'When it was evening, his disciples went down to the sea, embarked in a boat, and went across the sea to Capernaum. It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid. But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” They wanted to take him into the boat, but the boat immediately arrived at the shore to which they were heading (Jn. 6:16-21).'
John told this story a bit differently than the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark & Luke). At this point in Jesus’ ministry, the disciples’ faith was still weak so they could not conceive of what was about to happen. John did not present a story about the disciples’ faith but told of an epiphany – “It is I (Am). ‘I Am’ is how God introduced himself to Moses (Ex. 3:14) and how John presented Jesus (Jn. 8:58). John’s readers were probably familiar with the story, so he did not present as many details as in Mark (Mk. 6:45-52) or Matthew (Mt. 14:22-33). The disciples had not made much progress rowing because of the storm. Jesus showed his authority over nature by walking on the water in the storm. Some early Christians looked back to the Exodus saw this as God showing that Jesus was superior to Moses. Moses parted the sea and walked through, but Jesus walked on it. When Jesus got near the boat, the disciples and Jesus all instantaneously arrived at shore. The disciples would have understood both ‘It is I’ and the immediate arrival at shore as the work of God.
Almighty God, in times of temptation and trouble we turn to you in prayer and ask that you fill our hearts with the love of Christ so we may withstand all troubles. Shower us with your saving grace so that our faith may not be shipwrecked, and that keeping our eyes fixed on Christ we may be brought safely to your Kingdom. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
References:
Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, & Roland E. Murphy, (Eds.). (1990, 1968). The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentis Hall, Inc.
Jose M. Casciaro, Santiago Ausin, Gonzalo Aranda, Claudio Basevi, Vincente Balaguer, Francisco Varo, James Gavigan, Brian McCarthy & Thomas McGovern (Eds.). (2017). The Navarre Bible - New Testament. Dublin 8, Ireland: Four Courts Press.
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