076. Chapter 17 - The Watch in the Night: The Walking on the Water

Chapter 17 - The Watch in the Night: The Walking on the Water Matthew 14:22-33;Mark 6:45-52;John 6:16-21 The Zealots The tremendously exciting events of this busy day when the five thousand were fed was followed by a lonely watch in the night. The Zealots were quick to see that a person who could feed so many thousands of people from a little handful of food could destroy a legion of Roman soldiers at a word. Here was the highway to world conquest. Such a miracle as they had witnessed could provide the most luxurious living without labor or effort of any kind. That this is the kind of people they were and the kind of objectives they had is evident in the accounts of what followed the miracle.

It seems strange that, after seeing this miraculous power of Jesus, they could have imagined that they would be able to take Jesus by force and compel Him to be their kind of messiah. But the perversity and stupidity of men is always strange. It was becoming increasingly evident that Jesus would not use His miraculous power to defend Himself. That He had not prevented the death of John added further evidence. The spiritual messages on this fateful day in the desert must have confirmed this conclusion. This fact later emboldened the leaders in Jerusalem to seize Him and put Him to death; they realized He would not use His miraculous power to defend Himself. Therefore, the action of these Zealots is of the same pattern and has the same basis. If He would not turn His miraculous power upon them to defend Himself, then perhaps they could compel Him to use His miraculous power to effect their dreams. The Struggle

Jesus might have thwarted their effort by walking straight through their midst as He did when the mob in Nazareth attempted to cast Him from the precipice. He may indeed have revealed His divine Person sufficiently here by the sea and caused them to hesitate, to shrink back, and to fear to put their plot into action. But if this was all that happened, the same battle would have to be fought out the next day. As a matter of fact, this was exactly what happened the next day, but the miracle by which Jesus overcame them was of such kind as left them in a rather helpless condition in their further efforts. The Disciples With the multitude strongly swayed by the Zealots’ plot to seize Jesus and make Him king by force, the entire demeanor of Jesus must have been very severe as He commanded the multitudes to leave and go to their homes. But the first step in breaking up the Zealots’ plot was to command the apostles to get into the boat and go to the other side of the lake. These disciples could be depended upon to obey His command to leave. As long as they remained in the multitude the people would conclude that their presence was the guarantee of Jesus’ speedy return, and they would refuse to leave. If the apostles left, the futility of their attempting to remain in defiance of Jesus’ command would be more evident. This move to send the apostles away was also necessary to split them off from the influence of the Zealots with their exciting propaganda of a glorious, worldly messiah. It is not hard to picture what would have ensued; the apostles would be surrounded by Zealot leaders with their passionate harangue. Jesus left the apostles, but He did not leave them to this corrupting influence. He commanded them to leave. John does not mention the Zealots by name, but he shows that there was a hard core of militant leaders in the midst that was gaining control of the multitude. Their move capitalized on the miracle and was most contagious. The multitude was swept to a public declaration of their faith that Jesus was indeed the Messiah: “This is of a truth the prophet that cometh into the world” (John 6:14). This was the faith which Jesus sought to create, but their idea of what the Messiah should be and do was sadly confused. That the disciples did not obey the command to leave with any alacrity is evident in the narratives. This situation was something entirely new in their experience, that Jesus should at this exciting moment dismiss them in such peremptory fashion and tell them to cross the lake while He stayed here on the northeastern shore. Matthew and Mark both show the stern manner of Jesus’ command when they record, “And straightway he constrained the disciples to enter into the boat, and to go before him unto the other side” (Matthew 14:22; cf. Mark 6:45). To have left Jesus at all was unparalleled and most disturbing, but to leave Him in the midst of the crowd, now becoming unruly, must have been a particularly unwelcome command. John’s account shows that the disciples were slow to obey this order to cross the lake without Him. All three accounts state that evening had come when Jesus dismissed the multitude and went up into the solitude of the mountain. John follows this with the statement, “And it was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them” (John 6:17). This verse suggests that while they got into the boat to start in the direction of Capernaum, their efforts were halfhearted; they lingered near enough to be in sight as long as the light lasted so that, if Jesus should reappear and desire to have them take Him on board, they could be readily summoned by a gesture from the shore. This was no longer feasible after dark. If the wind had risen to heavy proportions, their tarrying offshore would have become a very difficult matter. John says of the conditions on the lake as they were starting their return voyage, “And the sea was rising by reason of a great wind that blew” (John 6:18). The wind was blowing full force against them; the heavy waves were beginning to surround them. The Watch in the Night

Jesus was keeping a watch in the night upon the mountaintop. Matthew and Mark state Jesus’ purpose in going up into the recesses of the mountain. The loneliness of His situation must have been oppressive. “He was there alone” (Matthew 14:23; cf. Mark 6:47). He was alone in that He was separated from His apostles. Here must have been one of the hours in the ministry of Jesus when there was a sublime fulfillment of that precious saying, “For I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me (John 8:16). Jesus was experiencing an hour of loneliness in a world full of selfish designs, slow to receive the divine plan of redemption. On this mountaintop the devil seems to have been pressing again the temptation to bow the knee and obtain the kingdoms of the world without having to die on the cross. Such a prospect was the very scheme the Zealots were urging — worldly grandeur amid world conquest. The death of John would have been reminding Jesus of the nearness of His own death by crucifixion. The worldliness of the people, their refusal to accept His spiritual teaching, their unwillingness to be led by Him, and their bold determination to compel Him to become their kind of messiah all added to His distress. The watch in the night on the mountaintop was another Gethsemane. His period of prayer lasted some eight hours. He had climbed the mountain in the sunset hour. He rejoined the disciples in the fourth watch — three to six a.m. The Watch on the Beach

Another watch in the night was being kept on the seashore at the foot of the mountain. When the great multitude dispersed and left for their homes in obedience to Jesus’ command, the stubborn, determined Zealot leaders remained intent on their plan to seize Jesus and force Him to become their king. They evidently rested on the axiom, “All that goes up comes down.” All they needed to do was to set a most vigilant watch to prevent the possibility of His descending and passing through their midst during the night. With the morning light they would be able to take Him. What interesting discussions they must have had as they pondered their perplexing failure to seize Him at their first attempt. What bold resolutions must have occupied the hours of their watching. The Storm The disciples had watched in vain for the return of Jesus before they finally turned in despairing obedience to His command to cross the lake. Critics attempt to argue that the time and distances do not harmonize in the account. The lake is about six miles wide at this point. It is argued that they could not have been five or six hours in going only three miles. John specifies that they had rowed some twenty or thirty furlongs when Jesus came to them (John 6:19). But the critics evidently have not had much nautical experience. The contrary wind and the mountainous waves prevented them from using sails. They rowed for hours, gaining only inch by inch on the storm. Matthew says they were “distressed by the waves” (Matthew 14:24); Mark says, “distressed in rowing, for the wind was contrary unto them” (Mark 6:48); John shows that the storm was upon them even when they were starting the voyage in earnest; “And the sea was rising by reason of a great wind that blew” (John 6:18).

What a watch in the night the disciples kept during these hours when they were facing death in the storm. It was a desperate watch to see that the boat was kept trim with the waves, as they were in constant peril of capsizing. While Jesus prayed, the disciples kept a watch in which they did not need to be exhorted to stay awake. The near presence of death kept them alert. A storm at sea in the night is always the sailor’s terror. Jesus had been with them when the storm had threatened to sink their boat before. When they awakened Him, He had instantly stilled the storm and the tempest of waves. But now they were alone. As Jesus prayed in a world so selfish and so slow to accept God’s gracious invitation, the loneliness He experienced was shared in perplexed manner by the disciples who were also alone.

Destination

Mark says that Jesus commanded them to cross the lake to Bethsaida (Mark 6:45). At that time they were on the northeastern shore near Bethsaida Julias (Luke 9:10). This city was the commercial center Philip had built. The Bethsaida toward which Jesus commanded them to cross was a suburb of Capernaum on the northwestern shore. John confirms this identification when he says,”...were going over the sea unto Capernaum” (John 6:17). The general direction toward Capernaum and Bethsaida was the same. A powerful wind from the northwest was bearing them out of their course. They had been told to go to Bethsaida. They were trying now to make Capernaum. The actual landing the next morning was in the plain of Gennesaret just south of Capernaum (Mark 6:53).

Jesus Comes The accounts give no indication of a rainstorm, but this could have been a part of the storm which they faced. The three accounts make plain that Jesus first appeared to them in the distance, walking on the water. They did not recognize Him. What they saw was so utterly incredible, they thought it must be a ghost — some spiritual apparition which was beyond their understanding. All their practical experience was contradicted by what they saw. They were helplessly bestormed, but the figure they saw was not only walking on the surface of the water, but was advancing toward them in the teeth of the storm. The artists who picture Jesus walking on the placid surface of the lake are in error. They have overlooked the storm, which all three writers emphasize. What was seen was a figure first lifted high on the crest of a wave, then disappearing into the trough of the sea to reappear on another wave. The brief accounts do not relate what sort of light enabled the apostles at some distance to see Jesus approaching in the night. Since the Passover was near; the moon was full. The lake could have been flooded with light during this wind storm. If broken clouds accompanied the wind, the moonlight would have been off and on. If a belated rainstorm, coming in the early days of the dry season, lashed the lake into a fury that night, then intermittent streaks of lightning could have given fearsome vision of the approaching figure. A further possibility is suggested by the fact that Matthew and Mark do not attempt to give the exact time when Jesus rejoined the disciples. They report that it was “the fourth watch,” which was from three to six a.m. We have leaped to the conclusion that it was nearer to three than six a.m. We have always pictured this as a night scene, but the Scripture does not so state. If it was nearer six a.m., then the dawn was breaking and would have afforded light. There is something, however, about the flavor of the entire narrative that covers it with the melancholy mantle, “And it was now dark and Jesus had not yet come.”

Terror in the Night

Jesus did not approach the boat on a direct course. He followed a parallel course, which would take Him past the boat. Mark says, “He cometh unto them, walking on the sea; and He would have passed by them” (Mark 6:48). Such a manner of approach would reduce the terror which might have paralyzed them and left the boat to capsize. They would be able to gain clear and unmistakable vision of what seemed impossible. They would never be able to become confused and imagine that they had rescued Jesus from the storm that night. He was advancing in the face of the storm and would have passed them by. They were helpless in the boat amid the storm; He was in no way dependent upon the boat.

We are reminded of how Jesus started to pass on by the house where the two going to Emmaus were to abide. It was a test of their faith. Had they not invited Him to enter in with them, He would have gone on. The disciples in the storm were still overwhelmed with fear. They did not appeal to Jesus or address Him. They were not as yet sure of the person’s identity or even the nature of the sight. As they cried out in fright, Jesus answered them in words forever cherished by storm-tossed Christians, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid” (Matthew 14:27; Mark 6:50; John 6:20).

Matthew alone tells of the bold challenge of Peter and the amazing experience that followed. Here again we see the independence of the accounts. If Matthew copied from Mark, instead of being directed by the Holy Spirit, then how does it happen that Matthew’s gospel contains an incident not recorded by Mark? Since Mark wrote at the direction of Peter, his account tends to omit events which glorify Peter. That he should have dared to walk on the water, and should have succeeded at first, was most remarkable in spite of his ultimate failure and the rebuke Jesus administered. Matthew wrote as an eyewitness telling what he saw and heard. If the worship of Jesus as the Son of God arose as a myth by gradual accretions, we should expect the Gospel of John to be the one which records that the disciples worshiped Jesus and declared that He was indeed the Son of God at the close of this prodigious miracle. That it is Matthew who records the fact delivers a deadly blow to the entire critical theory.

Mark’s Account

Mark’s account has the following unique items: (1) Jesus saw them in their distress because of the storm, and on account of this came to them. The text implies miraculous vision; from the land Jesus had watched their course during the night (Mark 6:47, Mark 6:48). (2) Jesus did not approach the boat directly, but would have passed them by (Mark 6:48). (3) Their hearts were still hardened even though they were amazed at the miracle (Mark 6:52). John is the only one to inform us definitely as to the time they started across the lake in earnest and the distance they had traveled when Jesus came to them (John 6:17, John 6:19). He also tells that immediately after this exciting experience in the middle of the lake, they found themselves at their destination on the northwestern shore.

Peter’s Experience

Those who accuse Peter of cowardice because of his denials in the court of the high priest overlook the fact that not even the succession of attacks and covert threats were able to drive Peter out of the court that fateful night. Their estimate of Peter as a coward certainly does not fit this extraordinary scene amid the storm in the sea. It was characteristic of Peter that he should speak first and think afterwards. It was an exciting moment; his joy and relief at hearing Jesus’ voice and apparently seeing the Person he most loved, was struggling with a strong undercurrent of doubt as to the possibility of what he saw; his reckless disregard of the possible consequence to himself was also characteristic. Peter was a brave man. He was a born leader of men; impulsive, but courageous. Amid the storm at night he was quick to challenge the words of Jesus and to seek further proof of the reality of His presence.

Jesus’ answer is a marvel of brevity, insight, and divine power: “Come.” To disembark from a boat at night in such a storm was no small undertaking. When Peter left the boat, he actually walked on the water. But as he got farther away from the boat and had not yet reached the side of Jesus, “he saw the wind,” i.e., he realized the extreme intensity of the wind by experiencing its terrifying effects. When Peter turned his gaze from Jesus to the storm, he forgot Jesus’ divine power and could think only of the terrible power of the gale. Fear and doubt assailed him, and he began to sink. It was not doubt as to the reality of Jesus’ presence, who was now closer to him, but doubt as to his ability to walk any longer and to survive the storm. It was not faith, but the divine power of Jesus which had enabled him to walk on the sea. But faith was the essential prerequisite to his receiving this miraculous power. When Peter began to close his heart through doubt, he began to sink. His despairing cry, “Lord, save me” is in sharp contrast with the calm rebuke given by Jesus: “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt” (Matthew 14:31). As in the stilling of the tempest, the storm instantly ceased when Peter and Christ entered the boat (Matthew 14:32; Mark 6:51). Their faith and their understanding of the mystery that Jesus was both God and man had increased since the stilling of the tempest. Then they had in amazement inquired of one another how He could be a man in their midst.

After the walking on the water they worship Him as God and openly declare their faith that He is the Son of God. What a close to this amazing scene as we see all the disciples drenched from the wild spray of the storm, falling at Jesus’ feet in reverent worship and declaring His deity. The very forces of nature, the wind and the waves, which had suddenly arrested in their course, declare, as it were, by their sudden cessation, “Amen.” The Calm When John records that “straightway the boat was at the land whither they were going” (John 6:21), we cannot be sure whether he means another miracle then took place, or that in contrast to the scant progress made during the desperate battle with the storm, they now rowed quickly over the calm surface to the other shore. The least that can be implied from John’s statement is that the sea became peaceful immediately, even as the wind suddenly ceased when Jesus and Peter entered the boat.

Attack of Critics The attack of the critics upon this miracle is as feeble as their effort against the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. Even though Gould is so far from conservative in many of his positions, he defends this miracle against the ridiculous attacks made by hostile writers. Commenting on Mark 6:34 (“When they saw him walking on the sea”), he says,

It is one of the absurdities of rationalizing exegesis, that this has been made to mean on the shore of the sea, or in view of the obvious fact that the author cannot possibly have meant that, that the story, as it stands, is supposed to have arisen from a mythical handling of so commonplace an event as walking on the shore (I.C.C. on Mark, p. 122).

They suppose that the disciples saw Jesus walking on the shore and the authors deliberately invented the falsehood that He overcame the force of gravity and walked on the water! As in the case of the miraculous feeding, they have to contradict the accounts in one detail after another. All three writers affirm that Jesus approached the boat walking on the water. Matthew and Mark declare that the boat was in the midst of the sea (not alongside the shore); John specifies that they were in the middle of the lake about twenty or thirty furlongs (about three miles) from the eastern shore, where they had started. To all that believe the gospel there is nothing impossible in the declaration of Mark 6:47, Mark 6:48 that Jesus, while still on the shore, could by miraculous vision see the disciples imperiled in the boat. But to the rationalist, who denies the miraculous altogether, it is impossible for the apostles to have seen Jesus three miles away in the night amid the storm. Mark clearly affirms that the disciples did not see Jesus until He approached the boat walking on the water. Matthew and John assert the same fact. Matthew’s account of how Peter walked toward Jesus on the water must also be ruled out by these unbelievers as pure myth. That they claim the disciples only saw Jesus walking along the shore reveals how feeble their analysis is.

Looking back across the years and reflecting on this dreadful watch in the night and the glorious reunion with the Lord, the apostles must have treasured this as one of their most precious recollections. How fearfully death and life had been intertwined on that night! What triumphant confirmation of their faith! What assurance in hours of trial! Looking back across the centuries at this scene, humble Christians have been reminded of their own redemption amid the storm-swept experiences of life.

I was sinking deep in sin, Far from the peaceful shore, Very deeply stained within, Sinking to rise no more; But the Master of the sea Heard my despairing cry, From the water lifted me,

Now safe am I

Love lifted me.