The presence of Christ seems to bend space and time in this gospel passage, and not only because of the fact that he walks on water. The disciples had already rowed three or four miles in great distress because of the storm on the sea. When they saw Jesus walking on the water, at first they were afraid. Then, once they knew it was him, they must have realized that bringing him into the boat could be their ticket to safety. So the gospel tells us, “they wanted to bring him into the boat, but the boat immediately arrived at the shore.” They must have been looking around thinking, how did that happen?

There are some logical explanations, of course: it was night, so they could not determine their position in the darkness; they were in a storm, so they were disoriented; the body of water itself was not that large. It is possible that the disciples were already close to the safety of the shore but they did not know it. But it seems like there is a more metaphorical significance to their immediate arrival at land.

Jesus is not only a miracle worker who shows his power over the forces of nature, he is our help, our safe harbor, our salvation. The most important display of Jesus’ divine authority in this passage is not his ability to walk on water, it is his loving care which calms the storms within us and brings us to the firm ground of his comforting presence. There have been times when I have been tossed in the storms of my life and, once I truly brought my problems to God in prayer, I suddenly felt that my feet were on solid ground once again.

In those times, we simply need to look out into the storm and see Jesus approaching us. He will always say, “It is I. Do not be afraid.”