Home > Jesus is God in Mark's Gospel
This incident is also mentioned in Matthew 14:22-33 and John 6:16-21 but interestingly not in Luke’s Gospel. Jesus intentionally sends them out knowing there will be a storm on the water while He goes alone to pray!
In Mark 4 Jesus stills the storm but here he walks on the water with the storm still raging. He demonstrateds authority over the very forces that symbolise chaos in Israel’s wordview.
Mark 6:45–52 - Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.
“fourth watch of the night” - The disciples are exhausted rowing against the storm in the middle of the night for hours. The Gospel of John says they had rowed for 3-4 miles. The forth watch is roughly between 3-6 o’clock in the morning. It is the darkest part of the night. All human strength and human confidence had been used up and divine help was required.
“He came to them” - Jesus did not turn up early. He did not turn up midway through the battle. He tuned up at the end when human effort can do nothing. God’s timing is when we are at our weakest and exposed to ur need for God’s help.
2 Corinthians 12:9 - But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
"pass by them" - language used for God’s theophanies to Moses and Elijah. Jesus is not trying to "overtake" the boat; He is revealing His Divine Glory to the disciples.
Exodus 33:21–23 - And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”
Exodus 34:6 - The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
1 Kings 19:11 - And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.
“Walking in the sea” - In Job 9:8 “who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea;” By walking on the water, Jesus is physically performing an action that the Hebrew Bible uses to define the unique sovereignty of Yahweh over chaos. See also Psalm 77:19 “Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen.” The Jewish audience saw this as an unmistakable sign of Divine identity.
“Ghost...cried out...terrified” - The reaction of the disciples.
“Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” - In the original Greek of the New Testament, the phrase translated as “It is I” is ἐγώ εἰμι (Ego Eimi). While this can be a simple way of saying "It's me," the context and construction point directly to the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament). In Exodus 3:14, when God reveals His name to Moses at the burning bush, the Septuagint uses Ego Eimi to translate the Hebrew "I AM." In the Book of Isaiah, God repeatedly identifies Himself with the phrase Ego Eimi to distinguish Himself from idols (e.g.,Isaiah 41:4, 43:10). When Jesus walks on the water and says "I AM," He is visually and verbally fulfilling the role reserved exclusively for the Creator in the Old Testament. He is doing what only the God of Israel is described as doing.
“wind ceased” - Psalm 107:29 “He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.” Jesus gets into the boat and the wind ceases. Jesus didn’t do this to simply maze the disciples. Jesus used the darkest hour of human exhaustion to reveal Divine authority, presence and authority all at once.
“utterly astounded” - Their fear collapses into worship. This is clear in Matthew 14:33 “And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” The disciples didn't just give Him a polite greeting; they fell down and worshipped Him. For monotheistic Jews, this level of worship was reserved for Yahweh alone. The word used is prosekunēsan (from proskuneō). This verb specifically describes a physical posture: falling to one's knees or prostrating oneself to kiss the ground or the feet of a superior.