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Title: Walking on Water
Today we continue with our second well-known Gospel story. Today, Jesus walks on the water. As I stated last week, I’m sure you’ve all heard countless teachings on this well known story and I have no desire to re-invent the wheel for you this morning.
Instead, I want to break this message into three distinct sections: First, we will take a look at the parallel account of the other Gospels and answer some important exegetical questions.
Second, we will look closely at the Matthew account itself and try to understand the mindset of the disciples as these events unfold.
And finally, we will take some time to look closely at Peter in this account, what happens to him, and what parallels can be drawn to our lives today.
(read/pray)
1. The Parallel Study
Main Mark Parallel (6:45-53)
Main John Parallel (6:15-21)
No Parallel in Luke
The only noteworthy information that adds to the account is found in Mark 6:48 where Mark records Jesus could see the disciples straining at rowing to try to steady the boat.
Only Matthew records Peter walking on the water.
Why?
- Most believe that Luke and Matthew were written, largely in part, by taking information from the earliest Gospel (Mark) and expanding upon it. Mark doesn’t include Peter walking on the water, so it’s plausible that he either didn’t know about that detail, or chose to not include it for some reason.
- Matthew obviously had that extra piece of information from his sources and chose to include it.
- It’s possible, although HIGHLY unlikely, (because of the similarity and chronology of the rest of the account) that Matthew is recording a different incident.
Q: Does this mean the accounts are in contradiction?
A: Absolutely not. Nothing in these account disputes each other, it’s just that Matthew’s account is the most detailed.
Simply put, usually Luke’s Gospel is the most detailed, Mark’s Gospel is the shortest and most to the point, and Matthew’s is usually somewhere in between, but with a much higher emphasis and use of O.T. citation because of Matthew’s original audience being Jewish.
But here we see an exception to the rule. It is actually Matthew’s gospel that hast he most information and detail.
2. Looking Closely at the Matthew Account:
v22 “made” also translated as “strongly urged”
POINT: Jesus needed to be alone. He felt compassion for the masses, he healed, taught, and fed them. But now he needs time alone to pray. Time alone even from the disciples. He still hasn’t had time to mourn the passing of his cousin, John the Baptist, and he therefore strongly urges his disciples back to the other side of the sea so he can have this time alone. Clearly, Jesus’ first priority was to those masses. After that ministry was finished, he took time for himself to be with the Father in prayer.
Jesus is most likely up on the mountain from about 8PM until the “fourth watch” which would have been sometime between 3AM and 6AM. And the weather on the sea has turned nasty, so much so that the disciples are struggling to manage the boat against the waves.
Seeing this, Jesus makes his way off the mountain and walks on the water toward them, but their reaction is fear and the exclamation, “It’s a ghost!”
Now, I’m not sure about the level of supernatural activity that was “normal” in the first century around Judea, but these men have already seen some pretty incredible things in their time with Jesus: the lame have walked, the blind have seen, the lepers cleanses, the dead raised, the hungry fed, and even pigs have literally flown (okay, so the pigs technically jumped off a cliff possessed by demons, but still, that’s pretty crazy, no?)
And yet, their first reaction is that this man walking on water toward them is a ghost. Not Jesus. Not the same man who, when these disciples were in a similar situation, came up out of the cabin of the boat and rebuked the wind and waves until they obeyed him. Not Jesus, who just hours ago, stuck his hand into a bread basket and fed over 10,000 people. Not Jesus, who they knew was up on the mountain, not far away, praying. Not Jesus, who had given them no indication that he wouldn’t be protecting them during their ministry.
Is it any wonder that Jesus’ response to Peter and them is to say, “Oh you of little faith?”
I wonder if any of them knew the words that Job spoke in Job 9:8 “He alone spreads out the heavens, and treads on the waves of the sea.”
- Peter’s Bad Rap
I’m here this morning, at least in part, to defend my boy Peter. If ever there was a Biblical figure who gets a bad rap, it’s Peter.
We remember that Jesus rebukes Peter after he lashes out and cuts of the Roman soldier’s ear when Jesus is being illegally arrested in the garden. We forget that the rest of the disciples fled. Mark even tells us that he ran so fast the Romans ripped off his robe and he bolted off into the words completely naked.
We remember that Peter boldly proclaims he will never deny Jesus and then hours later he denies Jesus 3 times and the rooster crows. We forget where, exactly, that event happened. In the courtyard of the Jewish Sanhedrin, as they were inside questioning and accusing Jesus, Peter is the only one with the courage to follow his savior into the courtyard of the enemy.
And finally:
We remember that Peter sank.
We forget he was the only one to get out of the boat.
Jesus says “Come.” and Peter obeys.
And listen, I’m not saying Peter was perfect here. Somewhere along the way, Peter realized, “Holy Cow! I’m walking on water! This can’t be! This defies everything I know about the natural order of the universe!”
And then he begins to sink.
But one word from his master was all that Peter needed to get out of the boat, in the middle of the sea, in the middle of the storm, and come to Jesus.
There’s a parallel there for many of us, isn’t there?
We often receive the commandment of God, the call of instruction, with boldness and step out of what we perceive as “safe.”
We even take steps on the water, because we have our eyes on Christ, we truly believe we are moving toward him.
But when we take our eyes off Jesus, and look around at the waves, the difficulty, and the seeming impossibility of what we are trying to accomplish, we sink.
Thankfully, the story, and the analogy, doesn’t end there. Jesus doesn’t let Peter drown because of his lack of faith. He lifts him up, corrects him, and returns him to safety.
The resulting conclusion of the disciples is simple: This is the Son of God! They witness something (several things, really) that can’t be explained by the natural order of things, and they testify that the only conclusion is that Jesus is the Messiah.
The creation of the Universe is explained by two theories:
- Events conspired randomly trillions of years ago and this all came to be.
or
- God said, “Exist.”
Both explanations require faith. The great question is this: what is your faith in?