Growing up I was always taught that the story of Jesus walking on water was a story about the faith or lack thereof of Peter. While faith is certainly an important part of this story, there is so much more going on that I’ve never heard spoken from a pulpit but certainly deserves treatment.
Ancient peoples had a tumultuous relationship with deep water bodies like seas, large lakes, and the ocean. From an ancient cosmological view, deep water bodies connected to the cosmic primordial ocean which existed deep below the earth. The cosmic ocean represents a primordial chaos and stormy seas reflect this chaotic state.
In ancient Canaanite mythology, Yamm was the god of the sea. He was considered an evil god and was eventually defeated by Baal whom the Canaanites considered a good god. Still others viewed an ancient and malicious serpent or dragon like creature which churned the sea [in Hebrew this was Leviathan or Rahab, in other Canaanite literature this was Litanu]. Furthermore, only a truly powerful deity could walk around on the sea. In Canaanite religion striding the sea was an attribute of Ashera.
When Jesus walks on water [Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52, John 6:16-21] this is a massive polemic statement as to just whom Jesus is! The disciples are rightly terrified that in the midst of a storm something is out there walking on the water. Jesus calls out to them “have courage, I am he!” this matches the Septuagint rendering of Yahweh: ego eimi (granted this could also be colloquial, but it would make more sense to just shout “relax it’s me, Jesus.”).
What is fascinating is this isn’t the first time that Jesus shows he is the master above chaos. Just a short while before he also calms a sea by speaking to it [Matthew 8:23-27, Mark 4:35-41, Luke 8:22-25]. The old testament also points out that God is supreme over chaos as he is the one who crushes Leviathan/Rahab [Psalms 74:13-14, Job 26:12, Psalm 89:10, Isaiah 27:1], he is the one who tramples on the waves of the sea [Job 9:6, Habakkuk 3:15], he stills the roars of the seas [Psalm 65:7, Psalm 89:9, Psalm 107:23-30, Jonah 1:11-16, Nahum 1:4], and he commands the primordial chaos the sea represents [Isaiah 23:11, Psalm 107:23-30, Isaiah 51:15, Daniel 7:2, Jonah 1:4].
To sum it up, by showing power over the seas, whether walking upon it or commanding it, Jesus makes a strong polemic statement to his disciples and to us that he is the one and only God and that no power of chaos can stand against him. Jesus frankly makes it look downright trivial! When we apply this to our own lives it behooves us to remain cognizant to the fact that regardless of the trial or difficulty we face, no matter how chaotic the circumstance, we have been adopted by the one true God with sovereign power over chaos… we have nothing to fear.