John 6:20

But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid. They were willing therefore to receive him into the boat; and straightway the boat was at the land whither they were going.

John abbreviated this wonder by omitting Peter's walking on the water to go to Jesus (Matthew 14:28-31), and also Mark's record that the apostles' "heart was hardened" (Mark 6:52), a remark that proves the conflict between Christ and the apostles over the events on shore. Matthew gave the happy ending of the brief estrangement in his account of how the apostles confessed him and worshipped him after he came aboard (Matthew 14:31-33).

And he would have passed them by ... (Mark 6:48) is another detail omitted by John, but it shows that Christ will always pass his disciples by unless they call upon him. It was this same character of withholding a blessing until it was requested that appeared in Jesus' refusal of the plea of the Canaanitish woman (Matthew 15:23), and when he "made as though he would go further" (Luke 24:48) while walking with the disciples on the road to Emmaus.

It is I; be not afraid ... There are deep spiritual overtones in both the wonders recorded in this chapter, as is true of all Christ's miracles. Richard Trench noted:

Nor should we miss the symbolical character which this whole transaction wears. As it fared with that bark upon those stormy billows, so fares it oftentimes with the church, tossed to and fro upon the waves of a troublesome world. It seems as though the Lord had forgotten it, so little is the way it makes; so baffled is it and tormented by hostile forces on every side. But his eye is on it still; and he is in the mountain apart praying; ever living, an ascended Saviour, to make intercession for his people. And when at length the extremity of the need has arrived, he is suddenly with it, in marvelous ways past finding out; and then all that was before so laborious is easy, and the toiling rowers are anon at the haven where they would be.[7]

Be not afraid ... is the constant admonition of faith. This was the word of angels to the shepherds the night our Lord was born; it was the repeated word of our Saviour's ministry; and in John's final vision of the Christ, it was the word that led all the rest (Revelation 1:17,18).

Timidly, and with much apprehension and fear, men daily confront the changing scenes of life; and no word could be more helpful than the Saviour's "Fear not!" And why should men not fear? Because, regarding the Christian, nothing can happen to HIM! Disease may ravage his body, misfortune sweep away his wealth, and time erode his every strength; but he himself is secure. All the problems of earth shall at last be solved in the light and bliss of heaven; and even the calamities of life shall be laid under tribute to enhance the power and beauty of the soul that relies on the Lord Jesus Christ.

They were willing to receive him ... These words show that the disciples were so out of harmony with the Lord that, at first, they did not wish him to come aboard. They had strongly resisted Jesus' will in that twilight by the lake when Jesus compelled them to take passage without him. However, the Master's reassurance overcame their fears, and he was received aboard.

And straightway the boat was at the land whither they were going ... "Straightway" is a far different thing from "instantaneous," and commentators have thus concluded that no further miracle is in view here. However, this sign is a whole complex of supernatural occurrences: (1) Christ's knowledge of the disciples' condition, (2) his "seeing them" at night in a storm (Mark 6:48), (3) Jesus' walking on the sea, (4) Peter's walking on the sea, (5) Christ's rescue of Peter, and (6) the sudden cessation of the wind. This interpreter supposes that it is fully in keeping with the whole episode to construe this place as teaching that the boat instantaneously, or nearly so, came to its appointed haven. One more supernatural element in an episode with so many others could do no harm.

This wonder contrasts dramatically with another wonder of stilling the tempest (Matthew 8:23-27). In that situation, Christ was on board; here he was not. There he was asleep; here he was in the mountain praying. There they were afraid of the winds and waves; here they were afraid of Jesus. There he rebuked the winds and waves; here they responded to his will without an audible command. In both situations, the only safety of the disciples was in the will of Christ.