The disciples were caught in a storm when the Lord showed up walking on the water. They were fearful and didn’t believe that it was he even after he identified himself. After seeing all of his miracles, particularly the most recent one of feeding the five thousand, they didn’t believe that he was the Son of God. By contrast, the people who met him in Gennesaret believed that he could heal them by simply touching the hem of his garment. The hearts of his disciples were hard and slow to believe.

Notice some interesting things about this passage.

26 — "it is a spirit" — although God is a Spirit and Jesus is God, Jn 4:24, Jesus also has a flesh and bones body that literally arose from the dead and which will literally return to the earth Lk 24:39

26-27 — "cried out for fear"; "be not afraid" matches their response to the vision of his coming in his kingdom in Matt 17:6, 7

28 — "If it be thou" — looks like DOUBT v. 31 - he wants Jesus to prove it Matt 4:3, 6; Matt 27:40; Lk 23:39

29 — "he walked on the water" — proof that Jesus could do something for him that ordinary men could not do

30 — "saw the wind boisterous", "he was afraid" — you’re either going to rely upon Jesus by faith, regardless of the conditions, or you are going to regard the conditions and quit trusting Jesus — Ps 46:1-3 — the tribulation saints are going to have the faith of Jesus (Rev 14:12) to get then through the terrible circumstances during the tribulation

30 — "Lord, save me" — one of the greatest prayers in the Bible — right to the point

31 — "immediately", "Jesus caught him" — the Lord answers prayers and he gets right on them if he has to (Dan 10:12)

31 — "wherefore didst thou doubt" — Mk 6:52, they considered not the miracle of the loaves and their heart was hardened — Peter wasn’t sure about stepping out of the boat — if you are going to step out of the boat by faith you’d better be sure about some things concerning Jesus

32 — "come into the ship", "wind ceased" — Ps 89:9, they ceased because he is God; in Jn 6:21 immediately the ship was at the land whither they went

33 — then they "worshipped him" as the Son of God — Matt 27:54

The disciples’ heart was hard even though they had seen the miracle of the loaves — they still had to see another three miracles to believe — they had to see Peter on the water — the storm calmed — and the boat at the shore immediately

34-36 - The people in the land of Gennesaret were different. When they found out that Jesus was there they brought unto him all that were diseased. All they wanted to do was touch the hem of his garment — and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.

Consider this: these people touched his garment based on the testimony of one woman (Matt 9:20-21); the disciples had seen the feeding of the 5000 and yet their heart was hard.