What does John 6:21 Mean?

Verse Meaning

When the disciples realized that it was Jesus, they willingly received Him into the boat. Perhaps Jesus met the disciples fairly close to their destination and so it did not take them long to arrive there. Perhaps with Jesus in the boat the remaining trip appeared to them to be a short one, or with the wind subdued it did not take them long to reach land. Any of these explanations could account for John"s description. Many commentators believed that John referred to a second miracle and that the boat supernaturally reached Capernaum swiftly. There seems little point to such a miracle, however, and there is nothing in the text that explains it. [source][source]

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The feeding of the5 ,000 presents Jesus as the provider of people"s needs. His walking on the water pictures Him as the protector of those who trust and obey Him. The second of these two signs taught the disciples that Jesus had authority over nature (cf. Job 38:8-11; Psalm 29:3-4; Psalm 29:10-11; Psalm 65:5-7; Psalm 89:9; Psalm 107:29). ^[1] John undoubtedly recorded the incident to teach his readers the same lesson. Both miracles demonstrated Jesus" equality with the Father, whom Old Testament writers described as doing these things. [source][source]

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Context Summary

The most conclusive proof that our Lord was no weak fanatic or enthusiast is afforded by the calm temper which refused the eager impulse of the crowds to make Him king. Here the temptation of the wilderness was repeated; and only one who was filled with the unwavering determination to do God's will, could have refused this short cut to Messianic empire. Notice these withdrawals of our Lord to the calm of nature's stillness and the bosom of God. If he needed such spaces of undisturbed meditation and communion, surely we do.

He knew when he pressed the disciples into the boat, that the night would be full of storm, but He did not hesitate to expose them to its peril; he was conscious of His ability to turn that storm to the highest use by coming to their help. His advent is often delayed, but he always comes. Delays are not denials. He is as near in the storm as though already in the boat. The storm-waves are His pathway. Be not afraid! The people hurried across the Lake in the early morning, conveyed in the boats which had come to take them off; but as Jesus sorrowfully perceived, their object was to receive His gifts and not Himself. [source]

Chapter Summary: John 6

¹  Jesus feeds five thousand men with five loaves and two fishes
¹⁵  Thereupon the people would have made him king;
¹⁶  but withdrawing himself, he walks on the sea to his disciples;
²⁶  reproves the people flocking after him, and all the fleshly hearers of his word;
³²  declares himself to be the bread of life to believers
⁶⁶  Many disciples depart from him
⁶⁸  Peter confesses him
⁷⁰  Judas is a devil