NOTES for Mat 14:22-36

When reading accounts of miracles, we must understand that they are no less meaningful and no less addressed to us, the readers, than Jesus' direct words when He teaches His disciples “how to live.” Their purpose is never to astound the reader's imagination (“Wow... can you believe it!”), especially since modern readers are no less skeptical than ancient ones. Therefore, the focus of this account is not the miracle (“So Christ could walk on water!”), but, first, Jesus Himself, the future conqueror of death (water, after all, is a symbol of chaos and death), and, second, faith as the realization of the relationship between Christ and His disciple. Both concern us directly. The miracle happens not only on the pages of the Gospel: Christ's victory over death and faith's victory over absurdity and chaos—this is the miracle that takes place in the life of every disciple, regardless of their ability to walk on water.