Developing "Little-Faith"

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: (651) 283-0568 www.dtminc.org Today’s Date: April 24, 2005
Developing "Little-Faith"

"Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.’ 29 And He said, ‘Come!’ And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ 31 Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’" Matthew 14:28-31

The incident of Jesus’ walking on the water is reported in Matthew, Mark and John’s gospels. It was an awesome evidence of God’s power over nature, and a powerful sign to the disciples concerning who Jesus was. There are strong parallels in each account, but only Matthew records the story of Peter’s stroll upon the sea. There are some valuable lessons to be gained here. Let’s take a closer look.

We saw last time that, after feeding the 5,000, Jesus sent the twelve away in a boat to go to the other side before Him. This was probably because the crowd was all wound up with excitement over the miracle, and were intending to come and declare Him their king (Jn. 6:14,15). The fact that the writers say that Jesus had to "compel" (Matt. 14:22; Mk. 6:45) His disciples to get into the boat and leave suggests that they had also been caught up in the mood of the multitude. So they went "ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away".

After this, the Lord went up the mountain to pray, so that a considerable time went by before He turned His attention back to catching up with His disciples. By this time, they were a considerable distance from shore. They were straining at the oars, fighting their way through the waves and wind which were battering against their progress (Matt. 14:24; Mk. 6:48).
Mark’s gospel says that He came to them in the fourth watch of the night, between 3:00 and 6:00 a.m. He was walking on the water, and He was intending to walk by them to get to the other side before they did (6:48). That is an incredibly significant statement. Jesus did not operate in the absolute knowledge of future events, or even of His Father’s will, while He walked among us. Like us, He took one step at a time. He expected that, in the darkness and storm, He would pass by them undetected. They saw Him, however, and cried out in fear, thinking that He was a ghost. Immediately Jesus responded to the need of the moment, saying, "Take courage. I am. Do not be afraid."

Most versions translate this middle statement as "It is I", but the Greek is clearly "I am". The significance of the "I am" statement in this context could not have been more vivid. Here is Jesus standing on the water, defying all the so-called "natural laws" which these fishermen experienced everyday. What does He say about this? He identifies Himself with the "I am" of the OT (Ex. 3:14), the covenant God of Israel, the Creator of the world. John refers to six other times where Jesus did the same thing. In each setting, Jesus either demonstrates or claims something for Himself which normally would be ascribed only to God (Jn. 4:16-26; 8:24,28,53-59; 13:19; 18:1-8). This is not just a slip of the tongue, or a weird way of expressing oneself. This is intentional on Jesus’ part, …and repeated. By using the "I am" language in this manner, Jesus identifies Himself with God. Could this be staged in a more dramatic setting?

At this point, Matthew reports the account of Peter’s response to this experience. He said, "Master, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." Was this Peter’s way of testing to see if it really was Jesus? Did he know what he was getting himself into? Certainly, if it was just a spirit masquerading as the Lord, it would not be able to keep him from sinking into the sea. It was a ready test to see what was going on, …and Peter did know how to swim. He was going to call the bluff of this phantom. He carefully worded his test, "if it is You", command…", knowing that the real Jesus would not command him to do anything harmful or foolish. The real Jesus would not command him to do something which could not be done, either. If it wasn’t Jesus, it would soon become apparent, however.

Jesus said, "Come!" -- Now who is calling whose bluff? No way to find out, but to get out of the boat. -- So, Peter got out of the boat, and …walked on the water toward Jesus! Wow! That must have been awesome, overwhelming, unbelievable! As he moved toward Jesus, Peter began to really take stock of the situation. The text says, "seeing the wind, he became afraid" (vs. 30). Having the wind blow through his hair and on his back while he was in the boat was very different than being totally exposed out on the water. Here the wind blew all around his entire body. Noticing this, and suddenly realizing that here there was no hand rail or safety rope, Peter became afraid, and started to sink. He cried out, "Lord, save me!" There was no railing or rope, but there still was the Master’s hand, and Jesus immediately reached out and took hold of him. Lifting him back up, they both walked back to the boat, and got in. As soon as they did, the wind ceased. The experience was so overwhelming, all they could do was bow down and do obeisance to Him, exclaiming, "Truly You are (a) son of God!"

How they understood their exclamation is hard to say. The Greek has no "the" in the phrase. The title, "son of God" was a title used for the Davidic king (cf. Psa. 2). Certainly by this time, they had come to believe that Jesus was a powerful man of God, at least a prophetic-type of figure. Often, when we read and interpret things, we lose sight of the progressive nature of the understanding of the disciples regarding who Jesus was and what He was here for. Whatever their understanding, they knew that they had seen some amazing things that day. They had twice seen the ordinary laws of nature suspended as He multiplied the loaves and fishes, and now having seen Him walk on the water. Being monotheistic Jews, they probably did not think of Jesus as the "son of God" as we have come to view Him. The title meant more that they clearly knew that God was with Him. They had seen God do great things through Jesus, and they knew there was a special relationship between Him and the Father in heaven, but the full extent of that was still unknown to them.

Let’s take a look at some of the lessons to be found in this passage. Peter was a very colorful character. He was very impulsive. If his question to Jesus sprang from an attempt to test the manifestation he saw on the lake, as I have suggested, …or if it was out of pure devotion to Jesus, …or even out of a bravado desire to be strong in faith as his Master, is not completely evident. What we do see is that (1.) he was the only one of the disciples to take the risk to get out of the boat; (2.) he successfully walked on the water, like Jesus; (3.) he became distracted and fearful of the wind and waves, and began to sink; (4.) he immediately called upon Jesus for help; (5.) with Jesus’ help, he walked back to the boat; and (6.) his faith in Jesus was deepened and enriched by his experience.

It is important to recognize that Peter was grasping the lesson that the miraculous was not something only for Jesus to perform. His reaction to seeing Jesus on the water was to believe that he could do that, too, by the same power that enabled Jesus. Was this justified? Was this a conclusion Peter should have made? Was it something that was consistent with what Jesus had been showing them?

Yes! In Matt. 10:1, Jesus had sent the twelve out to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God and "gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness." In fact, in Luke 9:1-11, it is the return of the apostles from this very preaching mission that is the reason given for Jesus’ suggesting that they withdraw privately that brought them across the sea of Galilee in the first place. Given that kind of background, assuming that they did indeed see God working through them miraculously as He did through their Master, it would be no big stretch to think that they could do other miraculous things that they saw Jesus doing.

In Peter’s mind, he probably thought that if the Master gave him authority over diseases and demons, and they responded to the power of God in him, would it not be the same for walking on water? "If Jesus could do that by the power of God, and He called me to come to Him, should not God’s power be there to enable me to do as He does?" Of course! Was Peter right? Yes! He got out of the boat, and the water held him up! He even began to walk away from the boat toward Jesus. How amazing that must have been!

What happened? The text says that "seeing the wind, he became afraid". In other words, the experience of the wind whirling around him distracted him enough that He stopped trusting in God. Fear, instead of faith, gripped his heart. Somehow, this faith component seems to have been a critical ingredient for the power of God to work on His behalf. Without it, he began to sink. Terrorized, he cried out to Jesus, "Lord, save me!"

Jesus grabbed him, and then said, "Little-faith, why did you doubt?", or literally, "Little-faith, unto what end did you doubt?" It is important to understand that Jesus recognized and acknowledged that Peter did have faith, just not the full-formed and consistent trust needed to complete this test. (This word occurs five times in the NT, four times in Matthew – Matt. 6:30; 8:26; 14:31; 16:8; Lk. 12:28.) His trust was not adequate to remain firm in the face of the fearful experience of the wind whipping by his head and body.

The way the remainder of the phrase is translated really colors the interpretation of what Jesus meant. Was Jesus really asking why did Peter doubt? Wasn’t it obvious? If, on the other hand, Jesus was pointing out the end or result of Peter’s doubt, wouldn’t that turn this experience of stumbling into a teachable moment? Peter had been successful in employing the proper kind of faith which God delights to work through, but the result of his doubt was to sink and hinder the work of God’s Spirit, a valuable lesson to observe so vividly.

Interestingly enough, it is Peter who later writes about the devil’s attempts to scare and intimidate us, like a roaring lion seeking prey. He counsels us to "Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world" (I Pet. 5:8,9). It would seem that he learned his lesson, and he saw how critical it was to maintain a stable, steady, calm faith in the midst of whatever turmoil or harassment we may undergo.

Faith comes from hearing and knowing the provisions and promises of God (Rom. 10:17; Heb. 11:1,6). As we see that God is trust-worthy or dependable, we find we can risk and trust more fully in Him. Risking is an act of the will. Faith, at its core, is a choice. Hope can be developed by observing God at work in your life, or the lives of others, as He is called upon and trusted. Faith is exercised when we choose to trust in spite of seemingly contrary experiences.