Matthew 14:22–36
22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way1 from the land,2 beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night3 he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind,4 he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
34 And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent around to all that region and brought to him all who were sick 36 and implored him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.
1 Greek many stadia, a stadion was about 607 feet or 185 meters 2 Some manuscripts was out on the sea 3 That is, between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. 4 Some manuscripts strong wind
Section Overview
The storm at sea follows closely the feeding of the five thousand. Both the crowds and the disciples witness Jesus’ power and compassion as he feeds the multitude, but neither group grasps the significance of the event. John reports that the crowd, enthralled with the bread, seeks to crown Jesus (John 6:15). Jesus wants the disciples to have no part of this, so he orders them to cross the lake. Meanwhile, he ascends a mountain for solitary prayer. It is an apt time to pray. Both religious and political leaders are now hostile (Matt. 12:22–42; 14:1–13), the crowds are uncomprehending (13:10–15), and the disciples are slow to learn (15:10–20).
The passage raises strategic questions. First, while skeptics doubt that Jesus and Peter actually walked on water, the faithful must ask why Peter’s short walk appears in Matthew but not in Mark. Second, the history of interpretation shows that the church has put this passage to apparently contradictory uses. Devout readers are captivated by the courage or audacity of Peter, but they commonly reduce the event to a moral tale. Tellingly, when teachers use Peter as a moral example, they draw opposite lessons from him. Some say Peter exemplifies the man of faith who risks great things for God and tastes glory by walking in Jesus’ steps. Others chide Peter for foolhardy bravura: he takes his eyes off Jesus, and it nearly costs him his life. Let the reader beware, therefore, Petrine pride and presumption. While these interpretations of Peter’s acts seem contradictory, their approach is the same. Both read or apply 14:22–33 as a story about Peter. But for Matthew, Jesus is the main character.
This miracle is recorded, in an unusual grouping of Gospels: in Matthew, Mark (6:45–52), and John (6:16–21) but not in Luke. Of the three, Matthew alone describes Peter’s walk on water.
Section Outline
VI. Training the Disciples among Crowds and Leaders (14:1–20:34) . . .
C. Jesus Walks on the Water (14:22–33)
D. Jesus’ Ongoing Healing Ministry (14:34–36)
The passage contains two main units. In the first, Jesus walks on the waves to reach the disciples as they languish in a great storm at sea (14:22–27). In the second, Jesus bids Peter to walk to him on the waves, then rescues Peter, who, after initial success, panics and begins to sink (vv. 28–33). The common thread is the power of Jesus, pointing in turn to his deity, which the disciples confess, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God” (v. 33).
Response
Matthew 14:22–33 expands the church’s knowledge of Jesus’ person and work. As the Son of God, he has power to master winds and waves. The passage promotes faith in him. It invites readers to fix their eyes on Jesus, not storms or opposition, as they pore over the Gospels. Earlier, Jesus spoke and halted another life-threatening storm at sea. The disciples asked, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” (8:27). This time they confess, “Truly you are the Son of God” (14:33). The person of Christ anchors this scene. Jesus’ actions demonstrate his deity, power, and compassion even for people who should, but do not quite, know who he is. To be true to Matthew, we must first see that this miracle reveals Jesus’ identity. With that firmly in hand, we can assess what Jesus may do for disciples today.
The passage expresses several of the challenges of the life of faith. First, Jesus did not necessarily wield his power as his friends wished; he let them wait, stomachs churning, doubts rising, straining at their oars, until the fourth watch. The disciples followed Jesus as much as they could and sought to obey his command to cross the lake.
The concept of a person of little faith, found in the address in verse 31, “O you of little of faith,” is telling (the Greek is one word, in the vocative case, oligopistoi). When Jesus came to the disciples on the water, Peter had enough faith to walk to Jesus, but not enough to keep his eyes on Jesus. So it goes. The faithful follow Jesus, then falter. They have a little faith, so they move forward, then stall. Disciples are courageous yet fearful, as they strive to possess in full what belongs to all who know Jesus. Peter was a “little faith,” one who believed and yet doubted. He hesitated between faith and no faith. Peter’s faith was weak, yet it grew. Eventually, Peter became strong enough to lead the church and make disciples, teaching them to obey everything Jesus commanded (28:18–20).
Matthew 14:22–33 is sometimes used to assure disciples that Jesus comes to us in the storms of life. Is this correct? For Matthew’s audience, the Spirit mediates Jesus’ postresurrection presence, so that a disciple rightly hears, “I am with you always, [even] to the end of the age” (28:20), to this day. Jesus is not present for personal, physical rescue in every literal storm. Still, if anyone knows Jesus in his power and compassion, this should liberate him from paralyzing fears. There is no promise of ease or deliverance from every threat or illness (Heb. 11:34–37), but Jesus does say, “Do not be afraid.” That command appears eight times in Matthew, and each time is linked to a promise of Jesus’ presence (Matt. 1:20; 10:26–31; 14:27; 17:7; 28:5, 10). Jesus’ presence should allay our fears.
The parallel passage in Mark 6 connects the command “Do not be afraid” to the disciples’ failure to learn from the feeding of the five thousand. After Jesus silenced the storm and entered the boat with them, we read, “And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened” (Mark 6:51–52).
The admission that “they did not understand about the loaves” is arresting. Does Mark fault the disciples for their panic? But who would not fret in such a storm? Yet Mark chides them. “Their hearts were hardened” because they had not understood about the loaves. That is, if they had drawn the right conclusions from the feeding of the five thousand, the storm would not have terrified them. It seems unfair to expect the Twelve to apply the feeding of the five thousand to a situation that seems so different—and so terrifying.
But the Lord expects the faithful to know him and his ways (Isa. 1:2–3; Jer. 9:23–24; Phil. 3:8–10). Since his character and ways never change, God expects believers to draw conclusions from his past actions and apply them to the present, even in troubles from storm, illness, poverty, hatred, persecution, or war. We also notice that Jesus does not rescue his disciples at once; he delays for hours. If the Lord, in all his compassion, should delay, he has his reasons.
When Mark says the Twelve had not understood about the loaves, he almost labels what is implied in Matthew. Consecutive biblical narratives often interpret each other (Judges 17–21; 1 Kings 4–11; Matt. 19:16–20:16; Luke 5:17–6:11). The Lord who multiplies bread can still the seas. That should have shaped the disciples’ emotional life. The power and compassion of Jesus speaks to every circumstance of life. If Jesus can walk on water, he can deliver from all distress. The same Jesus who says, “Take heart; it is I,” also says, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20) and “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5). As Hebrews continues, we can confidently state, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (Heb. 13:6).
Greek many stadia, a stadion was about 607 feet or 185 meters
Some manuscripts was out on the sea
That is, between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m.
Some manuscripts strong wind
14:22–27 As the first segment begins, Jesus separates himself and his disciples from the crowds (vv. 22–23). Jesus then withdraws for a long prayer vigil. The Gospels often show Jesus at prayer, whether in formal, public places or in informal, private settings. Luke, sometimes called the Gospel of Prayer, records that Jesus prayed at his baptism (Luke 3:21), before his ministry grew (5:16), before choosing the Twelve (6:12), at the transfiguration (9:28), and before the disciples asked him how to pray (11:1). Prayer is a common theme in Matthew as well (6:5–13; 19:13; 21:13; 26:36, 41) and a vital part of Jesus’ ministry according to all four Gospels.
Jesus orders the disciples to cross the lake, and they set out. After rowing or sailing “a long way from the land,” they stop making progress, for “the wind was against them” (14:24). Their boat is far from land, hull and sails buffeted by waves and a contrary wind that forbids progress. This is no crisis: four of the disciples are fisherman and hence familiar with wind and night. But when verse 25 says that Jesus comes during the fourth watch, we detect a problem. The fourth watch covers the last three hours before sunrise. Since they set out at sunset (v. 23), the disciples have been on the lake, rowing against the storm and floundering in it, for at least nine hours. John 6:19 says they rowed 3 or 4 miles (25–30 stadia) in all that time—and not from lack of effort. Mark says the disciples were “harassed in rowing” (Mark 6:48 NASB mg.), or “straining at the oars” (NIV). So give the disciples credit for persistence: Jesus told them to cross the lake, and they have tried. Still, they are barely moving, and after hours of toil in the storm, Jesus “[comes] to them, walking on the sea” (Matt. 14:25). When they see him, “they [are] terrified,” but he comforts them, saying, “It is I” (vv. 26–27).
While the disciples certainly do not perceive it at first, this act attests to the deity of Christ. The Lord summons storms and rescues his people from them (Ex. 9:22–26; 1 Kings 18:20–19:12; Ps. 18:15–19; Jonah 1–2). Job notes how God “trampled the waves of the sea” (Job 9:8), and here Jesus walks upon the waves and tramples a storm—something no mere man can do or has ever done. Alas, the disciples are in no position to comprehend this. Wearied by toil, exhausted by the hour, roiled by hostile elements, they see the dim figure approaching, “walking on the sea,” and it terrifies them. They exclaim, “It is a ghost,” and cry out in fear (Matt. 14:26).
The Bible affirms the existence of evil spirits but not ghosts. Yet it faithfully reports belief in ghosts, a common belief in that age (1 Samuel 28; Luke 24:37–39). Given that ghosts were construed, in Greco-Roman culture, as portents of impending doom, perhaps the disciples thought death was drawing near.
Jesus corrects them at once: “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid” (Matt. 14:27). “It is I” translates egō eimi (“I am”). This short utterance allows two interpretations. It could be either a self-identification or a claim of deity. In contemporary English, if someone knocks on the door of a friend, identification can go like this: Hearing the knock, the resident asks, “Who is it?” A visitor, knowing her voice is well known, can reply, “It is I.” In Jesus’ day, the proper reply to “Who is it?” was “I am.” So, at first impression, egō eimi means “It is I. Relax.”
But Scripture is written for multiple readings, and the faithful reader knows that “I am” is also the Lord’s name. In Genesis, God says, “I am God Almighty [ʼel shadday]” (Gen. 17:1). In Isaiah he says, “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions” (Isa. 43:25; cf. 51:12; 52:6). Again, “I am the Lord, and there is no other” (Isa. 45:5, 18; cf. Hos. 13:4). Above all, in Exodus 3 he declares, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Ex. 3:6), and finally proclaims, “I am who I am” (Ex. 3:13–14). Jesus especially uses the phrase “I am” in John’s Gospel. He declares, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life,” and “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 14:6; 8:58) and much more. The disciples could not have grasped the claim to deity at this moment, but as skilled readers review the passage, they should recognize that Jesus is the self-existent God, Lord of wind and waves. Therefore, the disciples should “take heart” and rebuke their fears.
Contemporary disciples often allegorize this episode: as Jesus came to the disciples in the midst of their storm, so he comes to us in our storms. Like all misreadings, this has an element of truth. Scripture itself generalizes (to avoid the word “allegorizes”) from God’s past actions. When God led Israel out of Egypt, the people passed through the divided waters of the Red Sea (Exodus 14). Isaiah generalizes, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you” (Isa. 43:2). But this allegorical reading obscures the crucial fact that Matthew 14:22–33 is a true story before it is an inspiring story. Jesus literally walks to the Twelve on the water during a storm that splashes water in their faces and stops their boat for hours. Further, the allegorical reading leaps too quickly from what Jesus does on the lake to “what he does for me.” The move is valid but secondary. Matthew wants readers to ask, “Who is this?” before they ask, “What will he do for me?”
14:28–33 Biblical narratives often appear in mutually interpretive textual clusters (Judges 17–21; 1 Kings 4–11; Matt. 19:16–20:16; Luke 5:17–6:11). The Lord who multiplies bread can still the seas and walk on the waves. Peter’s brief walk on water also illustrates this principle. As we have noted, teachers interpret Peter in opposite ways. Some say his request to walk on the water to Jesus is prompted by pride and vainglory. When he falters and his short journey nearly ends in disaster, the lesson seems clear: Peter’s desire to walk to Jesus on the water is preposterous, an example to be shunned. Peter does seem impetuous when he says, “Lord, if it is you”—he is not even certain the figure is Jesus!—“command me to come to you on the water” (Matt. 14:28). Yet his logic is valid. If Jesus can walk on water, Peter can too. Matthew often notes that disciples imitate their master. In chapters 8–9, Jesus blends words and works while the disciples watch. Then he commissions the Twelve for their first mission and tells them to do exactly what they have seen him do: Jesus went first to Israel, and the disciples must too (10:5–6); Jesus proclaimed the kingdom (4:17), and they must do the same (10:7); Jesus freely healed the sick (4:23), raised the dead (9:18–26), cleansed lepers (8:1–4), and expelled demons (8:28–34), and he then told the disciples to do the same (10:8).
Thus Jesus expects the disciples to follow his example. Further, Jesus chides Peter for doubting but not for his request to walk to him on the water. In fact, Jesus commands Peter to come, and Peter comes. What courage it takes for Peter to get down from the boat! “Got out” in 14:29 translates katabainō, which often means “get down.” The deck of a boat large enough to transport Jesus and the disciples (plus fish or cargo) had to be several feet above the water line. What a daunting prospect to plunge several feet downward from the relative safety of the boat to the dark, heaving waves. In a remarkable act of faith, Peter took that step, “walked on the water and came to Jesus” (v. 29).
Alas, when Peter arrives, he takes his eyes off Jesus: “But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me’” (v. 30). To see the wind is to see its effects—the waves and the spray—and to hear its sounds. The roar of the air and the water, the crack of the sailcloth or his own garment—these sounds invite fear. Peter panics and begins to sink. His faith weakens (v. 31), and yet he does the right thing, calling to Jesus, “Lord, save me” (v. 30). And Jesus does so; he “immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him” (v. 31).
This is the second time Jesus has rescued his disciples during a storm at sea. The first time, Jesus was asleep and the disciples roused him with a plea, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing” (8:25). The Greek has just three words: “Lord, save, we-perish” (kyrie, sōson, apollymetha). The disciples, nearly overwhelmed by fear, woke Jesus up. Their words could sound as if they expected nothing from Jesus, as if they wished to inform him that they were drowning. Yet the plea for him to “save” shows that they did expect something.
The second storm resembles the first. When he cries out (14:30), Peter uses almost the same words as in the first storm: “Lord, save me” (kyrie, sōson me). Both times Jesus asks questions. In the first instance he asked, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” (8:26). Here he asks, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (14:31). Notice too that Jesus asks Peter why he doubted before he and Peter reenter the boat, as if to hint that he could see the solution to the problem before it arrived. He had little faith, but a little would be enough if it rests on Jesus.
Peter succumbed to fear and took his eyes off Jesus, but that is hardly Matthew’s main point. The failure of Peter (or mankind) is less the point than the presupposition of the narrative. Indeed, every biblical narrative records the acts of sinners. Matthew’s message is not “Peter failed; do not be like Peter.” No, the passage teaches that Peter’s failure did not bring catastrophe because Jesus did not fail Peter. Peter took his eyes off of Jesus, but Jesus never took his eyes off of Peter. Peter was safe when he took his eyes off of Jesus because Jesus kept watch over Peter. As Peter started to sink, Jesus caught him (v. 31). Luke declares that his Gospel, like all of Scripture, describes the sufferings and glory of the Messiah (Luke 24:24–27). There is no doubt that Jesus is also the main character from Matthew 1 to 28.
To think that 14:22–33 principally warns disciples to shun pride and vacillation is a major mistake. The failures of the disciples are the setting for the lesson of this passage, not the lesson itself. The passage teaches chiefly that Jesus demonstrates his power, compassion, and deity by rescuing his disciples from a storm threatening their lives. He redeems whether their faith is strong or doubt-stained and vacillating. Therefore, Matthew says, disciples should not fear what befalls them but must trust their powerful and gracious Redeemer.
Peter represents the disciples perfectly. Both faith and doubt lie within him. He is a man of little faith: enough faith to walk to Jesus and trust him, but not enough faith to trust him fully. His faith is strong enough that Jesus has something to work with, but weak enough that Jesus has to work with him. As Peter comes to maturity slowly, with difficulty, he is the archetypal disciple.
The episode closes as Jesus leads Peter to the boat, they climb in, and the wind drops (v. 32). Then “those in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God’” (v. 33). After the last storm, the disciples asked, “What sort of man is this . . . ?” (8:27). They were unsure. Now they confess his deity and worship, even if they barely grasp their own words. So the miracle becomes a sign.
14:34–36 Chapter 14 closes with a short summary of Jesus’ ongoing ministry. When Jesus and the disciples finally land at Gennesaret, residents quickly recognize Jesus and send word through the area that he has arrived. The response is immediate: from the entire region, the sick flock to Jesus. They ask only to touch the edge of his cloak and are completely healed (cf. 9:20–22).
This summary reveals both the scope of Jesus’ ministry and also the power and compassion that lead him to heal so many, even though they are not (yet) disciples. In crowds this size, some surely have conditions that make them unclean. As before (8:1–4), Jesus is unafraid of contact with them, for he does not become unclean through them, but the reverse: they become clean through him. This reflects his love for Israel. It also leads logically to his conflict with the Pharisees concerning the clean and the unclean in the next passage (15:1–20).