Peter on the water

After feeding the five thousand, Jesus sent the disciples across the lake ahead of him and went up a mountainside to pray. A wind rose. By the small hours the boat was a long way from shore, fighting the waves. Then they saw someone walking toward them on the water and were terrified. Jesus called out that it was him and told them not to be afraid.

Peter said, Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water. Jesus said, come. Peter got out of the boat and walked. Then he saw the wind, and fear took over, and he began to sink. He cried out, Lord, save me. Matthew says Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, and asked why he had doubted.

Several things are worth noticing. Peter did not step out on his own initiative. He asked for a command and received one. His faith was real; he walked. His fear was also real; he sank. Neither cancelled the other. And the rescue was immediate. Jesus did not lecture him from a distance and let him take on water for a while. He caught him first and asked the question afterward.

Decades later Peter would write to Christians who were terrified of the wind, and tell them not to fear. He knew exactly what he was asking. He also knew that the hand that caught him had not changed. The lesson for us is not that mature disciples never sink. It is that when they do, the cry for help is enough, and the hand is already out.