This is one of the Bible’s best-loved stories, and it’s not hard to see why. It’s easy for us to visualize the disciples struggling to get their small ship across the stormy Sea of Galilee, and their astonishment when Jesus comes to them, strolling atop the waves as if the water was a Roman road. We can sympathize with Peter, who in the flush of amazement goes onto the water himself, only to be struck with fear. And we can draw a clear spiritual message of trusting the Lord and believing in His power.

(Notae: The Apocalypse Explained 514 [21])

But is that all there is? Did Jesus walk on water just to amaze the disciples and to amaze the reader? Or did it have some deeper meaning?

According to the Writings, what the story illustrates the fact that the new church being launched by Jesus would bring spiritual life to the wide world, not just the narrow group of specific believers – and that the Lord works the same way in the world today.

One of the key symbols here is the sea, which represents those in the outskirts of the church. They have some spiritual knowledge and a great deal of natural knowledge, all of it fluid and turbulent. Another is the ship, which represents the specific beliefs held by the disciples, their doctrine. They sail that ship, alone, into the turbulence of the beliefs of the outskirts of the church. The waves show that they were attacked by arguments from natural ideas; the wind shows that their doctrine was not elevated enough to be truly aligned with the Lord’s power.

So Jesus comes to them at dawn – which means the beginning of His new church – walking on the water. This shows that in His perfect love and goodness He brings life even to those in external beliefs. At first the disciples don’t recognize Him and are afraid – the reaction of those in a lower spiritual state to the advance of a higher one. But Jesus reassures them, and Peter – who represents true ideas which spring from the desire for good – dares to walk on the water himself.

For a moment, buoyed by the belief in Jesus, it works. True ideas based on the desire for good can work without the support of a specific doctrinal system, even in the hurly-burly of natural thinking. But the disciples are not ready for this yet; Peter’s confidence fails him and Jesus has to deliver him back to the ship. The end result, though, is a spiritual advance for the disciples. The fact that the wind stops when Jesus boards the ship shows an elevation in their doctrinal ideas; they are more in accord with the Lord’s power (represented by the wind). And what is this difference? That’s illustrated by the fact that they bow and worship Jesus, calling him the Son of God.

So what does this mean to us? We are (hopefully, anyway) essentially disciples – people with some knowledge of the Lord and the desire to be good. What we can learn, then, is that the Lord’s love is not restricted to us or to those who believe as we do – it is for everyone, everywhere, in every reach of the sea. And we might want to work on trusting the Lord and believing in His power if we want to get out on the water and help the world.

(Notae: The Apocalypse Explained 514 [21])

57. I spoke with some of those people about the keys given to Peter, asking whether they believed the Lord's power over heaven and hell was transferred to him. Since this is a fundamental point in their religious system, they strongly insisted on it, saying that there was no doubt at all about it, since it is plainly stated. When I asked whether they knew that the details of the Word contain a spiritual sense, and that this is how the Word is understood in heaven, they started by saying that they did not. But later they said that they would enquire, and on doing so they were taught that the details of the Word contain a spiritual sense, which is as different from the literal sense as what is spiritual is from what is natural. Moreover, they were taught that none of the names used in the Word has that meaning in heaven, but there something spiritual is understood instead. Finally they were informed that instead of Peter there is meant in the Word the church's truth of faith coming from the good of charity. Rock, which is mentioned along with Peter, has a similar meaning, for we read:

You are Peter and upon this rock ¹ I will build my church. Matthew 16:18.

This does not mean that any power was given to Peter, but to truth arising from good; for all power in the heavens belongs to truth arising from good, or to good acting by means of truth, and because all good and truth come from the Lord, and nothing is from man, all power belongs to the Lord.

On hearing this they were indignant and wanted to know whether that was the spiritual sense of the words. So they were given the Word as it is in heaven, which contains the spiritual but not the natural sense, since it is for angels, and they are spiritual. On the existence of such a Word in heaven see HEAVEN AND HELL 259-261. When they read this they saw plainly that there was no mention of Peter in it, but in his place truth from good coming from the Lord. ¹ On seeing this they angrily rejected the Word, and would almost have torn it in pieces with their teeth, if it had not been instantly snatched away. Thus they were convinced, although against their will, that that power belongs to the Lord alone; far less does it belong to any human being, because it is Divine.

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