Jesus Walks on Water

Focus Keywords: Jesus walks on water, overcoming trials, spiritual growth, presence of Christ, Alistair Begg, faith vs fear, sovereignty of Jesus, miraculous provision

This summary and rewrite draws on Alistair Begg’s exposition of Jesus walking on water (following the feeding of the thousands), highlighting the purpose of the miracle, the disciples’ failure to understand it, and how trials are used by God to deepen faith and conformity to Christ’s image.

The Context: Moving Immediately from Miracle to Crisis

The setting for Jesus walking on water immediately followed a monumental miracle—the feeding of the thousands with a few loaves and fishes.

• Abrupt Departure: The reaction of the crowd to the feeding miracle was such that Jesus decided to leave almost immediately. In a very abrupt end to the feeding story, Jesus quickly dismisses the crowd and dispatches his disciples.
• The Shepherd’s Solitude: Jesus then goes up into the mountain to pray, bringing “closure to it all” by telling the disciples, “You can go on now i’ll wait here and finish things up and when I finish things up then I will go and talk with my father”.
• The Journey Begins in Darkness: The disciples went down to the sea when evening came, and “it was dark”. They set out moving across the sea in the darkness. The record states that the sea became rough because a “strong wind was blowing against them”.

The strong wind was nothing new to the disciples, who were familiar with the sea. After rowing for about three or four miles, around 3:00 in the morning (the fourth watch of the night), they were in pitch darkness, hitting the wind straight on.

The Miracle: A Visible Demonstration of Sovereignty

The sign of Jesus walking on water was a “powerful visible demonstration of the sovereignty of Jesus over the entire world that he has created”.

• Upholding the Universe: Jesus is the one who “upholds the universe by the word of his power,” and the record of His life testifies to this truth.
• Unique Control: The disciples knew that “only God commands the elements” and only God can control such things. They knew Moses had parted the Red Sea, but the people walked through on dry land; Jesus walking on the water was “something very, very different”.
• The Appearance and Fear: It was in the context of their struggle that Jesus appeared, walking on the sea. They were frightened, and Mark records that they were “freaked out,” letting out a “corporate loud cry”. This terror stemmed from the popular belief that “spirits of the night brought disaster”. They thought Jesus was an “apparition, a fantasma in Greek”.

The Core Declaration: “It Is I”

Jesus addressed their fears with the ultimate statement of divine identity: “It is I; do not be afraid”.

• Ego Eimi: This phrase, ego eimi (It is I), holds profound significance, potentially tying back to the Old Testament declaration of God himself.
• God’s Name: At the burning bush, Moses asked God His name, and God replied, “I am who I am.” Tell them ‘I am'”. Jesus’s statement, “It is I,” helped the disciples, who were familiar with the Hebrew scriptures, understand that the figure commanding the elements was indeed God.
• Canceling Fear: Fear is described as the “first cousin of unbelief”. The familiar command throughout the Bible is “do not be afraid”. What cancels unbelief is belief, and what cancels fear is “the one in whom we believe”.

The Disciples’ Failure to Grasp the Miracle

Despite having been in the middle of the feeding miracle earlier that day, the disciples “didn’t get it”.

• Hardened Hearts: Mark records that the disciples “did not understand about the loaves; their hearts were hardened”. They were following Jesus but still did not truly know who He was.
• Proximity is Not Faith: A key warning derived from this passage is that “proximity to Jesus is no guarantee of real faith”. Real faith is found in genuine, repentant, believing trust.

The Conclusion: Immediate Arrival and Journal Reflections

The story ends happily for the disciples in the boat.

• The Third Miracle (Optional): When Jesus entered the boat, “immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going”. While some debate whether this constitutes a third miracle—that Jesus used the same power that allowed Him to walk on water to move the boat instantly—the outcome is clear: they reached their destination without having to row anymore.
• Gladness: The disciples were “glad they gladly took him into the boat”.
• Retrospective Understanding: The disciples later reflected on the two miracles, recognizing the parallels between the orderly seating of the thousands on the grass and Moses distributing the manna in the wilderness. They also compared Jesus bringing them through the sea to Moses taking the people through the Red Sea.

The Purpose of Trials: Conformity, Not Comfort

The sources caution against interpreting the boat passage allegorically, where the boat symbolizes the struggling church tossed on the seas of secularism. The sign’s purpose is singular: it points to Jesus and to belief in Jesus, resulting in a transformed life.

Nonetheless, trials and challenges are an undeniable reality of the Christian pilgrimage.

• Presence in Darkness: Just as Jesus calmed their fears by making His presence known, He comes to us to provide, protect, accompany, and empower us in days of darkness.
• Testing and Reproving: Trials come to “prove us and to reprove us”. God puts His people in challenging situations—whether routine, or a whirlwind of illness, bereavement, loss of job, or collapsing relationships—in order to test and stretch them.
• Conforming to Christ: The work of the Holy Spirit is not to make us comfortable but to “conform us to the image of Jesus”. If spiritual satisfaction is judged merely by the level of comfort and enjoyment, the believer will routinely be in trouble because so much of life is uncomfortable.
• Rest in the Pilot: The ultimate solution is to find rest in Jesus. We are reminded to signal to Jesus to come on board as the Pilot, who can safely guide the vessel across the ocean wide until the heavenly harbor is reached.

With Christ in the vessel, we can smile at the storm. This presence allows believers to smile even through their tears.