Sunday School: Jesus Walks on Water

Encore Post: For Jesus and the disciples, it had been a long day. The crowds had turned out to hear Jesus teach and he did so all day. In the evening, Jesus challenged the disciples to feed the crowds with five loaves and two fishes. They couldn’t but he did. They gathered up the pieces in twelve baskets. So Jesus needed to get away to pray. They just needed to get away. So Jesus pushed them to get in the boat and do what they knew very well — travel across the lake. He went away to pray alone.

For people in ancient times, the sea was a symbol of chaos and evil. They did so for good reason. Not only was the sea a place that could become violent at a moment’s notice, they had no way to know about coming storms as we do today.
The disciples were veterans of the sea, not bothered much by the wind and wave, even when it was rough. That evening, the sea was much trouble. They could not use their sails, which would be blown to pieces. So they labored to row against it all night. They made good progress nevertheless.

Yet they were so exhausted that they did not know Jesus at first. They thought He was a ghost. When He told them who He was, they still weren’t sure. Peter came up with a test. If it was Jesus, Peter could walk on the water too, if Jesus wanted him to. As long as Peter paid attention to the Lord, he did walk on water. Only when he turned to watch wind and wave did Peter fear and begin to sink. What they missed is they did not need to be afraid. They should have known they could trust Jesus. By this event, Jesus taught His disciples to trust Him, even when water and wave threaten to destroy them.

The writer of the must loved hymn, “Eternal Father, Strong to Save” sums it up well:

O Savior, whose almighty word
The winds and waves submissive heard,
Who walked upon the foaming deep,
And calm amid the rage did sleep;
O hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea.

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Rev. Robert E. Smith
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, Indiana