Matthew 14:22-33

Jesus Walks on the Water

²² Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. ²³ After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. ²⁴ But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary. ²⁵ And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. ²⁶ When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. ²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

²⁸ Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” ²⁹ And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” ³¹ Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” ³² When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. ³³ And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly God’s Son!”

Here we see Peter in his usual form – loyal and wanting to do the right thing yet getting it embarrassingly wrong, needing to be rescued. Can you identify with that? Peter knew he couldn’t walk on water, but he saw Jesus doing it and, after all, the twelve were given the power to do the things Jesus was doing, maybe walking on water was one of them. So he does it. The wind had been blowing all along, but as soon as Peter took his focus off of Jesus, he noticed the wind and it caused him to start sinking – in need of rescue once again.

Have you recently taken your focus off of Jesus causing you to sink? Have You asked Jesus to rescue you?

Prayer: Lord, give me the faith to attempt the impossible for You. And give me the humility to ask to be rescued when my faith gives out.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB © The Lockman Foundation (www.lockman.org)