This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Lord’s Supper” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, August 13, 1995.

Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth, that prophet that should come into the world. When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.

And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea and entered into a ship. and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them. And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew. So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea and drawing nigh unto the ship, and they were afraid. But he saith unto them, It is I, be not afraid. Then they willingly received him into the ship, and immediately the ship was at the land with which they went.

The day following, when the people, which stood on the other side of the sea, saw that there was none other boat there, saved that one whereinto his disciples were entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples were gone away alone, howbeit There came other boats from Tiberias near unto the place where they did eat bread after the Lord had given thanks. When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping and came to Capernaum seeking for Jesus. And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.

Labor not for that meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you. For him hath God the Father sealed. Then said they unto him, What shall we do that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

That night, the wind blew fiercely across the sea. That night, following a most remarkable day, as glorious a day as you in your life have known. The wild night gales carried away nothing from your memory of what had transpired on that most remarkable day.

You, with so many others, followed the movements of Jesus, this most recent and most striking of preachers, who worked wonders on the sick, some of those wonders you had seen But then Jesus had crossed the sea to a secluded spot south of Bethsaida, and you and the multitude followed him on land, keeping in view his boat, as if you were keeping in view the very hope of your soul.

You saw from a distance his ascent of a mountain. with his close associates. But as you came closer, he graciously came down to you, and as if he had never left those heights of glory, he ministered to you by taking a young boy’s lunch, blessing it, and then distributing it to the vast multitude of which you were a part. You all were like an immense flock, flock of sheep pastured in the wide expanse of green grass, as if you were God’s own flock, just a bit of Israel to be sure, but those in whom all Israel was to be found. Jesus said you, and you were still Provision abounded, your portion overflowed. His close associates, after the meal, gathered up the leftovers, and amazingly there was a basket full left for each. At first, you sat contented and satisfied. with a sense that not only had you seen that you had experienced the kingdom of God, but then you were amazed and excited as thoughts filled your brain.

The fact that it was Passover season undoubtedly helped you turn your mind to Moses and to the provision of miracle bread through him to Israel in the wilderness. But further, you cannot help but think about Moses’ great promise that a prophet like him would appear in Israel, a prophet who would do great and mighty things.

A new Moses, but more, for this one would be one who is actually the object of Moses’ expectation, the object of Moses’ promise. Was this Jesus then the fulfillment of Moses’ promise? Was this Jesus the royal figure expected by Israel for so long? Was this Jesus the Messiah? This thought struck your brain. It struck your brain like a thunderbolt, not just striking you, but all those who were gathered with you. And you think in your mind now, all he awaits is our acceptance. All he awaits is our confirmation.

What he lacks presently is evidence of our confidence in him, of our willingness to pay him homage. Therefore, you say in your mind, we must show him our allegiance. We will take him, we will make him our king. We will declare then that the royal figure for so many centuries denied unto us is now and that the promise has been fulfilled, and that we have a sovereign leader who, in his sovereignty, is like the sovereigns of this world, but greater. Here, then, is our Prophet. Here is our King. Here is our Messiah. Here is our Caesar. Here is our Tiberius. and by him and with him we shall rule the world to the glory of the God of Israel.”

But as you move towards Jesus, he inexplicably withdraws from you, for you are unaware of what is going on in his mind. You are unaware that your approach to him reminds him of a scene earlier in his life, a desert scene, and in that scene Satan appeared for the purpose of offering him a crown, a crown by which he might be able to avoid the sufferings and the pains of the cross. Jesus sees nothing less. in your approach to him presently. Your interest in him is for the immediate domination of the world.

Neither are you aware that Jesus spies the fatal flaw of Israel as he scrutinizes the intentions of your hearts. A fatal flaw that expressed itself a thousand years earlier when Israel accosted Samuel the prophet and demanded that he give them a king like the kings of all the other nations. You have forgotten the Lord’s commentary on that occasion. For he had said to the prophet Samuel that the people’s request for a king was actually a rejection of him. Jesus knows that your taking him and making him your king is actually a rejection of him. For it is not him and his kingdom that you seek, rather you seek your own ideas about him, your own ideas about what the kingdom should be.

So he withdraws from you. and now you are bewildered. You have moved through a full range of feelings during the course of this day. First you have been moved by intense curiosity, then by rich and full satisfaction, and then by the excitement of your mind at the prospect that Jesus might be the Messiah. But now you are overcome by bewilderment.

How can this Jesus, if he be the Messiah, the King of Israel, withdraw from such a formidable and willing assembly? Why, the numbers alone, the statistics alone, are enough to confirm him in his quest for recognition and acceptance. we here together make up an impressive entourage, do we not? If not the beginning of a great army. At the very least, the report about the numbers assembled here will impress everyone who hears about them and press upon them Jesus’ popularity. and the unmistakable stamp of his success.

But if Jesus’ withdrawal into the mountain yesterday left you bewildered, what about his subsequent withdrawal that leaves you with the rest of the multitude on the seashore presently, and Jesus completely gone from the scene. But still, in the midst of this, despite your deludiment and confusion, you drive for those things you see in Jesus. You drive for those things which you imagine Jesus has come to supply you. Specifically, and yes, In a pronounced fashion, your specific needs and wants. The night has passed. The wind has died down. The waters are calm, like a sheet of glass in front of you. It is safe for you now to cross the sea.

And how opportune that the storm of the previous night has brought to shore the boats from Tiberias. Like some great joke, some supreme irony, you, a Jew, enter the boats that bear the name of the Emperor of Rome. And you enter those boats that bear his name, and you cross that sea that also bears his name, for you will notice in the first verse of chapter 6, the Sea of Galilee is called the Sea of Tiberias. So you enter the boats that bear the Emperor’s name, and you cross the sea that bears his name as well, thinking yourself on a mission, that upon finding your Messiah will mean that you with him bring down Gentile world power for the sake of establishing your own, in which all of your needs as you have imagined them, will be carried. But the joke is on you, for these are Tiberius’s boats, and this is Tiberius’s Entering them as you have with the attitude of mind and soul that you have doesn’t bring Tiberius to your feet, it brings you to his.

For after all, both you and Tiberius seek the same thing, though he a Roman and you a Jew. And the thing that you seek is not Jesus, as revealed. through his own sovereign self-disclosure. Instead, you with Tiberius, the emperor of Rome, seek the world. And you seek the bread of the world. You seek one who would satisfy your own conception of your needs in the world. But Jesus is from a completely different world, a world in which you have very little interest.

He offers you other bread, he himself being bread, even being living bread that comes down from heaven. He has a mission, he has come He hasn’t come in order to grant you all of these special needs which you have imagined you have. He hasn’t even come to grant you the better life, or the comfortable life, or even the safe and sane moral life by which you might forge an impeccable culture and civilization.

Instead, he came to grant to his own even those to whom he comes in his sovereignty, even as he comes to them across the waves of the storm-cast sea. Instead, he comes to grant to his own eternal life in the kingdom above. Here are those, then, to whom he draws nigh. coming to them amidst the chaos of Tiberius’s sea and world. To whom he says as he draws near to them, it is I. Don’t be afraid. These are those, then, that recognize him even as he draws near to them. and in their recognition of him give evidence of the fact that they have been drawn by him, by his sovereignty. They by faith receive him, knowing then the supernatural peace, the peace of heaven that he has come to give, and also the fullness of that accomplishment of everything that is required before God. that full accomplishment found only in Him.

These, then, to whom Jesus comes, with whom He sails, are those who see past earthly bread to the true bread, and in the true kingdom. partake to their eternal satisfaction. If you seek the true bread, the true kingdom, the Christ of truth, you are among those for whom Jesus Christ himself has come. You are among those whom he has drawn to himself, and you are the true Israel of God, in whom the glory of God, even the glory of eternal life, now resides. Are you among those who love the true who have an interest in true life, life in the true kingdom, who know Christ according to truth. If so, you will live forever in the presence of your God.

Father, if we are fools and we seek Christ’s kingdom by the means of Tiberius, we ask you, Lord, that we will deal with our hearts. For if, in coming to you and in coming to your kingdom, we expose the fact that all we have desired is just one more earthly domain. Forgive us, Lord, and shower your mercy upon us. Father, we would be your children, not in haughtiness or in self-righteousness, but with all humility, knowing that if we have come to you, you came to us first. that we might be moved away from our infatuation with the things of this life and this world, to love you, your ways, your kingdom, your truth. As we approach the table, O God, we ask that we may have faith that we may partake of the true bread and benefit from our partaking. We pray this in Jesus’ name.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.