In the first part of Matthew 14, you have the sympathy of the Lord’s heart and then, as He feeds the multitude, the power of His hand displayed. He then went up into a mountain to pray. The disciples, dismissed at even, were sent on their way to Capernaum, “tossed with waves” and “toiling in rowing,” as Mark 6:4848And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them. (Mark 6:48) informs us. The distance they had to go was only about ten miles, but they had been nine hours covering a little over three miles. We make little progress if we do not have the Lord with us.
Sympathy and Power
The Lake of Tiberias is well-known for its sudden and violent storms, and they were caught in one. But in all their difficulties and dangers the Lord had His eye upon His own. He was above in intercession, and in the fourth watch He comes to them. He never forgets His own in their difficulties. “Touched with the feeling of our infirmities,” He is “able to succor” (Heb. 2:1818For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted. (Hebrews 2:18)), able to sympathize (Heb. 4:1515For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)), and “able also to save . . . to the uttermost” (Heb. 7:2525Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)). He does all three in this scene. That He is able to “succor” is evidenced in divine power as He is seen “walking on the sea” to their rescue — His sympathy finds vent in His answer, “Be of good cheer; it is I, be not afraid,” while His power to save is touchingly seen in His action towards Peter, as he cries in distress, “Lord, save me!” Such is our Jesus, as He now sits in glory, and these earthly incidents give us blessed glimpses of Him.
Faith and Love
Now, as they are toiling, storm-tossed and miserable, what music is in the voice that comes to them above the raging of the wind and waves, saying, “It is I; be not afraid.” And as they heard the tones of His voice, Peter, ever energetic, fearless and full of affection, says, “Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water.” Look at the energy and the love of that man’s heart. It is very refreshing. You have the Master going over the stormy deep, and then, in answer to the word “Come,” you see the disciple imitating his Master, and Peter, upheld by divine power, “walked on the water, to go to Jesus.” Only faith and love will act thus. It is an action the Lord admires.
Whatever motives might have been in his heart, they certainly seem all to his credit. Evidently he wanted to be near the Lord, and that was right. Caution and self-consideration would have kept him in the ship with his brethren. Affection and faith led him to leave all that nature leans on. Men with less zeal and energy would have saved themselves possible failure and discomfiture, and said, “We will just wait where we are till He comes on board.” Peter, assured that it was his beloved Master and charmed to see Him thus superior to the water on which He trod so firmly, counting also on His love liking to have him near Him, says in his heart, “I’ll go and meet Him, if He will let me.” True to his natural character of unrestrained impulsiveness — for Peter was no hypocrite — he says, “Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water.” Getting for his answer the single word “Come,” he at once obeys. And “when he was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.” He was entirely right. He had a divine warrant for his action in the word “Come,” and divine power he knew could not be wanting, since he was now in the presence of Him who must be God to walk the waters so majestically as He did.
The Eye on Jesus
And yet we find that he broke down. Quite true, but why? Because he foolishly left the ship? No, for it says, “He walked on the water, to go to Jesus.” For the moment he was like his Master. Why then did he sink? Because he took his eye off Jesus. As long as he kept his eye on Him, all went well; the moment “he saw the wind boisterous,” down he went. The wind was as high and the billows as rough before he abandoned the ship. The moment, therefore, he left the deck, it was a question either of Christ sustaining him or of drowning. Had he kept his eye where he first fixed it, on the person of the Lord, all would have gone well, but the moment he let the circumstances of his surroundings intervene between him and the Lord’s blessed face, he began to sink. It must always be so. So long as I have God between me and my circumstances, all is well. The moment I let the circumstances come in between my heart and God, all is wrong, and “beginning to sink” may well describe the situation.
Faith can walk on the roughest waters when the eye is on the Lord. “Looking unto Jesus” must always be the motto of the soul and the momentary habit of the heart, if this blessed pathway of superiority to circumstances is to be rightly trodden. Peter’s failure carries its lessons for us, but I believe the Lord greatly valued the love that led him to do as he did. I think the point of the passage is not so much that he broke down at last, but that he was really immensely like his Lord till he broke down. “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me,” said another servant in a later day.
The Power to Save
But to return: “When he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me!” Why did he sink? Was the water a bit more unstable when boisterous than when calm? Certainly not. You could not walk on the stillest pond a bit better than on the stormiest wave that ever surged, without divine power. The power of Christ can sustain you and me in the most difficult circumstances, and nothing but the power and grace of Christ can sustain us in the easiest circumstances. Then, as Peter cries out, the Lord “caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” Peter had faith, though it was little.
The exquisite grace of Christ in this passage is incomparable. Peter quite failed to get to his Lord, but the Lord did not fail to reach him in plenty of time. His very failure had brought him to his Saviour’s feet, and in the moment of his deep distress he finds himself in his blessed Saviour’s arms. His appeal, “Lord, save me,” was heard and answered at once. We too can bear witness to the tender pity and compassionate love of that same precious Jesus, for He is “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever.”
The Son of God
As soon as the Lord got into the ship the wind ceased, and John 6:2121Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went. (John 6:21) adds, “Immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.” How beautiful! How calm everything is as soon as we get into the presence of the Lord! And now they worship Him, saying, “Of a truth Thou art the Son of God.” Peter had learned Him as Messiah in John 1, he had learned Him as Son of Man and Lord over the fish of the sea in Luke 5, and now, as he sees more of the moral glories of His person, he gets another most precious lesson, that this One who is the Messiah and the Son of Man is also the Son of God.
W. T. P. Wolston, adapted