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Walking on Water

In their time with Jesus, the disciples saw many remarkable things, although few of them can compare with the events described in Matthew 14:13-33, Mark 6:30-52, and John 6:1-21. Jesus used five small loaves of bread and two fish to feed more than 5,000 people. Again, what must have been going on in their minds after seeing something like this?

Read Matthew 14:22-33. What’s the most crucial message we can take away from this story for ourselves to help us in our own walk with the Lord?

With the feeding of the multitudes, these men had just witnessed the power of Jesus in a remarkable way. He truly had control over the natural world. That must have been what helped Peter make his rather bold, or even presumptuous, request: “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water” (Matt. 14:28, NKJV).

What an expression of faith!

Jesus, then, acknowledged this faith and told Peter to come, which he did, another expression of Peter’s faith. It would have been one thing to walk on water when it was calm, but Peter did so in the midst of a storm.

The usual lesson of the story is about taking our eyes off of Jesus. But there’s more. Peter surely must have trusted in Jesus, or he never would have made the request and then acted on it. However, once he did act, he started to get scared, and in that fear he began to sink.

Why? Could not Jesus have kept Peter afloat regardless of Peter’s fear? Jesus, however, allowed Peter to reach the point where he could do nothing but cry out in his helplessness, “Lord, save me!” (Matt. 14:30, NKJV). Jesus then stretched out His hand and did just what Peter had asked. The fact that “Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him,” (Matt. 14:31, NKJV), when Jesus could simply have kept him afloat without the physical contact, surely helped Peter realize just how much he had to learn to depend upon Jesus.

We can start out in great faith, trusting in the power of our Lord, but when the situation gets frightful, we need to remember Jesus’ words to Peter: “‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’” (Matt. 14:31, NKJV).