John 6: 16-17
” When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. ”
This passage in its whole is famous because we see Jesus walking on water. Yet, as we look closer at the Word and dissect it verse by verse, we find that there are a lot of treasures here that could easily be overshadowed by the larger miracle.
Why did the disciples leave without Jesus? I have often wondered this but never have I given the question serious thought. Now as I consider the question I wonder if they knew where Jesus had gone off to. Jesus, after all, was escaping a crowd on the verge of descending into a mob. The will of the mob was to make Jesus king, by force if needed, and presumably to take advantage of this power to feed and heal people. The text says that Jesus “withdrew again to a mountain by himself.” We have to surmise that he did this in a way that left people wondering where he had gone.
It seems unlikely, as I think about it, that Jesus had time to confer with his disciples and prepare them for his departure. He just seemed to disappear. Not knowing where Jesus had disappeared to, and not knowing what else they should do, the disciples set off in the boat perhaps expecting to meet up with Jesus in Capernaum.
Q: How do you deal with those times when it seems like God is far off?
When Jesus walked the earth, He confined Himself to a body of skin and would only be in one place at a time.
Today Jesus dwells in the hearts of believers and God our fat he is Omnipresent. When we sin we grieve the Holy Spirit and separate ourselves from Our Holy, Omnipresent God. As we mature, we become sensitive to the presence of God and can tell immediately when we become separated because of our sin. Reconciliation comes when we cease sin, reprint and seek forgiveness of God.
If we find God id far off, we are the reason and we have the means of becoming one with God again.
First off I start with confession,..because He is always faithful to forgive,..then I empty myself of any glory that belongs to Him because sometimes my sinful flesh wants to hold on to things that don’t belong to me,..so I ask Him to take back anything that belongs to Him,..and He lets me know what’s His,..really all I had to do was just turn around because He has never left me it was I that had turned away from Him,..how quickly I forget,.. must be that three letter word creeping up on me,..age,..we all have it,..just like the cancer cell,..we all have it,..however,.. even though He has never left me I still find myself in confession for my sin,..and returning things back to Him,..it’s all His anyway,..and I have found that He has never left me to begin with,..it is tough to realize that as I walk through this life,..but I am getting better at knowing that He is always here for me,..keep smiling,..