Matthew 14:22-31 Jesus Walks on the Water
“Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. I have always dreamed of being able to meet Peter one day and talk to him about all the ups and downs he went through. I have often thought that Peter gets a bad reputation when this particular story is preached. We hear of how Peter sank into the water and we are exhorted to have a faith that genuinely believes and walks on the water and moves the mountains. But I would like for us to focus for a bit on what Peter did, and not on how we may think he failed.
Jesus didn’t say to Peter that he had no faith. He said he had little faith. (verse 31) I believe that Jesus may have said these words to Peter with a smile on the corner of his mouth and with love, because he was actually proud of what Peter had attempted and wanted to encourage him to keep trying. Jesus wasn’t angry or disappointed. The God I know does not get down on us when we try and trip up in the process. He will exhort us to get up, learn, and try again.
Matthew 13:31-32
“He told them another parable, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”
Now I did some reading on mustard seeds and trees, so to help you picture it, try holding one of your fingers up. Look at the end of your finger intently. A mustard seed is about .05 millimetres, a dot on your fingertip. Yet this seed can grow into a tree anywhere from six to twenty feet high, even as high as thirty feet. It can have up to a twenty-foot width. Something so tiny can grow so big!
Sometimes we look at our faith like this, “She has a lot of faith. I only have a little.” “Oh, wow he is a giant in faith, me, well, I don’t know.”
No! God gives us everything we need to live a life for Him. I believe we all have that mustard seed of faith within us when we first profess belief in Him. But how that mustard seed grows depends on what we do with it. Faith is trust in action. It isn’t just belief. Trust only grows as we let go of us and grab onto Him. This is a process, just like the mustard seed growing into a beautiful luscious tree that the birds nest in.
What can we learn from this story of Peter? What are some principles of how our mustard seed faith will grow?
Principles for Growing our Mustard Seed Faith
• The first thing that Jesus said to the disciples is this: Don’t be afraid, take courage. (verse 27a) This involves stepping beyond our feelings, and instead, making a conscious choice with our will. Every single time we choose over the fear, our courage will grow. Every small choice counts.
We don’t need to wait for the big choice. It’s the small daily choices that build up our foundation of faith so that we can make the big leaps of faith later.
• Focus on Jesus, not the storm. He says, “I am here.” (verse 27b) Find that quiet place in Him. We meditate on a scripture promise to combat the enemy’s lies. If we have to do that fifty times a day for that certain fear, then we do that. Gradually the fear will subside and faith will grow. Our focus will shift off the situation and onto our Shepherd.
• Be willing to be a ‘risk-taker’ and obey. My daughter made a quilt for me with one of my favorite quotations. It is from C.S. Lewis’ book, ‘The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.’ “Course He’s not safe. But He is good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
We can risk when we know who we are risking for! Peter was willing to put Jesus to the test – “if it’s really you, tell me to come to you” (verse 28) Why? Because Peter had seen that Jesus was good, compassionate, powerful. He had seen the people fed with two loaves of bread and five fish. He has seen people healed. So he knew that if this person was Jesus and not a ghost, that He could help him walk on the water. It is better to step out in the little faith we might think we have, then to remain in the boat as the other disciples did.
A long time ago I read a book by Erwin Lutzer called, ‘Failure, the Backdoor to Success.’ It had a huge impact on me, and I have never forgotten this phrase. It often runs through my mind when I am about to try something new. Failure is the backdoor to success.
We cannot take long strides until we learn with faltering baby steps first. We grow one stage at a time, sometimes falling backwards or on our face, but we get up again! Two steps forward, three steps back, but eventually, we will be consistently moving forward.
• Let go of control. Peter had to get out of the boat, totally. He couldn’t hold onto the boat with one hand. He had to completely step out of that boat. At that present moment in the storm, that boat was his comfort zone. But Peter’s heart really wanted to go to Jesus. So he took the step out. For our faith to truly blossom, we must have open hands, not clenched. We must let go of our securities and hold on tight to Him!
• Don’t care what others think! I have tried walking on water twice. Once at a swimming pool and once when I was in a canoe. I sank both times and there was a lot of laughter. That’s alright, who cares. One way or another, I believe one day I will walk on water, this side of life or the other. In the meantime, I will keep trying even if it means me getting wet and looking like an idiot. I just need a towel close by.
Close your eyes and picture those disciples. I picture there being three groups of thinking among them: A couple that was perhaps snickering, “Oh there goes Peter again, making a fool of himself.” Another few sitting there completely shocked, “I can’t believe Peter challenged Jesus and said, ‘if it’s really you,’ how could he?” (that’s the religious mindset.)
And the last group – feeling embarrassed, timid, a little guilt or ashamed perhaps. Perhaps they were thinking, “Why didn’t I try like Peter – wow, what a missed opportunity!”
• Practice faith, act on it at every opportunity. There are so many areas where we can step out in faith and practice in areas we want to grow in. It could be among your co-workers or at the grocery store, anywhere. I want to grow in words of knowledge, the prophetic, and praying for the sick and seeing people come to Christ. I believe with practice I will hear the Father better. So often I am quietly asking God if there is someone around me that He wants me to speak to or pray with. Sometimes I am scared but each time if I try and if I hear accurately my faith and joy increase. As my faith increases, I want to practice more. It is a cycle. Eventually, we want this to become our day to day lifestyle, stepping out in faith. Many times I am not accurate, but if it’s motivated by love, that is okay. But I must keep practicing. We can’t give up.
• Nourish our faith. We need to guard our faith carefully against skepticism and negativity, and especially discouragement. We need to cultivate and take tender loving care of our faith. It is precious as gold! (1 Peter 1:7). Imagine if you had gold in your house. You wouldn’t just leave it laying around. The enemy wants to rob us of our faith. Our faith is worth more than gold. We must do everything in our power to protect it.
I remember a few years back I had the impulse to buy a couple of small bushes and plant them in the backyard. I fussed and fussed over those two little bushes. I was constantly watering and weeding and tilling the soil around them. I was out there every day inspecting them to make sure they were okay. I wanted so much for them to grow, and wow did they ever grow. They are huge now. A little too big. But in comparison, our faith can never be too big!
• Cry, Help! When our faith is faltering, cry out to God. God always hears this prayer. Just like the man in Mark 9:23 who wanted his son healed. He said to Jesus, “I believe, help me in my unbelief.” God always honors the honest heartfelt prayer. The boy was healed though the father struggled in his faith.
So what happened to this Peter and his mustard seed faith? Who seemed to stumble often and falter and get his foot in his mouth?
He went on to become the leader of the early church.
He led 3000 to Christ in one day.
He planted and grew churches and was a kingdom shaker.
He was crucified upside down.
A life fully surrendered with a mustard seed faith that matured into a huge tree. Just like the birds nesting in a large mustard tree, many people gathered around Peter and were impacted by his faith and his life. Just an ordinary guy with a mustard seed faith.
You and me, ordinary people with mustard seed faith!