1907] LAMBERTON— NARRATIVE OF WALKING ON SEA. 83 



corded in Mark : at his first day's work in Capernaum : here ; and 

 in the garden of Gethsemane : the first and last mark critical mo- 

 ments. Matthew has this instance and that in Gethsemane : critical 

 moment this last. Luke has mention of Jesus praying at his baptism ; 

 at his choosing the twelve; at the Messianic confession; at the 

 transfiguration ; when he teaches his disciples to pray : all of them, 

 each in its way, critical moments : there is besides solitary prayer 

 in 5 :i6, which may be, though it is not clearly so, a critical moment. 

 We may then conclude that the present moment was such a crisis 

 in our Lord's history; just such a moment as would remain fixed 

 forever in people's minds, though (for that very reason) the circum- 

 stances might come to be confused and would be very likely to be 

 exaggerated ; and with the tendencies then and there prevalent this 

 exaggeration could not help taking the form of miracle, not abso- 

 lutely invented, however, but springing out of misunderstanding 

 of attendant facts. This will become clearer, if we can, as I think 

 we can, discover the nature of the crisis. The phrase ov 'yap awrJKai/ 

 expresses really the attitude at the time of the disciples in the face 

 of this crisis : they did not understand it : perhaps, then it is no 

 wonder that i\Iark did not either. 



Let us look at Matthew. All is as in Mark barring three things : 

 (i) Jesus has no thought of passing them: (2) St. Peter will try 

 to walk on the water too (here is exaggeration palpably setting in) : 

 (3) So far from showing any misunderstanding or unbelieving 

 wonder, the disciples rather adore the Lord as he enters the vessel 

 and cry aloud '' Truly thou art the Son of God." Does not this 

 give us a hint of the critical event, which in the confused tradition 

 that came to Mark had been lost? 



But let us look further. Luke has nothing of this walking on 

 the sea, but he has before the feeding of the 5,000 the speculations 

 (Messianic in tendency) of various unnamed persons connected with 

 Herod's court and perhaps outside it ; and then after it comes (9 : 

 18-20) a record without note of time or place of an event that by 

 Matthew and Mark is given at a later date and in a definite place, 

 viz. at Caesarea Philippi. And this event is nothing but the Messi- 

 anic confession made by St, Peter in the name of all the disciples. 

 Compare this with the words just quoted from Matthew, and the 



