What was the purpose of Christ walking on the water? Of course, it was to establish his divinity. All the miracles establish his divinity. But aside from that supreme and most important thing, what further purposes were there? The distinctive purposes of his walking on the water and coming to them in their distress are as follows:
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First, his disciples are always in his view. He is at Bethsaida Julias. It is night; they are miles away, but he still sees them. We are always in his view.
The second thing is that he comes to us, especially in times of trial. He comes and walks and approaches us.
The third lesson in the walking on the water, is that Christ is fulfilling the types and the shadows of the Old Testament. He fulfils them all. The type of the parting of the Red Sea so that the people of God can cross; the type of the parting of Jordan, the waters of Jordan – they speak of Christ. It is inevitable that some time in his ministry, he is going to demonstrate this to the disciples, and come to them walking on the water, however turbulence. He is the one who fulfils all the promises. There is a lot about water in the Old Testament. The metaphor of water and seas and violent seas is used a great deal, especially in the Psalms, and in the Book of Isaiah. It is almost inevitable that Christ at some time would walk on water, because he shows himself to the disciples to be the one who fulfils all the promises, as well as the types of the Old Testament. ‘Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters’, says the Psalmist. ‘The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters’ (Psalm 93:4). And then Isaiah: ‘He is above the bread of adversity and the water of affliction’ (Isaiah 30:20); ‘Art thou not he that has made the depths of the sea? A way for the ransomed to pass over?’ (Isaiah 51:10). He is the fulfilment of all these promises.
A fifth purpose of the walking on the water is to teach the international progress of the gospel. All too soon Christ – his earthly ministry will be over. He will go to Calvary's cross. He will suffer and die for his own; he will rise again from the dead, and be seated at the right hand of God. The gospel will go forth, the church will be formally constituted on the day of Pentecost, and the gospel will go out among the nations. Now the metaphor for internationalism in the Old Testament is the sea, the crossing of the sea, and Christ walk on the waters and the disciples will look back on this and they will say, This was just a foreshadowing of the progress of the gospel throughout the world among the Gentile nations.
But the walking on the water also conveys an evangelistic lesson. There are the disciples apart from Christ, making heavy weather, getting into danger, getting nowhere, rowing making no progress. Seven hours and yet only halfway across the lake, and the storm is brewing and they are exhausted without doubt. What a picture of the life away from God, toiling through this world! Oh yes, there are times of happiness, times of elation, times of enjoyment, but look at life as a whole. We go through life and we have family joys and many happy times, but overall, there is the ageing process, and if we are without God we are all getting older, and wondering what it's all been for. There are all the disappointments and heartaches, and we are no nearer heaven, no nearer the discovery of God and eternal things. But Christ draws near, and you have encapsulated in what he says to the disciples a gospel presentation. Don't fear, don't be afraid; see what Christ can do. He is the Son of God; he has come to suffer and die for sinners. You can obtain from him forgiveness, a new life, a new strength and spiritual life, and be speeded to your destination. You have to know him, come to him believe in him. ‘It is I. Be not afraid’, of ageing, of death. Now you are in ignorance – ‘for they considered not the miracle of the loaves.’ Their hearts were hardened, calloused over, stone like. That is what has happened to us: brainwashed by the world, persuaded to think as atheists, our hearts calloused over, resistant to God and thinking about Christ and salvation. We don't want to hear those things. As soon as he is admitted to the vessel, as soon as he gets aboard, in John's Gospel, another miracle: they are instantly at land. It is unmistakable in John's Gospel. They are halfway across the lake; they are exhausted, but when Christ gets into the vessel, they are instantly at their landing point. The journey is complete. That is a picture of salvation, surely. One minute, I am so far from God, my heart closed, resistant to him. Then I begin to learn of Christ and grasp who he is and what he's done, and the call of salvation. I repent and receive him, immediately I arrive. I am born again; I have a new nature, a new heart. I am in the kingdom of God. It didn't take me the rest of my life to get there. I didn't have to earn it and deserve it. I was immediately with him in his kingdom, waiting only for the day when I would see him face-to-face.
If you have a problem in this coming week, should you be visited by tragedy or grief, should you be diagnosed with some serious illness, should friends or family let you down in some way, and there be deep disappointments, trials arise of any kind, don't be afraid. Be confident that with Christ, he will see you through, and there will be blessing in the outcome. ‘It is I. Be not afraid.’ Wonderful words! , ‘It is I.’ They may be words for you, even this week.
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