The Wind and the Waves

The Hand of God, painted by Yongsung Kim ​

A meditation on Matthew 14:22-33,  Jesus Walks on Water

The Gospel lesson of Jesus walking on the water teaches us several important lessons:

• Separate for a Purpose: Jesus constrained the disciples to get into a boat, after the feeding of the five thousand, and venture to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Matthew uses the term ‘constrained’ to emphasize that the disciples were unwilling to leave the side of their Master. Jesus ordered the twelve to go for a purpose. Then he dismissed the crowds and ventured to a mountain to pray.
• Jesus was praying alone while the twelve were in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves: Jesus went up the mountain to show us the importance of prayer, that we should pray in an undistracted manner. Everything Christ did was for our sake. He had no need to pray, for he was already in perfect union with His Father in heaven. Still he went alone and prayed long into the evening, teaching us not to cease praying after a short time, and to pray especially at night, for it is quiet then. He permits the disciples to be caught in the storm, so that they might learn to endure trials bravely and that they might know His power. The boat was in the very middle of the sea so that their fear would be greater. Do you see how God allows trials for our good?
• In the fourth watch of the night: Jesus went to them walking upon the Sea, and the frightened disciples thought they saw a phantom. The night was divided into four watches for soldiers who stood guard in shifts, each watch lasting three hours. So it was sometime after the ninth hour, the darkest hour, that Jesus appeared walking on the water. “Take courage; it is I; be not afraid.” Jesus waited until the fourth watch that night to come to them. He did so to teach us not to ask for a quick solution to our trials but to endure them bravely. 
• Peter responds: Passionate Peter saw Jesus and spoke quickly without thinking. He said, “Bid me to come to unto thee on the water.” Jesus bid him to come, and Peter came down out of the boat. The church fathers teach that Jesus calmed the water under Peter’s feet to demonstrate His power. So Peter prevailed over the great danger of the sea, but was afraid of the lesser peril, the wind; such is the weakness of human nature. Though he stilled the sea beneath Peter, Jesus continued to allow the wind to blow. Peter being blown by the wind became afraid and began to sink. This was allowed so that Peter would not be puffed up, and to console the others who had not ventured into the sea. In doing this Christ showed how much greater He was than Peter.
• Jesus Stretched out His hand: "O thou of little faith, of what didst thou doubt?" Showing that the cause of Peter’s sinking was not the wind but faintheartedness, Christ did not rebuke the wind but Peter. But notice that Jesus said “thou of little faith,” rather than, thou of no faith. It was in Peter’s cry for help that he was healed of his unbelief. Peter did not doubt in everything, but in part. Those in the boat were also delivered from fear, for the wind ceased. Then recognizing Jesus by these things, they confessed His divinity. Only God walks on water, as David says in the Psalms, “In the sea are thy byways, and thy paths in many waters.”
• Discerning the trial and what is the greater danger: All this teaches us to discern the greater and the lesser dangers of the Christian life. The wind blows but has no real power to overcome us. Words, gossip, rumors, threats, conspiracies, can have very little power over the events in our lives, but do cause anxiety. While the greater power of the deep, which is unbelief, can overcome us. But the lesson here is that even the deep is in God’s power. So trials come but God is greater than any trial.​​

 The spiritual meaning:

• The boat is the earth: The waves represent a man’s life that is troubled by evil spirits; the night is ignorance. In the fourth watch of the night, that is, at the end of the ages, Christ appeared, and so he will appear. The first watch was covenant with Abraham; the second, the Law of Moses, the third, the Prophets; and the fourth, the coming of Christ. For He saved those who were drowning when he came and was with us so that we might know and worship Him as God.
• Peter’s trial of denial prefigured: This passage also shows Peter’s future denial, return, and repentance by what happened on the sea. Just as he says boldly, “I will not deny thee”, so here he says, “Bid me to come on the water.” And just as then he was permitted to deny, so now he was permitted to sink. Here the Lord gives him His hand and does not let him drown, but there, by Peter’s repentance, Christ drew him out of the abyss of denial.
• The take-away: There is nothing more important than prayer and finding a place to be alone with God, who bids us to come to Him with all our cares. We must also decide to embrace our trials and not seek a quick escape from our troubles. God is faithful, He who waited until the fourth watch will keep His eye upon us even when the wind and the waves seem so strong that they might overtake us. Discern within your trials what is the greater danger, seek God in the dark watches of the night, and trust that He will protect you from that which has the power to take your life.