And he said, Come. And Peter, having descended from the ship, walked upon the waters to go to Jesus.
Peter alone asked to leave the boat, and he got a one-word answer. Commentators read what follows both as a lesson in how faith works and as a picture of the whole Christian life.
Peter did not step out on impulse. He waited for the Lord to answer.
He had the authority of his Lord for leaving the ship. That word "come" — a word of mighty moral force — fell on his heart and drew him out from the ship to go to Jesus. Christ's word was the authority for entering on that strange, mysterious path, and Christ's realised presence was the power to pursue it. Without that word he dared not start; without that presence he could not proceed. Walking on the sea was strange, unearthly, above and beyond nature — but Jesus was walking there, and faith could walk with Him.
How little he needed is part of the point.
The widow of Zarephath gave her all on the strength of one verse from God. Abram in Genesis 15:5 built all his hopes on five words from God — "so shall your offspring be." Matthew surrendered all on the authority of two words, "Follow Me," from the lips of the Lord Jesus. And Peter risked his life at the sound of one word — "Come" — from the same blessed lips.
The boat was the only visible way across. Peter left it anyway.
It was a serious thing to leave the place of apparent security to walk where there was no way, but, as I said, the word of Christ was enough for him. He knew its power. At His word he had let go the net; at His word he sets out... In asking this favour Peter had no thought of making an experiment. He was not showing off his cleverness in overcoming obstacles. What he wanted was to go to Him. Christ attracted him, and for the moment he thought nothing of wind or waves... Faith leaves the boat, the only apparent shelter, not counting it the true place of safety, and sets out on a divine word to reach Jesus, whose presence is worth more to him than getting to the other shore.
Nothing in the storm changed when he stepped down. His footing was a word, not better weather.
The wind was not hushed, the waves as threatening as ever; but had not Peter heard that word "Come"? And was it not enough? It was ample, coming from the Lord and God of all... As long as Jesus and His word were before his heart, there was no failure any more than danger.
The verse says he walked. It does not say he was strong. He borrowed the strength the whole way, and the size of the waves made no difference.
As long as his eye was simply on that blessed One, he walked the water as safely as Christ Himself. There was no question about the power that was there; it was plain. How could a man walk on water except by supernatural power?
Peter could not have crossed the calmest sea apart from divine help. But that help was more than enough to hold him up safely on the wildest sea.
Several commentators read the boat as a picture. What Peter did on the water, believers would soon do in principle.
The Jewish system was like a ship, quite suited to men who are "after the flesh." Much of it consisted of "the law of commandments expressed in ordinances" (Ephesians 2:15). As the result of His coming, the disciples were to step out of that "ship" into a path of pure faith... Peter was "out of the ship," with Christ as his Object and His word as his authority.
Mackintosh turns the picture on the reader. He asks not what is allowed, but what we want.
There was nothing wrong in remaining in the ship. But the question is, "What are we aiming at?" Is it the fixed purpose of the soul to get as near as we can to Jesus?
Readers remember Peter for what went wrong in the next verse. That reverses the emphasis of this one.
We want to be more occupied with his success than with his failure. Affection for his Master led him out of the boat. Faith in his Master made him superior to nature... It is a picture of a Christian walking through a world where everything is opposed to him, supported by power from on high.
- Word. "Come" was Peter's whole warrant. Without it he dared not start, and His presence carried him once he had it.
- Enough. One syllable was all he needed. Five words carried Abram; two words called Matthew away from everything.
- Borrowed. He could not have crossed even a calm sea on his own. The same power held him up in the storm.
- Outside. He left the boat, the only known way across. That step pictures leaving an old system for a path of pure faith. Christ was his Object; His word was his authority.
- Success. Affection drew him out and faith lifted him above nature. That success, not the sinking, is what the verse records.
But seeing the wind strong he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, Lord, save me.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught hold of him, and says to him, O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt?
Peter had asked for the word "Come," and he got it — then he saw the wind and began to sink. The Lord's hand reaches him before His question does, and the question is not why did you leave the boat, but why did you doubt.
Peter left the boat because the Lord told him to come. Notice what the reproof does not say:
But Peter failed. Yes; and what then? Does that prove he was wrong in obeying the call of his Lord? Did Jesus reprove him for leaving the ship? Ah, no; that would not have been like Him. He could not tell His poor servant to come, and then rebuke him for coming... He does not say, "O you restless forward one, why did you leave the ship?" No, but "why did you doubt?" Such was the tender reproof. And where was Peter when he heard it? In the arms of his Lord!
Peter sank when he saw the wind. But walking on water was never a question of the weather:
Why did he sink? Was the water any less solid when it was rough than when it was calm? Certainly not. Without divine power, you could not walk on the stillest mill-pond any better than on the stormiest wave that ever surged. 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.
The Lord's words measure Peter's faith. He had faith — and now he finds out how much:
Yes, there was faith then, but it was little faith, and now that little faith became obvious. He thought he was a man of great faith. This was exactly the lesson Peter had to learn. "O you of little faith." It was himself. It was not Thomas... it was not John, it was no one else, it was Peter. He never thought of it. On the contrary, he was quite sure he was a man of great faith, and now he gets this thoroughly healthy lesson. How humble he would be! How tender with others!
The Lord's question names the thing that little faith produces:
The Lord also shows what marks little faith — doubt. There is not a word in the Bible to create a doubt, not one. The Spirit of God never put a doubt into the heart of man... What is the root of doubting? Making little of Christ... To whom did Christ show His grace more? To the man of little faith most of all.
The hand comes before the question in this verse. Peter's failure did not put him out of reach:
This beloved servant of Christ broke down in his course... "Lord, save me!"... No poor failing creature can ever appeal to that love in vain... Wonderful grace! If Peter failed to reach his Lord, his Lord did not fail to reach him. If Peter failed in faith, Jesus could not fail in grace. Impossible.
The disciples who stayed in the boat never risked this failure. The Lord does not judge Peter the way they might have:
He gets no rebuke for a rash venture. The other disciples might have given him that. Many people are in no danger of this kind of failure, and they would use it to excuse themselves from ever trying such a thing. But the Lord says only, "Why did you doubt?"... At his cry there is a hand stretched out to him, and he is held up. It is not the ship that rescues him, nor is he taken out of the path, but supported in it.
One writer ties this rescue to what Paul wrote about the Lord's faithfulness:
Even when he had lowered himself to the level of those who lack faith, the Lord did not abandon him. He cried out in his desperate need, "Lord, save me."... The Lord remained faithful to the one who had followed Him in obedience to His word... This rescue by the Lord matches what the apostle Paul wrote: "if we are faithless, he remains faithful — for he cannot deny himself" (2 Tim. 2:13). The Lord was the same in Peter's triumph and in Peter's failure. Only the disciple changed, for doubt had crept into his heart.
- Doubt, not daring. The Lord rebukes Peter's doubting, not his leaving the boat. He will not call a man to come and then blame him for coming.
- Doubt has no excuse. The rough sea changed nothing, since no one walks on calm water either. Doubt never comes from God's Spirit; it starts by making little of Christ.
- Doubt exposes size. "Little faith" is real faith shown at its true size. Doubt is its mark, and the man who thought himself strong learns to be humble and tender with others.
- Doubt meets a hand. Peter failed to reach his Lord. His Lord did not fail to reach him, and the hand holds him up in the path instead of taking him out of it.
- Doubt is one-sided. Only Peter changed between his walking and his sinking. The Lord who answered his cry was the same before and after.