…BUT JESUS WALKED ON WATER
When I attended Seminary 10 years ago I had no idea that there was a great divide between the College and the Seminary. Apparently the College students had the notion that we Seminarians thought more highly of ourselves. They perceived that we thought of ourselves as closer to God than them. Which, in truth, we were, since they were on the second floor and we were on the third.
I’m not sure if that perception is still there today. Back then, however, there was the old adage which College students perpetuated, “Seminarians think they can walk on water.” And I thought, “We can?” That would be really cool. Armed with this new knowledge I went behind the Seminary to the Rat River to try out this amazing ability. Would you believe it? I could walk on water! Mind you, it was…January.
This is the 5th sign that John records in his gospel. Of course we know that John has a purpose in choosing these signs – he wants to show us something about Jesus. The purpose of these signs can seem ambiguous or even frivolous at first glance. This story of Jesus walking on the water is a simple one – not much dialogue – quite a brief incident. What are we supposed to learn about Jesus other than what we learned in Sunday School? What did John see in Jesus that day that would matter to us?
THE AFTERMATH
“When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake where they into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough.”
Following a stressful encounter where Jesus fed the huge crowd with a small lunch, and then had to fend off their attempts to make him king, Jesus needed a retreat. Being a good leader he also sent his disciples off in a boat to avoid any further trouble from the crowd. Matthew and Mark say that Jesus “made” the disciples get in the boat. There were probably some who resisted and wanted to stay with Jesus, but he furrowed his brow and said, “Get in the boat.”
It seems that Jesus wanted to be alone to pray after this hectic encounter, according to Matthew and Mark. This is but a glimpse into how Jesus dealt with stress and pressures of leadership.
THE SEA
What we need to know here is the significance of the Lake. John told us earlier that the lake is actually the Sea of Galilee. The rabbis of ancient times said, “The Lord created seven seas, but the Sea of Galilee is his delight.” Apparently it is a beautiful freshwater lake that sits 700 feet below sea level. Contrast that with the hills that sit 1400 feet above sea level. But because the sea sits so far below the hills, sudden and violent storms can come over the mountains and really churn up the sea.
The Jews were not sailors; they were desert nomads. Despite being a coastal nation, they never controlled the seacoast. Israelites were not at home on the sea. Even the fishermen that worked the Sea of Galilee stayed in mostly shallow waters, though the sea was 200 feet deep in places.
Consider this too, the sea in general is a negative image throughout the Bible. Almost nothing good can come from the sea. Partly due to the Israelites’ desert background, the sea probably appeared alien and threatening.
Think of the great flood of Noah’s day and the judgment that God brought on the earth. Or Jonah when he was thrown into the depths of the sea when he ran from God. He was in his own personal hell until God released him on land. Then there is that terrible sea creature we read about in the OT called Leviathan. This creature was such a horrible menace it came to symbolize the pagan nations that opposed Israel. Where did Leviathan come from? From out of the sea.
Daniel describes other great beasts in the sea and the terror they spread. This was based on the image of the sea as the home of evil, a chaos that only God could control.
One Psalmist wrote, “Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me. I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for God.” Sounds kind of like Peter went he wanted to walk on water too. But this Psalmist was merely using the imagery of water to describe his depression, his terror.
Even in the NT, the sea symbolized chaos, confusion, evil and evil beings. The depths of the sea are seen as the home of demons. Remember when Jesus cast demons out of the man who had a legion of evil spirits in him? Jesus sent the demons into a herd of pigs nearby. And where did they go? Those pigs ran off a cliff and into the sea.
In Revelation 13 we read about the antichrist who will come to deceive the world. From where does the imagery of the beast, this antichrist, arise? Out of the sea. The same John who wrote Revelation is the John who wrote this gospel, and there is no mistaking that he sees more in the lake than just a lake.
THE FIRST FEAR
As the disciples rowed across the Sea of Galilee this storm comes up. John tells us that they had only rowed 3 and a half miles, which would put them directly in the middle of the Sea. The wind was so strong that they had been at it for hours and it was now about 3 am. It was dark and they could not see the shore. At this point your imagination starts to play tricks on you.
Matthew tells it this way: “During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. ‘It’s a ghost,’ they said, and cried out in fear.”
Now you know why they thought of ghosts. The superstition surrounding the sea, the fact that a storm had blown up, the time of night and the weariness of rowing all contributed to their fear. Then a ghost appears. This was the end; they surely thought they were going to die.
THE SECOND FEAR
“But he said to them, ‘It is I; don’t be afraid.’”
I don’t know if you have heard the explanations for this miracle. Some say that the disciples were closer to shore than they realized and that Jesus was walking on the beach. It only looked like Jesus was walking on water. If this was the case it would be difficult to understand why John included this story in the gospel. It would also be difficult to understand why they were so afraid if they then realized that they were close to shore. No, they were afraid for good reason. Jesus was walking on the water.
Then Jesus says “stop being afraid”. But he also said something we miss in the English. Jesus uses a phrase that could be translated “It is I, I am.” John uses this title for Jesus another seven times in this gospel. To Jews, that is a very important identification.
You remember when Moses was before the burning bush and God spoke to him. God wanted to send him to deliver the Israelites. But Moses wanted to know by what name he should call God so he could tell the people. And God answered, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Ex. 3:14).
You can imagine then how the disciples felt. First they feared the storm. Then they see Jesus walking on the water. And then he announces this precious and holy name. Now they feared Jesus. The man they had been following, learning from, sleeping and eating with is actually God. God himself!! Imagine the terrifying fear of this realization.
Think of Isaiah when he is before the throne of God and realizes the terror of it. “Woe to me,” Isaiah cried, “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty” (Isaiah 6:5).
I told you last week how when everyone deserted Jesus, Jesus asked his original 12 if they wanted to leave too. And they essentially said “no” and “We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” Prior to this confession, Mark tells us that “They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.” They didn’t get the lesson in the feeding of the 5000, not until Jesus walked on water towards their boat in gale force winds. And when he got in the boat two things happened: the wind stopped, and they were immediately at their destination.
They didn’t see a miracle man who could stop the wind; he wasn’t the Lord of the wind. There was only one thing on their minds…in holy fear they realized that Jesus was God. Matthew says they worshipped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” And when Jesus, the Son of God, is in the boat, there is nothing else to fear but him alone.
John Stevenson says when he was about 12 years old, he had a paper route. The route took him along the back of one of the canals in South Miami and one rainy day, he spotted a baby duckling along the road. He was being stalked by a big old tomcat. He chased the cat away, but he didn’t go very far, figuring that as soon as he went away he could come back and have some duckling stew. He decided that he would take the little duck home for his own safety. However, as John approached him, he scuttled across the way and tried to hide under some bushes. He says he wanted to tell him, "Little duckling, I’m not the problem; I’m the solution!"
Jesus must have felt the same way with the disciples and so, He calls out to them and tells them not to fear. He says the same thing to us when we are in the midst of our storm. Our problem is not understanding the purpose God has for allowing fear into our lives.
Martin Luther said, “God and the devil take opposite tactics in regard to fear. The Lord first allows us to become afraid, that he might relieve our fears and comfort us. The devil, on the other hand, first makes us feel secure in our pride and sins, that we might later be overwhelmed with fear and despair.”
THE LESSON
Therein lies the lesson from Jesus walking on the water. There are three aspects of this lesson John wants us to capture and believe.
1) If you follow Jesus, there will be storms. I think we are getting better at this as Christians in general. But there was a time when in our eagerness to evangelize, to share the gospel, we gave the impression that when a person trusts Christ there will never again be storms in our lives. This is simply not true. You know it, I know it, and if we preach it or give that impression, we are lying through our teeth. In fact, the trials may intensify now that you have stood up for Christ. There will be storms; there will be conflict in our lives.
What is true is that when you follow Jesus you have the love and care of one who is able to silence the storm. Even if the storm winds continue to blow, Jesus doesn’t leave you to drown in the overwhelming flood of crisis.
2) Jesus never denies the reality of the storm. He knows the danger full well. That’s why, from the vantage point of those high hills and being able to see how the disciples struggled, he came down and started walking towards them. He saw the danger; his friends were threatened.
He sees our dangers as well. What a vantage point he has now. Jesus knows about your trials. He knows when your ship is sinking. He is not ignorant of your plight like the German coastguard serviceman who received a distress call, “Mayday, mayday, we are sinking.” And the German replied, “Vhat…Vhat…Vhat are you sinking about?” No, Jesus knows vhat you are sinking about, and he cares that you, his friend, is in trouble.
3) But you know, sometimes the purpose of the storm is to get you to see that the Lord is God and that he alone is the Master of the storm. This is the testing of your faith. And the way to pass the test and grow in your faith is to see that Jesus is bigger than any of your storms.
There is a bonus lesson in this event. Some say that the boat represents the Church. This sign was accomplished in the sight of believers only. No one else saw it. The Church is a boat sailing in the storm of a society that is evil and is assailed by tremendous cultural and peer pressure to conform to the loose morals of our world. And if Christ is not in the Church, our boat will sink. If we forget the person of Jesus in our worship and teaching, fear and division and hatred will sink our boat. In other words, Jesus is the person who gives you and the other guy a love for each other to save the boat.
These are the things we should remember:
When the storms of life produce waves that wash over the sides of the boat, many will sink into the depths of despair, BUT JESUS CAN WALK ON WATER…
Your friends may belittle your trials and count them as trivial. You might feel abandoned and forgotten by friends and family in the midst of your storms of depression and doubt, BUT JESUS CAN WALK ON WATER…
And the storm winds may keep blowing like they will never stop, and you will wonder if you can ever get through this time of darkness in your life, BUT JESUS CAN WALK ON WATER…
Your faith may falter and your strength fail, just remember, JESUS CAN WALK ON WATER…
AMEN
