To Understand Jesus Walking On Water, Read The Old Testament

When I was younger, a particular kind of 3D picture was popular: You could easily identify the picture at first glance, but if you stared at it long enough, another picture would appear as if magically protruding from the first. The key was looking at it the right way. The same is true for understanding Jesus’s miracles in the Gospels. They’re clearly demonstrations of Jesus’s power. But they communicate more about who he is and what he came to do than may first meet the eye.

With this in mind, let’s revisit Jesus walking on the waters of the Sea of Galilee (Mark 6:45–52; see Matt. 14:22–33; John 6:15–21). In this context, Jesus’s disciples had difficulty rowing their boat in a windstorm. Jesus came to them, walking on the sea amid that same storm. He rescued his disciples from danger, and in so doing, he revealed he is the divine Son of God who leads his disciples in a new exodus.

Old Testament Background

To help us see this miracle in 3D, we need to pay attention to the Old Testament resonances in Mark’s narrative.

1. Lord of the New Exodus

Mark presents the salvation that Jesus accomplishes as a new exodus. In the first exodus, God walked through the sea. In Psalm 77:16–20, Asaph observes that in the exodus, God led his people through the waters of the sea (see Ex. 14:29; 15:19). Further, in Isaiah 43, the Lord makes his way in the sea (v. 16), and the Lord will be with his people when they pass through the waters (v. 2). This chapter looks back on the first exodus as the precedent for a new, future exodus when the Lord would climactically redeem his people.

By walking on the water and saving his disciples in a windstorm, Jesus fulfills that anticipation from Isaiah. He’s the divine Savior who brings the long-anticipated salvation of a new exodus.

2. Theophany on the Water

Mark also tells us that Jesus “meant to pass by” his disciples (6:48). These words open to us a world of scriptural resonances that reveal Christ’s divinity. The language of “pass by” presents Jesus’s walking on the water as a theophany, or appearance of God.

The language of ‘pass by’ presents Jesus’s walking on the water as a theophany, or appearance of God.

At Mount Sinai, Moses experienced a theophany and the glory of the Lord passed by Moses (Ex. 33:19, 22). Elijah also experienced a theophany on the same mountain as Moses (1 Kings 19:8), and the Lord passed by Elijah (v. 11). Mark 6:48 particularly echoes the theophany language of Job 9, where God tramples the waves of the sea (v. 8) and passes by Job, who doesn’t perceive him (v. 11). Mark uses the same Greek term for “pass by” (parerchomai) found in the Greek Old Testament for all three of these theophanies.

The theophany experienced by the disciples is greater than any in the Old Testament. The Lord told Moses that no one can see his face and live (Ex. 33:20), but the disciples saw God incarnate, the second person of the Trinity, when they saw Jesus Christ. He ultimately didn’t pass by them but got into the boat with them, providing for them quiet waters (Mark 6:51; cf. Ps. 23:2).

3. Divine Self-Revelation

Further adding to Jesus’s divine self-revelation are his words in Mark 6:50: “Take heart, I am, do not fear” (author’s translation). The phrasing commonly translated “it is I” in English translations (e.g., CSB, ESV, NIV) could perhaps better be translated “I am,” which is language used of the Lord’s self-revelation in the Old Testament (see Ex. 3:14). It might also reflect texts that speak of the Lord’s uniqueness (e.g., Deut. 32:39; Isa. 43:10, 25; 45:18–19; 46:4), which are often translated as “I am he.”

In Haggai 2:4–5, the Lord states both “I am with you” and “take heart,” phrasing similar to Jesus’s words in Mark 6:50. Even the command “Do not fear” is found in several passages in the Old Testament, (e.g., Isa. 35:4; 40:9; 43:1–3). These texts speak of the Lord coming to save his people in a new exodus, which is realized through the work of Christ.

Miracle in the Context of Mark

This is the second sea miracle in Mark (see 4:35–41), and like the first, it demonstrates Jesus’s divine authority and care for his disciples. Earlier, when Jesus calmed the sea, the disciples wondered “Who is this man?” (v. 41, author’s translation). In this second sea miracle, we learn more about Jesus. He’s the divine Son who delivers his disciples from danger. Further, that Jesus walks on the water with a real body and physically gets into the boat with his disciples also demonstrates his true humanity: He is the God-man.

This miracle anticipates the transfiguration a few chapters later (9:2–8), an even more explicit theophany. There, in an event that itself foreshadows Jesus’s glorious resurrection, Peter, James, and John see Jesus’s glory. Moses and Elijah also appear on the Mount of Transfiguration—significantly, both these men witnessed theophanies in the Old Testament.

Relevance for Our Lives

Jesus revealed his identity in his miracles, but his disciples still didn’t yet understand fully—after this miracle on the sea Mark tells us they didn’t understand about the miracle of multiplying “the loaves” (6:52, ESV). In other words, Jesus’s walking on water, like his feeding of the 5,000, doesn’t only meet a need; it also reveals the mystery of Christ that we are to grasp by faith.

The theophany experienced by the disciples is greater than any in the Old Testament.

What then should we understand about Christ from his walking on the sea?

Jesus is the eternal “I am” who has become incarnate and leads his people in a new exodus toward the peace of the true promised land. Just as he was with his disciples 2,000 years ago to guide and protect them, he continues to be with us today. Despite the opposition we face in this world, his purposes will prevail and the salvation he has accomplished for his people is secure.