Miracle 8 Walking On Water
Preaching
Preaching the Miracles
Series II, Cycle A
1. Text
Immediately [Jesus] made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.22 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,23 but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them.24 And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea.25 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out in fear.26 But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid."27 Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water."28 He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus.29 But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!"30 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"31 When they got into the boat, the wind ceased.32 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."33
2. What's Happening?
First Point Of Action
Immediately after feeding the crowds, Jesus makes the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismisses the crowds.
Second Point Of Action
Then Jesus goes up the mountain alone to pray. By this time, the disciples' boat, far from land, is being battered by waves.
Third Point Of Action
Early in the morning, Jesus walks on the sea toward the disciples in the boat. Fearing they have seen a ghost, the disciples cry out in fear. Jesus speaks immediately, identifying himself and telling them not to be afraid.
Fourth Point Of Action
Peter challenges Jesus to command him to walk on the water to Jesus. Jesus accepts the challenge. Peter starts walking on the water but becomes afraid when he notices the strong wind. Peter begins to sink. Peter cries out for Jesus to save him. Jesus immediately reaches out his hand and catches him. Jesus chides Peter for doubting.
Fifth Point Of Action
When they get into the boat, the wind stops.
Sixth Point Of Action
The disciples in the boat worship Jesus, acknowledging that he is the Son of God.
3. Connecting Points - Conversations
Interviewing A Disciple
Asker: How might you explain Jesus' walking on the water to reach your boat?
Disciple: I do not believe Jesus was playing around with miracles. Jesus would not have walked on the water in any other circumstance. He was not showing off. He took his life and our lives too seriously for that. As far as I know, we were without other witnesses. Jesus was not trying to make a point to anyone. I believe he did not stop to think. He knew we were in trouble because of the wind. Coming across the water was the quickest way to reach us.
Asker: Jesus could have quieted the wind from the shore. Why did he risk everything by walking across the water?
Disciple: Why does a parent dash into the road to snatch up a child? You will have to ask Jesus. He might have been thinking about sending us off in the boat without him in the first place. He was to sacrifice his life for us later. He was willing to endanger his life by walking on the water for our sakes. Did that increase the credence of voluntarily giving up his life for us later? From where do our spontaneous, self--forgetting, life--saving acts come? Brother or sister in the faith looking after kin? Community caring for community?
Asker: Were you disciples surprised because Jesus walked on the water? Were you wondering if he still cared about you after the episode of the loaves? He chided you for worrying about having enough food to feed the crowd. Why in the parallel telling of this story did Mark say your hearts were hardened? (See Mark 6:51--52: "Then he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.") What is that "but" all about?
Disciple: Sometimes a parent pushes a child away in anticipation of that child's future as an adult. The child comprehends only a fragment of the parent's action. Yet, the child's initial reaction might include a temporary hardening of the heart. You have a saying in your day, "Sink or swim." Its paraphrase in this miracle might be "Walk in faith or sink."
Another issue surfaces here. To walk on water meant life for Peter. To sink beneath the waves would have meant his death. Buoyant as water is, if we trust it to hold us, in the absence of trust it can overwhelm. The line between life and death is that fragile. The moment between faith and doubt is that quick.
Asker: What about the ghost aspect of the story?
Disciple: To put it in the words of your time, we were quite spooked by the whole thing. By no means had we recovered from the beheading of John the Baptist. Remember that people of my day particularly feared the ghosts of those whom their family had neglected. We should have insisted on not leaving Jesus. Anything could have happened to Jesus that night. Our minds were on murders and death, so were our imaginations.
Asker: Your feelings that day went from fear to reverence.
Disciple: Yes, and even now I do not know if it was Peter's or Jesus' walking on water in the windstorm that melted my fear. When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. In the middle of chaos, we are too busy with survival to look for miracles. In the after--silence, I recognized Jesus as the Son of God.
Interviewing Peter
Asker: Well, Peter, not only did Jesus dismiss the crowds but he also dismissed you disciples. He sent you away in the boat so he could be completely alone.
Peter: I felt that he was telling us to return to our fishing business and to forget that he even existed. This was hard. I wonder now if Jesus was starting to prepare us for when he would leave us later.
As you know, I felt responsible as Jesus' protector. Was his refusal of the attention of his disciples a breach of our relationship? It was a dangerous time for Jesus. John the Baptist had lost his life only days before. I was uneasy out in the boat. What could we do but wait?
Asker: Your first act, even before Jesus had called you to be his disciple, was as a protector. (See "The Catch Of Fish," Miracle 4, Cycle C, Luke 5:1--11, Epiphany 5.) By requesting that you draw him away from shore, Jesus asked you to help him distance himself from the crowd pressing in on him. How did you happen to be where he needed you?
Peter: By asking me to row him out in the water, Jesus noted my readiness to respond to his calling. Jesus was no fool.
Asker: Yet you agreed. That protest and your acquiescence foretold much of your future relationship with Jesus. You were not afraid to challenge him.
Peter: I was not afraid to confront Jesus. I also was not afraid of standing up for Jesus. Strange, is it not, how I am strong one moment and vulnerable in the next. In the present miracle, Jesus stood up for and with me. He was always telling us that God will not desert us. What does it take for us to believe?
As I look back, it was as if Jesus' coming across the water were a preparation for his coming to us after his death. Again at dawn, the third time Jesus appeared to us after his death, we did not respond with terror and fear but with awe and wonder. What a difference. (See "The Post--Resurrection Catch," Miracle 6, Cycle C, John 21:1--14, Easter 3.)
Asker: You continually tested Jesus' identity. It was you, Peter, among the disciples, who asked for the ultimate verification of walking on the water yourself. How could you believe that you could walk on water? Were you so certain that it was not Jesus who came toward you on the water - even though you addressed him as "Lord" - that you could dare him to command you to walk toward him?
Peter: To you perhaps, my dare sounds foolhardy. I constantly questioned Jesus' identity. If Jesus could put his life on the line in the name of God, I could do the same. It was a crazy thing to do. "Follow me," he said, when he first called Andrew and me [Matthew 4:19]. I gave up everything to follow Jesus. When he again said to me, "Come," you might suppose I was willing to give up even my life to follow him. That appealing and inviting word, "Come." "Let the little children come to me" [Mark 10:14]. "Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens ..." [Matthew 11:28]. "Come, follow me" [Matthew 19:21].
Even though I kept hearing that call, it still was my nature to challenge Jesus. Was the call to life or to death? Is what we think might be death really life? I always pondered these confusing things. However, I did not consider the possibility of drowning before I stepped out of the boat. My spontaneous side responded. Faith took over. Sometimes having faith is as crazy as thinking you can walk on water. Remember, when I finally become wholehearted about something, my conviction holds strength.
Asker: Sometimes it takes something as drastic as sinking in the water for us to realize we are in trouble, that we need to cry out to God. When we do cry out to God to save us, it is a soul cry, desperate and spontaneous.
Peter: My crying out to Jesus had no conditions. Jesus' reaching out to catch me was without limits. Faith cannot be just partway or you will sink - no room for doubt, no space for wandering with rough water beneath your feet.
Asker: Peter, do you think Jesus would have saved you had you not taken him on in the first place?
Peter: What a strange question. He is my kin in the faith. The whole time I walked on the water, that is, until the wind shook me into reality, I heard Jesus saying, "Come."
Asker: Then you walked in trust.
Peter: I came with faith.
Asker: This whole miracle is a story of the unconditional, isn't it? Jesus was so concerned about you disciples out on the rough waters that he came to you directly across the water. You walked on water to follow Jesus.
Peter: God's love knows no limits. I was so caught up in Jesus' action that for a moment there I, too, became part of the limitless--ness. I thought the rules of nature were temporarily suspended for me as well. The key here is the word temporarily. The intoxicating spirit of Jesus' faith was so contagious that I forgot how temporal I am. My faith must be my own choice. On the one hand, we soar as far as our faith will carry us and move the unyielding. On the other hand, we drown in our humanness.
Asker: Peter, you have had several extraordinary water experiences with Jesus. "The Catch Of Fish" occurred early in your life as Jesus' disciple. (See Cycle C, Miracle 4.) That time Jesus asked you to take him away from shore in your boat. You were where he needed you this time, too, but he "made" you get into the boat.
Peter: Water experiences go with my being a fisher. In "The Catch Of Fish," I fell at Jesus' knees when we filled the boats so full of fish that the boats began to sink. Then in fear alone, I begged Jesus to go away from me. This time, it was I who began to sink. In fear coupled with trust, I begged Jesus to save me.
Interviewing Jesus
Asker: Jesus, when you walked across the water to your disciples, you offered no apology for having deserted them the night before. You had told the disciples to get in the boat and go to the other side of the lake. They obeyed - partly. Wind caught them. Your words spoke only of concern for your disciples: "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid" (Matthew 14:27).
Jesus: As with all people, when my disciples become afraid, they wonder how they possibly can go it alone. "Take heart" are the first words we need to hear those times we forget that having faith requires an active choice on our part.
Asker: Is that why you insisted on going alone to the mountain to pray?
Jesus: All people need to seek refuge, to return to the very soul of their existence, to do for themselves what is necessary to keep their faith strong. Without faith, we sink.
Asker: Jesus, in this story, we see the fullness of your being, as a whole human being and a divine being. We like to make you wholly God - always loving us and accepting us. We are uncomfortable with the Jesus who makes demands on us. We squirm when you are upset, especially when you direct your distress at those nearest you, your disciples. Throughout the Gospels, you expect - almost command - the disciples to have faith. If even your closest followers have trouble with faith, how can the rest of us believe from so great a distance?
Jesus: Were we all perfect, complete people, we would not need God's guidance. Were we all unbroken people, we would not struggle with faith. In a sense, the twelve disciples represent all people. I chose them from all paths of life and of various natures.
Asker: Realizing that I jump over to Mark's parallel telling of this story, I have a question about something. The writer of Mark alone reports that when you saw the disciples strain at the oars and came to them early in the morning walking on the sea, "[you] intended to pass them by" (Mark 6:48).
Intending to pass by your disciples - what a strange, uncaring, uncharacteristic thing for you to do. Does the writer of Mark mean you were walking on the sea for some other reason, a shortcut across the water, perhaps? You acted as if you were mad at the disciples. Were you still fussing about the insensitivity of your disciples before the crowds in the earlier miracle? (See "Feeding 5,000," Cycle A, Miracle 7.) Were you still distressed about the death of John the Baptist? Did it do no good to spend time alone with God on the mountain? Were you disquieted because you fell out of patience with your disciples? From my distance, I do not understand.
You walked out as if to rescue the disciples. Did you intend to quiet the wind as you walked by but not speak to them? The writer of Mark suggests you went over to their boat only when you realized they thought you were a ghost. Then you responded without hesitation.
Jesus: You ask many questions. I had begun to focus on my own death, but I had not gone yet. Seeing their terror as they supposed I was a ghost, I turned attention directly to the disciples. Quieting the wind could wait.
Asker: Jesus, you seemed to have no patience with your disciples in matters of faith.
Jesus: We are constant learners in the practice of faith. Faith is difficult, yet it is simple. The antidote to fear is faith. Faith is the miracle.
4. Words
"Do Not Be Afraid"
Might we infer that fear is a natural mark of humanness evoking the immediate response of a compassionate God? At 59 turning points in the Old and New Testaments, God spoke such words to men and women who were afraid. God reassured the forefathers and foremothers of the faith. From Abram and Isaac to Moses and from Joshua to James and John, God said, "Do not be afraid." (See Genesis 15:1, Genesis 26:24, and Numbers 21:34.)
The prophets were heartened and in turn passed on the words of faith. God spoke the words through many, among them Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Jonathan, Elijah, Solomon, Jeremiah, and Paul. (See Genesis 43:23, Genesis 46:3, Genesis 50:19, Exodus 14:13, Exodus 20:20, Joshua 10:25, Joshua 11:6, 1 Samuel 12:20, 1 Samuel 22:23, 2 Kings 19:6, and Acts 18:9.)
Through Boaz, God told Ruth, and through Elijah, God told the widow at Zarephath not to be afraid (Ruth 3:11 and 1 Kings 17:13). Before their giving birth, God encouraged Hagar, Rachel, Eli's daughter--in--law, Zechariah, Elizabeth, Joseph, and Mary (Genesis 21:17, Genesis 35:17, 1 Samuel 4:20, Luke 1:13, and Luke 1:30). To the shepherds at Jesus' birth, the angel said, "Do not be afraid" (Luke 2:10). At the resurrection, the words came again to Mary and to the disciples. (See Matthew 28:5 and Matthew 28:10.)
Not only on stormy waters did Jesus reassure the disciples, he told them again and again, 'Do not be afraid.' " (See Matthew 14:27, Matthew 17:7, and Luke 5:10.)
From early words of scripture, "After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, 'Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great' " (Genesis 15:1), to the closing words of scripture, "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, 'Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades' " (Revelation 1:17--18), the word from God is "Do not be afraid."
Four basic verses tell why:
David said further to his son Solomon, "Be strong and of good courage, and act. Do not be afraid or dismayed; for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished" (1 Chronicles 28:20).
[D]o not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand (Isaiah 41:10).
Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord (Jeremiah 1:8).
[A]nd teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).
In short, not only need we not give up on ourselves when we feel fear, we also need not hide our apprehension from God. In all things, the word from God is "Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord" (Psalm 31:24).
Faith
Faith was always an issue for the disciples. Faith is always an issue for us. In the present miracle, Jesus addressed Peter with the phrase, "[Y]ou of little faith." Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught Peter, saying to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14:31).
In the Sermons On The Mount, Jesus addressed the anxious: "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you - you of little faith?" (Matthew 6:30). (See also Luke 12:28.)
One consequence of the lack of faith is fear. In the boat during the earlier storm when the disciples woke Jesus, "[Jesus] said to them, "Where is your faith?" (Luke 8:25). (See also Mark 4:40: "[Jesus] said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" See also Matthew 8:26: "And he said to them, 'Why are you afraid, you of little faith?' Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm.")
"And becoming aware of it, Jesus said, 'You of little faith, why are you talking about having no bread?' " (Matthew 16:8).
Another consequence of the lack of faith is ineffectiveness. After Jesus healed the epileptic boy, the disciples asked him why they could not have cast the demon out of the child. Jesus answered them, "Because of your little faith" (Matthew 17:20a).
Jesus played with the words "little faith" when the Pharisees and scribes began muttering about him. He spoke to the disciples about the steward, concluding, "Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much" (Luke 16:10).
The disciples were aware of their weakness of faith. When Jesus preached about the rich man and Lazarus and warned about temptation, "[t]he apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith!' " (Luke 17:5).
The day after Palm Sunday when Jesus and the disciples came from Bethany, Jesus was hungry. When he found a fig tree out of season for figs, he told the tree no one would ever eat figs from it again. The next day, when Peter discovered the tree had withered to its roots, the disciples questioned Jesus. "Jesus answered them, 'Have faith in God' " (Mark 11:22). He continued to say that if faith is strong enough, it can move a mountain. (See Mark 11:23.)
At the Last Supper when the disciples argued about who was greatest, Jesus addressed Peter: "[B]ut I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers" (Luke 22:32).
Jesus still dwelt on the disciples' struggling faith after his death: "Later he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were sitting at the table; and he upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen" (Mark 16:14).
Ghost
"Ghost" is the apparition of a dead person. A widely held Near Eastern belief maintained that the shades of the dead, the disembodied spirits, were endowed with some vitality and they possessed the power to inflict harm.1
In their confusion, the disciples may have thought they saw a harmful ghost before realizing the occasion might actually have been a prelude to the Holy Ghost of the risen Christ coming to them on land. Compounding their fright was the extra baggage of concern for the uncertainty of Jesus' well--being that night. Considering that people of his day feared the "unholy" ghosts of relatives they neglected or those whom they did not give the last rites of burial, all sorts of images could have fed the imaginations of the disciples.
Save Me
The cry, "Save me," carries elements of isolation, command, and pleading, as in the following passages:
To you, O Lord, I call; my rock, do not refuse to hear me, for if you are silent to me, I shall be like those who go down to the Pit (Psalm 28:1).
Answer me when I call, O God of my right! You gave me room when I was in distress. Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer (Psalm 4:1).
From the end of the earth I call to you, when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I (Psalm 61:2).
In other passages, questioning or expressions of denial accompany the call to God:
Call now; is there anyone who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn? (Job 5:1).
Will God hear their cry when trouble comes upon them? (Job 27:9).
Will they call upon God at all times? (Job 27:10b).
For, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? (Romans 10:13--14).
[T]hough I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer (Lamentations 3:8).
In several texts, certainty, faith, and assurance accompany expressions of calling on God:
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved ... as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls (Joel 2:32).
In the day of my trouble I call on you, for you will answer me (Psalm 86:7).
For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is whenever we call to him? (Deuteronomy 4:7).
But know that the Lord has set apart the faithful for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him (Psalm 4:3).
The call for help comes as an imperative:
Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near (Isaiah 55:6).
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am (Isaiah 50:9a).
Speaking through psalmists and prophets, God assures response to our calling:
Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me (Psalm 50:15).
When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them (Psalm 91:15).
Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you (Jeremiah 29:12).
5. Gospel Parallels
Sending Off The Disciples And The Crowd
Both writers stress the immediacy of Jesus' action. Both say he "made" the disciples get into the boat and "go on ahead" to the other side. The writer of Mark named the other side Bethsaida. (See Mark 6:45.) Matthew 14:22 says he dismissed the crowds, while Mark 6:45 says the crowd.
Going To Pray
The writer of Matthew again reported "after he had dismissed the crowds," but Mark said, "After saying farewell to them" (Mark 6:46). Both writers said Jesus went up on the mountain to pray. However, Matthew emphasized that Jesus went "by himself" to pray in Matthew 14:22 and again that "he was there alone" in verse 23. Only later did Mark note Jesus' solitude, and then it was in relation to the boat being out on the sea. (See Mark 6:47.)
Observing The Boat In The Storm In The Evening
Both writers note that "when evening came" (Mark 6:47 and Matthew 14:23), but Mark, with emphasis on Jesus, said first that "the boat was out on the sea, and [Jesus] was alone on the land" (Mark 6:47). The writer of Matthew adds, almost parenthetically, that "by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them" (Matthew 14:24). Mark gives none of these details until his morning report.
Acting Early In The Morning
Both writers show Jesus in action early in the morning. "And early in the morning [Jesus] came walking toward them on the sea" (Matthew 14:25). Mark reports that when Jesus "saw the disciples were straining at the oars against an adverse wind, he came towards them early in the morning, walking on the sea" (Mark 6:48). Only Mark adds, "[Jesus] intended to pass them by."
Disciples' Response
Both writers start the next sentence with a "but" clause. Matthew calls them the disciples, but Mark refers only to "they" (Mark 14:26). Matthew reports the disciples' feelings first, then their spoken response: "[T]hey were terrified, saying, 'It is a ghost!' " (Matthew 14:26). Matthew states again, "And they cried out in fear" (Matthew 14:26).
Speaking from a greater emotional distance, Mark reports, "[T]hey thought it was a ghost and cried out; for they all saw him and were terrified" (Mark 6:50--51). Note that Mark says they "all" saw Jesus.
Jesus' Response
With one exception, both writers record Jesus' spoken response identically. Matthew says "Jesus" spoke to them (Matthew 14:27). Mark says "he" spoke to them (Mark 6:50). The conclusion of the story differs after that point. Matthew tells about Peter's challenging Jesus, his attempt to walk on the water, and Jesus' rescue of him when he falters - all before "they" got into the boat and the wind ceased. (See Matthew 14:28--32.) With no mention of Peter, Mark has Jesus get into the boat with them and the wind ceases. (See Mark 6:51.)
Disciples' Reaction
The response of the disciples, according to Matthew, was to worship Jesus, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God" (Matthew 14:33). Mark comments further on the disciples' reaction to Jesus' coming to them, saying they were utterly astounded for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened" (Mark 6:52).
____________
1. See The Interpreter's Dictionary Of The Bible, Volume 2.
Immediately [Jesus] made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.22 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,23 but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them.24 And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea.25 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out in fear.26 But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid."27 Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water."28 He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus.29 But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!"30 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"31 When they got into the boat, the wind ceased.32 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."33
2. What's Happening?
First Point Of Action
Immediately after feeding the crowds, Jesus makes the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismisses the crowds.
Second Point Of Action
Then Jesus goes up the mountain alone to pray. By this time, the disciples' boat, far from land, is being battered by waves.
Third Point Of Action
Early in the morning, Jesus walks on the sea toward the disciples in the boat. Fearing they have seen a ghost, the disciples cry out in fear. Jesus speaks immediately, identifying himself and telling them not to be afraid.
Fourth Point Of Action
Peter challenges Jesus to command him to walk on the water to Jesus. Jesus accepts the challenge. Peter starts walking on the water but becomes afraid when he notices the strong wind. Peter begins to sink. Peter cries out for Jesus to save him. Jesus immediately reaches out his hand and catches him. Jesus chides Peter for doubting.
Fifth Point Of Action
When they get into the boat, the wind stops.
Sixth Point Of Action
The disciples in the boat worship Jesus, acknowledging that he is the Son of God.
3. Connecting Points - Conversations
Interviewing A Disciple
Asker: How might you explain Jesus' walking on the water to reach your boat?
Disciple: I do not believe Jesus was playing around with miracles. Jesus would not have walked on the water in any other circumstance. He was not showing off. He took his life and our lives too seriously for that. As far as I know, we were without other witnesses. Jesus was not trying to make a point to anyone. I believe he did not stop to think. He knew we were in trouble because of the wind. Coming across the water was the quickest way to reach us.
Asker: Jesus could have quieted the wind from the shore. Why did he risk everything by walking across the water?
Disciple: Why does a parent dash into the road to snatch up a child? You will have to ask Jesus. He might have been thinking about sending us off in the boat without him in the first place. He was to sacrifice his life for us later. He was willing to endanger his life by walking on the water for our sakes. Did that increase the credence of voluntarily giving up his life for us later? From where do our spontaneous, self--forgetting, life--saving acts come? Brother or sister in the faith looking after kin? Community caring for community?
Asker: Were you disciples surprised because Jesus walked on the water? Were you wondering if he still cared about you after the episode of the loaves? He chided you for worrying about having enough food to feed the crowd. Why in the parallel telling of this story did Mark say your hearts were hardened? (See Mark 6:51--52: "Then he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.") What is that "but" all about?
Disciple: Sometimes a parent pushes a child away in anticipation of that child's future as an adult. The child comprehends only a fragment of the parent's action. Yet, the child's initial reaction might include a temporary hardening of the heart. You have a saying in your day, "Sink or swim." Its paraphrase in this miracle might be "Walk in faith or sink."
Another issue surfaces here. To walk on water meant life for Peter. To sink beneath the waves would have meant his death. Buoyant as water is, if we trust it to hold us, in the absence of trust it can overwhelm. The line between life and death is that fragile. The moment between faith and doubt is that quick.
Asker: What about the ghost aspect of the story?
Disciple: To put it in the words of your time, we were quite spooked by the whole thing. By no means had we recovered from the beheading of John the Baptist. Remember that people of my day particularly feared the ghosts of those whom their family had neglected. We should have insisted on not leaving Jesus. Anything could have happened to Jesus that night. Our minds were on murders and death, so were our imaginations.
Asker: Your feelings that day went from fear to reverence.
Disciple: Yes, and even now I do not know if it was Peter's or Jesus' walking on water in the windstorm that melted my fear. When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. In the middle of chaos, we are too busy with survival to look for miracles. In the after--silence, I recognized Jesus as the Son of God.
Interviewing Peter
Asker: Well, Peter, not only did Jesus dismiss the crowds but he also dismissed you disciples. He sent you away in the boat so he could be completely alone.
Peter: I felt that he was telling us to return to our fishing business and to forget that he even existed. This was hard. I wonder now if Jesus was starting to prepare us for when he would leave us later.
As you know, I felt responsible as Jesus' protector. Was his refusal of the attention of his disciples a breach of our relationship? It was a dangerous time for Jesus. John the Baptist had lost his life only days before. I was uneasy out in the boat. What could we do but wait?
Asker: Your first act, even before Jesus had called you to be his disciple, was as a protector. (See "The Catch Of Fish," Miracle 4, Cycle C, Luke 5:1--11, Epiphany 5.) By requesting that you draw him away from shore, Jesus asked you to help him distance himself from the crowd pressing in on him. How did you happen to be where he needed you?
Peter: By asking me to row him out in the water, Jesus noted my readiness to respond to his calling. Jesus was no fool.
Asker: Yet you agreed. That protest and your acquiescence foretold much of your future relationship with Jesus. You were not afraid to challenge him.
Peter: I was not afraid to confront Jesus. I also was not afraid of standing up for Jesus. Strange, is it not, how I am strong one moment and vulnerable in the next. In the present miracle, Jesus stood up for and with me. He was always telling us that God will not desert us. What does it take for us to believe?
As I look back, it was as if Jesus' coming across the water were a preparation for his coming to us after his death. Again at dawn, the third time Jesus appeared to us after his death, we did not respond with terror and fear but with awe and wonder. What a difference. (See "The Post--Resurrection Catch," Miracle 6, Cycle C, John 21:1--14, Easter 3.)
Asker: You continually tested Jesus' identity. It was you, Peter, among the disciples, who asked for the ultimate verification of walking on the water yourself. How could you believe that you could walk on water? Were you so certain that it was not Jesus who came toward you on the water - even though you addressed him as "Lord" - that you could dare him to command you to walk toward him?
Peter: To you perhaps, my dare sounds foolhardy. I constantly questioned Jesus' identity. If Jesus could put his life on the line in the name of God, I could do the same. It was a crazy thing to do. "Follow me," he said, when he first called Andrew and me [Matthew 4:19]. I gave up everything to follow Jesus. When he again said to me, "Come," you might suppose I was willing to give up even my life to follow him. That appealing and inviting word, "Come." "Let the little children come to me" [Mark 10:14]. "Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens ..." [Matthew 11:28]. "Come, follow me" [Matthew 19:21].
Even though I kept hearing that call, it still was my nature to challenge Jesus. Was the call to life or to death? Is what we think might be death really life? I always pondered these confusing things. However, I did not consider the possibility of drowning before I stepped out of the boat. My spontaneous side responded. Faith took over. Sometimes having faith is as crazy as thinking you can walk on water. Remember, when I finally become wholehearted about something, my conviction holds strength.
Asker: Sometimes it takes something as drastic as sinking in the water for us to realize we are in trouble, that we need to cry out to God. When we do cry out to God to save us, it is a soul cry, desperate and spontaneous.
Peter: My crying out to Jesus had no conditions. Jesus' reaching out to catch me was without limits. Faith cannot be just partway or you will sink - no room for doubt, no space for wandering with rough water beneath your feet.
Asker: Peter, do you think Jesus would have saved you had you not taken him on in the first place?
Peter: What a strange question. He is my kin in the faith. The whole time I walked on the water, that is, until the wind shook me into reality, I heard Jesus saying, "Come."
Asker: Then you walked in trust.
Peter: I came with faith.
Asker: This whole miracle is a story of the unconditional, isn't it? Jesus was so concerned about you disciples out on the rough waters that he came to you directly across the water. You walked on water to follow Jesus.
Peter: God's love knows no limits. I was so caught up in Jesus' action that for a moment there I, too, became part of the limitless--ness. I thought the rules of nature were temporarily suspended for me as well. The key here is the word temporarily. The intoxicating spirit of Jesus' faith was so contagious that I forgot how temporal I am. My faith must be my own choice. On the one hand, we soar as far as our faith will carry us and move the unyielding. On the other hand, we drown in our humanness.
Asker: Peter, you have had several extraordinary water experiences with Jesus. "The Catch Of Fish" occurred early in your life as Jesus' disciple. (See Cycle C, Miracle 4.) That time Jesus asked you to take him away from shore in your boat. You were where he needed you this time, too, but he "made" you get into the boat.
Peter: Water experiences go with my being a fisher. In "The Catch Of Fish," I fell at Jesus' knees when we filled the boats so full of fish that the boats began to sink. Then in fear alone, I begged Jesus to go away from me. This time, it was I who began to sink. In fear coupled with trust, I begged Jesus to save me.
Interviewing Jesus
Asker: Jesus, when you walked across the water to your disciples, you offered no apology for having deserted them the night before. You had told the disciples to get in the boat and go to the other side of the lake. They obeyed - partly. Wind caught them. Your words spoke only of concern for your disciples: "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid" (Matthew 14:27).
Jesus: As with all people, when my disciples become afraid, they wonder how they possibly can go it alone. "Take heart" are the first words we need to hear those times we forget that having faith requires an active choice on our part.
Asker: Is that why you insisted on going alone to the mountain to pray?
Jesus: All people need to seek refuge, to return to the very soul of their existence, to do for themselves what is necessary to keep their faith strong. Without faith, we sink.
Asker: Jesus, in this story, we see the fullness of your being, as a whole human being and a divine being. We like to make you wholly God - always loving us and accepting us. We are uncomfortable with the Jesus who makes demands on us. We squirm when you are upset, especially when you direct your distress at those nearest you, your disciples. Throughout the Gospels, you expect - almost command - the disciples to have faith. If even your closest followers have trouble with faith, how can the rest of us believe from so great a distance?
Jesus: Were we all perfect, complete people, we would not need God's guidance. Were we all unbroken people, we would not struggle with faith. In a sense, the twelve disciples represent all people. I chose them from all paths of life and of various natures.
Asker: Realizing that I jump over to Mark's parallel telling of this story, I have a question about something. The writer of Mark alone reports that when you saw the disciples strain at the oars and came to them early in the morning walking on the sea, "[you] intended to pass them by" (Mark 6:48).
Intending to pass by your disciples - what a strange, uncaring, uncharacteristic thing for you to do. Does the writer of Mark mean you were walking on the sea for some other reason, a shortcut across the water, perhaps? You acted as if you were mad at the disciples. Were you still fussing about the insensitivity of your disciples before the crowds in the earlier miracle? (See "Feeding 5,000," Cycle A, Miracle 7.) Were you still distressed about the death of John the Baptist? Did it do no good to spend time alone with God on the mountain? Were you disquieted because you fell out of patience with your disciples? From my distance, I do not understand.
You walked out as if to rescue the disciples. Did you intend to quiet the wind as you walked by but not speak to them? The writer of Mark suggests you went over to their boat only when you realized they thought you were a ghost. Then you responded without hesitation.
Jesus: You ask many questions. I had begun to focus on my own death, but I had not gone yet. Seeing their terror as they supposed I was a ghost, I turned attention directly to the disciples. Quieting the wind could wait.
Asker: Jesus, you seemed to have no patience with your disciples in matters of faith.
Jesus: We are constant learners in the practice of faith. Faith is difficult, yet it is simple. The antidote to fear is faith. Faith is the miracle.
4. Words
"Do Not Be Afraid"
Might we infer that fear is a natural mark of humanness evoking the immediate response of a compassionate God? At 59 turning points in the Old and New Testaments, God spoke such words to men and women who were afraid. God reassured the forefathers and foremothers of the faith. From Abram and Isaac to Moses and from Joshua to James and John, God said, "Do not be afraid." (See Genesis 15:1, Genesis 26:24, and Numbers 21:34.)
The prophets were heartened and in turn passed on the words of faith. God spoke the words through many, among them Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Jonathan, Elijah, Solomon, Jeremiah, and Paul. (See Genesis 43:23, Genesis 46:3, Genesis 50:19, Exodus 14:13, Exodus 20:20, Joshua 10:25, Joshua 11:6, 1 Samuel 12:20, 1 Samuel 22:23, 2 Kings 19:6, and Acts 18:9.)
Through Boaz, God told Ruth, and through Elijah, God told the widow at Zarephath not to be afraid (Ruth 3:11 and 1 Kings 17:13). Before their giving birth, God encouraged Hagar, Rachel, Eli's daughter--in--law, Zechariah, Elizabeth, Joseph, and Mary (Genesis 21:17, Genesis 35:17, 1 Samuel 4:20, Luke 1:13, and Luke 1:30). To the shepherds at Jesus' birth, the angel said, "Do not be afraid" (Luke 2:10). At the resurrection, the words came again to Mary and to the disciples. (See Matthew 28:5 and Matthew 28:10.)
Not only on stormy waters did Jesus reassure the disciples, he told them again and again, 'Do not be afraid.' " (See Matthew 14:27, Matthew 17:7, and Luke 5:10.)
From early words of scripture, "After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, 'Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great' " (Genesis 15:1), to the closing words of scripture, "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, 'Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades' " (Revelation 1:17--18), the word from God is "Do not be afraid."
Four basic verses tell why:
David said further to his son Solomon, "Be strong and of good courage, and act. Do not be afraid or dismayed; for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished" (1 Chronicles 28:20).
[D]o not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand (Isaiah 41:10).
Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord (Jeremiah 1:8).
[A]nd teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).
In short, not only need we not give up on ourselves when we feel fear, we also need not hide our apprehension from God. In all things, the word from God is "Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord" (Psalm 31:24).
Faith
Faith was always an issue for the disciples. Faith is always an issue for us. In the present miracle, Jesus addressed Peter with the phrase, "[Y]ou of little faith." Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught Peter, saying to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14:31).
In the Sermons On The Mount, Jesus addressed the anxious: "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you - you of little faith?" (Matthew 6:30). (See also Luke 12:28.)
One consequence of the lack of faith is fear. In the boat during the earlier storm when the disciples woke Jesus, "[Jesus] said to them, "Where is your faith?" (Luke 8:25). (See also Mark 4:40: "[Jesus] said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" See also Matthew 8:26: "And he said to them, 'Why are you afraid, you of little faith?' Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm.")
"And becoming aware of it, Jesus said, 'You of little faith, why are you talking about having no bread?' " (Matthew 16:8).
Another consequence of the lack of faith is ineffectiveness. After Jesus healed the epileptic boy, the disciples asked him why they could not have cast the demon out of the child. Jesus answered them, "Because of your little faith" (Matthew 17:20a).
Jesus played with the words "little faith" when the Pharisees and scribes began muttering about him. He spoke to the disciples about the steward, concluding, "Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much" (Luke 16:10).
The disciples were aware of their weakness of faith. When Jesus preached about the rich man and Lazarus and warned about temptation, "[t]he apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith!' " (Luke 17:5).
The day after Palm Sunday when Jesus and the disciples came from Bethany, Jesus was hungry. When he found a fig tree out of season for figs, he told the tree no one would ever eat figs from it again. The next day, when Peter discovered the tree had withered to its roots, the disciples questioned Jesus. "Jesus answered them, 'Have faith in God' " (Mark 11:22). He continued to say that if faith is strong enough, it can move a mountain. (See Mark 11:23.)
At the Last Supper when the disciples argued about who was greatest, Jesus addressed Peter: "[B]ut I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers" (Luke 22:32).
Jesus still dwelt on the disciples' struggling faith after his death: "Later he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were sitting at the table; and he upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen" (Mark 16:14).
Ghost
"Ghost" is the apparition of a dead person. A widely held Near Eastern belief maintained that the shades of the dead, the disembodied spirits, were endowed with some vitality and they possessed the power to inflict harm.1
In their confusion, the disciples may have thought they saw a harmful ghost before realizing the occasion might actually have been a prelude to the Holy Ghost of the risen Christ coming to them on land. Compounding their fright was the extra baggage of concern for the uncertainty of Jesus' well--being that night. Considering that people of his day feared the "unholy" ghosts of relatives they neglected or those whom they did not give the last rites of burial, all sorts of images could have fed the imaginations of the disciples.
Save Me
The cry, "Save me," carries elements of isolation, command, and pleading, as in the following passages:
To you, O Lord, I call; my rock, do not refuse to hear me, for if you are silent to me, I shall be like those who go down to the Pit (Psalm 28:1).
Answer me when I call, O God of my right! You gave me room when I was in distress. Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer (Psalm 4:1).
From the end of the earth I call to you, when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I (Psalm 61:2).
In other passages, questioning or expressions of denial accompany the call to God:
Call now; is there anyone who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn? (Job 5:1).
Will God hear their cry when trouble comes upon them? (Job 27:9).
Will they call upon God at all times? (Job 27:10b).
For, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? (Romans 10:13--14).
[T]hough I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer (Lamentations 3:8).
In several texts, certainty, faith, and assurance accompany expressions of calling on God:
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved ... as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls (Joel 2:32).
In the day of my trouble I call on you, for you will answer me (Psalm 86:7).
For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is whenever we call to him? (Deuteronomy 4:7).
But know that the Lord has set apart the faithful for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him (Psalm 4:3).
The call for help comes as an imperative:
Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near (Isaiah 55:6).
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am (Isaiah 50:9a).
Speaking through psalmists and prophets, God assures response to our calling:
Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me (Psalm 50:15).
When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them (Psalm 91:15).
Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you (Jeremiah 29:12).
5. Gospel Parallels
Sending Off The Disciples And The Crowd
Both writers stress the immediacy of Jesus' action. Both say he "made" the disciples get into the boat and "go on ahead" to the other side. The writer of Mark named the other side Bethsaida. (See Mark 6:45.) Matthew 14:22 says he dismissed the crowds, while Mark 6:45 says the crowd.
Going To Pray
The writer of Matthew again reported "after he had dismissed the crowds," but Mark said, "After saying farewell to them" (Mark 6:46). Both writers said Jesus went up on the mountain to pray. However, Matthew emphasized that Jesus went "by himself" to pray in Matthew 14:22 and again that "he was there alone" in verse 23. Only later did Mark note Jesus' solitude, and then it was in relation to the boat being out on the sea. (See Mark 6:47.)
Observing The Boat In The Storm In The Evening
Both writers note that "when evening came" (Mark 6:47 and Matthew 14:23), but Mark, with emphasis on Jesus, said first that "the boat was out on the sea, and [Jesus] was alone on the land" (Mark 6:47). The writer of Matthew adds, almost parenthetically, that "by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them" (Matthew 14:24). Mark gives none of these details until his morning report.
Acting Early In The Morning
Both writers show Jesus in action early in the morning. "And early in the morning [Jesus] came walking toward them on the sea" (Matthew 14:25). Mark reports that when Jesus "saw the disciples were straining at the oars against an adverse wind, he came towards them early in the morning, walking on the sea" (Mark 6:48). Only Mark adds, "[Jesus] intended to pass them by."
Disciples' Response
Both writers start the next sentence with a "but" clause. Matthew calls them the disciples, but Mark refers only to "they" (Mark 14:26). Matthew reports the disciples' feelings first, then their spoken response: "[T]hey were terrified, saying, 'It is a ghost!' " (Matthew 14:26). Matthew states again, "And they cried out in fear" (Matthew 14:26).
Speaking from a greater emotional distance, Mark reports, "[T]hey thought it was a ghost and cried out; for they all saw him and were terrified" (Mark 6:50--51). Note that Mark says they "all" saw Jesus.
Jesus' Response
With one exception, both writers record Jesus' spoken response identically. Matthew says "Jesus" spoke to them (Matthew 14:27). Mark says "he" spoke to them (Mark 6:50). The conclusion of the story differs after that point. Matthew tells about Peter's challenging Jesus, his attempt to walk on the water, and Jesus' rescue of him when he falters - all before "they" got into the boat and the wind ceased. (See Matthew 14:28--32.) With no mention of Peter, Mark has Jesus get into the boat with them and the wind ceases. (See Mark 6:51.)
Disciples' Reaction
The response of the disciples, according to Matthew, was to worship Jesus, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God" (Matthew 14:33). Mark comments further on the disciples' reaction to Jesus' coming to them, saying they were utterly astounded for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened" (Mark 6:52).
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1. See The Interpreter's Dictionary Of The Bible, Volume 2.
