The gospels record several occasions when Jesus and his disciples sailed on the sea. While the disciples feared the wind and waves, Jesus always displayed confidence that his power was greater than any evil in the sea.
One evening, Jesus sent his disciples ahead of him to sail across the sea. While Jesus prayed on a mountaintop, the storm pushed against the disciples? boat until they were in the middle of the lake. Rough water tossed the boat about, and the disciples were ?straining at the oars? (Mark 6:48).
Jesus allowed the disciples to struggle for some time. He waited until the fourth watch of the night—probably six or eight hours after the disciples left—to start walking toward them.
As he walked on the water, the gospels tell us that he walked by his disciples. Tired and scared, the disciples thought that Jesus might be a ghost coming up from the abyss of the sea. But they eventually cried out to him (v. 49-50).
When he finally heard their shouts, Jesus stopped. He walked toward their boat, stepped in, and showed his power by calming the stormy sea.
