For Jews, it is like the end of the world. They are decimated, thrown into dispersion, almost in collapse, driven to oblivion. They design a unified religious code. Thus, the Jesus movement within Judaism must be wiped out. The Jews who believe Jesus, that Jewish blasphemer, executed by the Romans as a traitorous criminal, those who believe Jesus to be Messiah must be expunged from the synagogue.
Unity can come only through uniformity.
Out of this horrendous, this violent, this vengeful atmosphere, John tells the story of disciples amid an ominous darkness, rowing through a violent storm, getting nowhere, about to go under. John depicts a paralyzing fear among the crew in the boat. The story concludes as that frightened crowd welcomes Jesus into the boat and finds themselves pulling safely up onto the shore at their destination. He is affirming a sure and certain presence standing with us amid those moments we can describe only as devastating storms tossing us about, threatening to sink us. John's story of Jesus walking on the sea is not an image inviting us to analyze some sort of natural anomaly.