The Walking on the Water

Following Jesus manifestation of power on the feeding of the five thousand (Mark 6:34-
44 NAB) is the story of Jesus, walking on water and rescuing his disciples from the dangers of the
sea (Mark 6:45-52 NAB). The story is about Gods expression and revelation of his glory through
the person of Jesus Christ, true God, and true man. This passage from the Gospel of Mark is
specifically meant to evoke the disciples mindsWho is this? and to give them a deeper
glimpse into the meaning of Jesus mission.1

The passage begins on Jesus compelling his disciples to cross the other side toward
Bethsaida without him, dismissing the crowd by himself. Edwards explains the reason why he has
to do that: The answer follows from the clues in the feeding of the five thousand. The disciples
are not unsusceptible to the messianic contagion of the crowd Jesus must expeditiously remove
them from the scene in order to persuade the crowd to disperse peaceably and thus avert a
revolutionary groundswell.2 After this, Jesus retreats on a mountain to pray. It is very interesting
to note that in the Old Testament a mountain is a favorite place for God to appear to his people3
and as Healy coined it: a privileged place of encounter with God.4 In mountains God does not
only manifests epiphany (Gen 22:14, Exod 3:1; 19:3, Ps 3:5;68:17) during the old testament, it is
also to be noted that in Marks gospel, key events in the life of Jesus take place on mountains.
(Mark 3:13; 9:2; 13:3; 14:26)5

The passage now turns from Jesus to the disciples far out on the sea tossed about while
rowing because of the wind (cf. Mark 6:47-48). In this great torment and distress, the disciples
are experiencing, Jesus looks on them with pity just as he gazed upon the five thousand crowd on
the mountain during the miracle of the loaves. He came towards them, walking on water and meant
to pass by them. But there is a sudden dilemma and confusion on this part. Stein posted a question

1
Mary Healy, The Gospel of Mark, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2008),
130.
2
James R. Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 2002), 197.
3
Robert H. Stein, Mark, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker,
2008), 322.
4
Healy, 131.
5
Stein, 322; Healy, 131.
about it: If Jesus came to the disciples because he saw their distress, why does he now want to
pass by them?6 Healy explains that Mark is deliberately using the language of a theophany, a
manifestation of Gods awesome presence and power.7 The Old Testament presented certain
persons on which the Lord manifested his divine presence to them by means of passing by them.
Recalling the moment when the Lord God came down in a cloud, approach Moses and he passed
by before Moses face (Exod 34:5-6). Another one would be the passing by to Elijah from the
Book of Kings (1 Kgs 19:11). The most significant must be the Book of Job because the book is
mentioning about God passing by and the same time manifesting God as having power over the
waters of the sea. (Job 9:8, 11). This incident from this chapter of the Gospel of Mark parallelizes
the person of Jesus to the person of God in the Old Testament.

This occasion of Jesus walking on water clearly shows the power and authority of Jesus as
Divine. Both Jewish and Pagan traditions of old would tell their God or any form of deity
possessing the power to walk on water. Collins explains that Those Jewish by birth and well
instructed in biblical and Jewish tradition were likely to understand the account of Jesus walking
on the Sea in terms of Jewish cultural heroes and prophets The motif of a human or semi-
divine being walking on water, however, is considerably more widespread in Greek and Roman
tradition.8 The phenomenon of Jesus revealing himself as walking on the water clearly explains
that he is Divine in parallel with the God of the Hebrews and surpasses those mythical gods of the
pagans with regards to power over nature, specifically on the waters of the sea.

When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were all terrified and thought that
it was a ghost. (Cf. Mark 6:49) This reaction as Healy interprets is the typical response when
confronted with the majesty of God.9 This reaction of terror and fright was responded by Jesus:
Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid! (Mark 6:50) Here, Jesus once again manifested something
about his divinity. Collins has something to say about this: The command do not be afraid is a
typical element in an account of an epiphany.10 Healy would explain further: Biblical
theophanies are often accompanied by an encouragement not to fear, so overwhelming is the

6
Stein, 324.
7
Healy, 131.
8
Collins, 333.
9
Healy, 131.
10
Collins, 335.
presence of God or his angels.11 An example would be Daniels case in the presence of a mighty
angel telling him not to be afraid. (Dan 10:12). Between the statement of Jesus above, the most
important must be the phrase: It is I. This statement of Jesus would lead us back from the Old
Testament times when God revealed himself to Moses, specifically in the burning bush from the
Book of Exodus (Exod 3:14) The I am statement must be regarded with great significance for
this is very identical to the revelation of Gods name as it is written in the Old Testament. This
phrase explains that Jesus not only walks in Gods stead, but he also takes his name.12

Edwards says that Jesus intends to make the mysterious and enigmatic God of Job [and
the other ancestors of old] visible and palpable as it had not been and could not have been to former
generations. 13 Through the walking of water, the God of the Old covenant was revealed through
the presence of Jesus power and authority over creation. Jesus Christ, through his unbelievable
superhuman strength and authority, revealed himself as the Anointed One, the Messiah they have
all been waiting for.

These and the miracle of the loaves was done to instill into the disciples hearts and minds
that he is the one, he is the I am come into flesh. These were all done to test their faith and to
answer their question, as Edwards indicates, to their earlier bafflement when he calmed the storm,
Who is this?14 Yet all these were all responded by the apostles hardened hearts (Cf. Mark 6:52)
The apostles had not been able to grasp the meaning of Jesus mission as Healy pointed it out:
They missed the fact that in spreading a banquet for his people in the desert, Jesus is acting as
Shepherd-Messiah of his peopleindeed he is fulfilling a role that belongs to God alone Their
hearts were hardened seems to indicate that it was not a case of simple ignorance but a willful
blindness, a reluctance to open their hearts fully to what God was doing in Jesus.

11
Healy, 131.
12
Edwards, 198.
13
Ibid.
14
Ibid., 199.