Matthew 14:22-31 KJV
22 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
In prior verses not shown here, Jesus had just fed a great multitude of 5,000 plus women and children and healed many of their sick.
He then sent the disciples ahead of him to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, so He could be alone to pray.
When the disciples’ ship was in the middle of the sea, the winds became strong, and the waves were tossing the boat around. The sea was tempestuous.
Another Miracle for the Edification of the Disciples
Jesus then, would go to them, walking on the water.
Yes, it was another miracle performed by Jesus on the Sea of Galilee, for the disciples to see, process, remember and pass on to multitudes and through their gospels.
But at first, they didn’t recognize Jesus. They didn’t expect to see Him doing what was impossible for a person to do.
In fact, when the disciples first saw Jesus, walking toward them on the water, they were afraid. They cried out in fear saying “it is a spirit.”
So, we see the disciples’ unbelief at first and then see them consumed by fear.
But Jesus comforted them saying, “Be of good cheer, it is I; be not afraid.”
As stated in a prior lesson, these are the same words that He speaks to us when we are troubled or dismayed. He speaks to us when our faith might waver and fear takes hold, “I am here; Be not afraid.”
Bold and Brash Peter
Now we come to the bold and brash Peter.
Peter calls back to Jesus as He is walking on the water, if it is you Lord, have me walk on the water to meet you.
Peter loved Jesus and wanted to join Him on the water. From what we know about the disciples, it would have to be Peter, who often displayed bold courage and impatience, who wanted to go to Jesus on the water.
But, notice that Peter didn’t think he could do it by himself. He wasn’t so bold and brash to think he could do the impossible.
Knowing he couldn’t walk on water, he said “Lord if it be thou, bid me come unto thee.” In other words, if it is you Lord, have me walk on the water to meet you.
Jesus responded by saying “come.”
Because of his bold faith, Peter gets out of the boat, and is given the power by Jesus to actually walk on the water toward Him.
I cannot imagine the feelings and thoughts that Peter was experiencing as he walked on the water.
It was physically impossible for a mere human, but he was doing it. Peter knew this, but he also knew that he was doing the impossible through the power of Jesus.
But things quickly changed.
He looked at the situation he was in and away from Jesus. He saw that the wind and the waves were tempestuous. Peter got scared and started to sink.
Then, Peter cried out to Jesus to save him.
Jesus saved Peter, but with the admonition “O thou of little faith; wherefore did thou doubt?”
In other words, what happened to your faith Peter? Why did you doubt me?
What happened was that Peter took his eyes off of Jesus.
Keep Your Eyes on Jesus
The great theologian Matthew Henry states the following.
The strongest faith and the greatest courage have a mixture of fear. Those that can say, Lord, I believe; must say, Lord, help my unbelief. Nothing but perfect love will quite cast out fear. Good men often fail in those graces which they are most eminent for, and which they have then in exercise; to show that they have not yet attained. Peter was very stout at first, but afterwards his heart failed him. The lengthening out of a trial discovers the weakness of faith.
—Matthew Henry
Peter, by looking away from Jesus, became focused on his perilous situation and fear took hold. And when fear takes hold, our faith weakens.
Peter’s first mistake was to take his eyes off of Jesus and look at the boisterous wind and waves.
While he kept his eyes fixed on Jesus, he was able to walk on the water. But when he saw his dangerous situation, his faith faded and he began to sink.
The Lesson for Us
We see in this miracle of Jesus, that He gave us a few basic lessons for our edification.
We see the initial faith of Peter in facing the storm through the power of Jesus.
We then see the result of Peter taking his eyes off of Jesus which caused him to fail and sink.
We also see the power of prayer where Peter cried out to Jesus and received immediate help from our Lord.
Another lesson for us is to not let our circumstances affect or hinder our faith and trust in our Lord. Whatever God sends our way, we have the promise that he will see us through it, never leaving nor forsaking us.
When we are facing the boisterous winds/waves of life and the going gets rough, let us learn to keep our eyes firmly focused on Jesus and not on the storm around us.
And let us learn to cry out, praying fervently for help should our faith weaken for any reason, or fear starts creeping in.
Jesus will stretch out his hand to us, just as He did for Peter. He will help us redirect our eyes and attention on Him.
And, He will strengthen our faith, helping us through whatever storm we are facing.
Just as Jesus taught Peter a valuable lesson in these verses, let us always remember that God has a reason and a subsequent lesson for each of us in the storms that come our way.
Let us praise and thank God, for His lessons and promises.
RVH