Matt 14:22-33 · Read 10 min · think and write 15 min
Just before this passage, Jesus fed a crowd in a deserted place with five loaves and two fish: “Those who ate were about five thousand men, in addition to women and children” (Matt 14:21).
When the meal was over, Jesus did not stay with the crowd. He sent the disciples ahead in the boat and stayed behind to send the people away. In this lesson the disciples are out on the sea at night, and Jesus is not in the boat.
22Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
23After he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into the mountain by himself to pray. When evening had come, he was there alone.
24But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, distressed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.
25In the fourth watch of the night, Jesus came to them, walking on the sea.
26When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It’s a ghost!” and they cried out for fear.
27But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Cheer up! It is I! Don’t be afraid.”
28Peter answered him and said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the waters.”
29He said, “Come!” Peter stepped down from the boat and walked on the waters to come to Jesus.
30But when he saw that the wind was strong, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
31Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
32When they got up into the boat, the wind ceased.
33Those who were in the boat came and worshiped him, saying, “You are truly the Son of God!”
He prayed alone. After feeding the five thousand, “Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat” (v. 22) while he sent the crowd away, and then “he went up into the mountain by himself to pray” (v. 23). While the disciples were on the sea, Jesus was not in the boat; the passage tells us he was on the mountain, praying.
The wind was contrary. “The boat was now in the middle of the sea, distressed by the waves, for the wind was contrary” (v. 24). They had gotten into the boat because Jesus told them to, and still the wind and waves came. The passage does not say whose fault it was.
It is I. “In the fourth watch of the night, Jesus came to them, walking on the sea” (v. 25). The disciples thought it was a ghost, “and they cried out for fear” (v. 26). Jesus spoke to them at once: “Cheer up! It is I! Don’t be afraid” (v. 27). The first thing he told them was who he was.
Come. Peter said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the waters” (v. 28). Jesus said, ‘Come,’ and “Peter stepped down from the boat and walked on the waters to come to Jesus” (v. 29). The passage does not say why Peter asked; it says only that he asked, Jesus told him to come, and he went.
The wind was strong. “But when he saw that the wind was strong, he was afraid, and beginning to sink” (v. 30). The wind had been there all along (v. 24); now Peter saw it. He did not swim back to the boat. He cried out, “Lord, save me!” (v. 30).
Hold first, then speak. “Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, took hold of him” (v. 31), and only then said, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (v. 31). The order in the passage is: rescue first, question after. Jesus asked ‘why did you doubt?’; the passage does not record Peter’s answer.
The wind ceased. “When they got up into the boat, the wind ceased” (v. 32). Those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “You are truly the Son of God!” (v. 33). This night began with “It’s a ghost!” (v. 26) and ended with “You are truly the Son of God!” (v. 33).
The Old Testament has some words that describe God. Job said that God “alone stretches out the heavens, and treads on the waves of the sea” (Job 9:8). A psalm says, “He makes the storm a calm, so that its waves are still” (Ps 107:29).
That night the disciples saw someone walking on the sea, and when he got into the boat, the wind ceased. What those in the boat said was, “You are truly the Son of God!” (v. 33).
Perhaps you too are in a boat battered by the waves — and you got into it because God led you there. A wind coming does not necessarily mean you took the wrong road.
This lesson does not teach you how to walk on water, and it does not say you sank because you did not try hard enough to believe. It only lets you see that when Peter began to sink, he cried, “Lord, save me!” (v. 30), and “Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, took hold of him” (v. 31).
This week: Write down the ‘wind’ that frightens you most this week. Next to it write Peter’s words, “Lord, save me!” (v. 30), and say them to God once each day.
Scripture: World English Bible.