Good Morning Friends,
Yesterday we reflected on the feeding of the 5,000 and its echoes of Moses. We saw Jesus’ compassion, His power to take what we offer—even what is broken—and multiply it into blessing. Today we turn to the miracle that follows in three Gospels: Jesus walking on the water. It’s a story so familiar that we often focus on the spectacle and miss the meaning. So we ask: 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: In the ancient world, walking on water was a sign of divine power. After the feeding miracle, the disciples still did not grasp that Jesus was not only sent by God—He was God, the Bread of Life. So Jesus comes to them in the storm to reveal His true identity. The Sea of Galilee is known for sudden, violent storms. The disciples had been rowing for hours in the dark, exhausted and afraid. They understood Jesus as a great teacher, even a prophet, but not yet as God Incarnate. Their struggle mirrors ours: we can be around the work of Jesus without truly knowing Him. Our hearts, like theirs, can become hardened.
Into that fear and confusion, Jesus comes—walking on the very waves that threaten them—and speaks the divine name: “It is I,” echoing God’s “I AM.” He intends to “pass by” them, just as God’s glory passed by Moses, but this time He does not remain distant. He climbs into the boat. The God Moses could only glimpse from afar now draws near in flesh and blood. Jesus walks on water not to impress, but to reveal: Nothing can separate us from the love of God. No storm can keep Him from coming near. This moment completes layers of Scripture connecting Jesus and Moses: Both faced rulers who ordered the death of Hebrew infants. Both came up out of Egypt to redeem God’s people. Both were born without shelter and visited by royalty. Both passed through the wilderness before ministry. Moses brought the law; Jesus fulfilled it. Moses parted the sea; Jesus walked upon it. Moses fed Israel with manna; Jesus fed the multitudes with bread. And just as God’s glory passed by Moses, Jesus now reveals the very face of God to His disciples. And to Moses too at the Transfiguration. These moments of miracle become the moment they worship Him as the Son of God. Still after them all some disciples turned back because they could not accept who Jesus truly was. That danger remains for us. But Jesus still comes to us in our storms, even when our hearts are hardened, even when we are at the end of our strength.
And So, there is a thread running through Scripture—a thread woven from longing, revelation, and love. It begins with humanity’s ancient cry: “Show me Your glory.” Moses voices it for all of us. Job feels the tremor of it in the God who “tramples the waves of the sea.” The psalmists sing it. The prophets ache for it. Every heart, in every age, has whispered some version of the same prayer: God, where are You? Let me see You. Let me know You. And then, in the fullness of time, the answer comes walking across the water. The disciples are straining at the oars, battered by wind and darkness. They are exhausted, afraid, and—though they do not yet understand it—on the brink of revelation. Jesus comes toward them in the very place where they feel most vulnerable. He does not shout from the shore. He does not wait for them to reach safety. He steps into the storm itself.
The One whom Job described as treading upon the waves now does so in flesh and bone. The One Moses could not see face-to-face now speaks with a human voice. The One who stretched out the heavens now stretches out His hand. And what does He say?
Not a rebuke. Not a riddle. Not a demand for greater faith. Simply: “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Pray that Jesus meets us in our struggles. Pray that His love casts out our fear. Pray that our story is completed in Him. Pray that those who believe in God discover the fulness of love in Christ. Pray we recognize Jesus as the one who comes toward us in every storm. Pray that when we feel afraid that we would hear Jesus’ words of courage. Pray that when our hearts are hardened that Jesus softens us with love. pray that when we strain at the oars that Jesus would climb into our boats. Pray we learn to abide in God’s love until fear loses its grip and God’s perfect love becomes our peace.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 