Jesus Walked on Water. Can We?

Growing up, we were told many stories at Sunday school. Most of them made sense, but with a 7-year old mind, I found it hard to get any hidden meaning from some stories that were hard for me to understand. Two of the stories that always bewildered my young mind were the feeding of the masses and Jesus walking on water (Mark 6:45–53, Matthew 14:22–34, John 6:15–21), which appear in the Bible in succession.

The Wind and the Waves

After feeding the five thousand, Jesus made the disciples get on the boat ahead of him and head on to the other side of the sea. While the Bible doesn't specify why He did this, we can probably assume that he wanted to pray, which He had the habit of isolating himself every so often to do. 

By the time he was done, it was evening, and the boat was long gone. The water was choppy, and the boat was stuck in the winds and the waves. To catch up to it, Jesus went to them on foot, walking directly on the water. 

When the disciples saw Him approaching, they were awestruck, as any of us would be. They had trouble processing what they were actually looking at. Peter—courageous Peter—told Jesus to prove it was really Him by commanding him (Peter) to walk to Jesus. 

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Jesus agreed and called Peter to join Him. The Bible tells us that Peter was able to walk on the water at first, but when he saw the waves and felt the wind, he was immediately scared and started to sink. He called out to Jesus to save him, and Jesus reached out to him and stilled the winds.

How can we understand this miracle today? What can we take away from it?

1. He Knows

There was no GPS in the ancient world, and no one had a weather report. But Jesus knew that the disciples were in a storm. You see, Jesus knows all the things we are going through, easy or difficult. He is aware of them even when we are concerned that they escape his radar. He KNEW.

2. He Will Come to You

Rather than Jesus waiting on the shore or summoning the disciples back, he made a conscious decision to go to them. Jesus is more than willing to come to us at our point of need. When we are not believing, when we are struggling to pray, when we are afraid to step out in faith, He will come to us.

3. He Does Not Always Come Like Jesus

What stands out for me was that they were unable to recognize him and needed proof. It didn’t make sense that the person they had lived with, dined with, and walked with would be unrecognizable to them. 

But sometimes Jesus comes to us in the little things, in ways we may not understand at first, though He is more than willing to reveal himself to us when we ask.

4. He Needs Us to Keep Our Eyes on HIM

Peter only began to sink when he took his eyes off of Jesus. We need to keep our eyes fixed on the author and perfector of our faith. Jesus would love to meet us where we are and take us further than we can imagine. Dare to step out of the boat today.