Lovers of God

Jesus walks on water

Mt 14:22-33 22 Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. 23 After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. 24 But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid." 28 Peter said to Him, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." 29 And He said, "Come!" And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" 31 Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32 When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, "You are certainly God's Son!" 34 When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding district and brought to Him all who were sick; 36 and they implored Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were cured.

Mk 6:45-56 45 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away. 46 After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray. 47 When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. 48 Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them. 49 But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; 50 for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, "Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid." 51 Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, 52 for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened. 53 When they had crossed over they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore. 54 When they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, 55 and ran about that whole country and began to carry here and there on their pallets those who were sick, to the place they heard He was. 56 Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured.

Jn 6:16-25 16 Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, 17 and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. 19 Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened. 20 But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid." 21 So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. 22 The next day the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there, except one, and that Jesus had not entered with His disciples into the boat, but that His disciples had gone away alone. 23 There came other small boats from Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats, and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus. 25 When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You get here?"

Sometimes life can suddenly throw you a curved ball, and mess everything up. In such times, you need to trust that God will look out for you and deal rightly with you.

Did Jesus plan to meet them by walking on water before He sent them out, or did He walk to them only to save them?

Jesus had just done a great miracle of feeding 5000 men, with their women and children. The people were so amazed that they were intending to forcefully make Him their king. He therefore felt the need to be alone and pray and get direction from God. The sea looked calm, and so he sent his disciples to the other side. He wanted the people to follow them. He would walk by the shore and catch up with them after praying.

By the time He finished praying the sea had become a dangerous place to be in. Note that, in setting out across the sea, the disciples were just following His instructions. He decided to go to them and make their journey safe, and the shortest route required walking on water. That didn’t faze Him at all, and He started out.

There appears to be some apparently conflicting points in the different descriptions of what happened…

For example, only Matthew’s account talks about Peter trying to walk on the water.

For another example, only Mark says that Jesus intended to pass the boat while walking on water, but stopped when the disciples saw Him.

Mark’s account says that Jesus asked them to go to Bethsaida. John’s account indicates that they intended to go to Capernaum, and finally ended up at Capernaum, whereas Matthew’s and Mark’s account says that they went to Gennesaret.

Matthew and Mark talk about how Jesus had a mighty healing session after they landed in the land of Gennesaret but John talks about Jesus

Putting all this together, it seems like the plan was to land at Bethsaida, and then go to Capernaum. Seems like the wind pushed them off course, and they ended up at Gennesaret. Then they were obliged to stay in Gennesaret and heal the people who came to them for healing. After that, they went to Capernaum, and that was where John’s account picks up and mentions how the Jews were wondering how Jesus was with the disciples when He didn’t start out with them.

The people at Tiberius saw the disciples leave without Jesus, with the intent of going to Capernaum. So they stayed. However, when they didn’t see Jesus turn up next morning, they went to Capernaum. Meanwhile, Jesus and the disciples were at Gennesaret, healing, and then they headed to Capernaum. When the people finally reached Capernaum, and saw Jesus there with the disciples, they wondered how Jesus was there too. They didn’t know that Jesus walked on water.

John’s account mentions that when Jesus stepped into the boat the boat was immediately at the land where they were going, but Matthew’s and Mark’s account say that when Jesus stepped into the boat immediately the wind stopped.

The disciples probably started out in the late afternoon or early evening, and by late evening they were already in the middle of the sea. When they started out, the sea must have been calm. But by late evening, the sea must have become very rough, and their progress slowed down considerably. Jesus must have realized that the disciples were not going to make it, and so He walked towards them to save them, yet pretending to pass by them so that they would request His help. Jesus must have walked on the sea for several hours, and He reached them during the fourth watch (between 3 am and 6 am). By that time, they would be near their destination (which was perhaps 4-5 miles away from their starting point), which is why John says that after Jesus stepped into the boat they immediately reached their destination.

Map excerpt taken from http://www.bible-history.com/maps/palestine_nt_times.html