You’ve heard the joke about the disciples asking each other how Jesus walked on water? Peter jumps out of the boat and says, “You have to know where the rocks are!”
The answer to, “Did Jesus walk on water?” may not be a burning question for you, but for many this question ranks as far up in the list of troubling texts as “Where did Cain get his wife?” and “What ever happened to the dinosaurs?”
Here is the text in John. Matthew and Mark also include this story, with Matthew elaborating on it with the most details, including Peter getting out of the boat and walking on the water to Jesus, too.
The details of the story show interconnecting threads and themes easily missed by us. First, in Jewish thinking the waters contained evil creatures, demons, even Satan. Jonah was cast into the sea to appease the gods who lived there. The Book of Revelation has evil creatures (frogs) coming out of the sea.
Second, the Lake of Galilee was prone to unexpected, violent storms. The disciples knew their lives were in danger from the storm.
Third, this story happened in the dark. If you have been on a lake in the dark with no lights to guide your rowing or motoring, that is, no fixed reference point with which to steer, then fear and anxiety about navigation away from nautical danger will clutch your imagination.
Fourth, why would the gospel writers show the disciples whimpering in fear? Weren’t these men the pillars of the new Way and interpreters of The Faith? Matthew tells us they thought Jesus was a ghost, that is, one of the sea creatures coming to get them in the dark. These miserable men have no courage in this story! Even Peter, who sinks after only a few steps into the clutches of the demons below, should have more glory and honor to impress people with his credentials, not his failure!
Fifthly, the focus of each gospel is Jesus not the disciples. His ability to walk on water is a demonstration of his other nature, or his god-ness. Yet, the story is matter of fact about his ability to walk on water. The bulk of the story is about the storm, the disciples, and their need for faith in Jesus. The writers off-handedly mention in a casual sentence that Jesus was walking on the water much like they would mention he was walking in the park! Clearly, the story is one of many that present the contrast between human’s fear and the need for faith in Christ.
And this ability of Jesus is only used once. Jesus never walks on water again. He is not a supernatural surfer. Most of his impressive miracles he only does once. The theme of the gospels is not a glorified Jesus but our need to think like him with complete faith in the power and wisdom of God. The other Messiah’s, Caesars, and even the apocryphal gospels written one and two centuries later, are filled with mesmerizing accounts of supernatural largesse, even one story of Jesus’ diaper hanging on a clothes line and healing a lame boy as he walked by! If anything, the writers downplay Jesus walking on the water by writing so little about his ability!
Finally, are we so biased in our haughty, modern intellectualism and scientific rationalism to think that the first century was filled with magic believing ignorants? Weren’t people skeptics about the stories, the authors, too? Wouldn’t other eyewitnesses try hard through various forms of persuasion to reject the fairy tale quality of this story, just as we would do if one of our children came up and told us about walking on the water?
The first century produced scholars, philosophers, and scientists such as Seneca the younger and Plutarch. Socrates and Plato were debated still in that day. The Romans produced laws we still follow today. Yet, highly educated people believed and no evidence exists for doubting the eyewitness account of this story. Why? It fits a greater pattern in theme of the life of Christ. He’s got a connection with the divine, which the cross and resurrection reveal, as Son of Man/Son of God. After the resurrection, and the subsequent forty days of teaching (another subject about the Road to Emmaus story), Jesus could be seen for who he truly is: The son of God who left his home in heaven to die for the sins of all humanity so that those who put their faith in him do not need to fear Death or God ever again.
