MATTHEW 14:22-33
HE HEALED ALL THE SICK (4:24). He cleansed a leper (8:1-4). He cured a Roman centurion’s servant (8:5-13). He cooled a fever (8:14, 15). He stilled the wind (8:23-27). He cured the insane (8:28-32). He restored a paralytic (9:1-8). He stopped a desperate woman’s twelve-year discharge of blood (9:20-23). He raised a little girl from the dead (9:18, 23-26). He opened the eyes of the blind (9:27-30; cp. 12:22). He made the mute speak (9:32, 33; cp. 12:22). He healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath (12:9-13). And he took five loaves and two fishes and fed over 5,000 people (14:19)!
These are the miracles of Jesus thus far in Matthew’s Gospel. These miracles—by how they are done, when they are done, where they are done, and to whom they are done—show us something of the nature of the kingdom. What is the kingdom of heaven like? Look to the parables of Matthew 13, but look also to the miracles of Matthew 4—14. The kingdom of heaven is for rich and poor, Jew and Gentile, male and female, adult and child. The kingdom is for all who recognize their spiritual sickness and come to Christ in faith for rest, satisfaction, and the forgiveness of sin.
The miracles teach us about the nature of the kingdom. But they also reveal to us the identity of the King. In the miracles we are to see Jesus as the one prophesied in the Old Testament, the one whose very miracles—the blind receiving their sight, the lame walking, the lepers cleansed, the deaf hearing, and the dead raised to life (11:4, 5)—attest to his identity. This is the promised Christ.
And we are to see in these miracles that the one who has authority over every disease and every affliction (4:23, 24; 8:16; 9:35; 14:34—36; 15:29-31) also has authority over our greatest illness (sin) and what sin leads to (death).
We are to see that the one who has authority to heal has the authority to forgive sins (9:2, 6) and that such forgiveness ultimately comes on the cross, when “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases” (8:17, quoting Isaiah 53:4). We are to see that this is “Jesus,” the name that means Savior, “for he will save his people from their sins” (1:21).
So in the miracles of our Lord we are to see him as the Christ (the Messiah) and as Jesus (the Savior). Moreover, as I explained in the last tract, we are to see him as God’s Son, “‘Immanuel’ (which means, God with us)” (1:23). Now, if you zoned out in the last tract when I was making this point—the point of the passage—Matthew mercifully follows the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 with Jesus Christ walking on water, the miracle above all miracles where Jesus shows he is God’s Son.
Jesus fulfills I Am
First, let me show you what he says. Whenever I am studying a section of Scripture, I first look for structure. Is there structure to this miracle story? And if so, what is it? Here there certainly is structure. Matthew has divided his retelling of this miracle into two parts or acts. Act 1 is verses 22-27, Act 2 verses 28-33. Act 1 is about Jesus walking on water. Act 2 is about the disciples’ response to Jesus’ walking on water.
Notice that Act 2 ends with the words, “And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God’” (v. 33). Worship? That’s a very odd thing for pious Jews to do to another human being. Then, stranger still, these monotheistic Jews call Jesus God’s Son! It’s the first time they say that. God has said it of Jesus in 3:17. The insane have said it of him in 8:29. But now and finally the disciples say it as well. And by their saying it Matthew is saying to us that we should say it as well.
So that’s the end of the miracle story and the end of Act 2. We have adoration and confession. Truly this is God’s Son. How does Act 1 end? It ends with Jesus saying—perhaps screaming (that’s how I envision it)—these words through the howling wind and rising waves: “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid” (v. 27).
Here is where the original language and structure is helpful and interesting. In the original language of our text, after Jesus says, “Take heart” (it is one word in Greek and can mean “take heart” or “be of good courage”), he tells the disciples, “Do not be afraid.” Between those words—fear not/fear not—we find the words, ego eimi. The esv translates it, “it is I.” But in Greek it is a very straightforward formula that means “I am.” “Don’t fear—I AM is here.” The phrase ego eimi is the name God used for himself in the Old Testament, most famously at the burning bush. God tells Moses to tell the Israelites his name. “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you”’(Exodus 3:14 LXX).
Even more interestingly, this divine “self-identification formula” (I AM) is combined in a few places in Isaiah with the phrase, “fear not.” The most striking example comes from near the beginning of the first Servant section. In Isaiah 43:1-3 we read (I’ve cited for emphasis just the beginning of the verses):
But now thus says the Lord, he who created you… "Fear not, for I have redeemed you… When you pass through the waters, I will be with you… For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.''
If you think I’m making too much of these two little Greek words and this combination of “I am” and “fear not” in Isaiah, here’s where the structure comes in to support the suspected significance. I told you the overall structure here. Act 1 ends at verse 27 and Act 2 at verse 33, and both acts end with a resounding note: “Truly you are the Son of God” (v. 33), “It is I am” (v. 27). But both before and after that phrase in the middle—“saying, ‘Take heart; it is I am,”’ or “saying to them, ‘Take courage; I am’”—are ninety-one words in Greek. In other words, structurally that phrase is dead center.
Is it merely a coincidence that in the middle of the one miracle that crystallized in the disciples’ minds or at least verbalized on the disciples’ lips the sonship of Jesus we have the words “I am”? I don’t think so, and neither do a host of other Bible commentators. For example, one commentator wrote, “The center of the story is Jesus' imperial I am.' The feeder of the hungry in the preceding story is now identified as the Lord who walks on water.” Yes, Jesus is “the Lord who walks on water.” Jesus says as much, and he shows as much. He says his identity (that’s the bit about the “I am”), but he also fulfills his identity, obviously by walking on “the water” or “the sea.”
In Scripture “the sea” often represented the forces of evil because it’s powerful, uncontrollable, and deadly. You may remember in my tract on 8:23-34 how it was significant that Jesus cast the demons out of the men into the pigs (unclean animals according to Old Testament law) and then the pigs fled into “the sea” (the sea representing the evil, all that is unruly in this fallen cosmos). The sea often represented the forces of evil. Thus in Scripture, “the sea” is a power over which only God has power. Think of the crossing and closing of the Red Sea. Think of Jonah— of the storm, the calming of the storm, and that huge sea-creature rescuing the prophet by opening and closing its God-directed mouth.
Jesus walks on the sea! Jesus controls the sea!
When we read that we are not only to say, “Wow, what a miracle!” but also, “Wait, only God can control the sea!” As the psalmist says, “O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O Lord... ? You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them” (Psalm 89:8, 9; cp. Psalm 65:5-8; 107:23-32). And as Job says of God... who commands the sun... who seals up the stars; who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled [or walked upon] the waves of the sea” (Job 9:7, 8; cp. Job 38:16; Psalm 77:19). Only God controls the sea and walks upon the waves—metaphorically or literally. Jesus controls the sea and walks upon the waves. Therefore, draw this line to that one and that one to this. This is God's Son (v. 33). This is “I am” (v. 27).
Think of this miracle afresh. One day Jesus decided not to take a boat to the other side. He wasn’t opposed to rowing or sailing a boat. We saw him do that in the last tract (v. 13). However, this day he decided not to walk to the other side (and the crowd did likewise, see John 6:24, 25). Instead Jesus decided on this particular day (and only this day as far as we know) to walk on water from this side of the sea to the disciples’ tossed-about boat because he wanted to make something clear before he would journey to Jerusalem to be the Passover sacrifice for our sins. He wanted to make clear to them and to us that it was “Immanuel” on that cross.
Is that clear? Is it also clear why there is only one right response to this reality? Worship! Glory be to the Father and to the Son; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen and Amen.
Discipleship: Our Response to I Am
As with the last miracle story, this miracle story is about identity. More specifically, it’s about Christology. Jesus Christ’s supernatural authority over the sea and his claim while walking upon the sea shows and says to us that he is God’s Son, “God with us”, and he is thus worthy of our worship.
But that’s only one side of the story. The other side has to do with discipleship—what it means to follow Jesus.
I’m sure (as I hope you’re sure) that this passage before us records a real historical event. But I think, as many ancient and modern commentators have thought, that this event functions or can function (is intended to function) like “a little parable” on Christian discipleship. This is what a Christian disciple looks like. With that in mind, before we get to the main lesson, here are two lesser lessons of Christian discipleship.
Lesser lesson 1: If you follow Christ’s commands, it does not mean you will be spared adversity. Jesus “made the disciples get into the boat” (v. 22). Those disciples started to sail to the other side. Now Jesus knew what was going to happen when they were “a long way from the land” (v. 24)—the middle of the sea (“about three or four miles” out, John 6:19). He knew then that “the wind would be against them” (14:24). He knew the storm was coming. Obedience to Jesus’ word does not mean no stormy seas ahead. In fact, as we have learned throughout our study of Matthew, quite the opposite is true. If you want to follow Jesus, watch out. Watch out for the temptations and troubles and trials that will arise and crash upon you like waves crashing against a boat in the middle of rough waters.
Lesser lesson 2: Nevertheless, Jesus knows the trouble we are in, and he knows how to rescue his disciples from such troubles, and we can count on him to do so. One miracle is Jesus’ walking on water; a second miracle is Peter walking on water, but a third miracle (the one most often ignored) is the sea actually settling down once Jesus gets on board. If the sea didn’t stop, nobody would be rescued. These men still have to deal with this deadly storm. They are still on that boat in those waters. Jesus’ stilling the storm (we are not told how, but I envision a one-word whisper, “Quiet”) is an act of divine rescue. So the lesser lesson is this: Jesus will not abandon his own. He comes to save us. He comes to deliver us from evil.
With this in mind, verses 22-33 record a smaller version of the story of our salvation. Jesus is up on a mountain, praying. He is communing with the Father. Meanwhile, God’s people are in need of rescue. So Jesus descends. He comes down from his communion with the Father. He walks straight into the thick of evil, into the darkness (“the fourth watch of the night”—3 a.m. to 6 a.m.). He walks on the sea. Then at dawn while it is still partly dark— (cp. John 20:1)—he rescues those who cry out as Peter did, “Lord, save me” (14:30). That is lesser lesson 2: Jesus knows how to rescue his people.
Those are the two lesser lessons, or potential lessons. I say “potential” only because I’m not absolutely sure it’s appropriate to turn this text into a little parable and see certain historical actions as symbolic. But the one lesson I’m certain we should learn from this passage is the lesson of faith. The theme is, what is the nature of Christian discipleship? But under that umbrella is another question: what is the nature of a disciple’s faith?
Here is where Peter comes into play. Look with me at verses 28-31.
John records Jesus’ walking on water. Mark records Jesus’ walking on water. But only Matthew adds this bit about Peter walking on water and sinking into the water. Why? I think there may be a few reasons for this. One reason might simply be to validate the miracle—the idea being that not only did Jesus have the power to make another person walk on water (J. C. Ryle calls that “a mightier miracle still”) but that Jesus is not a “ghost” as the disciples first thought, if sinking Peter was rescued by Jesus’ physical hand. Another reason might be to flash back to chapter 10 and flash forward to chapter 28, where Jesus shares his power with his Ecclesia: “All authority... has been given to me. Go therefore [you—through my presence and my power] and make disciples.”
Peter’s walking on water might be for one of those two reasons. But the final and best reason, I think, is to teach us about the nature of Christian faith. Look again at verses 28-31, and I’ll explain what I mean by the nature of Christian faith.
After Jesus said, “Take heart; it is I [am]. Do not be afraid,” we read that Peter answers, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water” (v. 28). Jesus said, “‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw [the effects of] the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink...” (vv. 28-30a). Petras sinks like a rock. But then he cried out in faith, “Lord, save me” (v. 30b). And Jesus did. He “immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him.” He didn’t next say, “Good try. Way to go. Peter, you’re the first human (besides me) to walk on water.” Rather he said, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (v. 31).
What do we do with this? What does this teach us about faith? Some view Jesus’ rebuke (and it is a rebuke—we might be glad, as I’m sure Peter was glad, our Lord saves before he scolds) as a rebuke against Peter’s arrogance. For example, Calvin thinks Peter should have stayed on the boat. It was not for him to walk on water. To do so was to overreach his bounds. Calvin writes that “by [Peter’s] example believers are taught to beware of over-much rashness... of transgressing... [our] limits.” We’re not God; let’s not pretend for a moment that we are. In a similar vein Matthew Henry writes of Jesus allowing Peter to walk and sink so as to have Peter “check his self-confidence.” As much as I respect Calvin and Henry, I don’t think either of those readings is right. Peter is no “faultless hero” in this Gospel, and in some ways this scene foreshadows the drama of his denial—his “overconfident confession (26.30-36), his denial of the Lord (26.69-75), and his final restoration (cp. 28.16— 17).”“’ However, I don’t see Jesus’ invitation “Come” (v. 29) to be inauthentic or some kind of trick to show Peter how proud or weak or in need of Jesus’ salvation he is. I think Peter knows all that already.
Peter is to be scolded, if I can use that hard a word for what Jesus says in verse 31, not for leaving the boat but for not abiding in the faith, for not persevering, for losing his focus. You see, the nature of faith here (with this vivid picture) seems to be not just “I’m a proud, weak, desperate sinner, save me”—that we only need to reach our hand up to Jesus as Savior. Rather the picture here is of walking toward Jesus as Lord. Yes, we need him as Savior (we all come to him with our bodies so to speak beneath the waters), but once we are pulled up out of those waters, we must also walk. We must walk toward him as Lord, trusting in his divine power each step of the way.
What is the nature of Christian faith? Here I think we are taught that faith is confidence not in self or self-righteousness but in Christ. We may doubt, but there is no need to doubt. Jesus isn’t high on doubt here, is he? “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (v. 31). You see, doubt equals little faith—not no faith, but less faith than you should have.
Faith is confidence in Christ. Faith is also courage through Christ. Faith is courage through or by means of the power of Christ. Jesus said, “Why did you doubt?” (v. 31). Faith is confidence in Christ. But he also said. “Do not be afraid” or “fear not” (v. 27). As doubt is contrary to faith (21:21), so fear is contrary to faith. Do you see that? In verse 26 the disciples are “terrified... they cried out in fear.” In verse 27 Jesus said, “Do not be afraid.” In verse 30, “when he [Peter] saw the wind, he was afraid, and [guess what happened? He began] to sink.” Fear or faith? Fear that God can’t provide and can’t save is contrary to faith (see especially Habakkuk 3:17-19).
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1), but also I shall not fear. I will not fear famine (you make “me lie down in green pastures,” you lead “me beside still waters”), enemies (you prepare me “a table... in the presence of my enemies”), or death (“even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death... you are with me... I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever”). What is the nature of a disciple’s faith? Doubt not; fear not. Confidence in Christ; courage by means of Christ.
Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as “the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 1 l:2ff. then illustrates that definition with the heroes of the faith who were all looking forward confidently in faith (see esp. v. 26). Faith is conviction. It’s confidence. And faith is, as Hebrews 12:2 phrases it, “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.” Looking to Jesus, as Peter was and then wasn’t. Looking to Jesus not once but every step of the way. Considering him (Hebrews 12:3) and walking toward him, with eyes fixed on him, not growing weary no matter how high or heavy the waves of this world crash against us. Doubt not. Fear not. Confidence in Christ; courage by means of Christ—that’s faith.
So yes, faith means assenting to certain truths—“Jesus is the Son of God,” etc. And yes, faith means understanding those truths—“Jesus came, so that I (a fully sinful man) might be fully reconciled to God.” Faith means assent and understanding. But faith also means trust— getting out of the boat into the evil waters and walking forward to Jesus, by the power of Jesus, until we get to Jesus. Christology and discipleship—that’s 14:22-33. That’s the miracle of Jesus walking on water. That’s the sum of Christianity (when you think about it) in twelve short verses. Not bad, Matthew. Not bad at all.
(R. Kent Hughes. and Douglas Sean O'Donnell., 2013; edited Carl Hinton., 2020)