During the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went out to them, walking on the sea.
Parallel translations
- WEB In the fourth watch of the night, Jesus came to them, walking on the sea.
- KJV And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
- NKJV Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.
- NASB And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea.
- NLT About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
In the early morning Jesus comes to them walking on the sea. He displays divine power over creation itself.
Overview
In the fourth watch, near dawn, Jesus approaches the struggling disciples by walking on the water. This act, which Scripture elsewhere ascribes to God alone treading the waves, reveals His divine nature. The miracle assures believers that Christ has sovereign mastery over the chaos that threatens them and comes to His people in their need.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Job 9:8He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.
- Mark 6:48He could see that the disciples were straining to row, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went out to them, walking on the sea. He intended to pass by them,
- John 6:19When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the sea—and they were terrified.
- Matt 24:43But understand this: If the homeowner had known in which watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.
- Ps 93:3–4The floodwaters have risen, O LORD; the rivers have raised their voice; the seas lift up their pounding waves.
- Luke 12:38Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night and finds them alert, those servants will be blessed.
- Ps 104:3laying the beams of His chambers in the waters above, making the clouds His chariot, walking on the wings of the wind.
- Rev 10:8Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the small scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel standing on the sea and on the land.”
- Rev 10:5Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven.
- Rev 10:2He held in his hand a small scroll, which lay open. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 14:25 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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