Walking on the Deep: Jesus, Peter, and the Chaos Beneath

Jesus walking on water is one of the most recognized images in the world.

It has been preached, analyzed, and written about by countless teachers, pastors, and theologians.

Yet, when we explore this story through depth psychology, archetypal patterns, and the myths woven into human experience, its depths reveal even more.

I’m not here to reduce this event—recorded in Matthew 14:22–33, Mark 6:45–52, and John 6:16–21—to mere symbolism or allegory.

Rather, I want to let its multi-layered truth intertwine with our own multi-layered reality.

Yes, this event was real.

But so is the reality it speaks to—spiritual, psychological, and physical.

If we only admire this as a miracle from the past, we risk missing its invitation to transformation in the present.

So let’s step into the story.

 

The Storm, the Deep, & the Impossible

The disciples were sailing on what began as a calm Sea of Galilee.

The water, like a mirror, reflected the sky above.

Beneath them, unseen depths stretched below.

Just like the human soul. You’re deeper than you might ever imagine. 

Then night fell.

Then the storm came.

 

The Chaos Beneath the Surface

This wasn’t their first storm.

They were seasoned fishermen, accustomed to turbulent waters.

But this storm was different—

It shook the very framework of what they believed was stable.

They fought to steady the boat, rowing and struggling for hours, desperate to reach the other side.

How often do we do the same? Struggling against unseen forces, wrestling with the waves of our own unconscious? Trying—desperately—to keep control?

 

The Waters as Chaos in Scripture

Throughout the Bible, the sea represents chaos—unpredictable, uncontrollable, often dangerous. In the ancient Near East, deep waters were feared: they symbolized death, disorder, or the abyss. For example:

• Genesis 1:2 – “Darkness was over the face of the deep.” The waters existed before God spoke order into creation.
• Psalm 69:1–2 – “Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck… I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me.”
• Jonah 2:3–6 – Jonah is swallowed by the deep, descending into the unknown, only to be brought back by God’s hand.

In Scripture, the sea often stands for what lies beyond human control—the place beneath life’s surface where chaos reigns. And that is precisely where Jesus chooses to appear.

 

Walking on the Deep

Amid the raging storm, something impossible appears—

Jesus, walking on the water.

Not on calm waters,

but on the chaos itself—

the very abyss that threatened to swallow them whole.

The disciples cry out in fear—

for who walks on water?

Yet here He is—

doing the unthinkable:

✔ Not avoiding the storm.

✔ Not silencing it immediately.

✔ But walking upon it.

It boggles the mind.

 

What This Means in Depth Psychology

Carl Jung spoke of the unconscious as an oceanic depth—

a vast and unseen world of instincts, fears, and forgotten truths

that surge beneath our waking minds.

For most, the unconscious overwhelms—

it breaks through in moments of anxiety, nightmares, and emotional storms.

Yet here, Jesus does not sink beneath these waters.

He does not drown in the chaos.

He moves across it with authority

He transcends the deep

without being devoured by it.

He does not force the storm into submission,

but moves through it, unshaken.

Then, in an act as bold as it is reckless,

Peter steps forward.

And for a moment—

he too walks on the deep.

 

Peter’s Leap of Faith into the Unknown

Peter—ever the bold one—doesn’t just watch.

He dares to step forward,

to tread upon the deep.

And for a brief, impossible moment—

he does.

He walks upon the waters.

This is not merely belief—

it is faith in motion.

It is stepping onto the very thing that terrifies you.

For a few sacred seconds,

Peter transcends his own limits.

He stands atop the chaos.

The Moment of Collapse

But then—

his focus shifts.

He looks away from Jesus

and back to the storm.

And in that instant—

he begins to sink.

The waters, once firm beneath his feet,

now reclaim him.

As soon as he sees the waves instead of the Word,

as soon as his heart grasps for logic instead of trust,

fear surges—

and he goes under.

 

Rescued from the Deep

Just before the waters close over him,

Jesus reaches out—

and pulls him up.

This is not punishment.

It is a reminder.

We are not meant to vanish in the deep.

We are meant to be transformed by it.

They step into the boat.

The storm fades.

But Peter—

Peter is never the same.

For a few, impossible seconds—

he walked on the deep.

And he will never forget that he could.

The Challenge: Don’t Just Admire—Step In

This story is not just about Jesus’ power. It’s an invitation:

• We will face storms.
• We will be called into chaos.
• We will be tempted to collapse inward.

But what if, rather than fearing the deep—the deep within you— we stepped onto it?

What if we walked forward in faith, despite the storm?

Chaos will always beckon. The deep will keep calling. But will you step out, or stay in the boat?

Because transformation doesn’t happen on the shore.

 

Will you answer?

 

The deep will come.

But so will He.

 

Psycheverse: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you.”

— Isaiah 43:2