Jesus Walking on the Sea Carrying a LambBible World
14:25Matthew 14:25
And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
In the darkest hours before dawn Jesus came to his disciples across a storm-driven sea, stepping upon the white-capped waves toward their boat while they rowed in vain against contrary winds until their strength failed and they gave up hope of life. Though hidden by darkness he had kept them in sight through the night with tender pity and spent time in prayer for them in their peril. His treading of the waters and his word that stilled them show his absolute authority over sea, storm and all forces of nature, joined to his power to heal disease, cast out evil, and raise the dead. With those works it stands as proof of his Messiahship and power to establish his kingdom, lifting minds from earthly hopes to his heavenly dignity and glory. He still watches with infinite love those who obey him in trial and draws near at the point of utter helplessness, turning sorrow to joy and proving he can be trusted to calm every tempest when human strength and wisdom fail.
Narrative Setting and Events
This night on the sea follows the feeding of the multitude on the grassy plain with five barley loaves and two small fishes, an event also told in Mark 6:45-52 and John 6:14-21. That feeding was the crowning miracle that strengthened the all-day conviction that the long-looked-for Deliverer was among them, and it raised the hopes of the people higher and higher that Jesus would make Judea an earthly paradise, a land flowing with milk and honey. He could satisfy every desire, break the power of the hated Romans, deliver Judah and Jerusalem, heal soldiers wounded in battle, supply whole armies with food, conquer the nations, and give Israel the long-sought dominion.
The disciples were in obedience to His command to go to the farther side of the sea to the place where He had promised to meet them when a violent and terrible tempest with strong waves and contrary winds broke upon them. For hours through the long dark night they rowed with exhausted strength against adverse and fierce winds, driven hither and thither while their vessels would not obey them. Human effort became useless and hopeless, until they laid down their oars in despair, felt helpless and utterly deserted, and expected to perish. They struggled unsuccessfully to reach shore and could not reach the appointed meeting place, caught in danger and distress on the storm-dark and storm-tossed Sea of Galilee.
From shore He saw their danger and peril, and in His human weakness He spent time in prayer for them. Though they could not see Him in the darkness, His watchful eye did not lose sight of them and had not forgotten them, but watched over them all through the fearful storm. He watched their danger with deep compassion and tender sympathy and pitying love, as tender as a mother watching a suffering child, and He would not let them perish. He knew their thoughts and saw their peril and distress, keeping them under His care through the night.
In the fourth watch of the night, amid darkness and lightning flashes, He came to them walking on the sea across the storm-tossed, white-capped and boisterous waves toward their boat. While tempest and billows talked with death, Christ whom they had left on the other side appeared, walking calmly upon the waves in divine majesty, stepping from wave to wave as if on dry land. His calm approach across the storm-tossed lake revealed majesty and power over winds and waters, even as the white-capped waves showed the danger surrounding His approach.
Bewildered and having given all up for lost, the disciples were terrified at the sight and cried out in great fear. They did not recognize Him at first and mistook Him for a spirit and a sure precursor of immediate death. When He turned toward them and identified Himself with the words It is I be not afraid, heard above the roar of the elements, they recognized their Master and Deliverer. His presence and voice dispelled fear and ended dread of death, and the scene quickly changed from horror and despair to joy and hope and faith in the beloved Master, whom they welcomed as bringing life instead of heralding death.
With His coming belongs Peter's adventure on the water, for in impulsive faith mixed with unbelief Peter ventured out to come to Him upon the water. He then focused on the wind and waves and began to sink and faltered and ended in difficulty. When he cried for help Jesus immediately caught him.
He then silenced the angry roaring of the heaving billows by His word and command for peace and stillness, Peace, be still. The tempest suddenly ceased and was hushed, and the boat reached land. The disciples afterward faithfully recounted all this to the wondering crowd from Bethsaida who found Him in the synagogue and pressed Him asking when He had come, hoping to receive from His own lips a further account, which He did not gratify.
Divine Power and Application
His steps upon the waves and His stilling of the angry waters display mighty power over the sea and the storm and the elements of nature, and show that sea and waves obey divine law. That same all-powerful display over nature belongs with making devils tremble, making disease flee, opening blind eyes, healing the sick, controlling satanic agencies, and calling the dead to life. It recalls that the One who would offer Himself on the cross as the final sacrifice from love, bearing guilt, enduring divine justice, spoiling death, and opening Paradise, had authority over natural forces even while facing rejection and persecution.
The walking on the sea stands among the mighty works of His ministry that serve as evidence of His Messiahship. With stilling the waters, healing the sick, controlling satanic agencies, and raising the dead to life, it proved He possessed power to set up His kingdom in Jerusalem, to quell all opposition, and to rule nature. When remembered after He declared that all power was given to Him, it lifted the disciples' minds from earthly and temporal things to heavenly and eternal things and to the highest conception of His dignity and glory.
People with unbelieving minds tried to explain away the walking on the water by supposing the disciples had been deceived, showing that even a clear display of divine power could be rejected by unwilling minds. The report of the mighty work of the night before stirred curiosity, and the Pharisees wanted Him to repeat such works as proof that He was the Son of God, but He did not perform miracles to satisfy idle curiosity or demands for a sign.
The verse shows His compassion, love, and care in coming to rescue His terrified disciples from death and danger on the Sea of Galilee when terror and a fierce storm threatened them. He had prayed for them in human weakness, and then He walked the waves in divine majesty, stepping from wave to wave as if on dry land. His coming brought deliverance, life, hope, joy, and a heavenly blessing by His voice, ending fear and dread of death. His small boat on the stormy ocean was also guarded by angels.
The verse means He watches those who obey Him in trial with infinite love and comes to them at the point of utter helplessness. Though they could not see Him in the darkness, He saw their peril, knew their thoughts, had not forgotten them nor lost sight of them, and watched with tender sympathy and pitying love as tender as a mother watching a suffering child. He came when their ambition was humbled and subdued and they humbly prayed for aid, proving that their trial of faith while doing their utmost to obey was necessary. In their greatest need He is close by, turning sorrow into joy, and He can be trusted in storm as well as sunshine to calm every tempest with infinite power.
The incident illustrates for His followers and servants that He comes to their aid when their own strength, efforts, and wisdom fail and the work seems impossible. When they stop relying on failing efforts and entrust to Him the work they could not accomplish, He accomplishes it, dispels fear, and gives hope and joy.
His coming on the waves had already become a remembered sign that He could save them when helpless. The disciples later remembered that deliverance when caught in another terrible storm with Him asleep in the boat, and in despair wondered whether He had now walked away upon the foam-capped billows and left them to their fate in the fury of the tempest.
In the darkest hours before dawn Jesus came to his disciples across a storm-driven sea, stepping upon the white-capped waves toward their boat while they rowed in vain against contrary winds until their strength failed and they gave up hope of life. Though hidden by darkness he had kept them in sight through the night with tender pity and spent time in prayer for them in their peril. His treading of the waters and his word that stilled them show his absolute authority over sea, storm and all forces of nature, joined to his power to heal disease, cast out evil, and raise the dead. With those works it stands as proof of his Messiahship and power to establish his kingdom, lifting minds from earthly hopes to his heavenly dignity and glory. He still watches with infinite love those who obey him in trial and draws near at the point of utter helplessness, turning sorrow to joy and proving he can be trusted to calm every tempest when human strength and wisdom fail.
Narrative Setting and Events
This night on the sea follows the feeding of the multitude on the grassy plain with five barley loaves and two small fishes, an event also told in Mark 6:45-52 and John 6:14-21. That feeding was the crowning miracle that strengthened the all-day conviction that the long-looked-for Deliverer was among them, and it raised the hopes of the people higher and higher that Jesus would make Judea an earthly paradise, a land flowing with milk and honey. He could satisfy every desire, break the power of the hated Romans, deliver Judah and Jerusalem, heal soldiers wounded in battle, supply whole armies with food, conquer the nations, and give Israel the long-sought dominion.
The disciples were in obedience to His command to go to the farther side of the sea to the place where He had promised to meet them when a violent and terrible tempest with strong waves and contrary winds broke upon them. For hours through the long dark night they rowed with exhausted strength against adverse and fierce winds, driven hither and thither while their vessels would not obey them. Human effort became useless and hopeless, until they laid down their oars in despair, felt helpless and utterly deserted, and expected to perish. They struggled unsuccessfully to reach shore and could not reach the appointed meeting place, caught in danger and distress on the storm-dark and storm-tossed Sea of Galilee.
From shore He saw their danger and peril, and in His human weakness He spent time in prayer for them. Though they could not see Him in the darkness, His watchful eye did not lose sight of them and had not forgotten them, but watched over them all through the fearful storm. He watched their danger with deep compassion and tender sympathy and pitying love, as tender as a mother watching a suffering child, and He would not let them perish. He knew their thoughts and saw their peril and distress, keeping them under His care through the night.
In the fourth watch of the night, amid darkness and lightning flashes, He came to them walking on the sea across the storm-tossed, white-capped and boisterous waves toward their boat. While tempest and billows talked with death, Christ whom they had left on the other side appeared, walking calmly upon the waves in divine majesty, stepping from wave to wave as if on dry land. His calm approach across the storm-tossed lake revealed majesty and power over winds and waters, even as the white-capped waves showed the danger surrounding His approach.
Bewildered and having given all up for lost, the disciples were terrified at the sight and cried out in great fear. They did not recognize Him at first and mistook Him for a spirit and a sure precursor of immediate death. When He turned toward them and identified Himself with the words It is I be not afraid, heard above the roar of the elements, they recognized their Master and Deliverer. His presence and voice dispelled fear and ended dread of death, and the scene quickly changed from horror and despair to joy and hope and faith in the beloved Master, whom they welcomed as bringing life instead of heralding death.
With His coming belongs Peter's adventure on the water, for in impulsive faith mixed with unbelief Peter ventured out to come to Him upon the water. He then focused on the wind and waves and began to sink and faltered and ended in difficulty. When he cried for help Jesus immediately caught him.
He then silenced the angry roaring of the heaving billows by His word and command for peace and stillness, Peace, be still. The tempest suddenly ceased and was hushed, and the boat reached land. The disciples afterward faithfully recounted all this to the wondering crowd from Bethsaida who found Him in the synagogue and pressed Him asking when He had come, hoping to receive from His own lips a further account, which He did not gratify.
Divine Power and Application
His steps upon the waves and His stilling of the angry waters display mighty power over the sea and the storm and the elements of nature, and show that sea and waves obey divine law. That same all-powerful display over nature belongs with making devils tremble, making disease flee, opening blind eyes, healing the sick, controlling satanic agencies, and calling the dead to life. It recalls that the One who would offer Himself on the cross as the final sacrifice from love, bearing guilt, enduring divine justice, spoiling death, and opening Paradise, had authority over natural forces even while facing rejection and persecution.
The walking on the sea stands among the mighty works of His ministry that serve as evidence of His Messiahship. With stilling the waters, healing the sick, controlling satanic agencies, and raising the dead to life, it proved He possessed power to set up His kingdom in Jerusalem, to quell all opposition, and to rule nature. When remembered after He declared that all power was given to Him, it lifted the disciples' minds from earthly and temporal things to heavenly and eternal things and to the highest conception of His dignity and glory.
People with unbelieving minds tried to explain away the walking on the water by supposing the disciples had been deceived, showing that even a clear display of divine power could be rejected by unwilling minds. The report of the mighty work of the night before stirred curiosity, and the Pharisees wanted Him to repeat such works as proof that He was the Son of God, but He did not perform miracles to satisfy idle curiosity or demands for a sign.
The verse shows His compassion, love, and care in coming to rescue His terrified disciples from death and danger on the Sea of Galilee when terror and a fierce storm threatened them. He had prayed for them in human weakness, and then He walked the waves in divine majesty, stepping from wave to wave as if on dry land. His coming brought deliverance, life, hope, joy, and a heavenly blessing by His voice, ending fear and dread of death. His small boat on the stormy ocean was also guarded by angels.
The verse means He watches those who obey Him in trial with infinite love and comes to them at the point of utter helplessness. Though they could not see Him in the darkness, He saw their peril, knew their thoughts, had not forgotten them nor lost sight of them, and watched with tender sympathy and pitying love as tender as a mother watching a suffering child. He came when their ambition was humbled and subdued and they humbly prayed for aid, proving that their trial of faith while doing their utmost to obey was necessary. In their greatest need He is close by, turning sorrow into joy, and He can be trusted in storm as well as sunshine to calm every tempest with infinite power.
The incident illustrates for His followers and servants that He comes to their aid when their own strength, efforts, and wisdom fail and the work seems impossible. When they stop relying on failing efforts and entrust to Him the work they could not accomplish, He accomplishes it, dispels fear, and gives hope and joy.
His coming on the waves had already become a remembered sign that He could save them when helpless. The disciples later remembered that deliverance when caught in another terrible storm with Him asleep in the boat, and in despair wondered whether He had now walked away upon the foam-capped billows and left them to their fate in the fury of the tempest.