They were a little more than halfway across the lake. They had been rowing against the wind for several hours, but it was so strong that they were only 3 or 4 miles across the 6 mile wide lake.

When Jesus had ordered them to get into the boat and go to the other side to wait for Him, they must have thought that He would join them on the other shore, having traveled by land since there were no other boats at the point of departure. (John 6:22) That was probably what He intended until He saw their difficulty. The moon was full, being so close to the Passover, and He could easily have seen their ship from high up on the mountain and the difficulty, if not danger, which it was suffering in the face of such a strong wind. This must have caused him to come to their need. So this miracle of Jesus walking on the water was a display of his power over nature, but also a reaffirmation of His concern and provision for the needs of His own. He who had just provided for the needs of the hungry crowd, was now providing for the needs of His disciples who were having a rough time on the lake.

The disciples of Jesus can rest assured that He sees every problem and distress they are going through and that He will come to their aid. Sorrows and troubles always bring Jesus near to his own.

By these 2 miracles, Jesus shows that He had perfectly fulfilled God’s intention for man “to have dominion over the works of” His hands. Psalms 8:5-6; Heb 2:6-9

Heb 2:6-9  But there is a place where someone has testified: “What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet.” In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

It is interesting to note that Jesus had sent the disciples away when the crowd had tried to make him King. They must have been experiencing great excitement and were probably quite reluctant to leave with the possibility of their Master being made King over all of Israel and with such a large immediate following! But in their disappointment over His not being crowned King, they are shown by his walking on the water that He already is King, but “in a far higher, truer sense than the excited multitude would have proclaimed Him.” (Edersheim I, p. 692) How often are we disappointed because Jesus does not meet our expectations of Him, only to find that He is much greater than we could ever have imagined?

Note that the very waves that are causing the disciples such distress are what Jesus uses to draw near to them. He uses the storms in our lives to draw near to us and to draw us near to Him. At the threat of mixing metaphors, we don’t seem to grow on the mountain tops nearly as much as we grow in the valleys. In fact, Jesus uses every circumstance to help us grow closer to Him (Rom 8:28).

Ro 8:28  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.