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Walking on water is one of the miracles that the Gospels attribute to Jesus. An account of the miracle appears in the Gospels of John (John 6:16-21), of Matthew[1] and of Mark [2]. According to the Biblical narrative, Jesus sent the disciples in a boat, ahead of him, to Bethsaida, but when they were half way across the lake, Jesus walked over the lake and met them. The narrative states that the disciples were scared at first, thinking it was a ghost, but when Jesus revealed himself and got into the boat, they calmed down. According to Matthew (but not Mark or John) Peter was also able to walk on water, following Jesus's example[3].
Walking on water has subsequently become a colloquialism used when a seemingly impossible task is actually being managed. Also, when one person admires another with an intensity bordering on the irrational, it will frequently be said that "So-and-So believes that Such-and-Such walks on water".
In ancient Egyptian Mythology the God Horus walked on water, and in ancient Greek Mythology the giant hunter and son of the gods Orion walked on water. Hindu, Buddhist [4], and Greek [5] traditions have stories about characters walking on water.
An Egyptian story, told by another son named Bauefre, is set during the reign of Khufu's father Sneferu. ... one of the girls loses an amulet - ... The king laments this, and the chief lector folds aside the water to allow the retrieval of the amulet, then folds the water back. (This may be considered more closely equivalent to Moses's Parting of the Red Sea than to the Walking on Water.)
Scientific view
Sketch by Leonardo da Vinci about floating shoes.In April 2006, scientists placed a controversial theory in which they claim that Jesus may have actually walked on thin ice rather than water. Scientifically, the suggestion was controversial because it assumed the Bible was a fairly factual piece of evidence in recording this event. Religiously the suggestion was controversial because it argued that the Biblical event could have been just an illusion. Others have noted that the Bible never tells how deep the water was, although it is noted that it must have been deep enough for boats to stay adrift and float, as Jesus walks on water towards boats on the water.
The effect of walking on water can be created by having the walker step onto an object that is submerged just below the surface of the water. One example of this was seen in Melbourne, Australia in Ron Barassi's involvement in the 2006 Queen's Baton Relay, where he traversed the Yarra River on a pontoon that was just beneath the water's surface.
Some animals can actually walk on water. By distributing weight in such a way that surface tension does not break, there will be sufficient buoyancy to avoid sinking below the surface - an effect exploited by certain insects (such as the water strider) and some spiders. These animals have optimized body shapes and weight-to-water distributions for the task. The basilisk lizard can also run short distances across the water's surface, using a different mechanism.
[edit] Interpretive criticism
Walking on Water, by Ivan Aivazovsky (1888).In the second volume of A Marginal Jew, subtitled Mentor, Message, and Miracles, John P. Meier individually examines all the miracle stories in the gospels to determine if, behind them, lay a historical kernel. He argues that the walking on water miracle is true theological narrative but not a historical story. The oral tradition, he finds, is embedded with Old Testament types (the declaration of Jesus 'I AM' is consonant with the early church view of him as Yahweh) and post-resurrection perceptions.
In particular, the narrative of the story seems to fall into the genre of apocalyptic (which is not to say eschatological; apocalyptic is here defined as a genre characterized by heavy symbolism and light-dark contrasts). Jesus first herds the disciples into a boat and casts them off alone; he then goes up to a mountain to pray, promising them he will meet them on the other side of the sea. The apostles have difficulty reaching the other shore, but then Jesus appears and all is well. As in the resurrection accounts, the disciples see him as a ghost before recognizing him. This is a metaphor, Meier asserts, for the early post-Easter church. Jesus leaves his disciples in the ascension while promising a return, but occasionally visits them in mid-journey to sustain them (through the Eucharist). As with all apocalyptic literature, it is meant to comfort a beleaguered community.
However Dr RA Cole, formerly of Moore Theological College Sydney has written: `It is impossible to think of this as meaning that he walked along the shore or along a sandbank, as some have interpreted it.The disciples, being fishermen, knew their lake well, and they would not have been terrified by that. There are no difficulties with Jesus walking on the water if we remember that he was the Son of God
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