Peter Walks on Water

Immediately after feeding the five thousand, Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side of the Sea of Galilee while He dismissed the crowd. This was not a suggestion but a command—Jesus 'made' them go. He needed time alone to pray after the intense ministry and the news of John the Baptist's death, and perhaps He also knew what lesson awaited the disciples on the water. After dismissing the crowds, Jesus went up on a mountainside by Himself to pray, spending the entire night in communion with His Father.

Meanwhile, the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against them. Several of the disciples were experienced fishermen who had spent their lives on these waters, but they were making little progress fighting the wind and waves. By the fourth watch of the night—between 3 and 6 a.m.—they had been rowing for hours and were exhausted, having made it only halfway across the lake despite their best efforts.

Jesus came toward them, walking on the lake. This was no illusion or shallow wading—He was walking on deep water in the middle of the lake, doing what only God can do. Job 9:8 says God 'alone treads on the waves of the sea.' When the disciples saw Him, they were terrified, thinking He was a ghost. They cried out in fear—the very sight of Him walking on water frightened them more than the storm. But immediately Jesus spoke to them: 'Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid.' His voice brought reassurance even in the impossible situation.

Then Peter, always impulsive and passionate, called out, 'Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water.' This was a remarkable request. Peter didn't say, 'Lord, if it's you, calm the storm' or 'come into the boat.' He wanted to do the impossible thing he saw Jesus doing. Some criticize Peter's faith as weak, but consider—of the twelve disciples, only Peter had the faith and courage to even ask. The others stayed in the boat. Peter's request showed both faith that Jesus could enable him to do the impossible and a desire to be where Jesus was.

'Come,' Jesus said. Just one word—an invitation and a command. Peter got down out of the boat and began walking on the water toward Jesus. Read that again: Peter walked on water. For those moments, perhaps several steps, Peter defied the laws of nature and did the humanly impossible because his eyes were fixed on Jesus. He is the only human besides Jesus ever recorded as walking on water. His focus on Jesus enabled him to do what his circumstances said was impossible.

But then Peter made a critical mistake. He saw the wind—some translations say he noticed how strong it was. He took his eyes off Jesus and looked at his circumstances. The waves seemed threatening, the wind felt powerful, and fear replaced faith. What he saw overwhelmed what he believed. Immediately he began to sink. Not slowly, not gradually—immediately. The moment faith wavered, the impossible became impossible again. Peter cried out, 'Lord, save me!'

Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught him. There was no delay, no rebuke before the rescue. Jesus saved first, then spoke: 'You of little faith, why did you doubt?' The Greek word for 'doubt' means to waver or be double-minded. Peter's problem wasn't that he had no faith—he had enough faith to get out of the boat. His problem was that he had both faith and doubt operating simultaneously, and when doubt grew stronger, he sank. Jesus' question probed the moment when Peter's gaze shifted from Christ to circumstances.

When they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. The other disciples worshiped Jesus, saying, 'Truly you are the Son of God.' They had seen Jesus' divinity demonstrated in His power over nature and His ability to enable Peter to do the impossible. The experience taught multiple lessons: faith enables us to do impossible things, but only as we keep our eyes on Jesus. Taking our eyes off Christ and focusing on circumstances causes us to sink. Yet Jesus is always ready to catch us when we cry out, even in our doubting. And sometimes Jesus calls us out of the boat to join Him in the impossible, while others stay in the safety of the familiar.

This story became a powerful metaphor for the Christian life. We're all called to step out of the boat—to leave comfort and safety to follow Jesus into the impossible. As long as we fix our eyes on Him, we can do what we could never do on our own. But when we focus on how big the waves are instead of how great our Savior is, we begin to sink. The good news is that Jesus is always close enough to catch us when we call out to Him, and His question 'Why did you doubt?' is an invitation to examine what took our focus off Him.