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In Which We Walk On Water

"Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, 'Lord, save me!'"

In Matthew 14:22-33, Peter experiences the miraculous. Again. Earlier in the week, John the Baptist had been beheaded. Grieving, Jesus and his disciples withdrew to a remote location for some privacy and instead encountered a crowd of needy people. Jesus had compassion on them and spent the rest of the day teaching and healing and then feeding them all a huge meal with just a few loaves and fish. Then Jesus puts his disciples into a boat and went away for some quiet prayer time.

I imagine there were some big emotions on the boat that evening. The rush of the miracle, the demands of the crowd, the ache of sadness accompanying the news about John, the fear that they could be next on Herod's list (!), and the exhaustion of such a full, demanding day...so much so that they didn't even notice the boat was drifting away from the shore and Jesus was still on the mountain!

Verse 25 tells us that it was during the fourth watch of the night, which my research indicates was around 3 a.m.  So I think maybe the disciples fell asleep immediately on the boat, slept hard, and were awake in the middle of the night. They saw Jesus walking on the water and thought he was a ghost! Jesus reassures them and Peter asks for a sign, "Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water."

What was it like to walk on water? To expect to splash and feel solid instead? Scripture is so simple..."Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus." WHAT??? More details...please!

THEN, Peter sees the wind, feels fear, and begins to sink. Jesus immediately pulls him up and gently chastises him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"  LITTLE faith? Peter jumped out of a boat to walk on water and he has little faith?? My faith must be miniscule!

Peter teaches us a very important lesson about what real faith looks like. Big steps are easy. Jumping out of the boat only takes a moment. Walking on water, taking little steps towards Jesus, ignoring the winds and the waves at your feet are much more difficult.  
"So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised." Hebrews 10:35-36

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