Matthew 14:28-33

Matthew 14:28-33

And after answering Him, Peter said, “Lord, if you are, command me to come to you upon the water.”  And He said, “Come.”  And after coming down from the boat, Peter was walking around upon the water and he came to Jesus.  And while seeing the mighty wind, he became afraid.  And after beginning to sink down into deep water he cried out while saying, “Lord, save me!”  And immediately after Jesus stretched out the hand He grabbed hold of him and says to him, “One of little faith, into what did you become uncertain?”  And after they embarked into the boat, the wind ceased.  And the ones in the boat worshipped Him while saying, “Truly He is the Son of God.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Sometimes I can’t help but shake my head at Peter.  He’s in a boat in a horrible storm.  The boat is being tormented by the weather around it.  He then sees a ghost and is incredibly afraid.  The ghost tells him that he’s Jesus, and Peter’s first thought is to test the ghost by getting out of the only thing that is being safe.  Peter is impulsive.  In fact, if we look at the verb tenses that Peter uses, Peter used the imperative when he speaks to Jesus.  Peter actually commands Jesus to command him to get out of the boat.  Yes, Peter is incredibly bold.  But at the same time, because Peter allows himself to get caught up in the moment Peter finds himself giving commands to the Son of God.  We need to be careful and learn from Peter.  When our stress level rises and the intensity of our life increases, we find ourselves doing things that may make perfect sense in the moment but in the greater scheme of things never make sense.  We should never be in a position in our relationship with God to be the one giving commands.

Do you ever give commands to God?  When do you feel as though you are in a position to give commands to God?

Second Thought:

Notice, however, that Jesus is not offended by the command.  Jesus tells Peter to get out of the boat.  Jesus is willing to work through Jesus’ impulsive nature.  As God, Jesus is willing to even use Peter’s failing.  Jesus is with Peter even when Peter is weak.  So Jesus allows Peter to get out of the boat and find out where his impulsive nature and his weakness leads.  As Peter gets out of the boat, he sees the world around him.  Suddenly he focuses on the wind.  He begins to sink.  He cries out for help.  Peter finds himself in the natural place that we all end up when we find ourselves giving commands to God: in desperate need for God to save us from ourselves.

When you give commands to God, how does it normally end up for you?  Have you ever been in a place where you have needed to be rescued from the very things you demanded of God in the first place?

Third Thought:

Immediately Jesus reaches out.  This is twice in a very short sequence that we see Jesus take immediate action.  Peter needs help.  He got himself into this predicament, but Jesus comes in to rescue Him.  Jesus seizes an incredible opportunity to teach Peter a great lesson.  Sometimes circumstances cause us to think wrongly.  Sometimes we think more of ourselves than we should.  Sometimes we bite off more than we actually can chew.  But in all of those circumstances, we have not exceeded God’s ability to save us.

In times past when you’ve need Him, has God been there for you?  How do you know?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 14:34-36