“When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone. And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea, and entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them. And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew. So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid. But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid. Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.”
-John 6:15-21
Immediately following the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus sent the multitude away and separated Himself to pray alone. He directed the disciples to go to the opposite side of the Sea of Galilee by ship. Without Jesus in the boat, the disciples began rowing through the night.
Before we go further, a few unit conversions may help put this in perspective:
- A look at the timeline in Matthew’s account of this miracle (Matthew 14) shows that the disciples began sailing in the evening, but Jesus found them in the fourth watch of the night. In our familiar timing convention, this would be considered between 3 am and 6 am. Therefore, the disciples had been rowing at least 9 to 12 hours.
- A furlong is 660 feet, so 20-30 furlongs would be a range of 2.5 to 3.75 miles. While the Bible doesn’t exactly specify the location of the desert place where they began, we know that the Sea of Galilee is about 8 miles wide and 12 miles long. We can be certain that they were less than halfway to their destination at the time Jesus came to them.
In addition to the facts above, we should also remember the context of this narrative. The disciples had already traveled to the desert place that morning, so this is the return trip within the same day. While in the desert place, they had served a multitude of 5,000. The disciples were people just like we are and were no doubt fatigued before this return trip even began. Then, once it began, a storm with contrary wind prevented them from making satisfactory progress in their sailing. They were in mortal danger, tired, and discouraged when Jesus saw them and approached them, walking on water.
What a contrast Jesus is to the struggling disciples! They are struggling and afraid, but He is walking with ease over the surface of the water! They are subject to the elements, but He is sovereign over the wind and sea. This is clear evidence that He is God manifest in the flesh. In fact, this is the point that the disciples themselves took from the occasion: “Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God” (Matthew 14:33).
The next lesson for us comes from the consequences of the fact of the divinity of Christ. This is a practical lesson: faith in Christ subdues fear of earthly problems. It is important that we notice that the earthly problems are not totally and immediately removed. It was, in fact, the command of Jesus that the disciples should depart across the sea without Him (Matthew 14:22). There are times when we can relate with the disciples’ experience in verse 17, “It was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them.” However, in those times, faith should remind us that Jesus is not confined to our ability to see or save. Mark 6:48 tells us that Jesus saw them toiling in rowing. At a time when they were unaware of Jesus’s location, Jesus stood observing the struggles of His disciples. Though they didn’t see Him, He saw them. This is the comforting thought of faith. Through the fearsome storm, the calm voice of our Savior calls, “It is I; be not afraid.” Faith teaches us that God can walk on water even in the midst of a storm that could easily overcome us. It teaches us to look to Christ as our salvation through life’s storms, even when by our sense He does not seem to be near. After all, the cumulative effort of the disciples had only achieved about 3 miles in 9 hours, but Jesus brought them to the other shore immediately.
As the Lord’s disciples did on this occasion, we also should humble ourselves in faith. Jesus is indeed omnipotent and rules over the world which He created. We can therefore be of good cheer, be not afraid, and recognize the mighty power and goodness of God.