Jesus Walks Three Miles On Water (J23)

Jesus and the crowd needing not their care,
The disciples rowed from the eastern shore,
When darkness came; the rest would use “shank’s mare”*,
For they would walk when the sun rose once more!
The wind from the west blew at them harder;
The rowing grew to a fierce gasping fight;
They saw Jesus, walking on the water
Toward them; seeing Him brought them much fright!
Then He said, “It is I; be not afraid;”
They grew calm, and helped Him the wale** not miss;
The wind grew quiet; they rowed till they could wade;
And they wondered, what kind of man is this?
They knew not yet He was God, for sure,
Despite all they saw, and all He did cure!

“shank/s mare” means “by foot”; **wale means gunwale

“When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake where they got into a boar and set off across the lake for Capernaum/ By now it was dark and Jesus had not joined them. A strong wind was blowing and the water got rough. When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water, and they were terrified. But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid/” Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were going.” (John 6:16-21)

I wonder what would have happened if they had remained terrified and would have tried to keep Him out of the boat? We must realize how difficult it would be for human beings like the disciples to believe Jesus was God, even though they had seen all the wonders He performed. It makes us realize how difficult it is to believe, really believe, that He was God today, for us and those we wish to convince. And yet, that is what it takes for us to receive salvation!

We have reached the fifth “miraculous sign” John included out of a total of only seven in his gospel. He selected this miracle, probably because “walking on water” is reminiscent of God, who the Bible says “rides on the clouds”. If the Creator of the world can’t find Himself at home any place in it, on water, on clouds, or even in the midst of the towering heat of gases at the center of the sun, how can we be sure that He created it all? In my last blog I wrote of His feeding of five thousand people on five biscuits and two sardines; what is strange about such a God walking 3 or 4 miles on top of the Sea of Galilee? Well, but His disciples were terrified to see Him doing it.

The Pharisees were able to “explain away” most of Jesus’ miracles in the other gospels, which may be why John wrote his so many years later. It came out about 90 A. D., while the others were first read within forty years of the crucifiction. They were stumped by John’s gospel, which may be why they waited until 90 to officially outlaw Christianity from Judaism. Until then, some small messianic (meaning they believed Jesus was Messiah) sects continued to meet under the cloak of Judaism. The apostle Paul was responsible for establishing Christianity’s gospel of salvation based on pure grace; had it been left to the 12 original apostles, much of the Mosaic Law, such as circumcision, would still encumber Christians today.

“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord”, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)