Matthew 14:22-32 (also Mk. 6:45-56; Jn. 6:15-21)

22 Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. 23 After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. 24 But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

28 Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”  32 When they got into the boat, the wind stopped.

This incident happened just after the feeding of the 5,000. We don’t know exactly why Peter wanted to walk on the water to Jesus, but we can make some possible guesses. 1) He wanted to make sure it was Jesus and not a ghost. 2) He wanted to experience the miraculous power of walking on the water as He saw Jesus doing; he wanted to be like Jesus; to share His power. 3) He wanted to test his own faith.

In this experiment that Peter put on himself, he found that his faith wasn’t as strong as was required. When he saw the wind he lost his faith and began to sink. Fortunately, he had enough faith to call out to Jesus for help. And then Jesus told him why he did not make it all the way to Him; because he doubted. When he saw the wind and the waves he lost his faith (read James 1:6-8).

We may notice that Jesus did not rebuke Peter for wanting to walk out to Him. In fact, I think Jesus welcomed his desire to want to do it. But it seems that Jesus was disappointed in his lack of faith. I think He wished that he would have made it all the way to Him—just as a father wants to see his child take his first steps toward him and walk all the way to him into his arms.