Jesus' walks on water, or Jesus walking on water, is one of the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels. Accounts of the miracle appear in three Gospels: Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52 and John 6:16-21.
According to the biblical narratives, Jesus sent the disciples in a ship, ahead of him, to the other side, but when they were "in the midst" of the Sea of Galilee, they saw Jesus "walking on the sea" to meet them. The narrative states that the disciples were frightened at first, thinking they were seeing a spirit, but when Jesus revealed himself and climbed into the boat, they were reassured.[1][2] According to Matthew, Peter also walked out onto the water towards Jesus, but when Peter saw the wind and the waves, he became afraid and began to sink, and Jesus rescued him.[3]
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The walking on the sea miracle has specific interpretations within Christian teachings.
By a “literal method of interpretation”[4] Dwight Pentecost notes that according to the Gospel of John (John 6:19) the apostles had only been able to row slightly over three miles after several hours as they were buffeted by the waves and the [wind] storm. However, although the storm had prohibited them from fulfilling the command of Jesus, they did not give up and continued to exert themselves, straining at the oars (Mark 6:48).
In the pre-dawn night as Christ walked towards them, they realized that "the sea that had impeded their movement was no obstacle to Christ, and all that they feared brought no fear to Him."[4]
The apostle Peter initially showed great faith by walking on the water towards Jesus, but as he walked, fear grasped him as he began to sink, and he cried, "Lord, save me." Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him, saying: "O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"[5] Here Jesus indicated that the temporary doubt in the power of Christ was the source of Peter's sinking.[4]
Only after Christ had brought Peter back to the boat, the wind died down (Matthew 14:32). At the end of the incident, the response of the apostles was to cry: "Truly you are the Son of God". Pentecost thus suggests that the miracle was designed to teach the apostles that when encountering obstacles, they need to rely on their faith in Christ, first and foremost.[4]
Similarly, Merrill Tenney states that the incident centered on the relationship of Jesus with his apostles, rather than their peril or the miracle itself.[6]
Skeptics contend that a natural means of support such as a sand bar may have existed or that the Gospel accounts may be a legend. There is also a suggestion that Jesus performed the miracle by skating or walking on surface ice on the lake, formed by a freak cold spell. [7][8] The word 'ἐπὶ' in the original Greek could also be used as 'toward' instead of upon,[9][10] implying that Jesus walked toward the water instead of upon the water. Mark and John allow for this ambiguity, but the account in Matthew of Peter's sinking makes this translation implausible for that account.
However, author Dawn Wilhelm dismisses the need for theories about reefs or surface ice, and states that if one believes the Gospels at all, one also believes that Jesus had the power to overcome the forces of nature in any case.[11]
R.T. France states that the writers of these Gospels go out of their way to note that the boat was a long way from the shore to remove doubts for believers in the New Testament that Jesus was walking on a reef or sand bar, and that the incident must have seemed very impressive to fishermen who were used to the lake. And that the portrayal of Peter sinking is intended as a confirmation of the depth of the water, and no other means of support.[12]
Biblical scholar George W. Young critizises that naturalistic explanations depend on a historical critical worldview. However, this method of exegesis would fail to capture the full meaning of the text, just like a factual interpretation. Instead, Young proposes to investigate the pericope as narrative art and to apply literary-critical methods to the text in its final redaction by Mark. Hence, he takes the text as fiction, and he chooses tools and terms often associated with fantastic literature.[13]
A main feature is its bidimensionalality: Fantasy is situated between the poles of realism and the marvelous or mythic. The episode is anchored in Palestinean geography: The disciples start at the northwestern side of the Sea of Galilee (compare Mk 6,1 and 6,32f.), and they are told to cross the lake in easterly direction to Bethsaida. The first three verses accentuate a three dimensional separation between Jesus on a mountain and the disciples below in the midst of the sea. This polarization creates a narrative void, where unpredictable events can happen. The concrete spatial structure begins to dissolve, when in v. 48 the disciples' rowing against the wind is described from their perspective; this should not be explained by Jesus' view from a high altitude or his supernatural sight.[14]
Verses 48b - 51 confront two irreconciliable levels of reality: Whereas the disciples remain in the boat, the character of Jesus appears superior to the laws of nature. His sea-walk can only be conceptualized, any placement in three dimensional space would be absurd, e.g. the question “Did Jesus move with the waves?”. A cardinal theme of fantastic narrative is introduced: Vision provides the main epistemological criteria for the ontological question of the real and unreal. The disciples' “conventionalized reality is subverted”. Their reaction is fear and astonishment, but they have no words to identify the unspeakable. This astonishment is plausible. Together with the certification via the act of seeing it gives to the marvelous event a high degree of verisimilitude. According to Aristotle[15], this is a “false inference”: Such rhetoric asserts “probable impossiblities”.[16]
Jesus' comforting words in v. 50b are rendered in direct speech and present tense. They convey dramatic immediacy at the climax of the story. For a first century reader, his ὲγώ εἰμι (“I am”) without predicate makes allusion to the divine name appearing 175 times within the Septuagint in this form. Young is more interested in the open-ended aspect of the phrase. Together with the absence of the name “Jesus” between Mk 6:30 and 8:27, it creates semantic instability. This “allows the reader to write and re-write endless predicates, since none are given.”[17]
The arrival at Gennesaret at the opposite side of Bethsaida has no rational explanation. Once again, it breaks readerly assumptions and even is reported to contradict Jesus' intention. The power operating such a fantastic journey is not named – in ancient narrative the sea was a place of chaos and disorder.[18]
The narrator's comment (v. 52) refers to a hidden meaning of the story and the previous feeding of the multitude. In contrast to Jesus' words, the rhetoric narrator accuses the disciples to not recognize Jesus' supernatural, messianic power explicitly, due to their lack of perception. Young considers this condemnation as illogical, since it does neither refer to their realistic view nor to their astonishment as adequate reaction to the supernatural. A monological “hyper-reality” is opposed to the open fantastic structure of the text. The comment may be seen as an instance of an unreliable narrator, which motivates the reader to reconsider his and the narrator's point of views. Overall, the “narrative episode [...] is structured upon a conflicting system of perspectives between the disciples, Jesus/the phantom, and the rhetorical narrator”, like an impossible triangle. Reality is beyond objectification. Mark created a multilevel story world with inherent contradictions, “but a world that gropes for superior realities, perceptible only through φαντασία” (phantasia).[19]
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Jesus' walk on water
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| Preceded by Feeding the Multitudes Miracles of Jesus |
New Testament Events |
Succeeded by Blind Man of Bethsaida Miracles of Jesus |