Jesus walks on water

Jesus makes the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead, and dismisses the crowd himself, which is the detail that shows what he was managing: a mob that wanted to crown him, and a group of followers he wanted out of the way while it dispersed.

Then he goes up on a mountainside by himself to pray, and stays there into the night.

The boat is a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind is against it. They have rowed about five kilometres and are making no progress, and the lake at its widest is about thirteen, so they are somewhere in the middle of it. He saw them straining at the oars, which from a hillside in the dark implies a great deal.

Shortly before dawn he goes out to them, walking on the lake. That is the fourth watch, between three and six in the morning, so they have been fighting the wind for most of the night.

Mark adds a clause that has puzzled readers for centuries: he was about to pass by them. The Greek is unambiguous, and the phrase is the same one used when God passes by Moses in the cleft of the rock and passes by Elijah at Horeb, which is very probably why it is there.

They see him and are terrified, thinking he is a ghost, and cry out. What he says to them is three short phrases in Greek and the middle one is loaded: take courage, it is I, do not be afraid. The words rendered it is I are the ordinary way of identifying yourself and are also the exact form of the divine name given at the burning bush.

Matthew alone adds what happens next. Peter says, Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water. He is told to come, gets out of the boat, walks on the water towards him, sees the wind, is afraid, begins to sink and shouts, Lord, save me. A hand catches him immediately, and the question that follows is gentle rather than crushing: you of little faith, why did you doubt?

When they climb into the boat the wind dies down, and those in it worship him and say, truly you are the Son of God.

That is the first time the group says it themselves rather than hearing it from a spirit or a voice.

The lake is about twenty-one kilometres long and thirteen at its widest, and the wind on it comes up from the west through the gap at Arbel with enough force to stop a boat under oars. Rowing five kilometres against it in the dark, in an open vessel with a shallow draught, would have taken most of a night, which is exactly what is described.

The episode is one of the few miracles performed with no audience and no beneficiary. Nobody is healed and nothing is provided; the disciples are already going to reach shore. What happens on that water happens for the twelve men in the boat and nobody else, and the confession they make at the end of it is the first thing they say together.