Mark 6:47

And when even was come, the boat was in the midst of the sea, and he was alone on the land. And seeing them distressed in rowing, for the wind was contrary unto them, about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking on the sea; and he would have passed by them.

This event must be looked upon as the supernatural rescue of the apostles from mortal danger, as well as from the moral danger due to their hardness. It was an absolutely essential rescue of the Twelve. There is no way to avoid understanding this event as a miracle. The rationalizations of it one finds among the critics are puerile, ridiculous, and unconvincing. Taking all of the accounts together for a composite report of what happened, one finds the following: (1) Jesus could see the apostles in the lake at night in a storm from a distance of several miles. (2) He walked on the lake to go unto them. (3) He commanded Peter to walk on the lake, and for a time Peter did so. (4) He rescued Peter from drowning. (5) The wind ceased as soon as Christ came aboard. (6) The boat was "straightway" at the landing (John 6:21). Were all of these but ordinary events? If so, why is it recorded that "They that were in the boat worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God!" (Matthew 14:33); and why does Mark have "And they were sore amazed in themselves"? (Mark 6:51). Infidelity is hard pressed when it will resort to the type of rationalizing that would explain this wonder as an ordinary event. As Bickersteth said of such "explanations," "They are a laughable insult on logic, hermeneutics, good sense, and honesty."[33]

And he would have passed by them ... is an exceedingly important insight into what happened that night. The apostles were, for a time, hardened against the Saviour, due to their own secular dreams of an earthly kingdom having been so rudely dashed to the ground on the grassy slopes of Bethsaida Julius. If they had continued in that hardness by refusing to cry out unto the Lord as he approached and passed them by, it would have meant their loss to the apostleship; and the Lord would have begun again with other men. When people are tempted to believe in their own importance, as regards holy things, they should recall that Christ was in the act of "passing by" the Twelve themselves, until they cried out for his aid and support.