Mark 6:47-52 (NASB)
47 When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land.
48 Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night He *came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them.
49 But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out;
50 for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and *said to them, "Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid."
51 Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished,
52 for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.
There are three separate accounts of this story in the Gospels: One in Matthew and another in John (and the account from Mark above). Only one of them (the account from Matthew) includes the bit about Peter joining Jesus on the waves of the sea of Galilee and then sinking into them. I remark on this because the part involving Peter sometimes hijacks the account, turning the account's intended focus from Jesus to Peter. The story of Christ walking on water, however, seems to have one main purpose: To emphasize the enormous across-the-board differences between Jesus and his disciples. Here's a list of the points of contrast between Jesus and his followers:47 When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land.
48 Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night He *came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them.
49 But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out;
50 for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and *said to them, "Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid."
51 Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished,
52 for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.
1.) Jesus goes up onto a mountain to pray; his disciples get in a boat and begin to row across the sea of Galilee.
2.) Jesus walks easily upon the boisterous waves of the sea; his disciples struggle and strain to make headway in a boat, tossed and bounced by the wind and waves of the sea.
3.) Jesus is a picture of imperturbability, entirely serene as he does the impossible; his disciples are superstitious and fearful, thinking Jesus is a ghost.
4.) Jesus is in full command of the elements of Nature; his disciples are entirely at the mercy of their physical environment.
5.) Jesus is totally confident in his power; his disciples continue to wonder blindly at it.
In the natural Man, in who we default to being apart from God, we are just like the disciples in this story, separated from our Master, straining to accomplish our goals by purely physical means, abused and exhausted by the process, and quickly moved to fear by the unexpected. Rather than delighting in the power and presence of God, His supernatural activity leaves us confused and wondering. Separate from God, our hearts are hard, settled deeply in our certainty that the mundane, sin-cursed, temporal realm is all there is and thus unable to makes sense of the One who doesn't fit into this realm.
But the born-again believer is not as the disciples were in the story of Christ walking on the water. Unlike them, the Christian person is indwelt by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), by, and in, him made a "new creature in Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Jesus does not stand outside of the born-again man or woman, a ghostly, frightening figure passing by them on the stormy seas of life, but in the Person of the Spirit, is their Life (Colossians 3:4; John 1:4; 14:6; 1 John 5:11-12). To the born-again person, Jesus is the Prince of Peace, a place of profound rest (Matthew 11:28-30) amidst the wind and waves of life's troubles and burdens, and one from whom they can never be separated (Hebrews 13:5; Romans 8:38-39; John 10:27-29).
In the Person of the Holy Spirit, the born-again believer can be filled with the same peace, calm and power that Jesus exhibited in the story of his hike across the sea of Galilee. The saved person need not behave like the struggling, fearful disciples but may, instead, be like their Master, confident in the infinite power of God and imperturbable no matter how hard the wind that blows or how large the waves grow. Forsaking superstition and the confusion of a hardened heart, the born-again child of God may become "a living letter of Christ, read of all men," full of the love, joy, peace, righteousness and gentleness of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23; Ephesians 5:9).
How? By love, trust and submission.
As the believer obeys the First and Great Commandment (Matthew 22:36-38), growing ever more confident in God's love of them (1 John 4:16-19), desiring Him above all else, a deep, unshakeable trust in Him forms that leads to eager, joyful and constant submission to Him (Romans 12:1; Romans 8:14; Romans 6:13; 1 Peter 5:6). And in a state of humble surrender to God, the Spirit is able to work to transform and fill the believer with all that he is, making them a person in whom Christ is manifested powerfully, "walking on the water" of the stormy seas of life.
Romans 8:29 (NASB)
29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
2 Corinthians 4:7-11 (NASB)
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;
8 we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing;
9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
10 always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
11 For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
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