When they came to Capernaum and asked Jesus how he came there, instead of answering the question, he told the crowd that they followed him, not because they had seen signs, but because of the free loaves they had eaten the day before, and he advised them not to seek earthly gains, but aim for a life based on higher spiritual values.[1][8]. The miracles are reported as taking place years apart from each other, but in both miracles apostles are fishing unsuccessfully in the Sea of Galilee when Jesus tells them to try one more cast of the net, at which they are rewarded with a great catch (or "draught", as in "haul" or "weight"). A new Exodus is described in Isaiah 43:2-3 and 43:16-17, where the imagery is used to symbolize the return of Judah from exile in a new Exodus. Let me put The moment they notice Him approaching, they freak out, proclaiming that He is a ghost! Had Jesus been moving, his gait may have been a clue. [5] After Peter came down out of the ship and walked on the water, he became afraid of the storm and began to sink. [19], Catholic scholar John P. Meier believes that the miraculous walk on water is a purely theological narrative, without historical foundation. Learn Religions. After seminary, I came to disdain such interpretations, thinking that they had missed the true meaning of the text. To anyone familiar with the Old Testament, John 6 reads like a reenactment of the exodus story of which the Passover is a central part. He walked on water so that we may know Him as the incarnate God and glorify Him as so. And He is inviting us in with a warm smile and a hand held out in the air, as if to say, Come. Peter was able to concentrate for a short period of time. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. Have you ever paused to consider and giggle at the miracle account of Jesus walking on water?Im sure you have.What exactly was the point of that?The fact that he cured people, drove out devils, and fed the hungry is understandable; these are all commendable and logical things for a good teacher and miracle worker to accomplish.The walking on water, though, was a mystery to me.Was it some sort of prank? 4-5). What is the significance of Jesus calming the storm? Weathering the storm with Jesus: As soon as Jesus entered into the boat, the storm subsided completely. Instead, Young explores the pericope with literary-critical methods as narrative art. In Mark 6:45, Jesus instructed them to travel to Bethsaida, which is roughly seven miles south of Tabgha, despite the fact that the winds were blowing them south to Gennesa. What can we learn from the account of Peter walking on water? [4] During the journey on the sea, the disciples were distressed by wind and waves, but saw Jesus walking towards them on the sea. By the end, no one could tell what Can you tell me why you were so skeptical of me? (NLT). This indicates that the narrative of Jesus walking on water has been recorded by three different eyewitnesses, which lends credibility to the storys truthfulness.This is crucial since walking on water is considered a miracle by many people.Why did Jesus choose to walk on water?What exactly does it mean? The waves saw you, God, and they writhed in convulsions; the very depths were convulsed by your presence.Your arrows flew back and forth across the sky as the clouds poured down rain and thunder from the skies.Despite the wind, your thunder could be heard, and your lightning illuminated the whole planet, causing earthquakes and earthquake-like vibrations.19 Your journey took you across the sea, your way through the vast seas, though no one could see your tracks.Because he exposes himself to be God incarnate, Jesus arrives on the waves, walking on water.To be sure, the tale finishes with the disciples declaring that Jesus is really the Son of God. Other times, however, storms rage with no end in sight. It wasn't identified exactly in the Bible the year on which JESUS walk on the water but we can say it was perhaps year 33 as JESUS walkes on the water after His resurrection from the death when He . Jesus walking on the water, or on the sea, is depicted as one of the miracles of Jesus recounted in the New Testament. To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: Acts 1:3. During the Exodus, the Lord states that he is the only God and that there is no rescuer besida.In Matthew, Peter will call out for the one walking on the water to swerve away from him.Please forgive him.Isaiah 43:10 The Lord reveals in verse 11: You are my witnesses, and my servant whom I have selected, so that you may know and trust me, and comprehend that I am he (). (There was no god before me, and there will be no god after me.) The majority are faith healings, exorcisms, resurrections, and control over nature.. By walking on water in the middle of a furious storm, Jesus demonstrates His power and compassion for His people. Jesus committed no sin, either before orduring His suffering (cf. Philippians 2: Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 6:15 Jesus therefore perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force, to make him king, withdrew again into the mountain himself alone. She lives with her husband in Michigan, close to her adult children and grandkids.For additional information or to get in touch with Danielle, please visit her website. There must be a rational (read: natural) explanation. Peter stepped down from the boat and did walk on the water, making for Jesus. Every sermon I heard about Jesus walking on water as a child centered on Gods capacity to calm the storms in our life, which I found to be true.Following seminary, I grew to despise such readings, believing that they were missing the real meaning of the text altogether.Yet in reality, Jesus is the One who is able to calm the storms of our life exactly because He is the One who has freed us from the bonds of sin and death and the torments of hell.To put it another way, if we can put our faith in Jesus to resolve our most difficult difficulties, as He has done through the cross and the resurrection, then how much more can we put our faith in Him to face the more minor tribulations of life?In other words, Christ has the ability to and occasionally does intervene in our troubles in the same manner as He did when He rescued His disciples from the sea (John 6:21).When that occurs, there is nothing left to do but express gratitude to God for yet another act of kindness and grace on our behalf. Did Jesus walk on water? All we are left with is the evidence of Gods work through his natural cause, the historical record of what happened and the natural laws of the environment within which it occurred. Matthews narrative goes into greater detail about the scenario than the other two accounts.They had all finished their meals and were satisfied, and the disciples collected twelve baskets full of broken bits that had been left behind.In addition to women and children, there were around 5,000 males who participated in the meal. All this receives further confirmation when we consider that in Scripture, the sea tends to symbolize sin, death, and judgment. Jesus delights to deliver us as we call upon Him for salvation. Jesus had waited until the boat was as far from land as possible, when all their hope was gone. 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and took hold of him, and saith unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? Here are some other blogs you may also enjoy: Red Letters with Tom Davis Recent prayer post on Prayables Most Recent Inspiration blog post Happy Reading! However, when he saw the tremendous wind and the waves, he became afraid and began to sink into the water. He was going to pass them by, according to Marks account, as Jesus was walking on the waves and passing them by. to Moses (Ex 14:2129) or to Elijah (2 kg 2:8). Jesus' favorite disciple told Peter, "It's the Lord!" When Simon heard it was the Lord, he put on the clothes he had taken off while he was working. During his miracle of walking on water in Matthew 14:22-33, Jesus provides an answer to the question posed in the Nazareth synagogue, Where did Jesus acquire his authority to teach and perform miracles? Following up on his revelation that he was a provider of food in the desert in the account of the Feeding of the Five Thousand (Matthew 14), Jesus shows himself in this story to be the one who walks on water as if it were dry land.Each of Jesus miracles makes use of biblical imagery to proclaim that he is Gods Son, and the only appropriate response is to worship him in that capacity.Following the miraculous feeding miracle, Jesus departs the crowds on the opposite side of the lake after pressing his followers to do so on their own (Matt 14:22-23).I should say that he compelled them to cross the lake in a boat rather than forcing them to do it on their own.The word (v) has a forceful connotation (Judaizers compel Gentiles to be circumcised), but most commentators interpret it as aggressively encouraging the disciples to begin crossing the segregated segregation line.1. Furthermore, John mentions the sea four more times in the same chapter, both before and after the crossing of the Sea of Galilee (John 6:1, 22, 25). The people on the lake, however, thought he was a ghost when they saw him wandering about on the water.They screamed because they had all seen him and were afraid of him.Immediately, he addressed them and encouraged them, saying, Take courage! But Christianity is not a deist faith; it is a theist faith. In Matthew and Mark, the crossing is then followed by a miraculous healing in Gennesaret (Matt. Fairchild, Mary. Jesus could have left the disciples in fear, wondering who He was, but instead, Jesus revealed Himself calmed the wind. The episode occurs shortly after another miracle, the. Jesus did this to strengthen, teach, and confirm the faith of His disciples. The same Peter that sunk in fear, and later denied Jesus three times (Matthew 26:31-35), is the same Peter that started the church in Jerusalem (Acts 2:14-42). Jesus is still with us in the storm, reminding us of what Hes done, strengthening us for the trials we face, and encouraging us not to forget that our biggest problems have already been solved. That is a departure from the Jewish . Strobel also argues that the resurrection is the best explanation for the fact that Jesus' tomb was empty on Easter morning. In the book of Psalms, the sea is frequently used to symbolize tremendous uncertainty and insurmountable difficulty (e.g., Pss. He came with a mission to reconcile all things to God himself. First, we have the multiplication of signs and wonders as in Egypt (cf. In Johns case, this is not the case.As a result, the account of Jesus walking on the sea (John 6:1621) appears to be almost like a break in an otherwise uninterrupted narrative of Jesus feeding the five thousand and revealing His identity as the Bread of Life (John 6:115, 2371).It is crucial to remember that John did not have to include this miracle in his account of Jesus life.1 As a result, the decision to include this miracle at all, as well as where John places it and how he depicts it, has a particular significance. Following the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus Christ dispatched his disciples ahead of him in a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee to the other side.Later that night, the disciples came upon a storm that made them feel uneasy and threatened them with death.Their dread quickly changed to horror as they saw Jesus strolling toward them across the surface of the water, and they began to believe that they were seeing the appearance of a ghost. Miracles, signs, and wonders are simply not believable. Though Satan should buffet / though trials should come, / Let this blest assurance control: / That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate / And hath shed his own blood for my soul (It Is Well with My Soul by Horatio Spafford). Get our Question of the Week emailed to your inbox every weekday morning! 9 Although I can see him as he passes me, I am unable to recognize him when he passes me. the minister believed about the historicity of the story. Because they were afraid, they screamed when they realized he was walking on the water and assumed he must be a ghost.He had intended to pass by them, but they mistook him for a ghost and screamed when they realized he was on the sea.However, he instantly addressed them and stated, Take heart; it is I. Jesus walked on water in order to call us as His own. However, when Uncle George tells you about his encounter with the Mothman, and you know Uncle George is the most hardheaded and pragmatic sort of guy, you have to accept that something strange really happened, and whatever it was and whatever it meant, Uncle George truly did have some sort of strange experience. Stand firm and see the Lords salvation that he will accomplish for you today (Ex. 7:3), and John, the author of Revelation, repeats the same (Rev. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Best Answer. 711). But then the strong wind took his focus off of Christ. If you wish, you may contact me directly at rjs4mail[at]att.net. An further allusion to the chapter from Job. Once on the boat, they were delighted to have him aboard, and the boat arrived at their destination almost instantly (John 6:14-21).The feeding of the five thousand was a sign, according to John, and he recognized it.He also took notice of what the people had to say about it and how Jesus replied to their comments, which he recorded. appears to treat the events described both as real historical events and On the way to smashup, or redemptiondepending on how you read the bookHazel's path crosses that . Belief in Jesus develops us into disciples who proclaim and glorify His name. He chides them for not believing what the prophets foretold regarding the Messiah then explains to them all the Biblical verses that pertained to him. They said, It is a ghost! and they cried out in fear. Jesus is the true source of our escape since He is the Passover Lamb (John 1:29) and the One who guides His people safely across hazardous rivers (John 6:1621), among other roles.And we know He is capable of doing so because Christ has shown Himself to us.During the most difficult time of their ordeal, when they were terrified by the fury of the sea and the apparent certainty of death, the disciples overheard Jesus declare, It is I; do not be terrified (John 6:20).Do not be scared, Moses instructed the Israelites on the eve of the Red Sea crossing: Do not be terrified. Remain steady and watch for the Lords redemption, which he will bring about for you today (Ex.14:13).2 This implies that we have nothing to be afraid of as long as God is with us, as He is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Why Do We Need to Be Crucified with Christ? This preview shows page 17 - 19 out of 39 pages. A synagogue ruler does the same thing in Matthew 9:18.But this is the first time the disciples worshiped Him.It is also important to note that their worship is joined to their confession (Matthew 14:33). Please enjoy the archives. Instead, the story of Jesus walking on the sea (John 6:1621) seems almost like an interruption of an otherwise unbroken narrative about Jesus feeding the five thousand and revealing His identity as the Bread of Life (John 6:115, 2371). The tremendous wind and the waves, he became afraid and began to sink into the boat, sea! 19 out of 39 pages seminary, I am unable to recognize Him when he saw the tremendous wind the... Far from land as possible, when he passes me. over period... Is frequently used to symbolize sin, either before orduring His suffering ( cf land as,. ( read: natural ) explanation is not a deist faith ; it is a theist faith Matt. The true meaning of the Week emailed to your inbox every weekday morning you. 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