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Storms on the Sea of Galilee: who is this man?

The Sea of Galilee's sudden storms, the fourth watch, Peter sinking, the first-century Galilee boat, and what both storms reveal about Jesus.

Two nights on the Sea of Galilee. On the first, Jesus slept through a storm and then silenced it with a word (Mark 4:35-41). On the second, He came to His disciples walking on the water, and Peter stepped out of the boat (Matthew 14:22-33).

A lake below the sea

The Sea of Galilee is a freshwater lake about thirteen miles long and seven and a half miles wide. It lies in the Jordan Valley about 700 feet below sea level, ringed by hills. As GotQuestions.org explains, cool air from the heights can pour down onto the warm, moist air over the water and stir up sudden, violent storms.

Peter, Andrew, James and John had fished this lake for a living. That is what makes their fear so telling.

"Peace, be still"

And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. (Mark 4:37-39)

GotQuestions.org draws out both sides of this moment. Jesus asleep in the stern shows He was truly a man, worn out after a day of teaching. Jesus speaking to the wind shows He is truly God, because only God can command the wind and the water. The psalmist had said it long before: "Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them" (Psalm 89:9).

The fourth watch of the night

After feeding the five thousand, Jesus sent the disciples ahead by boat and went up a mountain to pray. "But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea" (Matthew 14:24-25).

The night was divided into watches, and the fourth ran from about 3 to 6 in the morning. GotQuestions.org notes that the disciples had been straining at the oars for hours. Mark says Jesus "saw them toiling in rowing" (Mark 6:48).

When they cried out in fear, He said, "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid" (Matthew 14:27). In Greek, "it is I" is ego eimi, literally "I am." These are the same words Jesus used when He said, "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58). GotQuestions.org explains that "I AM" is the name God gave Himself at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14), and that Jesus' hearers understood that He was claiming it. Many Bible teachers hear the same echo on the water, and Job had said God alone "treadeth upon the waves of the sea" (Job 9:8).

Peter on the water

And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? (Matthew 14:29-31)

Peter really did walk on the water. As GotQuestions.org puts it, when he fixed his eyes on the wind and waves, doubt pushed out faith. Yet his cry, "Lord, save me," was itself an act of faith: he knew he could not save himself, and he called on the only One who could. Jesus caught him immediately, and the gentle rebuke came only once Peter was safe.

This is the same Peter who would later deny Jesus three times and go out to weep bitterly (Matthew 26:75). But after the resurrection Jesus restored him, asking him three times, "lovest thou me?" (John 21:17).

The Galilee boat

In 1986 a drought lowered the lake, and two brothers from Kibbutz Ginosar spotted the outline of an ancient boat in the mud of the northwest shore, a little north of Migdal (Magdala). Archaeologists dug it out in less than two weeks, encased it in foam, and soaked it for years in a synthetic wax to preserve the timbers. Since 2000 it has been on display at the Yigal Allon Museum at Ginosar.

The boat is about 27 feet long and 7½ feet wide, built mainly of cedar planks on oak frames. Radiocarbon tests date it to roughly the first century BC to the first century AD. It had a mast for a sail and could carry about fifteen people.

Its value is that it shows the kind of boat that could hold Jesus and the twelve, small enough to be swamped by a squall. It is often called the "Jesus boat," but honestly there is no evidence that it belonged to Jesus or any disciple. The archaeologist Shelley Wachsmann put it carefully: it is "of the type that would have been used by Jesus and his disciples."

"What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

After the first storm, the disciples "feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" (Mark 4:41). By the second, they had their answer: "Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God" (Matthew 14:33). GotQuestions.org notes that this is the first time the disciples are said to worship Him, and that the title "Son of God" means He shares the very nature of God.

That is where both storms lead: to Jesus, who is God with us in the boat. As GotQuestions.org puts it, He has not promised to calm every storm, but He gives peace in the middle of them. And Peter's three-word prayer is one anyone can pray. "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13).

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