When therefore they had rowed about twenty-five or thirty stadia,{25 to 30 stadia is about 5 to 6 kilometers or about 3 to 4 miles} they saw Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing near to the boat; and they were afraid.

 For one thing, they were eager to support Jesus when he gave them what they wanted. He had healed them and fed them; and they would thereupon have made him their leader. There is such a thing as a bought loyalty. There is such a thing as cupboard love. Dr. Johnson, in one of his more cynical moments, defined gratitude as "a lively sense of favours still to come." 