True Heart of Worship
Church of God (Seventh Day) Independent
Church of God (Seventh Day) Independent
It seems like there is one sermon every new young pastor wants to teach. It comes from the Matthew 14 account of Peter's short-lived attempt to walk to Jesus on the Sea of Galilee. But in almost every one of these sermons, a very weak understanding is taught. You can find this weak teaching in every denomination because it is being taught that way in most theological schools.
They teach that it was necessary for Peter to keep his eyes on Jesus for the entire time that he was walking on the water. Therefore the message that they say is in these verses is that we should always keep our eyes on Jesus. That's a good message; it just isn't the message in these verses.
In this lesson, we will look at a better understanding of Peter's short walk on water. As part of that, we'll see the real cause. We'll also see that the real message in the story teaches us about the process for successful acts of faith.
The story is well known to Christians. Jesus has just fed the crowd of 5000 men, plus women and children. He instructs his disciples to cross the Sea of Galilee to go to Genesaret to prepare the people for Jesus' arrival. In the meantime, Jesus instructs the crowd to go home. When they have gone, he goes to a mountain to pray. He stays there until it becomes dark.
Meanwhile Jesus' disciples are still struggling to cross the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee is 8 to 10 miles across at this point. It is normally a very calm body of water because it is almost completely surrounded by hills. But in certain weather conditions, the wind can come down from the hills and whip up the water, making it very dangerous.
The ship was many furlongs distant from the land while it was tossed greatly by the waves, for the wind was against it. (1 furlong equals 1/8 mile) 25 But in the fourth watch of the night, Yeshua came, while he was walking on the water. (fourth watch is from about 3 A.M. to daybreak) 26 And his disciples saw him, that he was walking on the water, and they were alarmed and they were saying, "It is a false vision", and they cried out in fear.
27 But Yeshua immediately spoke with them and he said, "Take heart; I am the living God. Do not be afraid." 28 And [Peter] answered and he said to him, "My Lord, if you are He, command me to come unto you on the water." 29 And Yeshua said to him, "Come", and [Peter] went down from the ship and he walked on the water to come to Yeshua.
30 And when he saw the wind was violent, he was afraid, and he began to sink, and he raised his voice and he said, "My Lord, save me!" 31 And immediately our Lord stretched out his hand and he held him and said to him, "Oh small of faith! Why did you doubt?"
32 And when they came up into the ship the wind stopped. 33 And those who were in the ship came and they worshiped him, and they said, "Truly, you are the Son of God!" (Matthew 14:24-33)
You may know that I strongly encourage readers of the Bible to ask good questions. Good questions lead to deeper understanding. I'm not encouraging faithless questions, where a faithless person constantly seeks the proof he needs to have faith. Obviously I'm not interested in questions that try to show the Bible is in error in some way. Good questions come from a desire to understand.
I've found that many Bible stories have one question that cracks the whole story open. I've also found that very few people know the answer to the question, or they know the wrong answer, one that they got from someone else and never really thought about whether it made sense.
This story is one of the stories that has that one good question … or, at least, it's one of the ones where I've found the right question.
Jesus asks the right question: Why did Peter doubt? You might think that everyone knows that question and the answer to that question. For this story, everyone thinks they know the answer because they've been told the answer so many times, but no one has asked, "Is that what the Bible says?"
The standard answer is that Peter took his eyes off Jesus. There are a host of problems with that answer, which I'll discuss in the next section. I'll only mention one of them here - that isn't what the Bible says.
If you are certain that the Bible says that, I suggest you stop reading right now and go get your Bible. You'll find that it doesn't say anything about eyes or about looking. Because people have been told this answer "since they were born" by people they respect a lot, it is very hard to let go of it and grab the truth.
The correct answer is that he let his fear get control of him. You see, fear can lead to doubt, which is the opposite of faith and a poison to faith. The only way that Peter could not see the situation he was in would be if his eyes were closed. The phrase, "Keep your eyes on Jesus," would be useless to him. It gives him nothing to help in that situation. The kind of help he needs would come from timely advice like, "Reject fear," or "Don't be afraid."
It is commonly reasoned that Peter looked away from Jesus and saw that the wind was blowing violently. This caused him to lose faith and sink. Therefore it is said that the message behind these verses is to "keep your eyes on Jesus". That is a valid message and a message that is supported in many other verses, such as this.
And let us gaze at Yeshua, him who is the author and the perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was his, endured the cross and ignored the shame, and he sits upon the right side of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)
Of course the author of Hebrews isn't telling us that we should keep our physical eyes on Jesus. He means that we should keep our spiritual eyes on Jesus. That means Jesus should be the model for us. He should be the focus of our lives. He should be the leader and we the followers.
The verses from Matthew describe a physical event, walking on water, so if Peter's fault was to take his physical eyes off of Jesus, the message would be about physical eyes, not spiritual eyes. The message would be that Peter took his physical eyes off of Jesus, and therefore we shouldn't take our physical eyes off of Jesus. That would be logical, but Jesus isn't around right now, so it isn't possible for us to keep our physical eyes on him.
People say, "No, no, it's talking about taking our spiritual eyes off of Jesus, not physical eyes.
To get that, though, this interpretation has an awkward twist in it. The lesson from it would be that Peter took his physical eyes off of Jesus; thus we shouldn't take our spiritual eyes off of Jesus. That isn't logical though. It is like saying, "He ate an orange, so I ate an apple." There is no logical connection between the two. It is like saying Peter failed and sank in the physical water; thus we shouldn't fail and sink in the spiritual water. So while "keep your [spiritual] eyes on Jesus" is a good message, it isn't the message from these verses.
There are other problems with the idea that Peter's failing was that he took his eyes off Jesus.
There is more than one message in the verses of this story.
If we look closely at this story, we can see that there is a process or sequence involved. We see the elements of Requesting Authorization, Receiving Authorization, Having Faith, and Continuing in Faith.
God has sometimes given people a standing (continuing) authorization to work miracles in his name. The apostles were some of these people. We see them healing as they feel led to do so. Acts 19:11-12 even describes Paul healing indiscriminately. For the rest of us, those without prior authorization, the process begins with a request for authorization to Jesus.
Despite what Charismatics want to believe, nothing can be done without his authorization, without his will. We have no power of our own.
Peter's request, in verse 28, is "tell me to come to you on the water". It may sound more like a command, but it is a request - Jesus could have said no.
The request doesn't need to be verbal. It can be implied or understood from the situation. This isn't a rigid process with request forms that need to be filled out.
In Peter's case, Jesus authorizes him in verse 29 to walk on water by saying no more than "Come." In other places, Jesus says, "I am willing."
Here are a couple of the verses from the Gospels where Jesus speaks of giving and receiving authority.
And he called his twelve disciples and he gave them authority over foul spirits to cast them out, and to heal every ailment and disease. (Matthew 10:1)
Two points here are interesting. They did not have this authority; they needed this authority. Being Jews, disciples, or whatever else they might have been had not given them this authority. As we recall from another story from Acts 19:13-16, those who try to cast out demons without authority can run into trouble.
This authorization is given 4 chapters before the verses we are studying. There is some thought that part of the message in these verses was directed to the disciples. The thinking is that the disciples had become full of themselves, thinking that the power was from them and forgetting that Jesus was the source. Therefore it was necessary for Jesus to remind them that the power came from him, and that was done through Peter's failure.
Jesus himself needed authorization, which he received from his father.
And Yeshua spoke with them and he said to them, "All authority has been given to me in Heaven and in the earth" (Matthew 28:18)
God does not authorize all requests. He authorizes requests that are according to his will and his plan. We see an example of that in the verses below.
Lest I be lifted up by the abundance of revelations, a thorn for my flesh was handed over to me, an Angel of Satan to buffet me, lest I be lifted up. 8 And I begged of my Lord concerning this three times, to remove it from me. 9 And he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:7-9)
Far too many Christians use God. They believe they are authorized to do anything and command all sorts of things to happen. Do they think they have a greater authorization than Paul, the Apostle? In the verses above, does he command his affliction to go away? No, he prayed that God would take it away. He made a request but was not given authorization.
Faith is required for the power of God to act. Without faith, nothing will happen. What follows is a selection of verses where Jesus refers to the faith that is needed for his power to act.
But Yeshua turned, and saw her, and he said to her, "Take heart my daughter, your faith has saved you." And the woman was healed from that moment. (Matthew 9:22)
But when he had come to the house, those blind men came near to him; Yeshua said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They were saying to him, "Yes, our Lord." 29 Then he touched their eyes, and he said, "Just as you have believed, let it be done to you." (Matthew 9:28-29)
In the above case, we see where the blind men's faith must be. They must believe that Jesus is able to heal them. Jesus does not ask if they believe that Jesus is God, nor that Jesus is the Messiah, though we know that some people he healed had realized that he was. Also note that faith and belief have the same meaning here. Jesus asks if they believe and then says "according to your faith".
Here are some other verses on the necessity of faith.
But then Yeshua said to her, "O woman, great is your faith; it will be done for you as you will." And her daughter was healed from that moment. (Matthew 15:28)
Yeshua said to them, "Because of your unbelief, for amen, I say to you, that if you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you may say to this mountain, 'Move from here', and it will move, and nothing will be difficult for you". (Matthew 17:20)
Yeshua answered and said to them, "Amen, I say to you, if you have faith and you will not doubt, you will do not only this of the fig tree but also if you will say to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and fall into the sea', it will be done." (Matthew 21:21)
Yeshua said to him, "If you are able to believe, everything is possible to the one who believes." (Mark 9:23)
"Timeless truth, I tell you: 'whoever believes in me, those works which I have done he will also do, and he will do greater works than these, because I am going to the presence of my Father.'" (John 14:12)
"And by the faith of his Name, this one whom you see and know, he has restored and healed, and faith in him has given him this health before you all." (Acts 3:16)
As we see in the foundation scripture for this lesson, Peter, at first, had sufficient faith to walk on water, but on seeing the effect of the wind, and probably the waves, he became afraid and began to doubt. As a result, his faith diminished, and he began to sink.
Satan has no interest in seeing works of faith succeed or continue. From the moment a believer chooses to act in faith, he or she will be assaulted by negative thoughts like "This won't work", "This is crazy", and "If this doesn't work, you'll be a failure". These are not the doubts that Jesus speaks of when he says, "Why did you doubt?" These are the thoughts and fears that lead to doubt … if you accept them. Reject them, and continue in faith.
Consider the case of Jairus.
And while he was speaking, the man who was of the house of the leader of the synagogue came and he said to him, "Your daughter has died; do not trouble the teacher." 50 But Yeshua heard and he said to the father of the girl, "Do not be afraid; only have faith, and she will live." (Luke 8:49-50)
Jairus came to Jesus, knowing that his daughter was near death. Then he was told that she had died. Then Jesus said, "Don't be afraid; just believe, and she will live." We see the instruction not to fear placed against the instruction to only believe. But, what kind of thoughts must have run through his head? "No one can rise from the dead". "In all your life, you've never seen anyone raised from the dead. Why would you expect that to change?". Jairus must have come to Jesus to make this request because he had heard of the miracles Jesus had performed. He had also just heard the testimony of a woman whose bleeding disorder had just been healed. On this, he was able to muster enough faith that his daughter would be healed.
After some of his miracles, Jesus says things like "sin no more" and "or else the demon will return". Satan would love to trick a person into losing what they had gained through faith. Peter had succeeded for a while, but he lost that. Similarly Satan would love to undo anything that we have achieved by faith.
As Peter begins to sink and scream, Jesus reaches out and raises him up. It isn't clear if Peter walked back to the ship or was carried. I think that they walked, hand-in-hand. But there is something important to learn from this. Was it not possible for Jesus to keep Peter from sinking? Of course it was. Why then did Peter sink? We are told that doubt crushed what little faith Peter had. Couldn't Jesus have kept him walking on the water despite his lack of faith? Of course he could. So what is going on here?
Wherever possible, Jesus wanted his miracles to be done through the faith of people. Building their faith in him was part of his mission. He could have done them himself. He wanted them to be done this way so that the works of the people might be glorified … by God. God gives us works to do that he may glorify us for doing them. There is another lesson called "The Works Prepared For Us To Do" that covers this in detail. The works are usually much smaller than walking on water, but no matter how small, they are intended to build up our faith for greater works.
God doesn't need us to do things for him. He can do everything himself. He chooses to give us things to do for our own good.
We've seen that this passage of scripture shows us the elements of acts of faith. But there is also an overall message from this passage - Fear is a poison to Faith. Fear builds doubt, which is the opposite of faith. So fear reduces faith.
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In Peter's case, it wasn't that he took his eyes off Jesus. He couldn't help but see the waves and other effects of the wind. If you were in Peter's situation, could you help but ask yourself, "What is going on here? This is crazy," and consider the situation. The wind is howling, the waves are rolling past, you're standing on water with nothing below you but a lot more water, and the boat is now a ways away. Who could help but notice?
But Peter's failing was that he let what he saw and heard, and his fear for his life, turn into doubt. It was necessary for him to be unshaken by the things that were happening and the things he was seeing and hearing. Instead he needed to continue to place his trust in Jesus and in God.
He had a foundation for that faith. He had seen miracle after miracle performed by Jesus. For example, just hours before, he had seen Jesus feed 5000 men plus women and children from 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. And now he was seeing Jesus standing on the water not far away. But he let concern for his personal safety turn into fear and doubt, which crushed all this foundation for his faith.
This is no different in our daily lives. Though few of us are commanded to walk on water, some are called to other great works of faith. But for everyone, God has made many promises to us. He has said that he will take care of us according to his will and plan for us. It is necessary for us to have faith in him. When financial troubles or job troubles or health troubles or whatever come, it is necessary to continue on in faith.
1 Picture from http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Believer's%20Corner/eyes_on_jesus.htm