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Peter Got Out Of The Boat
Peter Got Out Of The Boat
After a long day of teaching, Jesus sent His disciple by boat across the sea of Galilee while He retired by himself to pray (Matt. 14:22-23). The disciples struggle as a strong wind was blowing against them. During the night, the 'fourth watch' or about 3 to 6 am in our time, Jesus comes to them walking upon the water.
They were terrified at the sight of Him for they perceived Him as a ghost. The Greek word is 'phantasma', and it carried the idea of a spirit being or apparition. When Jesus identifies Himself, Peter responds: "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." That is another one of those statements that Peter spontaneously makes. Why? We don't know other than that is shown to be rather typical of Peter.
With Jesus' simple statement: "Come", Peter gets out of the boat, walked on the water, and came to Jesus. We usually spend time in our teaching on this to talk about how 'taking his eyes off of Jesus' and 'seeing the wind', he began to sink and Jesus saved him. Yet, Peter DID get out of the boat. What possible reason can anyone give for getting out of the boat in the middle of a body of water during a wind storm? Peter's reason was simple; he perceived that Jesus was Lord.
While the Greek word 'kurious' [Lord] can have the meaning of 'Master' or 'Sir', it was more often used in the Jewish vocabulary of Peter's day to refer to God. In the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament) Lord was used some 8000 times to refer to God. More than 6000 times it was used to replace the very Name of God - the four letters YHWH. For the Jewish people raised up reading and hearing the Septuagint, it would have been difficult to use in addressing another person. At the end of this short event, we see that all the apostles ended with the same conclusion about Jesus and worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God" (Matt. 14:33). With the resurrection, the Father made Jesus both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36). He is given the very title that was God's in the Old Testament: "Lord of Lords and King of Kings" (Rev. 17:14, compare Deut. 10:17). After the resurrection, Thomas addressed Him: "My Lord and My God" (John 20:28). Calling Jesus Lord was not a small thing.
If Jesus is Lord, then not only can He walk on water, He can have ME walk on water. At the Word of the Lord, Peter got out of the boat. Faith in Jesus is faith to do what He tells you. Jesus asked on another occasion: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?" (Luke 6:46). Believing Jesus was Lord, Peter got out of the boat.
Faith in Jesus is not a one-time mental assent but a continuing part of one's life. It is a life of faith. It is 'walking' by faith. Peter's faith faltered and he began to sink. I have often wondered if we would even have had the faith of Peter to get out of the boat. If we believe that Jesus is Lord, let us 'come' when He says come and 'go' when He says go. Whatever you do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus (Col. 3:17).
Hugh DeLong
