When it was evening, his disciples went down to the sea, embarked in a boat, and went across the sea to Capernaum. It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid. But he said to them, "It is I. Do not be afraid." They wanted to take him into the boat, but the boat immediately arrived at the shore to which they were heading. (Jn 6: 16-21)
After the great miracle of feeding the five thousand the crowd wanted to make him the king. But Jesus withdrew himself onto the mountain. Probably he went to pray. The disciples waited for him till the evening and they did not see him coming back from his prayers they embarked in a boat and rowed to Capernaum. They moved away without even being told to go. Probably Jesus repeated like this; that is whenever he went to pray he continued through the night or at least late into the evening so the disciples could not wait for them so they moved on, on their own.
Jesus was walking on the water and coming towards the disciples. Like everyone else the disciples were frightened. They could not think of anything else than a ghost. At first they were drowning into the sea because of the wind and the waves and they were struggling through the rough sea and now they were frightened by someone walking on the water. They could not think anything else.
Jesus said “It is I. Do not be afraid”. In between the roaring wind and the noisy waves the disciples were able to hear the words of Jesus. Amidst the struggles and difficulties the disciples were tuned to the voice of Jesus. They heard him speaking to the in spite of all the tumult. In hearing Jesus words and in wanting his presence amidst them brought them to the shore.
