John 6:16-21 NASB
Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, [17] and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. [18] The sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. [19] Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles, THEY BEHELD JESUS WALKING ON THE SEA and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened. [20] But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” [21] So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.
Mark 6:45-52 NASB
Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away. [46] After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray. [47] When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. [48] SEEING THEM STRAINING AT THE OARS, FOR THE WIND WAS AGAINST THEM,, at about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them. [49] But when they saw Him walking on the sea, THEY SUPPOSED THAT IT WAS A GHOST, and cried out; [50] for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, “Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.” [51] Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and THEY WERE UTTERLY ASTONISHED, [52] FOR THEY HAD NOT GAINED ANY INSIGHT FROM THE INCIDENT OF THE LOAVES, BUT THEIR HEART WAS HARDENED.
After feeding the 5000 Jesus put his disciples in a boat and sent them on their way to cross the sea of Galilee. At some point during their journey the sea was stirred up and a strong wind was blowing. Between 3 and 6 AM in the morning Jesus came to them walking on the water with the intent of passing them by and when they saw him they were frightened because they thought it was His ghost. In both of these passages is very clear that they saw Jesus walking on the water. The word that’s used here “BEHOLD” is a word that we get “theater” from. The point being, they clearly knew that it was Jesus walking on the water, but for some reason they thought it was His ghost and they were frightened. One interesting thing here, is that Jesus did not tell them they were stupid to believe in ghosts, but that’s another story altogether. The point I’m wanting to make is this, according to the last 2 verses of the Mark passage they were utterly astonished that it was the non-ghost Jesus who walked on water and they were astonished to discover that it was the flesh and blood Jesus, because they had gained no insight from the miracle of the loaves and fish, because their hearts were hardened. Whenever the Scripture talks about a hardened heart it is generally referring to simple unbelief. Isn’t it interesting that they believed in ghosts and that a ghost was walking on the water, but somehow they didn’t believe it was the real living Jesus. It is important for us to remember that even though Jesus was 100% God, He lived on earth as the Son of Man filled with the Holy Spirit. He came as the 2nd Adam and as the author and the perfecter of faith, to show us how human beings were intended to live. In John 14:10 Jesus stated that all the works that he did were actually the father doing the work through him by the Holy Spirit. Jesus was in union with the father by the presence of the Holy Spirit in him, who makes union a reality, and therefore everything that Jesus did, he did in absolute utter dependence on the father to work through him. Jesus was the prototype of the new creation. He says about himself in John 8 that he came from above, and in John 3 the Baptist said the thing thing about Jesus, that he came from above and he said “he who comes from above is above all.” As a prototype of the new creation Jesus was the 1st example of someone who is part heavenly and part human living on earth out of union with God. This is what the disciples did not learn from the miracle of the loaves and fish. We are told earlier in John 6 that Jesus looked into heaven and saw the resources of his Father and having seen the resources of the Father, he simply gave thanks for the miracle that the father was about to perform. Jesus wasn’t trying to teach his disciples that he could do miracles as God; He was trying to teach them what God could do through a man. He was trying to teach them about living out of union, because just as he was in the father and the father was in him, one day soon, through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the disciples would be in Him, and He would be in them, and the works that they would do out of union with him would be even greater than the works that he had done out of union with His Father. When Jesus saw them straining at the oars, they were 3 or 4 miles away from the shore and in light of the fact that he did nothing on his own initiative, He saw them out of his union with the Father. He saw them through the eyes of His Father. Jesus was capable as the Son of Man to demonstrate the supernatural because He was in union with Heaven. The reason the disciples thought that it was Jesus’s ghost (evidently they thought Jesus had somehow died and now this was His ghost) was because they still weren’t convinced of the miraculous lifestyle that Jesus manifested. To see someone walking on water meant that had to be a supernatural being and therefore they concluded that it had to be a ghost, but the truth was that because Jesus as man was in union with God he was capable of manifesting the supernatural as man.
Here is the kicker! Jesus was the firstborn among many brethren. As new creations in Christ, we also are in union with heaven and therefore we are part heavenly and part earthly, capable of manifesting the miraculous and the supernatural. It is true that “HE who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speak of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. “In light of the fact that we have been born from above, we too being not just earthly, but also heavenly, are above all. The enemy should not be dictating the narrative of our lives or the lives around us, but in Christ, we should be dictating the narrative to the enemy. This is our true identity and in humility we need to embrace the truth and start living as those who are, though in the world, not of the world. We are people who are squarely planted in this world, yet seated in the heavenly places in Christ, called to bring heaven to earth, transforming the world instead of being transformed by the world.