19 So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid. 20 But he saith unto them, It is I;[213] be not afraid. [213] Ps. 35:3; Isa. 43:1, 2; Rev. 1:17, 18. 21 Then they willingly received him into the ship; and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went. =19-21. So when they had rowed about five-and-twenty or thirty furlongs.= _Stadia_; that is, a little over three miles. The lake at this point is about six miles across; they had therefore rowed about half way across the lake; but they were unable to make head against the wind, and could not reach the northern shore to keep their appointment with Jesus. _It was while they were endeavoring to come to Jesus that he came out upon the sea to meet them._--=They see Jesus walking on the sea.= That he was really walking on the sea, not standing on the land and supposed to be on the sea because only dimly discerned through the storm and darkness (_Bleek_), is evident from the facts, (1) that Peter went out to meet him (Matt. 14:28-31); (2) that on receiving him into the ship they were immediately at the land “unto which they were going” (εἰς ἣν ὑπῆγον). This was the plain of Gennesaret, on which Capernaum was situated, and was two or three miles away from the point where they met Jesus; for they had as yet rowed only about half the distance across the lake.--=He saith unto them, It is I.= Literally, _I am_. The same language used by Jesus in Jerusalem (ch. 8:58), for which the Pharisees would have stoned him, and in the O. T. to designate Jehovah (Exod. 3:14). Here I should prefer to give it this meaning. Christ says not merely, “It is I, your Friend and Master;” he says, at least implies, It is the “I am” who is coming to you, the Almighty One who rules winds and waves, who made them, and whom they obey.--=Be not afraid.= This is the message of Christ to his people in the hour of his advent (Luke 2:10); of their tempest experiences of temptation and struggle (Matt. 14:27; Mark 6:50; 1 Pet. 3:14); their sorrows (Matt. 28:10; Mark 5:36); and their hour of dangerous duty (Acts 18:9).--=Then they willingly received him.= Literally, _Thereupon they willed to receive him_. If this account stood alone we might perhaps doubt whether he actually did enter the ship, as some rationalistic commentators have done; but Matthew and Mark are explicit in their statements that he did so.--=And immediately the ship was at the land to which they were going.= That is, the shore at Capernaum. This, coupled with the statement of ver. 19 that they had only rowed twenty-five or thirty furlongs, _i. e._, about half way, seems clearly to imply a further miracle, unless indeed we give to the word _immediately_ (εὐθέως) a large latitude of expression, understanding it merely to mean that since the wind at once ceased (Matt. 14:32) they had no further