A Short, but Very Deep and Treacherous Assignment

David W Palmer

In today’s passage, Jesus gave Peter a very short but supervised assignment:

(Matthew 14:28–29 NKJV) And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” {29} So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.

Jesus called Peter out of the safety of the boat to walk on water towards him. Initially, when Peter and the other eleven apprentices saw Jesus on the water, they thought it was a spirit, a specter, a ghost—some form of demonic activity. They had never seen Jesus do this before, so they assumed that only the enemy could be doing it. But despite the limitations of their own perception of what Jesus can do, and the very poor assumption they made about who he was, he ministered comfort and encouragement to them with his living words:

(Matthew 14:25–27 NKJV) Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. {26} And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. {27} But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”

When Peter realized that Jesus’s legitimate repertoire of supernatural abilities included “walking on the sea,” he was first to want to step out of the boat by faith and try it. Wisely, he first sought Jesus’s living instruction, addressing him as Lord:

(Matthew 14:28 NKJV) And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord ...”

Peter remembered and applied the truth on this occasion that only if he obeyed a command from the Lord, could he receive the Lord’s supernatural help (See: Heb. 5:9, Luke 5:4–9). He followed up his perfect opening with a statement that took some of the initiative back onto his own shoulders. Nevertheless, Jesus responded affirmatively:

(Matthew 14:28–29 NKJV) And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” {29} So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.

Jesus gave his enthusiastic disciple a simple one-word command: “Come.” Now Peter had an assigned task—a mini mission: walk on water from the boat to Jesus. He stepped out of the boat. That was truly a small step for one man, but a huge step forward for so many of us who have followed his example of stepping out of familiar safety onto the water by faith. For us this represents any command we receive from Jesus—from a risky step of trusting him financially, to stepping into danger to face down our fears, and/or to give witness to him to a hostile audience.

Peter has been remembered for sinking; but this passage actually says, “He walked on the water to go to Jesus.” Now we have not only Jesus as our example of someone walking on water by faith, but we have Peter—an ordinary fisherman become apprentice Jesus-minister. He was no different to you and me; if he can do it, we can too. All it takes is a simple command from Jesus; just one word from the Master is all you need to keep you afloat—even in a storm.

But …

(Matthew 14:30–32 NKJV) But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” {31} And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” {32} And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

This short assignment reveals the essence of supervised missions: Peter walked on water quite successfully for a while, but he began to sink. Then, like any of us would do, “he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’” Thankfully, during this training exercise, his trainer was on hand to rescue him: “Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him.”

Jesus then gave his trainee a nugget of feedback on his performance: “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” From this we see that faith and doubt are the issues: faith can keep you afloat; doubt will sink you. We can all certainly learn from this.

What about Jesus’s other disciples who were witnesses to all this from the boat? No matter how much they may have teased Peter later for beginning to sink, he alone had the experience of trusting Jesus to the level needed for walking on water. But at the time, their response to Jesus’s miraculous manifestation was worship and revelation:

(Matthew 14:32–33 NKJV) And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”

Worship, praise, and thanksgiving are always easier after receiving a miracle—and can be quite spontaneous and overwhelming. But when we need a miracle, we should also praise, worship, and thank him in advance—even if it’s the “sacrifice of praise.” (See: Heb. 13:15, Mat. 15:25, John 6:11)

I imagine that later when Jesus and Peter were alone, the Master may have coached his apprentice some more, saying: “I really enjoyed seeing you step out of the boat and walking on the water for that short distance. What do you think you did wrong to cause you to sink?” Peter may have answered, “I doubted.” “Why did you doubt and what really made you sink?” Peter may have given lots of reasons or excuses, or even become defensive saying, “Well at least I had a go, unlike the others still in the boat.” I’m sure Jesus would have pointed out his one mistake: “When he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid.”

Wind is invisible. To see it, Peter must have focused on its effects—the waves, the storm, the surroundings, the circumstances. To see this, Peter had to have simply taken his eyes off Jesus. That’s when he began to sink, and it’s when any of us can sink too. Successful water-walking is not about the size of the assignment, or about how many words are in the instruction we receive from Jesus; it is about keeping our focus fixed resolutely on him and the living word we receive from him, not on the natural circumstances.

The content of what takes our focus from Jesus is not the issue here; if our eyes are off him and his word for any reason, we sink. So no matter what distracts your focus—the way you’ve been treated, the situation you find yourself in, a gale trying to blow you off course, the actions of others, your own weaknesses, or even your own gifts, calling, strengths, and achievements; whenever you allow your eyes to drift from Jesus and the word he has given you, you sink.

Right now, let’s make sure our sole focus is Jesus along with his living words of command, instruction, teaching, and encouragement. How will you walk on water successfully today?

(Hebrews 12:2 NLT) We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.