We are spending time in this series looking at how Jesus transformed Simon into Peter. There are many events and many teachings in Jesus’ life where his effort it to teaching Peter and the disciples. One of those moments is recorded for us in Matthew 14. Jesus has just finished with a miracle of feeding 5000 men, not counting the women and children who were there, with only five loaves and two fish (Matthew 14:17,21). We are told that Jesus immediately sends his disciples to get into the boat and go to the other side of the sea while he remained behind to dismiss the crowds (Matthew 14:22). What I want us to see as we introduce this section is that Jesus knows what he is doing and knows what is going to happen. Jesus is not randomly doing this. Jesus sends his disciples to go across the sea because this is going to be a teaching moment for his disciples shortly.
A Building Storm (Matthew 14:22-24)
But it was not going to be a simple trip back to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee is 7 miles across at its widest point. So it is not a very wide lake to cross. It should take only a couple hours for the disciples to row across this sea. But things are not going well for the disciples to get back. In verse 24 we read that the boat was a long way from land but now the boat is being beaten by the waves because the wind was against them. The first point is that there is no turning around at this point. They are into the sea at this point. The second point is that this is taking longer than expected. If the wind is against you, then the waves are against you. They are fighting against the waves as they are trying to row across the sea. We know that this is not going well at all when we read in verse 25 that it is the fourth watch of the night. This would mean that we are somewhere between 3am and 6am. The problems of the night are further amplified when we consider that the feeding of the 5000 took place before sundown (cf. Matthew 14:15). We are further told in verse 23 that Jesus was alone when evening came. The point I want us to see is that what should have taken no more than a couple of hours to row across the sea has now been many hours as they have been fighting against the waves and are now somewhere in the middle of the sea. The disciples are struggling and getting nowhere fast. The wind is against these disciples. This night has not going according to plan. The waves are battering the boat. There is no turning around. Things do not look good at all. You can imagine the disciples’ exhaustion and frustration as they try to finish their journey. It would be similar to the exhaustion and frustration you feel when you get in traffic and a two hour drive turns into many hours in traffic. But at least you had air conditioning and were not rowing, unlike these men. At this moment, Jesus seems very far away.
Jesus Walking On The Sea (Matthew 14:25-27)
Jesus has had time to dismiss the crowd of 5000 men, not counting the women and the children. Jesus has also had the time to go up a mountain by himself to pray (Matthew 14:23). Now Jesus is coming toward his disciples as he is walking on the sea. We are to be impressed by what we are seeing. Yes, we are certainly amazed at the power of Jesus who is able to walk on the water. We are being shown that Jesus is Lord over all creation. But I want you to be impressed by another point that Matthew is showing us. Nothing is able to stop Jesus from coming to his disciples. The disciples have been unable to cross the sea on their own. They have been pressing throughout the night. But the waves and the wind have won. They are still in the middle of the sea and nowhere near any land. But this is not a problem for Jesus. The wind is not a problem for Jesus. The waves are not a problem for Jesus. Jesus has no problem coming to his disciples. Nothing can prevent Jesus from getting to them. Listen to how David praised this characteristic of God, knowing that God is wherever he is. Listen to Psalm 139.
3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, LORD, You know it all. 5 You have encircled me behind and in front, And placed Your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot comprehend it. 7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence. 8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. 9 If I take up the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will take hold of me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” 12 Even darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. (Psalm 139:3-12 NASB)
There is nothing that can keep our God from us. There is nowhere that you can go in which God is not going to be able to be there. The disciples of Jesus about to find this out in a very real way. Jesus is walking to them on the sea. Of course, this is terrifying to the disciples when they see this because they certainly did not expect Jesus to come to them in this way. Jesus is coming to his disciples in their distress is a very surprising and completely unexpected way. The disciples cry out in fear, believing that they are seeing a ghost coming toward them. But Jesus immediately calms their fear. “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid” (Matthew 14:27 ESV). Now I want you to put yourself in the position of the disciples. After Jesus calms his disciples and tells them to not be afraid, what do you think you would say to Jesus? I think I would immediately think of two things I would want to say. I would either ask Jesus to stop the storm or I would ask Jesus to get in the boat. But Peter does neither of these things. Peter asks to go to Jesus. Peter does not say to get in with them. Peter does not ask Jesus to calm the wind and the waves. Peter asks Jesus to tell him to come to him. Peter wants to go to Jesus.
Faith That Walks (Matthew 14:28-29)
I want us to first focus on the immediate picture we see: Peter is walking by faith. We see that Peter understands that he needs to go to Jesus which is a critical truth about what is means to walk by faith. The easy thing to do is to stay in the comfort of the boat. It is easy to play it safe with Jesus. Just keep doing what you are doing and add a little Jesus to your life while you continue to row to shore against the waves and the wind. But Peter is not thinking about Jesus coming to get him out of this. Peter is thinking about the need to leave this boat and go to Jesus. Wherever Jesus is, that is where I need to go. Too often we want Jesus to come to us and make our lives better. Come to us and make us comfortable. Come us to us and settle down the storm so that we can stay in our boat. But are thinking about doing everything we can to go to Jesus? This is not the only time Peter will do something like this. When Jesus is going to his trial after being betrayed and arrested, who is following him? Peter follows Jesus to the courtyard. When the report of Jesus’ empty tomb reaches the disciples, who is one of the disciples running to the tomb? Peter runs to the tomb. After Jesus raises from the dead and the disciples are fishing, who is the one who jumps out of the boat and swims to Jesus? Peter is the one. Peter goes to Jesus. This is the faith that walks.
But the faith that walks does not care about needing to do what seems impossible. Faith that walks does not look at the obstacles. How easy would it have been for Peter to look at the situation and think he CAN’T go to Jesus! Look at the situation. I can’t walk on water like Jesus can. Jesus is standing in the sea. I can’t go to Jesus. But that did not stop Peter and that is not the way he thought. He truly thought that he could do all things through Christ (cf. Philippians 4:13). Peter did not stay in the place of comfort. If it meant doing the hard thing like coming out of the boat and walking to Jesus, then that is what Peter is going to do.
But also please carefully note something here. Peter did not presume that he could do this by his own power. Friends, if Peter just jumps out of the boat, he is going to sink. Notice what Peter does. Peter asks. “Command me to come to you on the water” (Matthew 14:28 ESV). I am not going to tell the Lord what I am going to do and what I am not going to do. I am not going to tell him how this is going to go. Lord, you tell me to come. You tell me to walk to you. I am willing to come out of the boat if that is what you want me to do. I will follow you wherever you will go. Just command me to do it. We are looking to go to Jesus and we are looking at going to him the way he tells us to. It takes faith to go to Jesus. Everyone will need to leave the comfortable things behind to go to him.
Faith That Sinks (Matthew 14:30-33)
So what happened? Look at verse 30. Peter was not wrong. Peter knew that if Jesus commanded him to walk on the water, then it would happen. The impossible would become possible. But then things suddenly change. We would hope for this display of faith to conclude in verse 30. What great faith! Look at the faith that walks! But we are told in verse 30 that Peter saw the wind and he was afraid. In fact, he begins to sink into the sea. What happened? Peter saw the potential problems. Peter saw what could go wrong. Peter was afraid of what could happen. This is underscored by what Jesus says in verse 31. Jesus says, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Why did you doubt? You know this can happen. You start in faith. You start seeking Jesus. You start walking to him. But then you doubt. Then you let up. Then the wind picks up and the waves get a little stronger. Peter shows that this kind of faith is not easy. You have to walk by faith and not by sight (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:7). We have to stay walking toward Jesus, even when it feels like it is too hard, too dangerous, too scary, or any other reason that could hold us back. Faith sees who we have, not what is happening around us or to us. We need to ask ourselves a really important question. What are we looking at besides Jesus? What do we have our eyes on that is eroding our trust in Jesus? What are we looking at that is causing us to doubt or not believe that we cannot continue forward through the storm to Jesus?
But there is good news here. Look at what Peter does at the end of verse 30. He cries out, “Lord, save me!” Notice that Jesus does not say no. Immediately Jesus reached out his hand, took hold of him, and they both got into the boat. Peter has the awareness to realize he is sinking and the wisdom to cry out to the Lord for help. Peter does not give up in his doubt and failure but cries out for help to the one who can save him.
We cannot end this lesson without noticing what happens when Jesus and Peter got into the boat. The wind stopped (Matthew 14:32). I noted at the beginning of this lesson that Jesus knew what he was doing when he sent his disciples ahead of him across the sea. What we are seeing is that Jesus is in control of the storm. Jesus had his disciples in this moment to teach them. Jesus had Peter in this moment to continue his transformation work. Rather than giving up when in the storm, we need to see Jesus has us in the storm. When it feels like we are rowing fruitlessly, we need to see Jesus has us rowing against the waves to teach us about him. Are we trying to stay comfortably in the boat or will we step out toward Jesus? Are we walking toward Jesus or are we looking at the circumstances around us that are causing our faith to waver? Are we crying out to Jesus if we are sinking or have we given up on walking on water with Jesus? To use the words of verse 33, it is only when you see that Jesus is truly the Son of God that you will walk by faith and not sink when the winds push against you.