WALKIN’ ON THE WATER

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By Karen DeArmond Gardner

Ever get so familiar with a story in the Bible that even when you read the same story from a different perspective you don’t recognize it as being part of the same story? As I was reading Mark’s version of Jesus walking on the water I’m thinking this sounds really familiar, so I begin digging into the Word and I found the same story in Matthew and John. Well what do you know, it is Matthew’s version I am most familiar with as Jesus walks on the water and Peter gets out of the boat to join him. I discovered some interesting facts.

A little background to set the stage, the disciples watched as Jesus fed the 5,000 men and who knows how many women and children with a couple fish and five loaves of bread. According to Matthew and Mark, as soon as they were done Jesus insisted the disciples get in the boat and head across the lake while He sent the people home and He proceeded to head to the hills to pray. As a side note, it is interesting to me that Jesus, the Son of God spent time in the presence of His Father─what makes me think I, a mere human can go for days without being in the presence of my Father?

John had the least to say about the incident. One sentence stands out, “that evening Jesus’ disciples went down to the shore to wait for him.” Wait a minute, according to Matthew and Mark, Jesus was pretty clear in His directions. So though Jesus insisted they get in the boat and get to the other side, they decided to wait for Him. It was still daylight and they waited until it was dark, then into the boat they went to head to the other side.

Here is where the story gets interesting, Jesus finishes praying, it’s dark, and there are no lights, only stars. Maybe the moon is shining. According to Mark Jesus sees the disciples are in trouble and not just trouble but serious trouble, rowing and struggling against the wind. So He knows they did not do what He instructed them to do and now they are caught in a storm – which I’m pretty sure Jesus knew was coming and wanted the disciples to avoid. But they, like us, decide to do what they want and wait when Jesus says go. The storm hits and we begin to question why we are in a storm.

About three AM Jesus takes a walk, which took Him from land and over the water. The disciples are totally freaked out at this point, thinking they are going to die. They see this apparition nearing and as they are screaming like little girls Jesus speaks and reminds them to not be afraid. The part of the story we are all familiar with is when Peter decides he wants to walk on water, and who did pretty well until he took his eyes off Jesus and down he goes. John said the disciples were eager for Jesus to get into the boat. As soon as Jesus stepped into the boat the wind stopped.

Here is what struck me about the story as I pulled all three accounts together…the disciples were in the middle of the lake, Jesus was alone on the land and He saw the disciples were in serious trouble, rowing hard and struggling against the wind and waves. (Mark 6:47 – 48 NLT) What I am in awe of is, Jesus saw when He couldn’t see because it was dark. His disciples were in trouble, of their own making. Note Jesus did not explain why he wanted them to leave right away. He expected they would do what He asked.

I could draw a conclusion for you, tell you the moral of the story, I have a feeling God has already done that with you as He did me. What He tells you may be completely different from what He told me. I would love to hear what Father is saying to you.