Ep. 44: Walking on water
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MATTHEW 14:22-36, MARK 6: 45-56, JOHN 6:15-21
An irresistible impulse seized the people. They would proclaim him King, then and there. Jesus therefore, realising that they were about to come and take him by force, withdrew again to the mountain region, to be alone. He withdrew to pray … for a very long time.
And as he prayed, the faithful stars in the heavens shone out. But there on the lake, where the boat which bore his disciples made for the other shore, a great wind started to blow up. And still. He was alone on the land but looking out into the evening after them, as the ship was in the midst of the sea and they were distressed. The lake is about six miles wide and they had as yet reached little more than half the distance.
Already it was the fourth watch of the night when Jesus seemed to be passing them, walking upon the sea. There can be no question of any natural explanation, the truth of the event must be either absolutely admitted, or absolutely rejected. This walking on the water was even to them within the domain of the truly miraculous and it affected their minds equally, perhaps even more than ours. This miracle forms one of a series of similar manifestations. It is closely connected both with what had passed on the previous evening and what was to follow; it is told with a minuteness of detail and without any attempt at gloss, adornment, apology, or self-glorification, as to give the narrative the stamp of truth; while, lastly, it contains much that lifts the story from the merely miraculous into the domain of the sublime and deeply spiritual.
Had the story been mythical or legendary, we should have expected that the disciples would have been described as immediately recognising the Master as he walked on the sea and worshipping him. Instead of this, they are troubled and afraid. ‘They supposed it was an apparition’ (this in accordance with popular Jewish superstitions) and cried out for fear. It seems that the disciples were unprepared for this miracle. He had seen their difficulty, if not danger, in the boat from the contrary wind. This must have determined him to come to their help and so this miracle also was not a mere display of power but came out of a real need.
But, on the other hand, this happened so that they might learn of his mighty power and (symbolically) that he ruled the rising waves. He may not have been a King in the way they understood it, only in a far higher, truer sense than the excited multitude would have proclaimed him.
This is an extract from the book, Jesus : Life and Times, available for £10 here (Finalist for Academic Book of the year at 2023 CRT awards)