Mat 14:28 = Peter walks on water.
Mat 14:28 = Peter walks on water.
In this Blog, we will continue with our "series" on Peter.
We have here a great example of the truth: the easiest thing to do is criticize!
As far as I know, Peter is the only man who has ever walked on water, yet all we do is criticize him for sinking due to lack of faith. I have heard people say Peter deserved to sink, because he tempted Jesus, by asking to be allowed to walk on water, as proof that it really was Jesus. He did not tempt Jesus; tempting Jesus would have been Peter jumping out of the boat, and saying, "Lord, now that I am out of the boat, make sure I don't sink." He asked permission, he submitted to what Jesus was going to say.
Mat 14:28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
We will look at this event under 2 points:
Firstly, the miracle.
Secondly, what can we learn from this event?
Firstly, The Miracle, and it was a miracle!
A miracle is an event that violates natural laws. Water becoming wine; a dry branch sprouting; a man dead 4 days in a tomb coming back to life; a man walking on water.
Some miracles are done under the control of the miracle worker. Jesus turned the water into wine; Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb; Jesus said to the leper “Be clean.”
Other miracles just seem to happen. The manna appears over night, night after night; dry branch sprouts over night; Balaam's donkey speaks.
But other miracles happen as the “recipient” acts in faith. The widow keeps pouring and the oil keeps coming; Naaman goes and washes in Jordan and his leprocy is cured; the fisherman cast their net into the lake in the middle part of the day and catch a huge number of fish.
The above is not an absolute categorization of miracles, it is just to show that not all miracles occur in the same way. In fact, many miracles “depend” on us. Jesus said to the two blind men in Mat 9:29 “According to your faith be it unto you.”
But here is the point, even after having asked permission of Jesus, Peter would not have walked on water if he had not gotten out of the boat. Just as Naaman would not have been cured, if he had not gone to Jordan and washed.
Some miracles “depend” on our obedience; depend on our doing.
Sadly, there are deceivers, “faith healers” who play this card, and dupe many, saying, “You were not healed, because you did not have enough faith to be healed.” Those deceivers will get their just reward!
But Peter got out of the boat, which think about it, would have been terrifying!, and the surface tension of the lake's water, which by the laws of nature cannot hold a man up, do not break, but support his weight, and he walks toward Jesus upon the surface of the water. That is a miracle, a violation of natural laws, and the bible records it as having happened.
Miracles do happen. God can still over-ride the natural laws he established.
People ask, "Can God still work miracles?" Of course he can, he still has the ability to do anything.
People ask, "Is God still working miracles?" Of course he is, every person who is saved, is saved by the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit giving life to a dead sinner.
Regarding miracles in our day today, those are the wrong questions to ask, the correct question is, “Is God still giving miracle working power to specific individuals so that they can attest to the message they are preaching with “signs, wonders, and miracles?”
"How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?" Heb 2:3-4
The purpose of miracles in the early days of the church was to attest to the divine origin of the message. "Confirmed unto us by them," and "God bearing them witness with signs, ..." and "the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following."
Jesus worked this miracle of having Peter walk on water, to show that he, Jesus, had that power.
This ties in with the fact that the New Testament was not yet in existence. The Gospels had not yet been written, the Epistles had not yet been written, Revelation had not yet been revealed and written. These were all written during the first years of the Church, but until then, the truth and God-origin of the message was attested to by "signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost," and this was "according to his own will." This was God's way of doing it.
But when the Scriptures were complete, then: "but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." 1Co 13:8-10
These verses tell us that there were going to be prophecies and tongues, and words of knowledge, and other miracles, but they would cease and vanish away; when? When the perfect was come; when the scriptures were complete. Then there would be no further need for miracles to confirm the divine origin of the message; the normal way of confirming the truth and God-origin of the message is the witness of the Holy Spirit, testifying to the person as they read the Bible, or hear a sermon, or are witnessed to by someone, saying, "Yes, this is Truth!"
Up until the time when the New Testament was complete, "they knew in part and prophesied in part," but when "that which is perfect (ie the completed New Testament scriptures) is come," then that which is in part shall be done away."
Paul was speaking of a future time, "when the perfect will come," that God would then "put aside miracles," he will stop using them to validate his message; they will be "done away with;" some one will put them aside, and stop using them; God.
So what does that have to do with Peter walking on water?
Peter was living in the time when God was using miracles as the normal method of verifying the message. Think of what Jesus said to John the Baptist’s disciples:
"When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight. Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me." Luk 7:20-23
Peter too was wondering. He sees Jesus walking to him, and so he asks for verification. Today, we verify by what is written in the Bible, not by asking for the same thing to happen to us. If it is written in the Bible, it is true.
Secondly, what can we learn from this event?
First note, this event is also recorded in Mark's gospel (Mrk 6), and we know it is the same event, for in both gospels, it follows the feeding of the 5000. Mark, however, does not mention that it seemed like Jesus was going to pass by, nor does Mark say anything about Peter walking on the water. That does not mean there is a contradiction, it simply means the Holy Spirit caused them to emphasize different parts of the event. We can guess as to why, but we do not know.
There are several questions which make this more complicated!
Why did Peter say "If it is you Lord," when Jesus had just said, "It is I?"
Was he wrong to ask that?
Was it lack of faith?
Was he looking for an opportunity to walk on the water?
We do not know, and speculation is simply that, speculation and guessing which leads down rabbit trails; arguing about whose speculation is correct and whose is not, is not at all profitable.
So we will simply look at what happened.
He asks for proof that it is Jesus and is told to come, he gets out of the boat, but then gets afraid, his faith fails, he sinks, he calls out Jesus, and Jesus rescues him.
He asks for proof and is told to come: Jesus did not rebuke him for his asking. They had never seen anyone walk on water. It was night during a storm, so they probably could not see clearly, and so to just see a form, and hear a voice over the roar of the wind and waves, there is no reason to wonder why he asked. Testing God is one thing, prudent concern is another. As when Gideon asked for a sign, then another, just to make sure! We need to be careful, but the Lord knows we do not have infallible knowledge as he does, and so we wonder. Jesus tells him to come.
He gets out of the boat: Here is the greatness of the man! If he did not know it was Jesus when he said "It is I," he still does not know when he says "Come," yet he gets out of the boat, risks his life, and starts walking on the water! We say "Better to have loved and lost, then to have never loved at all." How about "Better to get out of the boat and walk on water even if for just a short way, that never get out of the boat at all." Some people live their whole lives, never getting out of the boat. Peter believed Jesus controlled everything, so that he would make it to Jesus side, and so he acted accordingly. Luther said "faith is risking a situation on God."
He gets afraid, his faith fails, and he sinks: The best of men, are men at best. Great men get afraid; the faith of great men fails at times; great men can sink; that does not make them not great men, nor does it always prevent them from being used again by God in the future (sometimes yes, but not always; thankfully not always!) We all get afraid, we have each experienced times of weak faith, we have all sunk. In the end we are just people, flesh and blood, but thankfully "as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust." Psa 103:13-14
He calls out to Jesus: There is faith again! Having just failed, he runs TO Jesus, who is the only one who can help him. When we fail, when we sin, we must run TO Jesus! Even though we are ashamed at our failure, we must by faith run TO him. Here is a mark of a true Christian: we see our sin, and we run to the only one who can help us, when the unbeliever sins, they hide from God, just like Adam and Eve did.
When the Lord was working in one of our sons, giving him a desire to be saved, I reminded him that as Peter was sinking he cried out to Jesus, and Jesus did not rebuke his lack of faith, but saved him; I told our son that all he needed to do was call out to the Lord Jesus, “Lord save me!”
And Jesus rescues him:
"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins." Mat 1:21
"But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Mat 9:13
"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." 1Ti 1:15
Praise the Lord that he does not hold our sins and failures against us. We should learn to not hold them against others. Upon confession and repentance and restitution if applicable, we should forgive and forget, as does our Lord Jesus and our Father.
Let us also learn that God is near to us, that he is intimately involved in our lives, not just knowing what is happening to us, but involved: Jesus saw them struggling in the storm, and went to them. Then when they doubt, he bears with their weakness; he did not forsake them, he does not forsake us when we don't handle things correctly.
Deists believe in God, that he created the world etc, and that he is the God of the Bible, but they believe he is hands off, that he does not get involved in the affairs of this life. Many people today think the same way, but that is not the God of the Bible!
The God of the Bible, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is intimately involved in all the affairs of life on earth, in the lives of people in general, and specifically in the lives of his people, Christians.
Jesus said that we are in his hand and in the Father's hand, he said he leads us in and out, as a shepherd does his sheep, knowing us each by name (Jhn 10).
Such is the personal identification Jesus has with we his people, as individuals, that when he met Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus,, he said, "Why are you persecuting me?" (Act 9) Even though Saul had never met Jesus, but was persecuting Jesus people, the Christians.
We live in world full of trouble, and we fail often. Praise God the Lord Jesus Christ is near to save!
13 April 2026