Walking on Water
Matthew 14:22-33
The phrase “Walking on Water” has become a proverb. It is spoken of someone who seems to prevail against all odds. It is to do the impossible. This goes back to Jesus himself. It is impossible for a human to walk on water by natural means. There are preacher jokes about three preachers in a boat, where two get out and walk to shore. The third is dumbfounded and gets out of the boat to follow and immediately sinks into the water. When he asks later how they did it, one of them replied that they knew where the rocks were. Others say they can walk on water if the lake were frozen. Others say that they can walk on water in waterskis. Everyone either chuckles or groans at these attempts at humor. But can one really walk on water? Let us look at this passage and see.
As is usual in Scripture, there is more in the named miracles of Jesus than the miracle itself. Jesus performed many miracles of healing, casting out demons, and even raising the dead. John tells us that there were a lot more things that Jesus did that he did not record. The same is true for Matthew, Mark and Luke. John calls certain miracles “signs.” A sign is a real entity which points to something greater than itself. Likewise, the stated miracles of Jesus were real miracles performed in history. They literally happened. But there is also a greater meaning in these signs. What we need to do is see what these signs are saying.
Jesus had just finished feeding 5,000 men plus women and children with what we would call today five slices of bread and two sardines. The leftovers from this meal were exponentially larger than what Jesus had to start with. One can view this with awe. What a magnificent sign! But what did the sign say? It says something about the person of Jesus who had done this miracle. Who could feed such a crowd in the wilderness? This compares with Moses feeding the children of Israel in the wilderness, although it was actually Yahweh who had provided the manna. Moses was just the mouthpiece. The Jews knew their history. Was this the new Moses? Moses had led the Children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage. Was Jesus the promised Messiah whom they felt would lead Israel to victory over the Romans? They saw that the bread pointed to a greater reality. But as it would be demonstrated, they had interpreted the sign wrongly.
Today’s passage starts with Jesus urging his disciples to get in the boat and leave while he dismissed the crowd and went to pray. What was the rush? John’s gospel gives us the answer. The crowd was about to seize Jesus and make Him king. (John 6:15) Jesus did not want His disciples to get infected with this idea as He had a hard enough time trying to tell them what His mission really was. They had Messiah fever also. He had not come to overthrow the Romans.
So, the disciples started off for a journey of several miles across the lake. Most boats had a small sail as well as oars. One could sail across the lake unless the wind was directly in his face. This was the case for the disciples. This would require the disciples to have to manually row the boat which was made even more difficult by the waves and the wind trying to push the boat back. The disciples were already tired. Mark’s gospel tells us that the disciples were tired from their mission tour, and Jesus had invited them to come to a desert place and rest. Instead of resting, the crowds came. After a long teaching session, he had them prepare the place for feeding the 5,000 and serve. They must have been utterly exhausted.
Mark’s gospel adds one more tidbit. It says that Jesus “saw” the difficulty they were in. How could he have seen a small storm-tossed boat more than a mile off in the pitch dark? This is a detail we often overlook. But it also reveals who Jesus is. This was no mere mortal, although He was fully human. He is also God, the Son. He can see us in our darkness and troubles, even though He seems to be far off doing something else. The disciples could not see that Jesus saw them. And they struggled on.
There is a little more information that needs to be brought out here. The Israelites had a deathly fear of the sea and storms. They were traditionally “hill people.” The Philistines, for example, were “sea people.” For the Jews, invasions came from the sea coast. We can see the absolutely disobedient spirit of Jonah in that he took a boat headed for Tarshish, the uttermost part of the known earth. When the storm arose, he would rather be thrown into the sea rather than to tell the sailors to go back to Nineveh. The Jewish people equated the Gentiles with the chaos of the sea. They feared the swarms of invading nations. Jonah hated the Gentiles and was willing to take his chances with the sea.
It was a superstitious age as well, although if the truth be told, we still live in superstition. The Celts talked about a “Banshee” or a spirit who is only seem in the face of impending death. He served as the “Grim Reaper” does to us. These stories existed among the Jews as well as their neighbors in different forms. So, when they saw Jesus walking on the surface of the water, they were in terror for their lives. Were they about to die? If the boat lost its headway into the wind or the wind changed suddenly as it can in storms, the boat would be swamped and the disciples would be in the middle of a violent lake. So they had a reason to be afraid, at least as far as human reason is concerned.
But this was no ghost. It was Jesus walking on the water. He knew they were terrified. So he called out to them: “Be of good courage! I AM! Stop being afraid!” I have translated the Greek directly as most translations say something like “It’s me.” But the Greek uses the emphatic form of I AM here, the same form which the Greek translators used in Exodus 3:14 where Yahweh introduces Himself as “I AM the One Who is!” (“I AM that I AM.” John uses the same I AM formula here and often on the Gospel of John. The next day He would tell the crowd: “I AM the Bread of Life.” This was a mysterious time in the mission of Jesus, one that would soon lead to Peter’s confession of the Christ. Their view of Jesus was changing. The person of Jesus is a mystery to us in many ways also. Was Jesus saying for them to be of good courage because “I AM” or because it wasn’t a ghost, it was just him? Likewise, it is no mere human who cares for us.
It is only in this Gospel that Peter’s response to Jesus is told. If it was really Him, then Peter wanted to walk out to him. Jesus bid him come, and he also was walking out on the water. But then he looked down, lost his courage, and began to sink. He begins to drown, but Jesus grabs his hand and pulls him up. He then chides Peter: “O little-faithed one, Why did you waver?” I chose the word “waver” rather than “doubt” here because it makes a good English play on words. He saw the waves and wavered.
When they came back into the boat, the storm ceased, and they immediately came to shore The disciples were beside themselves. They all fell before Him in worship and confessed Him to be the Son of God. Who else could have done this? Slowly and surely the disciples were becoming aware of the person of Jesus. Jesus did not rebuke their worship. Moses is not to be worshiped. No person, no matter how great, is to be worshiped. Not even angels are to be worshiped. But the fact that Jesus does not forbid their worship tells us that Jesus is fully divine as well as fully human.
How does this passage preach? Some look at Jesus calming the troubled sea as encouragement to us. Preachers say something like: “Sometimes Jesus calms the sea; sometimes he calms us. I think that this is a true statement, but I don’t think that it is the major point of the passage. But it is comforting to know that Jesus sees us where we are and personally cares for us.
Others look at the miracle itself. Added to this is Peter’s walking on the water. As long as one has faith and look at Jesus, miracles will happen for us as well. This is the message of faith healers. Whereas I do affirm that God makes miracles happen, we must understand that miracles are still miracles. When miracles are common, they are no longer miracles. When we remember that miracles are signs that point to something beyond itself, then we realize that miracles have a purpose. They are a sign which points to God. We should also realize that if the power is given to perform a miracle, it is by the power of God they happen, and they happen for God’s glory, that He might be worshiped. Neither Peter, nor anyone else is to be given the glory which belongs only to God.
Another approach is to look at this miracle in the light of missions. Peter got out of the boat. To do something for God, one has to get out of the boat. In modern times, this means leaving the safety of the four walls of the church and going out to tell people about Jesus. Jesus’ entire life on earth was one of mission. This event occurs within this context of mission. He trained His disciples to continue this mission. I think this is a good approach to the understanding of this passage. So let us explore this thought a little deeper.
There is a link in this passage that is not immediately evident with the Great Commission in Matthew 28:16-20. In verse 16 there, we have the statement that when the Galilean followers of Jesus gathered to see Jesus after the Resurrection, that they worshiped Him. This is followed by “but some doubted.” The question is “What did they doubt?” Did they doubt the bodily resurrection of Jesus? Luke tells us that when Jesus appeared to the disciples on the night of the Resurrection through locked doors, they thought they had seen a ghost. Jesus had to prove that He was human by eating in their presence and inviting them to touch Jesus. I think by this time, the disciples were convinced, but many in Galilee were not yet convinced. If this is the case, then it connects with the disciples thinking that Jesus was walking on the water was actually a ghost.
Another equally interesting interpretation is that they wavered whether they should worship Jesus or not. It is interesting the word “doubted” here is the same Greek word that Jesus spoke to Peter which we translated “waver.” These are the only two occurrences of the word in the entire New Testament. We see a connection here. In this case, another connection between these tow passages is that they worshiped Him. What are the implications of the Resurrection? The fact that He stood alive before them is every bit the miracle that walking on water was. It says something about the person of Jesus. We must not waver on this. If Jesus was a mere man, He ought not be worshiped. If He was a mere man, then He really cannot see us afar off and care for us. Jesus gets reduced to a man whose teachings live on, even if He is not longer with us. This is what all too many think today. But if Jesus actually bodily rose from the dead, there are important ramifications. This Jesus has to be God. This means He can care for us. This means that we too shall rise from the dead, We too shall be reunited with Him. We shall safely reach the other shore.
In the Great Commission. Jesus responds to this wavering by stating: “All power is given me in heaven and on earth.” He is indeed LORD! He is worthy of our worship. The baptismal statement “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost shows the equality of the Holy Trinity. Note that there is a singular name and three equal persons as the coordinating conjunction “and” joins items of equal rank and importance. All the authority of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost resides in the name of Jesus. So our work of mission is grounded on this sure truth in a wavering world. The mission of the Christian church cannot properly happen and be effective unless grounded in this truth.
Jesus in the Great Commission tells us of the twofold mission of the church. The first is to evangelize. They were to get out of the boat of Judaism and make disciples of the Gentiles as well. Its not that the boat of Judaism was actually safe. The Christian Sanctuary is not a “safe place” but a “holy place.” Even though the disciples were safer in the boat than they were on the angry waves, they were in constant danger and would have perished there were it not for the oversight of Jesus. If we stay within the four walls of the church, we are NOT safe! The church today in many places is struggling to keep its head above water. It is in danger of being swamped by worldly philosophies and other religions. We are also failing in our mission when we neglect our special call to follow Jesus. We are only safe with Jesus and need to follow Him where He leads. The seal of evangelism is that the believers are to be baptized. They are to be nurtured as well, to be taught to observe all that Jesus had taught them.
The disciples had crossed Jordan when they crossed the Sea of Galilee as the river flows in and out of it. But in another sense, the had also crossed safely over the Red Sea, Jesus, after a short stay at Capernaum and Gennesaret would start a mission in Gentile territory. He would go into Syrophoenician territory, then to the feeding of the 4,000 in Gentile territory and then to Caesarea Philippi where Peter would make his famous confession, in Gentile territory. This was in a sense an Exodus in reverse, from Israel to Egypt. Disciples were to be made among the Gentiles. The mission Paul speaks about “To the Jew first and also to the Greek” begins with Jesus Himself. Sometimes we are so blinded by the assumption that Matthew was written to Jewish-Christians, that we fail to understand the message of Matthew. The Holy Spirit used Matthew to proclaim the unification of all Israel. Jews. Samaritans, and even Gentiles were to be included in Israel. The Pharisees, on the other hands were ethnic and religious purists. They alone survived of all the Jewish groups the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. So Pharisaic Judaism and the Christian church offered diametrically different views of the identity of Israel. The Gospel of Matthew is strongly anti-Pharisaic. This goes back to Jesus, or course, but it is especially emphasized in Matthew.
So when we put this all together, what this passage teaches us is that we are commissioned to preach the Gospel cross land and sea, knowing that He goes with us always, even to the end of the age. God has included us in His plan. We seek to include others in obedience to Jesus’ command. Men write “histories.” Women responded that we need “herstory”, her story. But these are so small and insignificant than God’s story. If we follow Old English we use “spell” for story. Add God to this and we have “God’s spell” or Gospel. We get too involved in the cares of this life and are looking for a quick fix to calm us. We fail to see that we are called to a far more magnificent future. The God who walked on the water is the same God who has been given all authority in heaven and earth. We need to seek and pray for our part in this story of God. Yes there will be many dangers, toils and snares. But we shall arrive safely on the other shore.
