel says that Jesus was moving as if he was planning on passing them. And what he means is that Jesus was scooting. He was going quickly. And so since they were seeing a man walking on water, that's one thing that's kind of freaky. And then they were seeing a man that wasn't at all having trouble with the wind as they were. He was moving quickly on the water.

They concluded this cannot be a mere mortal. This has to be a ghost. And they're kind of half right there, which is where the narrative is going to. but then all the fear is gone when the alleged ghosts out on the water identifies himself in verse 20 he said to them it is I do not be afraid now it is I is ego and me in the Greek and that's literally I am do not be afraid now this is a common way for someone to identify themselves at this time.

It's a common thing for them to say, I am, to say it is I, it's me. And so some people think that's what Jesus is simply saying, it's me. But the literal words are, I am, and given the context of the situation, it is good for us to see Jesus as saying something more significant than simply saying, here I am. Jesus is saying, fear not, for I am, or God is with you.

I am is the name for God. When Moses asked God what name he should give to the Israelites, God says his name is I am. And we see this in Exodus 3, 13 through 16. Moses said to God, if I come to the people of Israel and say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, what is his name? What shall I say to them? And God said to Moses, I am who I am.

And he said, say this to the people of Israel, I am has sent me to you. God also said to Moses, say this to the people of Israel, the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt.

So the I Am is the name of God. It's how he identifies himself. This is the name Yahweh, or in the Old Testament scriptures, in your modern translations, you'll see it as capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. It's Yahweh, I am. This is the name of God. Now, much can be said about what it means that God is the I am.

And this plays a major part in John's gospel as Jesus identifies himself as the I am several times. And when we come to those places, we will spend more time discussing that name. But for now, it is important for you to see that what the disciples mistaken to be a ghost is really Jesus who says, I am. Not a ghost, God. Not a ghost, the Son of God. Not a ghost, but sheer divine power.

And despite the storm, despite the endless rowing, despite the tired bones because the I am is with them he commands them be not afraid And so at this point of the narrative we come to the realization that what going on here is a majestic theophany a visible manifestation or appearance of God to humanity Now we know that's exactly what Jesus Christ is always in the Gospels. It's God in flesh. But this is like displaying it in a characteristic way in the Bible.

You see, there are several theophanies in the Bible. And it happens similar to this way that we're seeing now every time. It follows a similar pattern. The divine appearance to man, man is afraid. The appearance identifies himself as God and told, do not be afraid. We read this in our Old Testament and New Testament reading, didn't we?

This is what happened to Isaiah. He saw God in the true temple, and he says, woe is me. And then he's told, do not be afraid. You have been forgiven. And we see this in Revelation when John, our present writer, sees the glorified Jesus, and he falls down like a dead man. And Jesus comes to him and says, be not afraid, for I'm the living one.

And so the disciples are told not to be afraid because as we talked about last week, it is in the character of this true son of God to bless. So all that happens next is powerful blessing from the powerful son of God. Look at verse 21. Then they were glad to take him into the boat. From fear, all those things, to now glad when they see the I am. And they were glad to bring him into the boat.

And then look at what the text says. And immediately the boat was at the land which they were going to. Now, in the other Gospels, it says that Jesus got into the boat, and the storm stopped immediately. They're fearful, scared, and the storm's gone because of the I Am. And in the Gospel here in John, we see that, and then they immediately got to their spot.

So imagine being stuck in traffic. This was only supposed to be a two-hour trip, and now it's turning into an eight-hour trip, and all of a sudden someone comes in the car, and you're there immediately. It would be very gratifying. and here Jesus, the I Am, the powerful one, comes in, and all of their problems dissolve immediately. Once again, the power and majesty of Jesus on display as he provides for the needs of his people, just like when he fed the 5,000.

Now, I want you, as we have looked at that now, I want you to contrast this theophany, what we saw with Jesus walking on the water, with who he is, the Son of God, divine power, divine king, contrast this with the reaction of the crowd after Jesus revealed he was the Son of God by providing them food. Remember what they did. Instead of understanding that they are seeing the true God before them who can provide even better blessings to them, instead of seeing a divine king who can provide divine things, they see a petty king that they can provide petty things.

They're desperate to seek after him so they can get their hands on him and make him do what they please. That is the very opposite of what we're seeing of Jesus walking on the water. This one is divine, powerful. You can't put your hands on him and he'll provide you more than you could ever imagine. And that's really the tragic thread running through John 6. that they would miss the perfect power and gift from Jesus and make it something less as they were doing.

So then let's continue that narrative in light of this revelation of the powerful Son of God. Let's see the crowd searches for a petty king to receive petty things. Look at verse 22 now in chapter 6. So on the next day, after Jesus walked on the water and went away, So after being dismissed, this crowd was not giving up. They still strongly wanted to see Jesus.

And they saw that the disciples left the night prior in a boat, and they saw Jesus go up on the mountain, and now it was the next day, and they do not see Jesus on the mountain. Where did he go? They figured their best bet to get to Jesus is to go where they know his disciples went, across the sea to Capernaum. So in verse 23, we see other boats, in John 6, 23, we see other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.

And when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into those boats and went to Capernaum and highlight that word, seeking Jesus. So these boats from Tiberias, which was coming from the west, closer to Capernaum, what most people think is they hear that there's a huge crowd looking to go across the sea. And these are probably professional ferries.

These are professional taxis. And so they want to make money, so they come over to the other side of the sea where this huge crowd is, and they're happy to receive money from the crowd to get them back over to Capernaum where they're trying to find Jesus. And what I want you to highlight in your mind is, again, underlying seeking Jesus. This crowd is still obsessed with finding, seeking, being with, being blessed by Jesus.

This crowd has proven they are desperate to find and have Jesus. They followed him out to the wilderness. They are traveling across seas and mountains, paying their way across the sea. They are seeking Jesus. But not the divine king. that we just witnessed, they're seeking a petty king that they can put their hands on and manipulate. Bad motives.

And it will be called out by Jesus next. Which is what we'll see now. Jesus corrects the seekers. Look at verse 25. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here? Imagine the confusion.

We know you didn't go with your disciples, yet here you are. We woke up the next morning and we were keeping an eye on you and you weren't there. And so they're astonished, they're confused. Rabbi, when did you come here? And it's really ironic enough that they didn't call him king. They just tried to make him king and Jesus says no.

But rather what they need most right now as a rabbi, they need a teacher to teach them what Jesus as king truly means. and Jesus, the great teacher, does not answer their question they ask but gets to the heart of the matter with his answer to them. Now imagine, they said, how did you get here? And Jesus could have said, did you see that storm last night?

That had nothing on me. I walked through that sucker like nothing on the waves, right? He could have really went into detail about how he actually got there. But Jesus doesn't do it. He gets straight to the heart of the matter with his answer. the problem that they, the crowd, have. It's the same thing he does to Nicodemus.

You remember Nicodemus in chapter 3 when he's curious about Jesus and he says to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. And Jesus, you remember how he answered him? He doesn't even acknowledge what he says. He just gets to the heart of Nicodemus' issue when he says, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

And now the same thing is happening here. They say, Rabbi, when did you get here? We are confused. And Jesus gets straight to the heart of the matter, their issue, the thing that they've been doing wrong this whole time. He says in verse 26, Jesus answers them, Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me. Good, right?

It's good that you're seeking me. But it's not because you saw signs. but because you ate your fill of the loaves. That's the extent, your motivation, of seeking me. He says, not because you're seeking me, not because you saw signs. That's why they should have been seeking him. Remember what signs are, right?

Remember the main thesis of this book in John chapter 20, verses 30 through 31? He tells us what signs are. Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book But these signs are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah the Son of God and that by believing, you may have life in his name.

You see, the miracles Jesus did were signs that he was Messiah, Son of God, who can give eternal life if you believe upon him. He is a divine king. who can provide you divine things. But they were in this desperate attempt to find Jesus because of this reason, this improper reason, not because they saw signs, but rather because, he says, you ate your fill of the loaves.

You see, they saw the miracles all right. They didn't have any issue seeing the miracle of being filled. No problem seeing that. They saw the miracle of feeding a large crowd, but it was meant to be a sign to a deeper blessing, to a deeper person. But instead, they could only see the lesser blessing or the petty blessing of being fed with food. So instead of a divine king who can give divine things, they saw a petty king who could give petty things.

They did not see the sign behind the miracle. so John 6 27 he goes on to say do not work for the food that perishes but for the food that endures to eternal life which the son of man will give to you for on him God the father has set his seal he's saying stop seeking me for things that are transient that will not remain that will disappear but seek me for the greater blessings of what will remain that is eternal life you know if we were nothing but animals a life spent seeking after what will perish with time would be a life well spent if you look at the animals it's glorious to god to watch them busy at work for food and the things that disappear that will disappear because that's their aim in life. That's what God has given them their aim was to do that very thing. So if we were nothing but animals, that would be all right to just seek for the food that perishes.

But as humans, we are made in the image of God and met for a higher purpose to seek after life, closeness, or relationship with God. And so while we need the things of this creation to survive physically, it should not be our final aim but instead we should use it for our final aim to be near to God the thing that will never go away And such closeness is only possible through the divine king And that's what he says to finish off verse 27, when he says, which the son of man will give to you. For on him, God the father has set his seal.

Now he doesn't use son of God, he uses son of man, but it's still a divine and powerful and awesome title. He's referring, that is Jesus, is referring to Daniel 7. And how the Father, the Ancient of Days, gives the divine Son of Man a kingdom that overcomes all other kingdoms. And this kingdom is one of God's presence on earth, enabled by the death and resurrection of this divine King, so that those who seek him for this blessing receive the divine thing of life with God.

So this narrative of John 6 is all about how you can seek Jesus for bad motivations. You can be a seeker of Jesus, but for terrible motivations. If you saw this crowd running around all Israel to be with Jesus, you would think, man, these guys are devoted Christians. This is amazing. But really, Jesus exposed them to being devoted to the pleasures of this world, the things that will perish.

So ask yourselves now, am I using this life I have to seek after Jesus where he can be found? Many people don't even seek after Jesus. Are you seeking after Jesus? like this crowd that was desperate for him? Do I seek him in his word? Do I seek him in his church? Do I seek him in my prayer life?

Am I a seeker of Christ? But the important next question is, what do I want from this Jesus I am seeking? Are you motivated by the things of this world that will perish? And so you hope Jesus will use his power to give you those things? You want to put your hands on him and manipulate him? A powerful Jesus indeed?

Then you're seeking a petty king for petty things. You are seeking a powerful tool to get your hands on and try to manipulate. That's it. Instead, meditate on the divine power of Jesus revealed here. The divine king. The great I am.

His divine power is revealed and given you what you need most. not the things of this world but God who is not of this world If it was the best thing for you to have all the things of this world bread and entertainment and all those things Jesus would have came and he would have done that But that not the best thing. The best thing is to be near and close to God. So are you motivated not for the things that will perish, but for eternal life as you seek Jesus?

To be near to God through the forgiveness of sins and the strength the divine king can give to overcome those sins to walk with God his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. Let us pray. Oh Father, I thank you for Jesus Christ the Lord.

I thank you that he reveals himself for who he truly is. He's not one to be manipulated. He's not one for us to grab hold of and try to make king so that we can fulfill all of our desires on earth for physical things. But instead, he has come to give us the greater thing. For we know that our salvation is only possible as a great work of divine power. We know that the Son of God, Son of Man, took our sins upon him so that we could be made righteous and enjoy your presence.

That is better than anything and everything. God, how easy it is for your people, even here today, for our desire is to shift in and out. We can look one day like the disciple or like the people, the crowd that were chasing after him so that we could receive the transient things of this world. Lord, it's good to seek after food. It's good to seek after shelter.

Those are good things. But God, it's so easy for us that it would become our end. Lord I ask that you would help us let us be corrected by Jesus here let us see his divine power revealed for divine things let us use the things that you give us to enjoy him forever to enjoy your presence to enjoy being with you to enjoy your kingdom give us this motivation as we seek Jesus for we know that this is the best thing that you could have ever provided us so we thank you for his power we thank you that you reveal it to us and we can put our trust in him that he's done all things well he has conquered death conquered sin and he gives his people righteousness as they seek him in true faith so let us do so now in Jesus name, amen