Immediately he made the disciples get into a boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
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, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Matthew 14:22-33; NRSVue
The account of Jesus walking on the water is included in three of the gospels: Matthew, Mark and John. In Matthew, we have the interesting addition of Peter coming to the Lord from the boat to walk on the water himself. Whatever we might make of this, it surely is a teaching tool for our lives, or I am supposing such. If it was possible for Peter, then it’s possible for us.
It had been a busy time: Jesus with the disciples had just fed the five thousand men along with women and children starting with just five loaves of bread and two fishes. Afterwards as he was sending the people away, he directed the disciples to immediately get in a boat on the Sea of Galilee to head to the other side. Then he prayed. Meanwhile a storm hit the lake.
And what does Jesus do? He starts walking on the water, catching up with the disciples who were having a hard time making headway due to the storm. Naturally they were scared, thinking it might be a ghost. But when Jesus called out to them, telling them it was he, Peter spoke up. If it was him, that Jesus should tell Peter to come out to meet him walking on the water. So the Lord told Peter to come.
So Peter gets out of the boat and in boldness walks on the water. Walking toward the Lord, eyes on the Lord. But Peter takes his eyes off the Lord and directs his gaze at the waters on which he is walking and notices how turbulent they are and becomes afraid. And at that moment he begins to sink into the water and cries out to Jesus for help. Jesus grabs him and remonstrates him for his little faith and for doubting. And when they step into the boat, the storm ceases accompanied by the confession of the disciples that Jesus truly is the Son of God. It is one of those wow, miraculous stories in Scripture, but surely it has something to teach us.
True Christianity is a faith commitment to Christ. One is committed by faith and baptism to follow Jesus in the Jesus community. And while it is a group endeavor, it certainly includes each of us as disciples or followers, yes even imitators of Jesus. And always with the caveat that our faith and allegiance is uniquely set on Jesus, to him alone as Lord and Master, Teacher, Instructor, our Savior and the Savior of all.
But why in this story would Jesus walk on the water? That might seem over the top. Christianity is not known to be a walking on the water faith. Not literally, but figuratively there is surely something important for all of us here.
Yes, Jesus is the one who leads and does what he does. And I take it that Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee in the midst of a storm towards his disciples who were struggling in their boat and written down in Matthew’s gospel account is meant for us in our personal and collective lives in Christ.
We come to Christ in faith, intent on following, and we’re inspired at times to take risks, to act boldly. But we learn sooner than later that we have a tendency to fall back into our old ways. We take our eyes off of Christ and look squarely at our circumstances and we’re overcome. Our faith begins to flag, to tank, and we begin to sink into anxiety, fear, or whatever the experience may be.
Life is not a bed of roses, nor a nice quiet calm sea, with maybe some nice waves for surfers. It can be quite unpredictable, stormy. I wonder what the disciples were thinking having been directed by Jesus into the boat only to encounter a storm which must have made them wonder if the Lord knew what he was doing. And right after the feeding of the five thousand! But they were soon to learn something which would become embedded in their hearts and minds for meditation and life.
I still, even after all these years as a Christian do not know how to straddle some of the difficulties and especially some of the enigmas that come my way with a steady faith in Christ. It’s not like I don’t have faith anymore once the bad things hit, but it’s more like I’m too often no longer acting on it. I get my eyes off the Lord and onto circumstances, and I indeed sink and often can’t get out. Unlike Peter, it seems like I’m underwater, somehow sustained by God, but I evidently didn’t even have the faith to cry out to the Lord to save me, to experience his hand in doing so, then to get into the boat and see the storm cease. If I ever get there, maybe I’ll write a book on it, or a chapter in a book.
At least this account gives us a glimpse into what I think is possible for us in this life, not that we’ll get it perfectly. But God is present in Jesus to help us through the great troubles of life in a way which will give testimony to the uniqueness of Jesus as the Son of God and help us, as well as draw others to him.
Jesus community 