A Lesson in Having Complete Faith -- Peter's Mixed Example in Matthew 14:22-33
- mww
- 1 day ago
- 14 min read
Updated: 6 hours ago
Is your faith strong enough to get out of the boat and handle the storm?
Bible Study Ideas and Commentary for Matthew 14:22-33
In this favorite passage, Jesus goes out to help the struggling disciples make it through a storm (by walking across the sea). Peter has enough faith (boldness) to get out of the boat, but not quite enough to handle the frightening storm, and Jesus rescues him. We learn we are called to have the faith to start well and also continue and finish well.
“You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (14:31)
Getting Started: Things to Think About
What's Your Relationship with Open Water?
We've studied Jesus calming a storm more than once, so you may have used all of your storm-related icebreakers. I don't think I've suggested lighthouses, though! Who doesn't love to share pictures from their last visit to a lighthouse?
I recently watched a lighthouse video (I'm a sucker for them), and the thing that stuck with me was what the maintenance crew put on before they got on the helicopter out. They were dressed in full cold weather diving gear. They had to assume that the helicopter would go down, and these were rather normal conditions. Yikes!
We've talked about sudden storms on the Sea of Galilee many times, and I'm not suggesting that those storms are as bad as Storm Goretti in the video.
But I don't have to suggest that. The disciples were rowing a boat. Jesus was walking on the waves. I'm not a fan of open water, so this whole scenario is overwhelming.
Water Skiing, Ice Skating, and Surfing
My Serendipity Bible brought up this topic, which is a much more pleasant take on being out on the water. If you've ever done those things, what was that experience like? My suggested transition question: what could have caused that positive experience to get scary? (I would be disappointed if nobody hummed the Jaws theme.)
For everybody working on the Sea of Galilee, things can go from a pleasant day of fishing to a frightening storm in short order. Having a sense of that can help us appreciate what the disciples might have been thinking.
The Most Impulsive Things You've Done
Yes, this idea comes from Peter choosing to get out of a boat during a storm. While the boat is at sea. What are the most impulsive things you've done? I would do this in two different categories -- things done "in the name of Jesus" and things done for other reasons. In my life, quitting our jobs and moving to seminary was seen as impulsive by everybody we knew. That was slightly more noble than me waking up and deciding to get an elliptical.
What kinds of things do you tend to be impulsive about? What kinds of things do you tend to be more deliberate about? If you can be honest with yourself, what do those tendencies tell you about your faith and your priorities?
This topic would need to morph into the next one . . .
What Is the Balance Between Risk and Faith?
Getting out of a boat in the middle of a storm in the middle of the sea is an unbelievable risk. And yet, Jesus affirmed that risk Peter took. So, "impulsive" depends on one's perspective. (Our "impulsive" decision to go to seminary seemed to us to be an appropriate exercise of faith. Conversely, you might think of some of your impulsive decisions as turning out to be riskier than was helpful.)
Faith, by definition, demands risk, right? Else it wouldn't be faith. How should a Christian balance those two? What's the line for too much risk? Or for too little faith?
This reminds me of our recent discussion of "shrewd as serpents yet innocent as doves" -- "innocent" means blameless, not naive; "shrewd" means prudent, not cunning. God wants us to work together to discern the line between demonstrating true faith and being reckless. "Risk aversion" is not an excuse for lacking faith; "bold faith" is not an excuse for reckless behavior.
[For my FBC readers: this Sunday, we're voting on a big renovation project for our education building. We all agree that the work needs to be done, and we agree that the price tag comes with sticker shock. So the vote comes down to our determination of that balance between risk and faith. Frankly, this balance informs just about every major church decision in every church everywhere, doesn't it?]
[Oh! And remember that Peter quickly has a crisis of faith and begins to sink, only for Jesus to rescue him. How might that play into this discussion?]
Things You Would Never Expect to See
One last idea to help us cut the disciples some slack. Go through the Gospels and list some of the crazy things that happen. Fewer than ten -- you don't have all day. Like,
A dead girl coming back to life
A man walking on a stormy sea
The transfiguration
A storm instantly calming down
A few loaves feeding many thousands
The ascension
Random people waving palm branches at you
Have your group rank that list in order of "there's something you don't see every day". Give your group a few gimmes, please. But I would like to know how your group ranks walking on water against a girl coming back to life.
Where We Are in the Gospel of Matthew
Both Lifeway and the Bible Project put their major break between chapters 13 and 14, so they might be onto something.
Every outline is a little different (and it seems more so with Matthew -- I have not seen two outlines close to each other), and that's fine. Outlines are tools to help us understand the structure, and thus the purpose, of the book.
Putting a major break between 13 and 14 aligns with the outline I shared that I based on D. A Carson's commentary:
Part 1: Introducing Jesus (1:1-2:23)
Part 2: Introducing the Gospel Message (3:1-7:29)
Setting the stage for Jesus' ministry (3:1-4:25)
First teaching (the Sermon on the Mount) (5:1-7:29)
Part 3: The Kingdom Advances (8:1-11:1)
Miracles and messengers (8:1-9:34)
Second teaching (the Missionary Discourse) (9:35-11:1)
Part 4: Opposition Arises (11:2-13:53)
Hostility and confrontations (11:1-12:50)
Third teaching (Parables of the Kingdom) (13:1-52)
Part 5: Progressive Polarization (13:43-19:2)
More rejection, bigger miracles (13:53-17:27)
Fourth teaching (Life under Kingdom Authority) (18:1-19:2)
Part 6: Opposition and Grace (19:3-26:5)
Into the Passion Week (19:3-23:39)
Fifth teaching (the Olivet Discourse) (24:1-25:46)
Part 7: The Passion and Resurrection of Jesus (26:6-28:20)
[Aside: you ask, "Why aren't these outlines based cleanly on chapters?" And the answer is because some monks added the chapters and verses hundreds of years after the Bible was written to make it easier to find things. Good job monks! But that doesn't mean that every decision they made would be entirely useful.]
However you choose to outline the book, Matthew is clearly ratcheting up the tension. The miracles are becoming more "cosmic". (I'm not sure what word to use -- forgiving sins and raising a girl from the dead are pretty big. But in the next chapters Jesus multiplies loaves and fish and walks on water and is transfigured.) The confrontations are becoming more caustic. (For example, in next week's passage, the Pharisees say something stupid, and Jesus just calls them out right then and there.) The teachings are becoming more direct. (Peter will call Jesus the Christ; Jesus will clearly predict His death; the Transfiguration.)
Where Jesus had been "holding back" in the previous chapters (if that's what you want to call it) because it was not yet time for Him to be arrested, that time is coming short. Jesus is ready to push this conflict to its inevitable conclusion.
More Detailed Outline
We are now in the "fourth cycle" of narrative and teaching.
John the Baptist has been beheaded
Jesus feeds 5,000 men
Jesus walks on water
Jesus calls everyone a dull hypocrite
A Canaanite woman demonstrates faith
Jesus feeds 4,000 men
Jewish leaders demand a sign
Peter calls Jesus the Messiah
Jesus predicts His death
The Transfiguration
Jesus Walking on the Water
This week's passage only covers the verses about Jesus walking on the sea. It's a favorite for so many, but it's hard to get "right" on film. After all, no one has seen this happen to know what it's supposed to look like.
Here is The Chosen's depiction of this event.
Remember that The Chosen fully dramatizes the disciples (which is fine; they weren't robots). Here, they imagine a conflict between Jesus and Peter that might have driven Peter's request. And it's also how they explain the "why" of why Jesus was walking on the water in the first place (Jesus meant it as a test). It isn't anywhere in the Bible, but we know that all of the disciples were working through doubts and questions.
Here's a more to-the-letter version of the event, but realize that this is from John's Gospel's account of the event.
The "official" Gospel of Matthew movie version is showing its age.
I couldn't find just the clip I wanted. This video is supposed to start playing at 1:55:38 -- if it starts at the beginning, you'll want to skip ahead to 1:55:38.
Any of those clips might be helpful to show, but they all have their limitations. Always teach the golden rule of Bible movies -- they're helpful tools, but they've made lots of interpretive decisions on your behalf.
This Week's Big Idea: "The Sea"
Let's go back to the opening of the Bible where darkness was on the deep and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters. Throughout the Old Testament, the "sea" represented chaos, turmoil, and disorder. God brought order to the chaos and gave it a boundary that it would not be allowed to cross without His permission. God rules the raging sea (Ps 89:9) and tames the mighty leviathan (Job 41). God parts the waters for His people's safe passage (Ex 14) and uses those same waters to destroy Egypt's army.
The sea is dangerous, and everyone living on the Sea of Galilee knew that well. The Sea of Galilee is 700 feet below ocean level and surrounded by mountains, meaning it was subject to sudden storms that came and went without warning.
This video is nothing to write home about, but it's only a minute long.
Anyway, some scholars believe that Jesus demonstrating power over the sea and the storms isn't just Christological but Cosmological -- Jesus isn't "just" the Son of God, He also shares God's power over every force that opposes Him, including the mighty waters.
Bonus Idea: Why Did Jesus Send the Disciples on Their Own and Then Walk After Them on the Sea During a Storm?
This has always been my question. What is going on? Why did Jesus decide that walking on the sea was the best way to get across rather than just get the boat like everybody else??
Remember that Jesus had just miraculously fed 5,000 men (plus women and children). Matthew says that Jesus wanted to pray, and He dismissed the crowd while the disciples were leaving, suggesting that the crowd might have been getting unruly -- perhaps ready to start a revolution to install Jesus as king? Maybe it was no longer safe for the disciples. I've wondered if Jesus used the disciples as a "decoy" (the people assumed that Jesus got on the boat with them), giving Him the chance for some quiet time in prayer. Admittedly, that's a stretch.
But that still doesn't explain Jesus' plan in the first place from the disciples' perspective. What did they think was going on? Here's a proposal. Matthew says that Jesus sent the disciples "to the other side" (of the sea) while He stayed and prayed (assuming that Jesus would catch a ride the next day). But Mark says that Jesus sent them to Bethsaida. Bethsaida (probably Bethsaida Julius) is just a little bit north of the traditional location of the feeding of the 5,000 (which was a "solitary place", 14:13).
This map (from churchages.net) shows the traditional understanding -- Jesus sent the disciples to somewhere like Capernaum, and they were blown off course by the storm and ended up in Gennesaret.
But here's another possibility -- Jesus sent the disciples up the coast to Bethsaida where they would pick Him up and then cross the sea together. That would give Jesus plenty of "alone time" while He walked to them, and it would give them some time to decompress. But on their way there, the storm hit and sent them off-course. Carson' variation of this idea is that Jesus took a long time in prayer, and the disciples had been given a schedule of when they were to leave without Him. This better explains how experienced fishermen could be caught at sea in a storm when they should have been closer to shore. And being aware of their struggle and danger, Jesus went out to them to help.
One last thought -- Mark seems to suggest that Jesus was just going to pass them by on His way through the storm when they spotted Him. No, I don't think that's what Mark was suggesting. Jesus knew that all of this was going to happen. He knew this would be an important moment of faith for Peter and the rest of the disciples. He walked by them in such a way as to get their attention to set the stage for Peter's moment.
Part 1: The Second-Most Incredible Thing of the Day (Matt 14:22-27)
22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 After dismissing the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. Well into the night, he was there alone. 24 Meanwhile, the boat was already some distance from land, battered by the waves, because the wind was against them. 25 Jesus came toward them walking on the sea very early in the morning. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost!” they said, and they cried out in fear. 27 Immediately Jesus spoke to them. “Have courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
I've already mentioned the context and the setting above. This is a massive crowd that just experienced a miracle. They probably wanted more. Jesus could handle Himself, and He wanted the disciples out of the crosshairs. And remember -- the reason Jesus was in that remote location in the first place was so He could be alone, ostensibly to pray! So, after many hours of a miracle, Jesus would finally get His quiet time.
"Well into the night" (the later "very early in the morning" is literally "the fourth watch" meaning 3:00-6:00AM), means that Jesus had been praying for a long time. This is why Carson suggests that the disciples were keeping a pre-agreed schedule. They were going to wait for Jesus at Bethsaida Julius for only so long, and then head across the sea to their next ministry stop. A storm suddenly hit, and their quiet trip because a dangerous ordeal. It is difficult to row against a gale. (But how would I know?)
Have your group go through the disciples' last 24 hours --
get the news that John the Baptist is executed
try to get away to mourn quietly
feed 12000 people in a remote location
row a boat through a storm for a whole night
see Jesus walking by you in said storm, on the sea
Let's be gracious.
The phrase translated "It is I" is the same phrase that can be translated "I am". I think Jesus is revealing His divinity loud and clear to the disciples.
Have your group talk through situations you might be as frightened as the disciples were, and then talk about how Jesus "showing up" might also frighten you. Understanding that will help make the next part of the lesson that much more powerful.
Part 2: Peter Tries (Matthew 14:28-33)
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter answered him, “command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” And climbing out of the boat, Peter started walking on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand, caught hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 Then those in the boat worshiped him and said, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
You'll note that I've combined the second and third parts of the lesson.
"The Chosen" paints this as Peter having a crisis of faith, and this being a literal come-to-Jesus moment. That's fine, just remember that the Bible doesn't tell us or suggest any of that.
This is such an amazing scene to imagine, act out, or put into words. And it's so powerful because we all want to be Peter in this moment -- bold enough to step out of the boat, but would we sink too?
Note that only Matthew includes these verses. He was there, after all. My guess would be that Matthew uses this story (along with 16:13-23 and 17:24-27) to elevate Peter because he believed that Peter's leadership was vital to the early church, and he wanted his readers to see Jesus' hand in that elevation.
The Greek behind Peter's "if it's you" is actually closer to "since it's you". This is bold on Peter's part, but it shouldn't be all that surprising. Remember that Jesus already gave the disciples some of His authority -- that they would do the same works He does. Peter was just the first one to apply it to this situation!
[Aside to my FBC readers, related to our capital campaign vote on Sunday -- this is akin to us acknowledging that God has brought us through similar challenges in the past as a church; should we not ask Him to bring us through one again?]
I've always loved how Carson explains the significance of what happens:
Peter's faith in Jesus, strong enough to get him out of the boat and walking on the water, was not strong enough to stand up to the storm. Therefore Jesus calls him a man of 'little faith', and His rhetorical question helps both Peter and the reader recognize that doubts and fears quickly disappear before a strict inquiry into their cause.
Peter's faith was strong enough to get him out of the boat, but not to stand up to the storm. How might that apply to any situation today?
Is that kind of faith "good enough"? Why not?
Hebrews 12 really helps us out here:
12:1 Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, 2 keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
It's not just about starting well -- it's about continuing well. And we can only do that if we stay focused on Jesus throughout every trial and "easy day".
Note that Jesus' question to Peter is rhetorical. There is no answer. In the presence of Jesus, Peter would only be able to sheepishly say, "I don't know." How can that apply to any situation today?
Peter represents us all. He is both a good example and a bad example all at the same time. Somehow our faith still has doubts. And when we stop and think about it, why exactly did we begin to doubt? Jesus affirmed Peter, but Peter still had a long way to grow.
The most important thing that happens is not the storm miraculously stopping when they get back to the boat -- it's the disciples calling Jesus the Son of God.
We don't know for sure what they meant by that title. They almost certainly did not mean what we mean by it today! It meant more than just a really nice title -- after all, they worshiped Him -- but it fell far short of true comprehension. Mark's account says that their hearts were still "hard". They had just seen how many miracles in 24 hours, and they still didn't really understand what was going on. We give Peter credit for being the first to try to act in faith, but Peter represents the shallowness of the disciples' faith as well. Something dramatic is going to have to happen to Peter before he can become the pillar of the early church . . .
In that, he represents us. What's the boldest you've ever acted in faith in Jesus? Where has your faith fallen short recently?
Jesus chided Peter but immediately put him back on his feet and set him on the next task. Don't be paralyzed by your past failures of faith; let Peter be an example for you in that kind of restoration.
Serendipity Bible
There's a "Lite Study" session based on this week's passage, and I love some of their questions. You might want to incorporate them --
What do we learn about Peter from his response to Jesus?
He was a risk taker
He was impulsive
He had faith in Jesus
He was a little crazy
What made Peter sink?
He lost confidence in himself
His focus shifted from Jesus to his circumstances
His fear was greater than his faith
He realized how foolish he had been to step out of the boat
How are you at stepping out of the boat and taking risks?
daring
just plain scared
I'll try anything once
I'm good at going second
cautious - I put my big toe in first
What might keep you in the boat or cause you to sink?
fear of failure
inconsistency
spiritual or intellectual doubts
fear of standing alone
sense of inadequacy