Lessons from Peter and the Others
Matt. 14:22-33
Matthew 14:22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23After dismissing the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. Well into the night, he was there alone. 24Meanwhile, the boat was already some distance from land, battered by the waves, because the wind was against them. 25Jesus came toward them walking on the sea very early in the morning. 26When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost!” they said, and they cried out in fear.
Matt. 14:22-33
27Immediately Jesus spoke to them. “Have courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter answered him, “command me to come to you on the water.”
29He said, “Come.” And climbing out of the boat, Peter started walking on the water and came toward Jesus. 30But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31Immediately Jesus reached out his hand, caught hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33Then those in the boat worshiped him and said, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
I have broken these eleven verses into eight points from which we can benefit. Number one. Jesus sends them out on their own to face the harsh winds, to test them. This is what God does. He brings us out to face those things that seem and are difficult, challenging, unbearable, dangerous, overwhelming. And in so doing he is asking, “What are you going to do? Where are you going to turn? What or who are you going to fear, love, and trust?”
Number two. It goes from bad to worse. They are confronted with something they cannot explain. They are terrified, troubled because of some force, something supernatural, against which they know they are powerless, that means ultimately death. And they are terrified. Think of horror movies. So they cry out in fear. Perhaps we can relate. In this case, however, that which is out there is Jesus Christ. At this point we might be reminded of A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, beginning at the end of stanza one:
… For still our ancient foe
Doth seek to work us woe;
Strong mail of craft and pow’r
He weareth in this hour;
On earth is not his equal.Stood we alone in our own might,
(ELH 251)
Our striving would be losing;
For us the one true Man doth fight,
The Man of God’s own choosing.
Who is this chosen One?
‘Tis Jesus Christ, the Son,
The Lord of hosts, ’tis He
Who wins the victory
In ev’ry field of battle.
Number three. The man of God’s own choosing, Jesus, does his good work. He encourages, assures, and comforts them. “Have courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” They can have courage, take courage, be of good courage, be of good cheer, emboldened within, inner confidence, unflinching boldness. They are not to be afraid. And why: because it is Christ himself. He comforts them and encourages them both with his presence and his word. We have both today. We have his word today. Wherever his word is, there is Christ. When your pastor or fellow Christian speaks to you, “Your sins are forgiven,” that is Christ speaking to you. We have Christ himself, we have Christ himself in the sacrament. In your baptism, you are clothed with Christ and his righteousness. He is truly present with his body and blood in the Lord’s Supper. He and his word are our comfort and our encouragement. Because of him and his word we do not have to be afraid, we can have courage. When the wind and the waves are against us, when the horrors of death loom before us, when something happens so we cry out with fear, we are to hear and behold Jesus; he is present.
Number four. The humbling of Peter. Lord, if it is you tell me to come to you on the water. Peter was unique in his gifts and character. A natural, outspoken, blunt leader. But he was also rash, he spoke before he thought, and he overestimated himself. He even thought, as we shall see later, that he knew the mission and purpose of Christ better than Christ knew his mission and purpose. But still he did have unique abilities: he was a leader, one who step forward before the others, say what was on his mind without mincing words. Good qualities. But he had this tendency to misuse these gifts and qualities, as we all do with any gifts we might have, allowing pride and sin to direct them. Peter was arrogant in outward way. He perhaps stepped out onto the water, thinking, “I am courageous, I can do this,” maybe even turning around to his fellow disciples, and saying or thinking, “Look at me!”
We can often see that in those who have leadership abilities. We see this in politicians, for example. Think of men who run for president. Leadership is not wrong, but leadership directed by pride is irritating at least, and sometimes very dangerous. Arrogance and pride with leaders can be obvious. But people who are not leaders can be just as proud or arrogant, they just do so in ways that are not as obvious. All are guilty. For what we are talking about is a violation of the 1st commandment. They can be proud and arrogant in very quiet ways, under the radar, so that people may not notice.
So it was time for Peter to be humbled. Jesus told him to come. And what happened to Peter? He took his focus off Jesus and his word, and looked instead at the harsh elements of the world, elements that revealed his weakness, his fear, that made him scared to death. Where’s your courage now, Peter? And he began to sink. That is exactly what Christ wanted for him. He wanted him to sink and he wanted Peter to know that he was sinking, that by himself he had no power or strength against the world and its forces and death. That’s exactly where Jesus wanted Peter.
Number five. The greatness of Peter. It is here that Peter shines, so to speak. Lord, save me! Arrogance is gone, for now. This is a confession of total helplessness and inability. This is to be the cry of every person, as they face their frailty, their weaknesses, their fears, their sins, their death, and the death that is beyond the grave. As St. Paul said, “When I am weak, then I am strong.” Strong not in himself, but in Christ and God’s grace.
Number six. Jesus alone saves. Jesus reaches out immediately and saves Peter from drowning . Jesus alone. He does not tell Peter, “You have to do this first. You have to tread water, you have to do something, you have to try harder, you have to meet me part way.” No. Jesus reaches out, and Jesus alone saves. And as we know, or should know and need to know, the reason Jesus alone saves us is because of his work of humbling himself, to the point of death, the death on the cross.
Number seven. Jesus also chastises. “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” This is directed specifically at Peter. God directs failures and lack of faith to us as individuals, and that can be difficult to accept. The reaction of our old Adam is to be defensive or avoid those shameful and embarrassing realties about ourselves. But he does so because he wants us to have greater faith. And with greater faith comes courage. You cannot have the needed courage with little faith. More than ever in our society, we need to be courageous Christians. But courage does not come without greater faith. And greater faith does not come without having to face those strong winds and the waves, having to face the reality of our lack of faith, our weakness, having to face the reality of our pride and arrogance, our sins, and the reality of our upcoming death. Unfortunately, we have to be humbled, smashed down. We have to realize and confess our failures in our specific roles: as husband, wife, father, mother, son, daughter, pastor, neighbor. And then we cry out to Christ, we look to him, his word, and his forgiveness and grace. And with that comes greater faith and greater courage for the days ahead.
Number eight. The good response of the disciples. After they see Jesus walk on water, and save Peter, after they know that he, by his mighty power, calms the sea, the disciples do what they ought to do. Then those in the boat worshiped him and said, “Truly you are the Son of God.” For them it became obvious who this person was. It should be obvious to everyone, but it is not. In fact, most part there remain in total resistance and even rebellion. We hope and pray others will be brought to confess Jesus to be the Son God, the Redeemer of the world, who alone saves them from their sins, death, and the devil. But we do. Or hopefully we do. That is why we are here today. Or should be here today. To worship Jesus and confess him to be the Son God, the Redeemer of the world, who alone saves us from our sins, death, and the devil. He has reached out and saved us; he saved by the same hands that saved Peter, for they were the very hands that were stretched out and nailed to the cross, for us. “Have courage. It is I. Do not be afraid.”
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