When it was evening, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 embarked in a boat, and went across the sea to Capernaum. It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid. 20 But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” 21 They wanted to take him into the boat, but the boat immediately arrived at the shore to which they were heading.
After the feeding of the 5,000 men, Jesus had to leave the area to prevent the crowd from making him king (Jn. 6:15). The disciples left in a boat before him and headed for Capernaum to the west, but their progress was slow because the wind was against them. By the fourth watch (Mk. 6:48), about 3:00 am, the disciples had only rowed about 3 to 4 miles when they saw Jesus walking on the water coming towards them and they were afraid. Jesus identified himself and told his disciples not to be afraid. When Jesus got near the boat, the disciples and Jesus all instantaneously arrived at the shore. The disciples would have understood both miracles - Jesus’ walking on water and the immediate arrival at the shore - as the work of God.
This miracle story is a sign in John’s Gospel that Jesus shared God’s (Yahweh’s) power over nature. John writes this story a bit differently than in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew & Mark). John did not present a story about the disciples’ faith but told of an epiphany – “It is I (v. 20).” ‘I Am’ is how God introduced himself to Moses (Ex. 3:14) and how John presented Jesus (Jn. 8:58). Jesus showed his authority over nature by walking on the water. Some early Christians looked back to the Exodus and interpreted this incident as God showing that Christ was superior to Moses. Moses parted the sea and walked through it, but Christ walked on it.
Almighty God, in tempestuous times we turn to you in prayer and ask that you fill our hearts with the love of Christ so we may withstand all troubles. Shower us with your saving grace so that our faith may not be shipwrecked, and keeping our eyes fixed on Christ we may be brought safely to your Kingdom. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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