Genesis 37:12-28, Psalm 108, Romans 10:5-15, Matthew 14:22-23.

 The Psalmist sings, “Oh, give thanks to the Lord. Call on his name. Make known his deeds among the people.”

Rachel cried out, and she was given a son, Joseph, in her old age. She was given another son, Benjamin, and died in childbirth. Jacob loved Joseph more than his other 11 sons and made him a fine colourful coat.

The coat became his downfall as he followed his brother’s flocks for his father traveling 100 miles. He was betrayed as they saw  his coat from afar and plotted his death. Jacob’s eldest son by Leah Reuben was the main plotter. who saved Joseph’s life, firstly plotting to kill him then  plotting to save him and  finally with his brothers selling him into slavery to the Ishmaelites and they took him to Egypt.

The bloodstained coat was presented to Jacob as evidence of Joseph’s demise.

A sorry tale. Jacob’s son Reuben who is previously recorded as having raped Bilhah, his father’s  handmaid given to Rachel, the mother of his brothers. This deepens the cultural distance we have from this tale. Envy runs deep and male power knows no bounds in this Bible story as it seems to know no bounds today.

Seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his presence continually, says the psalm.

This is our hope. The teaching of Deuteronomy 30 is interpreted by Paul through Christ. The word is near you in your mouth and in your heart.

There is no excuse. There was no excuse and there never will be an excuse for what happened.

Paul quotes Joel 2. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. The same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. This is our hope.

This is the good news we proclaim. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

And Isaiah 52:7, how beautiful are the feet of those that bring good news.

 In the gospel, Matthew continues to show us the response of Jesus to the death of John the Baptist. Here we see Jesus in prayer all night and then walking on stormy water before dawn to the boat where the disciples have been battling all night against the winds to reach the shore and failed.

Jesus calms them and Peter calls out to Jesus asking that he might walk out on the water to Jesus only to doubt and sink, again calling on Jesus to save him. This is done and the storms subside as Jesus helps Peter into the boat and those in the boat worship Jesus as the son of God- Messiah. They had encountered God in Jesus and praised God’s special messenger.

What are we to take from this miracle? Jesus saves.

I believe Peter stepped out bravely but his faith was not sufficient to sustain him. Jesus walking on water challenges our understanding of reality. A manifestation of the kingdom of God. A transfiguration of Jesus that proclaims Jesus treading down and ruling over the abyss. This is no party trick. This was God hovering over the waters, the Creator.

And he called Peter to join him. Peter saw the waves, felt the wind, and became fearful. He sank. He did walk for a time. Peter walked on water.

Without a holistic view of creation, as spirit and matter and mind, this makes no sense.

As myth carrying deep meaning it challenges us. God is for each of us, lovingly present. He is reality. He makes himself present to us in breaking bread and wine and here in walking on water. Worship him. Call on him.

The psalm says, Remember the wonderful works he has done, his miracles and his judgments he has uttered.

Believe and life will never be the same. You may fail, but you have walked on water. and Jesus is with you. Did Jesus smile as he pulled Peter up or was he genuinely surprised? I don’t think he was angry. The child learning to walk stumbles.

(Angry) You of little faith, why did you doubt?

(Laughing) You of little faith, why did you doubt?

(Surprised) You have little faith, why did you doubt?

The only evidence we have of the work God does  is the work that God does in us. He can give us transformed lives, people who live lives that attest to the truth. Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth, Paul exhorts us.

None of what we say is true if our life isn’t transformed. And a transformed life is one of peace and not envy and not contention; one of integrity, not of self-aggrandisement.

Jesus goes before us and is there for us to see us transformed.

Grace and peace.

Attribution: Runge, Philipp Otto, 1777-1810. Christ Walking on the Water, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt University Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://act.library.vanderbilt.edu/artworks/59351 [retrieved August 15, 2026]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Philipp_Otto_Runge_-_Petrus_auf_dem_Meer_%28ca._1806%29.jpg.

A short essay on the artistic and spiritual meaning of this artwork is available from The Visual Commentary on Scripture, https://thevcs.org/walking-water/those-peril-sea?first=5546.