(This blog is based on Matthew 14:22-33 where the famous story of Peter walking on water is recorded. I’ve pasted the full Bible text below this blog in case you’d like to read it first. It’s probably worth doing if you are not familiar with the story because there are a lot of important details and the order in which things happen turns out to be significant.)

Picture a boat in the middle of the night on the sea of Galilee with Jesus’ disciples in it. It’s between 3 AM and 6 AM. The night has been long because they have been rowing against a strong wind. They are out there because Jesus told them to go ahead of him in the boat while he went into the hills to pray alone.

This is where the “Peter walks on water” incident starts.

Before we get to what appears to be the main event, let me point out Jesus’ habit of getting alone to pray. Community matters. Iron sharpens iron. We rejoice and suffer together as a family. But there is also a way that your relationship with God is just you and God. Jesus models that. It’s an encouragement to us to get off by ourselves to pray. Just you and Jesus.

Now, back to the boat.

It is late into the night but before the sun has started to rise. The disciples look out into the wind and waves and there is a man walking on the water. Can you feel the fear? They cry out, “It’s a ghost!” Their fear is completely justified, don’t you think? I do. 

Let’s pause for a moment on the very idea of walking on water. This is not just an impressive trick. Power over wind and waves takes us all the way back to Genesis, where the Spirit of God hovers over the face of the waters at the beginning of everything. We see God’s power of water at the parting of the Red Sea. When God questions Job, he asks something like, “Can you tell the sea what to do like I can?” So when Matthew describes Jesus as walking on water, there is a boatload of meaning behind it. (yes, I did that on purpose) Power of water is reserved for God.

Then we see something else: Jesus speaks first. “Take heart,” he says, “It is I.” This could be good news. Or it could be a lying ghost. Who knows? How can the disciples know.

In the middle of the wind and the waves, Peter hopes it is actually Jesus, but can’t be certain? How to test it? Peter knows Jesus well. He knows what Jesus is capable of. So Peter says, “If it’s really you, tell me to walk out to you on the water.”

Jesus says, “Come on out.”

Then the moment we all remember: Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water. I don’t imagine that Peter leapt over the side of the boat. Remember, this is kind of a test. I imagine that Peter put one foot over the side of the boat and stepped lightly on the water. When he discovered the water felt like solid ground under his foot, an electric thrill went through his body. Holy moly! It’s working! It IS Jesus! Then he steps out of the boat and walks on the water to Jesus.

Then Peter sees the wind and waves and begins to sink.

The next thing that happens is important and I want to highlight it because it is easy to blow right past it. When Peter starts to sink, Jesus does not let him sink a little longer to teach him a lesson. Jesus doesn’t let Peter endure a little more fear so he really gets the point. The text says “immediately” Jesus reached out his hand and caught Peter.

It is only after Jesus rescues Peter that he asks Peter to consider the incident with a simple question. “Why did you doubt?”

I don’t think that is a rebuke and I don’t think Jesus was trying to shame Peter. I think it is a real question and an invitation to reflection. We learn not just by experience but by thinking about our experiences. So Jesus asks Peter to consider that he walked on water and then as he doubted, he began to sink. It’s an old catechism question in my Lutheran ethos: “What does this mean?”

Then Jesus gets into the boat with Peter and the other disciples and the wind stops.

Notice what Jesus does not do. He doesn’t hold up Peter’s behavior as an example for all of them. Nor does he rebuke the other disciples who stayed in the boat. He just gets in the boat with all of them – both the brash one who walked on the water and the others who stayed in the boat wondering what would happen.

The scene ends with this little phrase: “And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’”

There are several lessons to be learned from this incident, but let’s start with something this episode does not teach us. This is not teaching us to take wild risks for Jesus. Sometimes it gets preached that way and I, myself, have probably done that. “You’ve got to get out of the boat!” says the preacher. It sounds inspiring and it might be true in specific circumstances. But that’s not what happened here. Most of the disciples stayed in the boat. And the one who got out of the boat did it based on a clear and direct word of Jesus, not based on his desire to show how faithful and courageous he was.

The scriptures call most of us to a peaceful and quiet life of faith expressing itself through love. So don’t get down on yourself if you feel like you are not a ‘get out of the boat’ kind of person. Unless you have a clear and special call from Christ to some extraordinary ministry, you are not called to be a ‘get out of the boat’ person.

If you think Jesus might actually be calling you to something wild and courageous, do not go it alone. Pray about it, and not just in the moment, but as a habit that has been forming in you long before the moment arrives. Study the Scriptures to see whether what you are sensing actually lines up with what God has already said. Talk it over with people who know you well enough to tell you the truth. And move carefully, because the human heart is very good at mistaking its own excitement for the voice of God.

Possibly the biggest point in this story is the hand of Christ reaching out to Peter. The rescue comes before the reflection. The order is critical. That moment is a microcosm of the entire arc of salvation. The rescue comes first. The reflection and the faith follow.

The scriptures tell us that “…God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 [ESV]) God does the reaching out to us. He sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to live a life of love and then to die on the cross for everyone’s sins. Then Jesus rose from death, validating everything he taught and proclaimed. His hand reaches out to people sinking in sin, which is you, me, and the whole world. He rescues us by giving his very life and then asks us to consider what this means. Why do you doubt? Why do you doubt that God loves you? What more could he have done? As Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13 [ESV]) 

Just as Jesus reached out his hand to rescue Peter before he expected Peter to consider and grow, so you can be confident that God’s love and redemption in Christ have reached out to you to forgive you and reconcile you to God. Now you can consider what it means for your life that Jesus gave his life for you.

Matthew 14:22–33 (ESV) 

Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” 

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.