16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 and they entered into the boat, and were going over the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not come to them. 18 The sea was tossed by a great wind blowing. 19 When therefore they had rowed about twenty-five or thirty stadia (three to four miles), they saw Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing near to the boat; and they were afraid. 20 But he said to them, “I AM. Don’t be afraid.” 21 They were willing therefore to receive him into the boat. Immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.

John 6:16-21 - World English Bible

After the multiplication of the loaves and fish in John 6, Jesus and his disciples went in different directions; Jesus escaped the crowd up the mountain (6:15), while the disciples returned to Capernaum by boat. A night storm arose on the lake. (Such squalls were not uncommon, as the warm, night air over the lake rose and sucked the cold air from the desert over the lake and upward.) The storm tossed the disciples about, as they furiously rowed towards safety. Suddenly, they saw Jesus walking on the water and were afraid. (The image echoed Job 9:8: God alone stretches out the heavens,

and treads on the waves of the sea.) Then he announced "I AM. Do not be afraid." This statement proclaimed the divinity of the Lord, along with his most employed command; in other words, God is here, be at peace. When he climbed aboard, they reached their destination.

The miracle of Walking on the Water appeared in three gospels: Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52 and John 6:16-21. While differing in detail, each mentioned the storm, Jesus' place on the water, his declaration of divinity ("I AM") and his command ("don't be afraid" or "have courage"), his entering the boat. Scholars have debated the historical and symbolic nature of this passage for centuries, but, thematically, the story related crisis (storm on the lake), epiphany (appearance and identity of the Lord) and union with the divine (his entry onto the boat).

Don't our lives sometimes follow the same pattern?

Have you had a time of crisis, followed by the peace of God's presence? What happened?