John 6:19

Furlongs. Gr. stadioi (see p. 50). The disciples had gone about 3 to 3 1/2 mi. (c. 5 to 6 km.), which should easily have brought them to Capernaum, had they not been blown off their course.

See. Gr. theoreo, “to notice,” “to give intelligent attention.” The use of the present tense here, in Greek as in English, gives particular vividness to the appearance of Jesus in such an unexpected way.

On the sea. Gr. epi tes thalasses. This expression appears again in ch. 21:1, where it refers to Jesus’ walking along the shore beside the sea. Consequently it has been argued that John does not necessarily mean to record a miracle here, and that the disciples, being close to land, saw Jesus walking along the shore. While it is true that John’s account, and possibly even Mark’s, may be interpreted this way, the parallel story in Matthew with the narrative of Peter’s walking on the water clearly indicates that Jesus actually walked on the sea.

To Jesus’ disciples this miracle was a testimony to His divinity, as their reaction indicates (see Matt. 14:33). Job speaks of God as He “which alone ... treadeth upon the waves of the sea” (ch. 9:8). An ancient Jewish commentary quotes Ps. 86:8 and then asks, “Why does it say, ‘There is none like unto Thee among the gods, O Lord’? ... Because there is none who can do according to Thy works. For example, a man can carve out for himself a way on a road, but he is not able to do so on the sea, but God carves out for Himself a path in the midst of the sea” (Midrash Rabbah, on Ex. 16:4, Soncino ed., p. 306).