Key Thought

Jesus' words to his terrified disciples were powerful: "I Am, do not fear!" Built on his "I Am" statements throughout the Gospel of John, this one shouldn't be underestimated. Jesus' words build upon the twin concepts of the God of Israel who revealed himself as the great "I Am" in Exodus and the God who rescues from the ocean deep in the Psalms. "I am God with you; you don't need to be afraid! I can still the storm. I can preserve and protect." Jesus comes to us in the middle of our storms and says the same to us. Storms are inevitable. But rather than taking cover in the storms of our lives, Jesus comes and meets us in the middle of them so we don't have to be alone!

Today's Prayer

Today's Verses in Context

Later, Jesus went across Lake Galilee (Lake Tiberias). Many people followed Jesus. They followed him because they saw the ways Jesus showed his power by healing the sick people. Jesus went up on the side of the hill. He sat there with his followers. It was almost the time for the Jewish Passover festival. Jesus looked up and saw many people coming toward him. Jesus said to Philip, "Where can we buy enough bread for all these people to eat?" (Jesus asked Philip this question to test him. Jesus already knew what he planned to do.) Philip answered, "We would all have to work a month to buy enough bread for each person here to have only a little piece!" Another follower there was Andrew. Andrew was Simon Peter's brother. Andrew said, "Here is a boy with five loaves of barley bread and two little fish. But that is not enough for so many people." Jesus said, "Tell the people to sit down." This was a very grassy place. There were about 5,000 men that sat down there. Then Jesus held the loaves of bread. Jesus thanked God for the bread and gave it to the people that were waiting to eat. He did the same with the fish. Jesus gave the people as much as they wanted. All the people had enough to eat. When they finished, Jesus said to his followers, "Gather the pieces of fish and bread that were not eaten. Don't waste anything." So the followers gathered up the pieces that were left. The people had started eating with only five loaves of barley bread. But the followers filled twelve large baskets with the pieces of food that were left. The people saw this miracle that Jesus did. The people said, "He must truly be the Prophet that is coming into the world." Jesus knew that the people wanted him to become king. The people planned to come get Jesus and make him their king. So Jesus left and went into the hills alone. That evening Jesus' followers went down to the lake (Lake Galilee). It was dark now and Jesus had not yet come back to them. The followers got into a boat and startedgoing across the lake to Capernaum. The wind was blowing very hard. The waves on the lake were becoming bigger. They rowed the boat about three or four miles. Then they saw Jesus. He was walking on the water. He was coming to the boat. The followers were afraid. But Jesus said to them, "Don't be afraid. It's me." After Jesus said this, the followers were happy to take Jesus into the boat. Then the boat came to land at the place where they wanted to go.

— John 6:1-21 (ERV)

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