The Miracles of Jesus

Walking on Water

The Sea of Galilee · Night, after feeding the five thousand · Matthew 14:22-33

After feeding the five thousand, Jesus sent his disciples ahead by boat and withdrew alone to pray. In the night a contrary wind tossed the boat far from land, and in the fourth watch Jesus came to them walking on the sea. Terrified, they thought he was a spirit, but he called out, 'Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.' Peter asked to come, stepped out onto the water, and walked toward him, until he saw the wind and began to sink. Jesus caught him at once and gently questioned his doubt. When they climbed into the boat the wind ceased, and the disciples worshiped him, saying he was truly the Son of God.

The scene

The day of the great feeding had ended, and Jesus wanted to be alone. He constrained his disciples to get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side while he sent the crowds home. Then he went up the mountain by himself to pray, and when evening came he was there alone. This is one of the quiet notes Matthew keeps returning to, that before the greatest signs Jesus is found in prayer. Out on the lake, meanwhile, the disciples were making no progress. The wind had turned against them and the sea was rough.

They were far from land, laboring at the oars against a wind that would not relent, and the hours dragged on. The fourth watch of the night is the last stretch before dawn, somewhere between three and six in the morning. They had been fighting the water most of the night. It was into that exhaustion and darkness that Jesus came, and the way he came was itself the wonder.

What Jesus did

He came to them walking on the very water that was defeating them. The waves that tossed the boat were a solid road beneath his feet. When the disciples saw a figure moving toward them across the sea they were terrified, certain it was a ghost, and cried out in fear. Jesus answered them with words meant to still the heart before he stilled the wind.

Then Peter, bold and impulsive as ever, asked to share in the wonder. If it was truly the Lord, let him bid Peter come to him on the water. Jesus said simply, Come. Peter climbed down out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus, as long as his eyes were fixed on his Lord. But the wind and the waves drew his attention, fear took hold, and he began to go under.

Jesus did not let him sink. Immediately he stretched out his hand and caught him, and asked why one who had begun so well had doubted. When the two of them climbed into the boat, the wind ceased at once.

What the sign reveals

To walk upon the sea is, in the language of Scripture, the prerogative of God. The book of Job says that God alone treads upon the waves of the sea, and the Psalms say his way is in the sea and his path in the great waters. When Jesus comes walking on the water, he is doing what the Hebrew Scriptures reserve for the Lord. Even his words carry that weight. Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid: the phrase it is I echoes the name God gave to Moses, I am, the name of the One who needs no other to uphold him.

So the sign reveals Jesus as the divine Lord who is master of the chaos that overwhelms his people. He is not rescued from the sea; he stands upon it. And the account of Peter shows a second truth. The same power that upholds Jesus can uphold a frightened disciple who steps out at his word, so long as that disciple keeps his eyes on him. Peter does not sink because the miracle fails; he sinks because his faith turns from Jesus to the wind. The steadying hand that catches him is the whole point. The disciples' response is the only fitting one, and Matthew records it plainly.

Its place in the Gospel

Matthew places this scene immediately after the feeding of the five thousand, and the two belong together. In the feeding, Jesus shows he is the Lord who provides bread in the wilderness as God did for Israel. On the sea, he shows he is the Lord who rules the deep. Both are signs that the God of the Exodus is present in this man. And Matthew adds a confession that Mark, telling the same night, does not. Where Mark ends with the disciples amazed and hard of heart, Matthew ends with worship and a title.

This confession comes at the midpoint of Matthew's Gospel and points forward to the greater confession Peter will make at Caesarea Philippi, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Matthew is teaching his readers to move, as the disciples do here, from terror to trust to worship. He also gives Peter's story a special place, for Peter is the one who both dares and doubts, who steps out in faith and cries out in fear. That is Matthew's honest portrait of discipleship, neither a hero nor a failure, but a man kept afloat only by the hand of his Lord.

How it meets us

There are nights when the wind is contrary and we are far from shore, straining at the oars and getting nowhere, while the One we long for seems to be somewhere else entirely, up a mountain, out of reach. This account tells us that he sees us in the straining, that he prays for us, and that he comes, often in the last watch before the dawn when we have nearly given up. His first word to our fear is not a rebuke but reassurance: it is I, be not afraid. He wants us to know his presence before he calms our circumstances.

Peter's walk is a picture of the whole Christian life. We are called to come, to step out of the safe boat at the word of Jesus onto ground that will not hold anyone but those he bids to walk. As long as we keep our eyes on him we do the impossible. When we look instead at the wind, at the size of our troubles, we begin to sink. And here is the mercy: Jesus does not wait for us to save ourselves. The moment we cry Lord, save me, he stretches out his hand and catches us. His question, wherefore didst thou doubt, is not spoken from the shore but with his arm already around us. He rescues first and teaches after.

Where it points

The hand that reached out and caught a sinking man in the dark is the same hand that would be stretched out and nailed to a cross to catch a sinking world. Peter's cry, Lord, save me, is the shortest and truest prayer in the Bible, and the answer to it is finally given at Calvary and the empty tomb. There Jesus went down into deeper waters than the Sea of Galilee, into death itself, so that everyone who cries out to him might be lifted up. He was not spared the sinking; he endured it in our place, and rose.

This sign also anticipates the day when the risen Christ will command every fear and every chaos to be still forever. The disciples fell down and worshiped him in the boat because they had glimpsed the Son of God. That worship reaches its fullness at the resurrection, when the One who walked on the water walks out of the grave and shows that no depth can hold him. The invitation of this account is still open. He is still saying come, still stretching out his hand to those beginning to sink. You can meet him and learn to fix your eyes on the One who upholds all things.

Can these things really happen?

Many honest readers ask whether miracles can happen at all. Since the Enlightenment, some have argued that the laws of nature rule them out, that a report of a wonder is always less likely than a mistake or a legend. Christians answer that the laws of nature describe how the world normally runs; they do not forbid the God who made it from acting within it. A miracle is not nature breaking down but its Author drawing near. You do not have to settle that question before you read; you only have to read honestly and ask what best explains the witness before you. We look at this more fully in miracles and the laws of nature.

Frequently asked questions

What is the meaning of Walking on Water?

It reveals Jesus as the divine Lord who alone treads upon the sea, coming to rescue his people through the storm. Peter's walk shows that faith fixed on Christ can do the impossible, while the eyes turned to fear begin to sink.

Where in the Bible is Walking on Water?

It is told in Matthew 14:22-33, with parallels in Mark 6:45-52 and John 6:16-21. Only Matthew records Peter stepping out of the boat. It happens on the Sea of Galilee the night after Jesus fed the five thousand.

Why did Peter begin to sink?

Peter walked as long as his eyes were on Jesus, but when he saw the boisterous wind he was afraid and began to sink. His faith failed not because Jesus withdrew his power, but because he turned his attention from the Lord to the storm.