Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of Him to Bethsaida, while He dismissed the crowd. After bidding them farewell, He went up on the mountain to pray.
When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and Jesus was alone on land. He could see that the disciples were straining to row, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went out to them, walking on the sea. He intended to pass by them, but when they saw Him walking on the sea, they cried out, thinking He was a ghost— for they all saw Him and were terrified.
But Jesus spoke up at once: “Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.” Then He climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. And the disciples were utterly astounded, for they had not understood about the loaves, but their hearts had been hardened.
Mark 6:45—52
The account of Jesus walking on water has aroused awe and many questions: Was his walking on the water a clever deception? Why did the disciples not recognize Jesus? What deeper message is communicated by this story?
A comparison of this story to imagery in the Hebrew Bible indicates that walking on water is linked to the revelation of God’s power. In the book of Job we find a magnificent description of the Almighty. Job describes God as the creator of heaven who walks on the waves of the sea:
“He alone stretches out the heavens, and treads on the waves of the sea.”
Job 9:8
Jesus walked on the water in order to reveal to his disciples his divine identity as the Messiah, the Son of God. Their inability to recognize Jesus was not simply a case of mistaken identity, but rather was evidence of a much more serious problem — their lack of faith in him. Despite the fact that they had been with Jesus for about two years and had witnessed many mighty miracles, they had not yet come to an understanding of Jesus’ true identity. The dullness of the disciples did not come from a lack of knowledge. The source of their dullness was their hard heart. Despite the hardness of their hearts, Jesus calmed their fears and said: “Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.”
Their lack of faith in Jesus stands in complete contrast to the faith which others readily placed in him. Individuals who did not know Jesus well, but who had only met him for the first time, trusted in him to be saved from various circumstances. Consider this: Outsiders who come to Jesus in faith can experience his power in its fullness. Jesus still desires to reveal himself to us:
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”
Revelation 3:20—21
