Peter
has stepped out in faith in Jesus’ calling. It was God’s grace –
Jesus – who called Peter to come to Him on the water. It will be
God’s grace – Jesus – who will save Peter from sinking into
deep, dark despair in the storm. As long as
Peter kept his eyes upon Jesus, he walked on the water toward Jesus and his calling.
But when, he started looking at the circumstances surrounding him,
he began to sink. If Jesus called Peter to walk on water, He will
not let Peter drown. Apart from God’s grace – Jesus – Peter
couldn’t be saved. Jesus
sticks closer to us than a brother. (Proverbs
18:24) He
is not afar off.
In
spite of Peter’s shortcomings, he always managed to get back on
track in his walk with Jesus. Even here, Peter cried out to the Lord,
“save me.”
Taking
a risk sometimes results in failure, but Jesus is always there to
save us when we turn to Him. Jesus will use this situation to teach
Peter and the other disciples and work it out for His glory. When
we try to trust in ourselves and our own strength, we sink. It was
Jesus who was giving Peter the power to walk on water. When Peter
took his eyes off of Jesus, he took his eyes off of Jesus's power and fell. Jesus will also be the power who
saves Peter.
Jesus
– God’s grace – reached out His hand and saved Peter. Grace is
not God’s provision to overlook sin. It is His provision to
overcome sin. When we allow Jesus’ cleansing and transformation
through the power of the Holy Spirit and Word to remove sin in us –
one sin at a time, we are changed and lifted up into the higher
spiritual realm above sin and destruction. Walking
on the water of the Word helps us remain above the ways of the world
and empowers us to do miraculous works. When
we try to trust ourselves and our own ways and power, we sink. It was
Jesus who was giving Peter the power to walk on the water. It will be
the power of Jesus that will save him. Apart from God’s grace,
Peter couldn’t be saved nor
can any of us.
Jesus
is a very present help in time of trouble. Not
only did Jesus save Peter, He wanted Peter to know why he began to
sink.
Jesus said to Peter in Matthew
14:31, “You of little faith, why did you doubt.” This
is a gentle rebuke from Jesus. Then Jesus took Peter’s hand and
walked with him back to the boat and
joined the other disciples.
When
they received Him into the boat, they began to worship Him. With
Jesus in the boat with them, they immediately reached their destiny.
Since Jesus is the One who gives us our destiny, He will be the One who will carry us to our destiny. The
darkness and storm had held the disciples from doing this. Jesus
never left or forsook His beloved disciples however. Nowhere in the account
of this situation in the midst of darkness and the raging waters did
Jesus condemn or judge Peter or the disciples who remained in the
boat. He taught Peter and joined the others as they journeyed to where He had called them.
The
result of Peter taking the risk of walking on the water brought
salvation to Peter and the others as well. It
also helped
Peter and the other disciples to
see
Jesus in a greater light and depth. “Truly,
You are the Son of God,” and
they
worshiped Him.
Matthew 14:33 Prior
to this, the disciples saw Jesus as a prophet of God, but they didn’t
see Him as God. Now they are assured that He is the Son of God –
the express image of the Father with the same power and authority.
Risk-taking
Taking
a risk sometimes means failure but Jesus is always there to rescue us
and use the circumstance to teach us so we will draw closer and
closer to Jesus and His power, not depend upon our own. Jesus will
reach out His hand, save us and walk together with us as we return to
our calling. Our mistakes are not failures if we learn from them.
Jesus
wanted His disciples to learn:
- Without Him they cannot face and calm a storm that may come up in their lives.
-
He will never leave or forsake His own and will come to save them by His power, grace, truth and love.
-
If Jesus calls us to something, He will bring us to it.
-
He is the Light in the darkness and chaos.
-
He is the Creator who has authority over all creation – even the wind and waves obey Him.
-
Obedience to Jesus’ Word by faith brought Peter out of His comfort zone and closer to Jesus.
-
They saw Jesus in a Greater Light and worshiped Him as the Son of God.
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