ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Bible Story Summary After feeding the 5,000 , Jesus sent his disciples on ahead of him in a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee . I think their reaction to the cross was proof of that. It implies that the point of the feeding miracle was not just the provision of food, but rather the story contained some deeper message that the disciples should have considered.

The New Rendition uses the phrase “as the night was ending” to convey that it was almost morning and that the disciples had been struggling for the entire night.
But immediately He talked with them and said to them, “Be of good cheer! The Johannine version (John 6:16-21) also comes on the heels of the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand (6:1-14). For example, do you remember when the Lord appeared to Moses in bodily form (i.e., a theophany)? "One does not need to deny what is troubling in order to pay respect to what is heartening."

Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular.

As they are on the sea, it becomes dark and a strong wind begins to blow. In Job 9:8, the LXX reads that God “walks upon the sea as upon dry ground.” An allusion to that text would thus align Jesus with God (see also Job 38:16; Ps. In the Markan version, the disciples in their boat are apparently close enough to shore that Jesus can see them struggling against the wind (Mark 6:48) but in the Matthean version the boat was “far from land” and there is no statement about Jesus seeing their struggle (Matthew 14:24). If you wish to ask a question about a given blog, email us your question at In both cases the message to have courage is conveyed. This intertext might explain why considering the loaves would have made it possible for the disciples to have understood this miracle better: the feeding miracle—with its groups of fifty, divine provision of food, and memorial related to the number twelve (the twelve baskets of leftovers)—began the reiteration of the story of Joshua 1, which continued as Jesus asked the disciples to cross over in the boat without him, as a reenactment of entering the promised land. In his book, The Case for Jesus, Roman Catholic scholar Brant Pitre points to the evidence of Jesus’ walking on water as evidence of Jesus’ deity. 17:7; [Deut. Moses tells them to have courage and that God has come to them to test them. Producing content takes time and money. - Richard Elliot Friedman Change ). Jesus Walks on the Water () 45 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. Relationship to Joshua 1. View all posts by The Amateur Exegete, Gospel of John, Inerrancy, Jesus, Jesus Walks on Water, Jesus' Miracles, John 6:16-21, Mark 6:45-52, Matthew 14:22-33, Miracles, Musings on Mark, The Gospel of Mark, The Gospel of Matthew, Uncategorized. Jesus asked Peter to walk out to him so Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water too. But notice further how Mark says that Jesus “would have passed them by.” That’s an easy detail to miss, but you shouldn’t. 11:7; 2 Cor. Bible Commentary about Jesus Walking on Water (John 6) "When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened." Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away. This text from Job may have particular resonance for Mark’s story since just a few verses before ( Job 9:8), Job described God as walking upon the sea: “thus, in Job 9 the image of God’s walking on the sea is linked with a confession of God’s mysterious transcendence of human comprehension: God’s ‘passing by’ is a metaphor for our inability to grasp his power.”[3] This theme fits well into Mark’s message about the disciples’ lack of understanding. and Can We Lose Our Faith? ( Log Out / 

I am, exist. 46 And after he had taken leave of them, () he went up on the mountain to pray. This was Jesus revealing His deity to His disciples. The scene ends with the disciples Jesus’ compassion could be understood as his desire for them to have a leader who could lead them to the promised land. Mark thus focuses attention on the loaves. The Johannine version makes this more explicit by stating that the disciples were three or four miles into their journey (John 6:19).

The importance of the allusion to Joshua 1 is that it links the feeding miracle with the sea crossing and then explains why the disciples should have considered them together. And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw Him and were troubled.