<p>6:47 <em>And when evening had come, the boat was in the midst of the sea- </em>People at that time had a strong association between the sea and the forces of evil and condemnation; beginning with the condemnation of the Egyptians in the Red Sea, the Bible itself speaks of condemnation as being swamped at sea by the waves. The Egyptians perished &quot;in the midst of the sea&quot; (Ex. 14:23,27; Ez. 29:3); Jonah drowned &quot;in the midst of the sea&quot; (Jonah 2:3) as does the fool of Proverbs (Prov. 23:34), as did Tyre and the Gentile nations (Ez. 26:12; 27:26,27,32; 28:8; Ps. 46:2) and Babylon (Jer. 51:63). The disciples doubtless felt condemned. For there were these 12 Old Testament references to condemnation ringing in their Jewish ears. Their cry for salvation was therefore not merely for physical deliverance, but a cry for deliverance out of condemnation. They were &quot;tossed with waves&quot;- the very term used for the torment of the rejected (Rev. 14:10; 20:10). The disciples had earlier seen people who were tormented s.w. &quot;tossed&quot; being delivered by the Lord- to pave the way for them personally crying out for that same deliverance (s.w. Mt. 8:6).</p><p><em>And he was alone on the land</em>- This is a pointed repetition of the information that the Lord was there&nbsp;<em>kata idios</em>- alone apart, by Himself. His aloneness with God is being brought to our attention. Prayer in one sense has to be a lonely experience. This is all surely why the Lord Himself is frequently pictured by the Gospel writers as making an effort to be alone in prayer to the Father (Mk. 1:35; 3:13; 9:2; Mt. 14:13,23; 17:1; Lk. 6:12; 9:28; 22:39,41). This is all some emphasis. Be it rising in the early hours to go out and find a lonely place to pray, or withdrawing a stone&rsquo;s throw from the disciples in Gethsemane to pray&hellip; He sought to be alone. Jn. 6:15 emphasizes this repeated feature of the Lord&rsquo;s life: &ldquo;He departed again into a mountain himself alone&rdquo;. The fact He often &ldquo;again&rdquo; retreated alone like this is emphasized by three words which are effectively saying the same thing- departed, himself, alone. Much as we should participate in communal prayers or in the prayers of our partner or our children, there simply has to be the time for serious personal prayer in our lives. And I have to drive the point home:&nbsp;<em>Are you doing this?</em>&nbsp;Putting it in other terms- are you alone&nbsp;<em>enough.&nbsp;</em>Incident after incident shows the Lord doing something alone, and then the disciples somehow being presented as doing the same. Take the way He departed &ldquo;himself alone&rdquo; when the crowd wanted to make Him king; and then soon afterwards we read that the crowd perceived that the disciples had likewise departed &lsquo;themselves alone&rsquo; same Greek phrase and construction, Jn. 6:15,22. The point is that the world is presented as perceiving the disciples in the same terms and way as they did Jesus, even when, in this case, Jesus was not physically with them. And we too are to be &ldquo;in Him&rdquo; in our work of witness for Him.</p>