Walk on Water? Are You Sure?

Jesus is known for walking on water. For doing the impossible.

Surely, he never intended for us to do that, did he?  You know; the impossible? 

To our knowledge, the only other person who knows what it feels like to actually walk on water is Peter.

If you aren’t familiar with the story, here’s a quick recap, from Matthew himself: 

Chapter 14

22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

Let’s pause for a minute to catch up. 

Jesus started the day shaken by the news that John the Baptist had been beheaded. Like any of us, he needed time to process. Like none of us, he most likely realized that this meant the time for his crucifixion was on the horizon as well.

But his reputation had grown to the point he could not escape his newfound followers. They met him when his boat landed, before he was ready, and listened to him preach until late in the day. As they grew hungry, he commanded his disciples to gather what food they could find (Enter: boy with five loaves of bread and two fishes in his lunch pail. To me, the boy’s mother, who thought to pack the lunch, is the silent heroin of this story; but that’s another post for another day.) 

It is estimated they fed around 20,000 people that evening, the 5000 men and their families, whom they’d arranged into groups of fifty and one hundred. This could not have been a quick process. The disciples served as the servers that night, so even though they were in the midst of a miracle, they’d most likely had their fill of peopling for the day.

While he dismissed the crowd, Jesus sent them on ahead of him to cross the lake and meet him on the other side.

The disciples were tired and cranky, and didn’t want to spend their time rowing their boat, but they did it just the same. The Gospel of John (Chapter 6: 18 NIV) tells us they’d rowed through windy, stormy weather 3-4 miles when Jesus finally showed up. He’d been on the mountain, possibly watching this entire scenario, while also trying to grieve the loss of his cousin, John the Baptist.

Jesus walks toward them. In the dim light of dawn, he draws close enough for them to notice, but not close enough to be recognized.

But then something even more amazing than the previous day full of miracles happens.  

Keep in mind, the waters are rough. The wind is howling. This is not a leisurely stroll across the lake as some depictions may have you believe.

Photo by Michael Shannon on Unsplash

The book of Matthew is the only one that mentions Peter. Passionate, unpredictable, Peter. No wonder Jesus uses him to freely teach the rest of us.

Back to Matthew 14:

28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

29 “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

He did it. The impossible. That thing no one else said he could do. The timing wasn’t convenient, since they probably needed him to keep on rowing. This spontaneous, bucket-list item may have seemed a bit selfish at the time. Since they first believed it was a ghost coming up from the waters (a common belief at that time), it’s rather courageous and illogical that Peter is willing to gamble his own life to prove whether or not it’s Jesus.

But he asks Jesus if he could join him, and Jesus responds.

“Come.”

I don’t know about you, but there are many goals or dreams in my life that feel completely out of reach. Impossible, you might say.

Bystanders might urge me to get over myself. Family members may advise me to use my time more wisely. Friends may tell me I’ve never been brave enough or I often fail to finish what I start.

But not Jesus. He simply says, “Come.”

I fully believe Jesus wants all of us to experience what it’s like to walk on water. To join him in the midst of the impossible. To study the seas but focus on the heavens.

To overcome. To dream. To believe. To love him enough to want nothing more than walk beside him; no matter where that leads.

To trust him enough to ask.

The boat may rock. The waters may roar. Storms will definitely arise.

But we never have to do it without Jesus.

I’d much rather be walking alongside him than rowing without him. 

Peter may have just shown us the true test of following and finding God’s will in our lives.

Just ask.

“Lord, if this is from you, mind if I join you?”

Janet Morris Grimes

Janet Morris Grimes earliest childhood memories were spent creating fairy-tale stories of the father she never knew. That desire to connect with the mysterious man in a treasured photograph gave her a deep love for the endless possibilities of a healing and everlasting story. A wife of one, mother of three, and Tootsie to four, Janet currently writes from her quiet two-acre corner of the world near Elizabethtown, KY. She has spent the last few years preparing to introduce her novels and children’s stories to the world. Her debut novel, Solomon's Porch, was released in August of '21 and is now available on Amazon. For additional information on Janet, visit her website at http://janetmorrisgrimes.com.

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