The pathway of the King. We have here:
I. The struggling toilers. The solemn law under which we live demands persistent effort and imposes continual antagonism upon us. There is no reason why we should regard that as an evil, or think ourselves hardly used because we are not fair-weather sailors. The end of life is to make men; the meaning of all events is to mould character. Anything that makes me stronger is a blessing; anything that develops my moraleis the highest good that can come to me.
II. The approaching Christ. We do not know at what hour in the fourth watch the Master came. But probably it was towards daybreak. Toiling had endured for a night. It would be in accordance with the symbolism that joy and help should come with the morning. If we look for a moment at the miraculous fact, apart from the symbolism, we have here a revelation of Christ as the Lord of the material universe, a kingdom wider in its range and profounder in its authority than that which the shouting crowd had sought to force upon Him. We have here a wonderful picture, which is true for all ages, of the mighty Christ to Whose gentle footfall the unquiet surges are as a marble pavement, and who draws near in the purposes of His love, unhindered by antagonism, and using even the opposing forces as the path for His triumphant progress.
III. The terror and the recognition. Do not we, like the disciples, often mistake the coming of the Master, and tremble before Him when we ought to be glad? Let no absorption in cares and duties, let no unchildlike murmurings, let no selfish abandonment to sorrow, blind you to the Lord that always comes near human hearts if they will only look and see.
IV. The end of the tempest and of the voyage. It is not always true it is very seldom true that when Christ comes on board opposition ends and the purpose is achieved. But it is always true that when Christ comes on board a new spirit comes into the men who have Him for their companion, and are conscious that they have. It makes their work easy, and makes them more than conquerors over what yet remains.
A. Maclaren, Christian Commonwealth,March 11th, 1886.
References: John 6:19. A. P. Peabody, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xi., p. 388. John 6:21. J. M. Neale, Sermons in a Religious House,2nd series, vol. ii., p. 475.John 6:24. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xvi., No. 947. John 6:27. Homiletic Magazine,vol. xiii., p. 111; J. Jackson, Christian World Pulpit,vol. i., p. 225; E. Blencowe, Plain, Sermons to a Country Congregation,vol. i., p. 286. John 6:27-51. D. Fraser, The Metaphors of the Gospels,p. 290.