‘And when they had crossed over, they came to the land, to Gennesaret.'
We can only imagine the awe of the remainder of that voyage. They would never see Jesus in quite the same way again, for they now had a deeper awareness that He was, in some way that they did not understand, ‘on the divine side of reality'. But eventually they reached land, at Gennesaret, a plain on the north west shores of the Sea of Galilee, although there may have been a village which also bore the name. Up to this point, apart from Capernaum which had become Jesus' home base, landing places after storms appear to be the only places that Matthew has identified during Jesus' ministry (compare Matthew 8:28, see also Matthew 15:39). It is as though he remembered these places because he had felt grateful to be ashore again on firm ground. He was after all a tax-gatherer, not a sailor. For the whole see Mark 6:53-56.
Previously when He had ‘crossed over' He had gone to ‘His own city' (Matthew 9:1). Perhaps the implication is intended that Capernaum is now also no longer His home. He now has no home (Matthew 12:46-50; Matthew 13:53-58). People must come to Him where He is.
Note on Peter.
The picture given of Peter fits in with all that we know about him, Peter the impetuous, Peter the determined, Peter the expectant, Peter the bold, Peter the failing, Peter who never lets go. He stands out in the Gospel as a leading light among the Apostles, but as one who through his impetuosity often did or said the wrong thing, which is regularly why he is mentioned. Always he leads the way, and regularly he finishes up with egg on his face. (In most groups there is someone like that). Here he ventures to walk on the sea at his own suggestion and ends up half drowning. Elsewhere He boldly asserts that Jesus is the Son of the Living God, and then tries to tell the Son of the Living God what to do, with the result that he ends up by being likened in his behaviour to Satan (Matthew 16:16; Matthew 16:22-23). He is privileged to be on the Mount of Transfiguration, but, feeling that he has to do something, makes an inane suggestion (Matthew 17:4), and is left speechless and flat on his face (Matthew 17:6), with his suggestion simply ignored. He boldly declares that he will never fail Jesus (Matthew 26:33), and fails Him three times (Matthew 26:69-75). Yet no one else would have even thought of venturing on the sea, no one else at the time had the courage to react to what Jesus was saying at all, no one else (apart from the one known to the High Priestly family) ventured to follow Jesus into the High Priest's courtyard. Once his faith was made stronger his impetuosity and boldness would serve the church well. In any group there is usually a character, and Peter was that character.
Along with James and John he is selected out for the purpose of beholding special incidents (the raising of Jairus' daughter, the Transfiguration, the prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane), and he alone, as representative of all God's true people, is conjoined with Jesus in being declared to be sons of God and therefore not due to be treated only as subjects liable to the Temple tax (Matthew 17:24-27).
Nevertheless he is never appointed their leader. Nor does he ever make such a claim. And while he is prominent in Acts, the Apostles are on the whole all seen to act together, while when Paul speaks of those ‘reputed to be pillars' he lists them as ‘James (the Lord's brother), Cephas (Peter) and John' (Galatians 2:9) in that order. It was just that his character constantly brought him to the front, and resulted in him being chosen to make the first moves towards both Jews and Gentiles.
End of note.