Walking on the Water (Matthew 14:22-30)

Peter, with the other disciples, had participated in the astonishing miracle that Jesus performed when he fed thousands of people although he only used five loaves and two fish. The impression is given that each of the disciples had a basket each of food after the people had been fed (there were twelve baskets), and that the disciples still had the baskets when they were told by Jesus to go into the ship (after all, he told them to go immediately). So we can imagine them crossing the sea with the visible signs of Jesus’ power beside them in the boat.

There is something new here, I think, and that is that Jesus sends them away in the boat without him. Of course, it might not have been a problem for some of the disciples to be in the boat without Jesus because they had been fishermen on the sea and were familiar with it. Others of them may not have been so confident, although we cannot say so for sure. So there may have been anxiety on the part of some at this requirement from Jesus.

At the same time, there should have been a sense of anticipation. After all, on the previous occasion when they crossed the sea, even in a storm, they had seen Jesus do something incredible with the deranged man of Gadara when he was delivered from the oppressive demon possession that he was under. And when they returned across the sea from Gadara, they had seen Jesus heal the diseased unnamed women and raise to life the daughter of Jairus. Although Jesus was not with them in the boat when they left on this new occasion, he had told them that he was coming later (he had sent them before him). Surely they must have wondered what he would do when he joined up with them again.

No doubt, they made some assumptions about how Jesus would rejoin them. Perhaps they thought that he would come later in another boat or maybe they expected him to walk round the shore. What is certain is that they did not anticipate that he would come in the way that he did. Assumptions do not prepare us for divine surprises, and if there is one attitude that disciples should not have, it is to assume what Jesus will do to them or through them or in them.

The activities of Jesus

It can be assumed, however, that Jesus did not do anything meaninglessly. Therefore, we should pay attention to what he did on this occasion before he walked on the water as well as when he did.

The first detail we are told is that he made the disciples go into the boat. Since he had to make them, it implies that they were reluctant to go. Maybe it was because it was late in the afternoon – one reason he had fed the crowd was because it was too late for them to find food. Disciples must learn that Jesus is not limited by the clock and he often asks them to do things at surprising hours. The fact that it was getting towards evening probably did not bother them because those who fished on the Sea of Galilee usually did so at night.

I would suggest that there is another reason why Jesus wanted them to leave immediately and that was the notions that the crowd were beginning to have. John, in his Gospel, gives more details about the crowd who imagined that the miracle was evidence that Jesus would be the ruler they wanted (John 6:14-15). The disciples might be influenced by such ideas, so Jesus protected them from those notions. Better to be in a storm at sea than in a wrong discussion on the land.

Jesus told the disciples that he would dismiss the crowd. Probably they expected that would be their task. After all, they had arranged the way the crowd sat in groups; then they had passed the food to them, and then they had gathered up the crumbs. Surely they could dismiss the crowd. Probably not, because of the crowd’s expectation about Jesus, and because the disciples would be influenced by them. I would suggest that in this decision we see the compassion of Jesus in the sense that he knew that they were not ready to handle this situation. They might have imagined that they were ready, but he knew that they were not. Sometimes there are situations that are too big for us, whether we realise it or not.

After he dismissed the crowd, Jesus took time to engage in prayer in an isolated location. Where did he pray? He ensured he would be in a place where he would not be disturbed. When did he pray? After a busy day. Why did he pray? He loved communion with his Father. We are not told what he prayed about, but we can deduce that he was determined to spend time in prayer before he rejoined the disciples. Maybe he was praying for each of them as they crossed the sea. The striking point is that Jesus was a sinless perfect man, yet he realised the importance of prayer.

Jesus walks on the sea

Mark, in his Gospel, says that Jesus from the mountainside saw the disciples straining at the oars. It was probably a clear, moonlit night. Although it was a stormy evening, we are not told that this storm frightened the disciples. Jesus came to them at the fourth watch, which was about 3am. They had left before 6pm on the previous day (that was when evening commenced), so they had been at sea for about nine hours, and had not rowed very far. Whatever else we can deduce about the time, we can say that Jesus chose when to come to their relief.

The Gospel writers all say that the disciples were making little progress because of the storm and they also describe Jesus as having no difficulty making progress. Indeed, Mark says that he was about to walk past them. Surely the lesson from this is that what was difficult for the disciples was easy for Jesus. What held them back did not hold him back. The storm was a problem that they had, but it was not a problem that Jesus had. Instead of being a barrier to his progress, it was the road on which he moved ahead.

Another obvious lesson is that Jesus is Lord of creation. During the previous journey, he had commanded the storm to cease, and it did. On this journey, he does the impossible, we might say, when he walks on the waves. No doubt, the disciples would have deduced later that there is nothing in the creation that can hinder Jesus when he wants to do something.

The initial response of the disciples to this visible form walking on the waves was that they were seeing a ghost. Obviously they did not recognise that it was Jesus. They were terrified. We are not told that they prayed, yet their fear was recognised by Jesus and he spoke words of comfort to them. It is good to know that Jesus does not judge situations by our performance, because on this occasion the disciples got it all wrong.

What comfort did Jesus give to them? The answer is himself. He did not remove the storm immediately, which is what they might have wanted him to do. Instead he wanted them to know that he was in charge of circumstances, even those that were difficult to handle.  They also needed to know more about him and his abilities. What could they learn?

Peter walks on the water

We all know that Peter made impulsive comments, and he would have been aware of his tendency. Yet even he would have been surprised if someone had predicted that one day he would ask to walk on the water. So we need to ask why Peter asked for this experience.

His words indicate that his priority was not to walk on the water but to be with Jesus. So far, Jesus had given no hint that he intended to join them in the boat. Peter faced a choice as to whether he should stay in the boat without Jesus or join Jesus on the water. So we can see that Peter loved Jesus.

Moreover, Peter asked Jesus for permission to walk on the water. So his words were an expression of submission, that he had realised to some extent that Jesus had to obeyed. In addition, his request reveals trust in the competency of Jesus because Peter was sure that Jesus could enable him to walk on the water. And we can deduce that Peter wanted more than head knowledge of what Jesus could do – he wanted to participate in what Jesus was doing.

Strangely, the closer he got to Jesus, the stronger his doubts became. In the boat, it looked so straightforward to walk to Jesus. No doubt, the strong wind felt different when Peter went out of the boat. Still, he knew what to say with his brief prayer, ‘Lord, save me!’ Of course, when you have obviously come to the end of your own resources, it may be easier to say this kind of prayer.

We are not wise when we focus on the fact that Peter also looked at the wind as well as at Jesus. Instead we should remember who it was that was looking at Peter. While the text does not say that Peter took his eyes off Jesus, it clearly shows that Jesus did not take his eyes of Peter. When Peter expressed little faith rather than strong faith, his weakness drew the sympathy of Jesus. The words, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ are almost a commendation, as if Peter had been doing so well but had failed in that detail. Because we must observe that Jesus that saved a person with little faith.

Back in the Boat

The obvious lesson that the disciples learned from this experience was that Jesus was the divine Son of God. Mark tells us that they did not make this deduction when they had participated in the feeding of the five thousand (Mark 6:51-52). Now they had seen Jesus do something incredible and they confessed that he was the Son of God. Perhaps it is the case that we are better spiritual scholars in dark times than we are in situations when things are going well.

It may also be the case that they heard Jesus say an incredible comment about himself. The words translated ‘It is I’, which Jesus used to comfort his disturbed disciples, are literally ‘I am’, which when taken literally are a claim to deity. Whether they understood his words that way cannot be known, although we can see how they are an indication of his deity. It is important to recognise that whenever Jesus draws near to help us, he does so as the eternal God.

Once they were back together in the boat, the focus was not on Peter and his unusual experience. Instead of expressing curiosity to Peter about how he felt after his time on the water, they all (including Peter) focussed on saying to Jesus that he was the Son of God. Peter went through an incident in which he discovered what Jesus could do for a struggling disciple, but the overall consequence was that all of the disciples discovered more about Jesus.

So they reached the other side with Jesus, even if for most of the journey he was absent from the boat. Yet his eye was continually on them even although they could not see him until he drew near to them. And it is the same with us if we are depending on him. He arranges our providences, he sees us through those providences, and he will be us when each providence comes to a close.

Preached on 31/7/2016