Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

John 6:21

ἤθελον. They were willing therefore to receive Him. The ‘willingly received’ of A.V. is perhaps due to Beza, who substitutes volente animo receperunt for the Vulgate’s voluerunt recipere. Ἤθελον λαβεῖν αὐτόν here seems to contrast with ἤθελεν παρελθεῖν αὐτούς in Mark 6:48. His will to pass them by was changed by their will to receive Him. But (comp. John 1:43; John 5:35) S. John does not mean that He did not enter the boat: he is not correcting S. Matthew and S. Mark: this would require ἀλλ' εὐθέως κ.τ.λ., ‘but (before He could enter) the boat was at the land.’ Ἠλθον conjectured by Michaelis for ἤθελον, and found in the Sinaiticus, is an attempt to avoid a difficulty. Εὐθέως probably points to something miraculous: He who had just imparted to S. Peter His own royal power over gravity and space, now does the like to the boat which bore them all.

ὑπῆγον. Were going, or intending to go; comp. ἤρχοντο (John 6:17). The imperfects mark the contrast between the difficulty of the first part of the voyage, when they were alone, with the ease of the last part, when He was with them. ‘Then are they glad, because they are at rest: and so He bringeth them unto the haven where they would be.’ Ὑπάγειν implies departure, and looks back to the place left (John 6:67; John 7:33; John 12:11; John 18:8).

The Walking on the Sea is no evidence that the writer was a Docetist, i.e. believed that Christ’s Body was a mere phantom: on the contrary, the event is narrated as extraordinary, quite different from their usual experience of His bodily presence. A Docetist would have presented it otherwise, and would hardly have omitted the disciples’ cry, φάντασμά ἐστι (Matthew 14:26; comp. Mark 6:49). Docetism is absolutely excluded from this Gospel by John 1:14 and by the general tone throughout; see on John 19:34-35; John 20:20; John 20:27. The whole incident should be compared with Luke 24:36-41; in both Christ’s supernatural return aggravates their distress, until they know who He is. And the meaning of both is the same. In times of trouble Jesus is near His own, and His presence is their deliverance and protection.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

John 6:21

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