Jesus Christ Didn't Need A Boat in The Sea of Galilee

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Jesus Christ spent a lot of time in his ministry around the Sea of Galilee. In Luke's gospel, it is also known as Lake Gennesaret. Modern day Israelis now call it Kinneret. The lake measures just more than 21 kilometers north-south, and it is only 43 meters deep. 

In the Bible, 18 of the 33 recorded miracles of Jesus were most likely done in areas surrounding the Sea of Galilee. Jesus moved around the surrounding area quite a lot. According to Matthew 4:23: Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 

It was the same lake that Jesus Christ met and asked his first disciples to join him. They were fishermen on a boat casting a net into the lake (Matthew 4: 18-21).

For practical reason, Jesus needed a boat to go around the area easily. I presumed that one of the reasons Jesus invited Peter and his brother Andrew, James and his brother John to be his disciples was because they were fishermen who had access to a boat. It would be easy to go places around the Sea of Galilee using a boat.

In one of the stories that transpired along the lake, there was this remote place called Tabgha. That was where Jesus ministered to and fed 5,000 people (Matthew 14:15 -21; Mark 6: 30-44). Jesus performed the miracle of multiplying five loaves of bread and two fishes to feed that much people. In that miracle, the disciples who witnessed it were still clueless about the true nature of Jesus Christ (Mark 6: 51). 

After all the people were fed, Jesus sent the crowd away and instructed his disciples to go on the boat and cross the other side. He said that he will catch up with them later. He then went up the nearest mountainside to pray.

While Jesus prayed, he could see his disciples from afar struggling to paddle across the lake. The waves and the wind were moving and blowing against them. After winding up his prayer, he went to his disciples and walked on the lake to reach them. The disciples were scared at first because they thought that he was a ghost. When he boarded the boat, he calmed them down (Matthew 14: 25 -32).

If Jesus had the ability to walk on water, then he actually didn't need a boat to go to the cities and towns around the Sea of Galilee? He could've gone as he wished and where he needed to go by walking on the lake to perform miracles and preach the good news. 

Come to think of it, walking on the lake would have been convenient than tugging along his disciples on a boat. However, the boat was needed because his disciples, obviously, cannot walk on water.

What he really needed were people to continue his mission in this world. Walking on the lake was Jesus' way of proving to the disciples that he is the real deal. The disciples at first didn't get it during the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. 

The idea of Jesus' divinity finally sank into the disciples' minds when they saw him walk on the lake. Jesus wanted to use that idea so that his disciples will draw strength to preach the good news to the ends of the earth when he's not around anymore.

When they finally reached the other side, people in droves rushed to Jesus and brought their sick to be healed. That always happens when people hear news of the boat approaching. 

Jesus had a way of  touching the souls of people through others. He ministered and performed miracles to a lot of people in front of his disciples. They saw all of it and eventually they became not only witnesses but doers of what Jesus did on earth. Jesus had been performing miracles through others throughout the century.

Amid this pandemic, Jesus Christ continues to heal through health care workers tending to people especially those who fell sick to Covid-19. Let us pray for the healing power of Jesus Christ to flow through these people as they help Covid-19 patients to get well.

The hospitals have now become an object of deliverance from Covid-19 sickness. Infected people flock to them in droves for treatment. We pray for Jesus Christ's presence in all hospitals so that they continue to accept and heal people who are sick.  

Jesus had always showed compassion to sick people. He had always extended his hands to heal them. He came in a boat bringing hope, healing and deliverance.

Following Jesus Christ's example where he drew strength from prayer, let us also pray for the continued strength of health care workers to care for those who are seriously sick from Covid-19.  Remember that he prayed by the mountainside before he walked on water to catch up with his disciples. 


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