Peter Walking on Water

“Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.

Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.  And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Be of good cheer! It is I; Do not be afraid.’

And Peter answered Him and said, ‘Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.’

‘So He said, ‘Come.’ And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’

And immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’

And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Truly You are the Son of God’” (Matthew 14:22-23).

Notice that in the above situation, the setting was not an easy one. Peter was in a boat, in the middle of a lake, in a storm at night. On top of all that, those in the boat just thought they had seen a ghost! After they were all reassured that it was only Jesus, Peter decided to step out in faith by asking Jesus to bid him to come. After Jesus bids him to come, Peter steps out of the boat, and in great faith, starts walking toward Jesus on top of the water.

Everything is going well until Peter realizes what a precarious situation he really is in. He makes the fatal mistake of taking his eyes off Jesus to size up his real predicament. Continue reading Peter Walking on Water →