Form Criticism: Matthew 14.22-33 Name/s: ______

With Form Criticism, the first you need to do is gather similar stories and look for regular patterns. We are going to jump ahead and start with the recognition that Matthew 14.22-33 is, for the most part, a miracle story where Jesus exhibits a mastery over the elements of nature.

Take a look at what Felix Just reports about miracles on his web page: http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Miracles.htm. Especially note the section on Nature Miracles.

Now we want to take a look at some nature miracle stories and try to determine any repeated patterns or phrases that occur. I have provided a collection of stories that will serve for this exercise. Note that the first three are your Matthew text and the Mark and John parallels with which you worked last time. To these I have added the stilling the storm account as presented in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. We can work in English for the most part, but you should be sure to check the Greek for any interesting words or phrases that you encounter.

What I want you to do is briefly outline each story in such a way that you can identify similarities between the various accounts. (Record your findings in a table form. Note that your outlines should be rather general with no more than five points for each account. Note also that the stories will not necessarily have the same outline, but see to what degree you can generalize.)

How is the account in Matthew 14.22-33 a typical nature miracle story?

How does Matthew 14.22-33 not match a typical nature miracle story?

With what other “forms” might you also compare Matthew 14.22-33?

Matthew 14:22-33 / Mark 6:45-52 / John 6:16-21 / Mat. 8.23-27 / Mark 4.35-41 / Luke 8.22-25
Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.
23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray.
When evening came, he was there alone,
24 but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them.
25 And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea.
26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out in fear.
27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid."
28 Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water."
29 He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus.
30 But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!"
31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"
32 When they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." / Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.
46 After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray.
47 When evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land.
48 When he saw that they were straining at the oars against an adverse wind, he came towards them early in the morning, walking on the sea. He intended to pass them by.
49 But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out;
50 for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid."
51 Then he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded,
52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. / When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea,
17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.
18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing.
19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified.
20 But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."
21 Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going. / 3 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him.
24 A windstorm arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep.
25 And they went and woke him up, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!"
26 And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, you of little faith?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm.
27 They were amazed, saying, "What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?" / 35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side."
36 And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him.
37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.
38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"
39 He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.
40 He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?"
41 And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" / 2 One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side of the lake." So they put out,
23 and while they were sailing he fell asleep. A windstorm swept down on the lake, and the boat was filling with water, and they were in danger.
24 They went to him and woke him up, shouting, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" And he woke up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; they ceased, and there was a calm.
25 He said to them, "Where is your faith?" They were afraid and amazed, and said to one another, "Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?"