Why Did Jesus Walk On Water?
Good Morning Friends,
Yesterday we looked at the story of one of the most famous of Jesus’ miracles, the feeding of the 5000. And we shared some linkages with that miracle and the story of Moses. And in it we see that Jesus is moved to compassion and is bigger than the problems we face and asks us to bring what we have, all of it, to him. Jesus wants us all in so he can bring blessing and life from what is broken and then multiply it. The miracle of the feeding appears in all the Gospels, and it is followed in three of the Gospels with another famous miracle, that by its reference, even in today’s culture, implies something of significance. But there is a problem with famous miracles because we focus on the act itself and not the meaning behind the action. There was a reason for the miracles we look at today, and maybe it is a sign revealing something important to us. Maybe Jesus is revealing to his disciples and to us the great significance of who was actually coming not just to them but to the whole world. So, Why Did Jesus Walk On Water?
Scripture: Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.
1 John 4:11-18 (NRSV)
Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray. When evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. When he saw that they were straining at the oars against an adverse wind, he came towards them early in the morning, walking on the sea. He intended to pass them by. But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out; for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Then he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.
Mark 6:45-52 (NRSV)
he who removes mountains, and they do not know it, when he overturns them in his anger; who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble; who commands the sun, and it does not rise; who seals up the stars; who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the Sea;
but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea.
Matthew 14:24-25 (NRSV)
Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
Luke 24:44, 27 (NRSV)
Job 9:5-8 (NRSV)
Moses said, “Show me your glory, I pray.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, ‘The Lord’; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live.”
Exodus 33:18-20 (NRSV)
When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.
John 6:16-21 (NRSV)
So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.” He was speaking of Judas son of Simon Iscariot, for he, though one of the twelve, was going to betray him.
John 6.67-71 (NRSV)
Message: There are many reasons why Jesus walked on water and perhaps several billion reasons if we count all those who might believe. The meaning behind the miracle is significant. You see, the disciples lived in a culture where there were many claims about various figures’ divinity and a common feature of them having divine powers was the ability to walk on water. After the feeding of the 5000 the disciples were still not getting it that Jesus was God, the Bread of Life, that must be broken. So, Jesus decides to show them His divinity. The story unfolds at the Sea of Galilee which lies in the lower portion of the Jordan Valley in a mountain range that rises to 4,000 feet above sea level. The lake itself is 700 feet below the Mediterranean Sea. One of the more noteworthy aspects of this body of water is that it is greatly susceptible to sudden and extremely violent storms. These storms are caused by the cold air rushing down from the mountains surrounding it and colliding with the warm, moist air rising off the surface of the water itself. The event we are focused on in scripture takes place between 3 and 6 a.m. in the morning after the disciples had been rowing for maybe six hours across the lake and were not making much headway in their eight-mile trip across the lake that normally could have been completed in 3 hours. In the middle of their trip, they must have begun to wonder if they were ever going to make it. What they were not getting was the bigger picture. They did not yet get it that the Bread of Life must be broken…that the Bread of Life, Jesus was God Incarnate. They understood Jesus was from God but did not yet know that Jesus was God and that their personal stories would only be completed to the glory of God through Him. Their spiritual struggle is something we can face too. We are around the work of Jesus but do know Jesus. We serve and see amazing things happen but then we discount it. Friends, there is a way to be around good things and never experiencing the best. Never allowing Jesus to complete us. There is a danger here. We find ourselves in the boat and storms of life with the disciples and our hearts can be hardened like Egypt’s Pharaoh restraining the fulness of the plan from unfolding in our lives. Friends, there is little hope when we do not know and experience Jesus. We need to see Jesus walk on water. Now note in the scripture that Jesus came and meant to pass them. Jesus is not showing off. Jesus has a reason…to show them that he was God but moreover the God who completes layer upon layer of the story of those who follow Him. The last time they were in a storm and Jesus calmed the storm. They asked the question of who he was and then now he as he began with Moses in Exodus reveals the answer. He says, it is I, a variation of I AM, the very name of God. Jesus would have several I AM statements in scripture as He proclaims the name of God. The beauty is that Jesus walked on water to come near to us with his divinity and chose not to walk on by as in the situation with Moses in today’s passage from Exodus. The difference was that God showed himself to Moses when Moses was being good. But the good news is that Jesus came to the disciples when they were hardened of heart. And Jesus wants to come to us in our struggles too. Now Jesus was demonstrating that nothing can separate us from the love of God. No barrier will keep us from His love. Jesus is willing to come near to us when we are struggling. God shows himself to Moses partially from afar and not near like Jesus does in the passage today. And in so doing completes the story of Moses.
And So, through today’s story we see that the miracle of Jesus walking on the water was, more than any other miracle up to that point, the revelation that convinced Jesus’ disciples that He was indeed the Son of God. The purpose of Jesus’ walking on water had little to do with getting across the sea and everything to do with the purpose of the Incarnation in the first place. Though they had a long way to go in their spiritual understanding, the disciples were growing in their faith in the Lord and moved to worship Jesus. And this is what worship is, acknowledging who God is and praising Him both for who He is and for what He has done. It was in this story that the disciples worshiped Jesus as the Son of God. Because many other of his disciples did not see this and in turn did not worship Jesus in the fullness of the plan, they turned back and no longer went about with him. That can be our risk too. So, friends believe that your story can be completed in Christ. As the story of Moses is embedded in today’s story, allow your story to be completed the glory of God through Christ. During the time of Moses, Pharaoh ordered a mass killing of every Hebrew baby under the age of 2 years old. During the time of Jesus, King Herod ordered a mass killing of every Hebrew baby under the age of 2 years old. Moses came up out of Egypt to redeem his people. Jesus, though born in Bethlehem, at a young age fled with his family to Egypt and stayed there during his youth to avoid Herod’s persecution. And Jesus, too, like Moses, came up out of Egypt to redeem the world. Moses was born without shelter, laid into a straw-thatched basket, floated down a river, and was picked up by Egyptian royalty. Jesus too was born without shelter, laid into a straw-filled stable, and was visited by royalty. Moses grew up in the palace of Pharaoh, the highest place of esteem in his culture. Jesus grew up in the synagogues of Jerusalem, the highest place of esteem in his culture. Moses was a Hebrew Levite. Jesus too was a Hebrew Levite. Moses brought the Israelites out of slavery to Egypt. Jesus brought the Israelites and the world out of slavery to sin and death. Moses received the 10 commandments from God on Mount Sinai. Jesus reinterpreted the 10 commandments from God in his Sermon on the Mount. Moses carried the law and pointed to the gospel. Jesus fulfilled the law and is the Gospel. Moses went through the wilderness before he began his ministry to redeem the Israelites. Jesus went through the wilderness and was tempted by Satan before he began his ministry to redeem the world. Moses was inconceivably both royalty and slave at the same time, being a prince but also a Hebrew. Jesus is inconceivably both God and man at the same time, being the transcendent Son of God but also a descendent Son of Man. Moses parted the Red Sea. Jesus calmed the Sea of Galilee. Moses pleaded that God would feed the thousands of Israelites so they wouldn’t die in the desert; God answered his prayer and miraculously provided more manna and quail from the heavens than they could possibly eat. Jesus pleaded that God would feed the thousands of followers so they would not starve in the countryside; God answered his prayer, and Jesus miraculously provided more bread and fish than they could possibly eat. One of God’s covenants was given to Moses and others to Adam and Noah and Abraham for there are many covenants in the Bible… However, all of God’s covenants, those focused on Israel and those focused on the entire world are connected to Jesus. And in today’s passage Jesus was going to pass by the disciples as the Glory of God passed by Moses but then something miraculous happened. Jesus reveals himself as the very face of God previously hidden, bringing a greater meaning to the Covenant of Moses and guiding us in a greater understanding of scripture.
Pray God come to us in our struggles revealing what is truly important. Pray we take up Jesus’ offer in all our brokenness and pain and conflicts and inadequacies and doubt and lack of control for our Lord to breathe His blessing and favor over our lives. Pray today that no matter where we are in life right now, that we realize that Jesus is faithful. Pray we realize that Jesus watches over us even when we are not aware. Pray we realize that sometimes we have to reach the end of our own strength before we will allow Jesus to take over. Pray we realize that sometimes we have to wait through a struggle before we will recognize Jesus for who He is. Pray we realize that in the act of recognizing Jesus for the love he brings to us and to the world, fear is cast out of our hearts. Pray our personal stories are completed to the glory of God through Christ. Pray for those who believe in God but have yet to discover the compelling logic of Christianity in the love of Christ.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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