The Gospel of Matthew
Walking on water
Matthew, chapter 14:22-36
It being already late in the day, after feeding all those multitudes in a miraculous way, the Lord compelled His disciples get in the boat and go back to Capernaum while He dismissed the crowd. It seems that they did not want to leave without Him.
He had a special reason for doing that: He perceived that the people wanted to proclaim him King by force (John 6:15). They had acknowledged that He was the Prophet foreshadowed by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15), therefore the Messiah, and wanted Him to take His place in politics and as King release them from the Romans and initiate the Kingdom of God triumphant on earth, thus fulfilling various prophecies about Him.
However, the time had not yet arrived (it is still to come), and He needed to disencumber Himself with His disciples from all those people. He is the rightful King, not by election or acclamation of the people, and when He comes it will be as the Conqueror, taking the Kingdom by force (Psalm 2:8-9).
He dismissed the crowds and departed again to the mountain alone to pray. It was a difficult situation, and He had to strengthen Himself by prayer, to act wisely according to the will of the Father. At dusk, from the top of the mountain He saw the disciples in the distance, in the middle of the sea, straining at rowing because they faced a strong headwind (Mark 6:48). It is a beautiful illustration of the situation of His disciples today, in this world of darkness, struggling against the dangers that surround us, while our Lord is high in heaven, seated at the right hand of the Father.
At about the fourth watch of the night (between 3 a.m. and sunrise), the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, and about to pass them by. They were frightened, supposed it was a ghost and cried out. They had never seen a ghost, but a physical man could not walk on water like that. It is quite possible that we are now in the "fourth watch of the night" of the church and one of these days, the Lord will come in the air to pick us up. Many will not be ready and waiting for His coming, and will be frightened! It will be something supernatural.
How many times have we also been through storms in this life, and with perplexity fought to overcome the problems that seem insoluble? We must not despair, because we know that our Saviour knows our situation and will come to our aid in His time. When things are darkest, He will be on our side.
The Lord was not amused by their affliction and immediately reassured them: "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid." (v. 27). Peter was so encouraged by His words and the sight of Him walking on water that he asked permission to do the same, and walk over to Him.
Here we see the faith of Peter: he was prepared to do something that was naturally impossible, even risking death in those dangerous waters, convinced that the Lord Jesus would give him the necessary support, if He were so inclined. It is known that the famous English missionary to India William Carey once said: "Expect great things from God, and try and do great things for God". Works prove faith. We are usually satisfied with small things.
The Lord simply said to Peter, “Come!" And Peter stepped off the boat and walked on the water to meet Him. He not only manifested an intention, but also actually gave evidence of his faith. Our faith is often strong in theory but weak in practice. Let us be like Peter, obeying the orders of the Lord: note that he asked the Lord for permission, he did not go on his own.
The Lord took the opportunity to give us a lesson. Peter was walking on the water, confident in the power of Christ to hold him. Peter then felt the full power of the wind, and he was afraid: he began to doubt, because he knew that he himself was not able to walk on water, and now he doubted the power of the Lord over such a wind. He immediately began to sink.
The lesson is that, when the Lord calls us to Himself, we can be certain that He is able to move all the obstacles out of the way, allowing us to get to Him in ways that may seem impossible to us. Christian life is humanly impossible - as much as walking on water. It is only with the power of the Holy Spirit that it becomes possible. We must persevere, never doubting His divine power. If we start to get involved with ourselves, or our circumstances, and fear the obstacles that oppose us, we are putting in doubt His power, start to sink and all our efforts will fail.
As the Bible tells us: "… let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12: 1-2).
Peter did not try to swim, which it seems he could have done (John 21:7), but wisely appealed to the Lord Jesus straight away. It did not require a long prayer, filled with beautiful terms of linguistics and biblical quotations, or magic texts repeated several times (he would have drowned before the end) but short, objective, and to the right person: "Lord, save me!"
He did not have to wait long, "immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’" James, brother of the Lord Jesus, may have remembered the account of this experience by the disciples when he wrote, with respect to asking for something in prayer: "let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind." (James 1: 6).
The wind stopped when they entered the boat. "... And immediately the boat was at the land where they were going" (John 6:21). It was no longer needed, because the lesson had been given. These things had been done to prove to His disciples that He not only could provide his livelihood, as in the case of the multiplication of the loaves, but also give them protection and power. Therefore, the disciples were assured that He was indeed the Son of God, and having this certainty, they worshipped Him.
They had landed in Gennesaret (garden of riches): it is a plain on the northwestern margin of the Sea of Galilee, where there was a city of the same name. Capernaum was further north, and they had probably been diverted by the strong wind.
The Lord was recognized when leaving the boat, the news spread around the surrounding region and they were soon bringing Him all the sick. Such was the crowd, that they asked permission at least to touch the hem of His garment. All those who did were healed, something like the woman who was healed of a chronic bleeding (Chapter 9:20).
Although we have only a few special cases recorded in the Bible, is should be noted that thousands of people were healed by the Lord Jesus during His ministry on Earth.
R David Jones
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22 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.
23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there.
24 But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.
25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.
26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear.
27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid."
28 And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water."
29 So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.
30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"
31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"
32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, "Truly You are the Son of God."
34 When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret.
35 And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick,
36 and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well.
Gospel of Matthew, chapter 14, verses 22 to 36