Standing in the Presence of Glory

There are moments in Scripture so stunning, so breathtaking, that they stop us in our tracks. Not because they offer us a practical tip for better living or a three-step plan for spiritual success, but because they simply demand we stand still and behold. The story of Jesus walking on water is one of those moments—a revelation so profound that the only appropriate response is wonder.

The God Who Reveals Himself
Throughout history, the God of heaven has chosen to make Himself known to His creatures. This is remarkable in itself. The eternal, self-existent One who needs nothing and no one condescends to speak to us, to show us who He is. When Moses encountered God at the burning bush, he stood on holy ground before a fire that burned but didn't consume. God introduced Himself with words that echo through eternity: "I AM WHO I AM."

This wasn't merely a name. It was a declaration of absolute self-existence. Everything in the universe depends on God for every breath, every heartbeat, every moment of existence. But God? He depends on nothing and no one. He was before all things, He will be after all things, and He alone is the foundation of all being.

Moses learned that day that God sees suffering, hears cries for help, and comes down to rescue His people. The Exodus story became the defining event of Israel's identity—a God who delivers, who makes a way through impossible circumstances, who tramples the waves of the sea to bring His people to freedom.

Yet even Moses, that great friend of God, could not see God's face and live. When he asked to see God's glory, the Lord hid him in the cleft of a rock, covered him with His hand, and allowed him only to see His back as He passed by. The holiness of God was too overwhelming, too consuming for sinful humanity to encounter directly.

Pushed Out to Sea
Fast forward to a night on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had just fed five thousand men with a few loaves and fish, revealing Himself as the same God who fed Israel with manna in the wilderness. But instead of capitalizing on this moment of popularity, He did something unexpected—He made His disciples get into a boat and row to the other side while He dismissed the crowd and went up the mountain to pray.

The word "made" is significant. This is the only time in Mark's Gospel where Jesus compels His disciples to do something. They probably had questions. Why leave the crowds now? Why aren't you coming with us? How will you get there without a boat? But Jesus sent them out anyway.

Life often feels like being pushed out in a boat when we'd rather stay on comfortable shore. The hospital visit we'd give anything to avoid. The job loss that makes no sense. The move we don't want to make. The season of struggle where we're rowing hard and getting nowhere. We have so many questions, and the situation seems senseless.

But we can trust that the same good and gentle Jesus is the one pushing us into those places. He has purposes we cannot yet see.

The Fourth Watch
While Jesus prayed on the mountain, the disciples struggled on the sea. The wind howled against them. The waves broke over the boat. They rowed with all their strength and made no headway. Hours passed—through evening, through midnight, into the darkest part of the night before dawn.

They were exhausted. They had exhausted all human effort, and it had accomplished nothing. Where was Jesus? He was alone on the land; they were out on the sea. There seemed no possible way for Him to reach them.

They did not understand. They couldn't think outside their limited, human perspective. If Jesus was so powerful, why didn't He just blow the wind in the other direction? Why make this so hard?

But Jesus had a reason. He wanted them to see His glory in a way they had never seen it before. And what they were about to witness could only happen in the middle of the sea, in the howling wind, in the breaking waves, in the fourth watch of the night when all hope seemed lost.

I AM
Jesus came to them, walking on the sea.

Let that sink in. The God who alone tramples the waves of the sea, who makes a way through the waters, who walks in the recesses of the deep—this God stepped off the shore two thousand years ago and walked across the water to meet His frightened disciples.
He did what only God can do.

When they saw Him, they thought He was a ghost and cried out in terror. But immediately He spoke: "Take heart, it is I. Do not be afraid."

Or more literally: "I AM."

The same name God gave Moses at the burning bush. The same declaration of eternal self-existence. The God of heaven revealing Himself once again to His people.

But then something happened that never happened with Moses. Something unprecedented in the history of divine encounters.

I AM got into the boat with them.

The Boat Changes Everything
This is not how meetings with the glory of God are supposed to work. Moses was warned not to come near. He had to take off his shoes. He couldn't see God's face or he would die. The mountain of God was off-limits on pain of death. The Holy of Holies could only be entered once a year by one person, and even then with great fear.

The sin and death we carry cannot dwell in the presence of a holy God without His justice consuming it.

But here, God in Christ draws near. He gets in the boat. He tells them not to be afraid but to take heart. The wind that had fought them all night ceased the moment He stepped in.
Jesus could only do this because He knew what was coming. He would go to the cross and die for their sins. He would take the punishment they deserved. The holy God could get in the boat with sinful people because He would make a way through His own blood.

When they reached the other shore, something beautiful happened. People brought the sick to Jesus wherever He went. They laid them in marketplaces and begged just to touch the fringe of His garment. And as many as touched it were made well.

Just being in His presence brought healing. No more sickness. No more pain. Just wholeness and restoration.

It was a small taste of eternity to come. Jesus will return and make all things new—a new heavens and a new earth where there is no more death, no more mourning, no more crying, no more pain. Just joy forever in His presence, beholding His glory in all its wonder and beauty.

How lovely is the dwelling place of the Lord. How our souls long and even faint for the courts of God. A single day in His presence is better than a thousand anywhere else.
This is the heart's true longing—not for what God can do for us, but for God Himself. To behold His glory. To dwell in His presence. To see Him as He truly is.

If we base our hope on what we think God will do for us in this world, we will eventually give up when circumstances disappoint. But if we base our hope on who God is—on His eternal glory, His unfailing character, His revealed truth—we will weather every storm.

Jesus walked on water. The God of heaven came down. And He got in the boat with us.

What else could we possibly need?