What Jesus did #9: he walked on water

Most people will be able to tell you that Jesus walked on water. It’s one of his most well-known miracles. We all know that walking on water is impossible. It defies all the rules of physics around surface tension. Anyway we know from experience that it doesn’t work. Most of us will probably have tried it at some point in our lives and got wet trousers in the process.

Of course, nothing is impossible for God. Jesus, although fully human, seems to be able to bend the rules of nature at will. He sends his followers off ahead of him to the other side of the lake, while he goes off to pray. When he’s ready to join them, he sets off on foot to meet them. On foot across the water. He takes it in his stride. There’s no great drama. In fact, in Mark’s account in Mark 6, it states that he was about to walk past them when they noticed him. They’re naturally freaked out. Jesus climbs into the boat with them in this account and in John 6. In Matthew’s version, this miracle takes on a whole new twist.

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

Shortly before dawn 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.

But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

“Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshipped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”  Matthew 14:22-33

This story takes on a human dimension. This is no longer simply the son of God walking on water but an ordinary human being just like you and me. Seeing Jesus doing extraordinary things is mind-blowing, but to see an average guy like Peter walking on water too – that’s unbelievable. And it’s Peter that initiates this. He suggests this crazy notion. That’s how strong his faith in Jesus is – until he actually steps out of the boat and takes his eyes off Jesus and looks around him…

We’ve come to draw some obvious analogies from this remarkable event over the years.

If you want to walk on water, you’ve got to step out of the boat.

The boat is the safe place. The boat is the comfort zone. It’s the job you know inside out. It’s the familiar group of friends you knock around with. It’s the routine that works for you. It’s all that you settled for. It’s your version of the easy life.

You avoid anything that may rock the boat, let alone entertaining the notion of actually stepping out of the boat.

You rely on the boat to keep you safe – the life that you’ve constructed to protect you and provide for all your needs. But what if Jesus is calling you to step out of the boat so that you can learn to rely on him to protect you and provide for you? What if that’s the adventure that God is calling you into?

Dare to trust God for the impossible.

Nothing is impossible for God. We say those words. We may even believe them. But how are we living them out in our own lives?

What if living life to the full as Jesus intended means stepping out of the boat?

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.

When we stop taking risks, we stop living life.

God did not create any of us to live small, safe, easy lives. There’s a whole world of adventure and excitement and possibility out there.

Maybe now is the time…

‘It’s impossible,’ said pride.

‘It’s risky,’ said experience.

‘It’s pointless,’ said reason.

‘Give it a try,’ whispered the heart.       – Anonymous