Jesus Calms The Storn

It's not the greatest picture, but those familiar with the Concordia University Wisconsin campus will recognize this statue, and given its location perched on the bluffs above Lake Michigan, which can be pretty rough on a windy day, it can help us understand just what the disciples were going through while crossing the Sea of Galilee. We don't know for certain, but also consider the size of the boat in this picture. I will grant that if all the disciples were in the boat it would have to be bigger than the one shown here, but probably not by much. Tell me how willing you'd be to go out on Lake Michigan in bad weather on a boat not much larger than this one. That's what I thought.

I won't speak for the rest of you, but I certainly was not aware that of the three accounts of this story that only Matthew mentioned Peter and his lack of faith, but I'll go so far as to state that I think that's the part we remember most vividly. It's the part we need to constantly remind ourselves of, because there's not a day that goes by where we don't do the same exact thing. Let's take a moment and consider just what exactly Peter did:

1. Jesus didn't ask him to go out on the lake--he merely told the disciples to not be afraid, good advice given the circumstances.

2. Peter, ON HIS OWN, decided that it would be a good idea to walk on water, and after he made that bright decision, Jesus agreed.

3. Peter was ACTUALLY WALKING ON WATER--he didn't need to have faith, because as Hebrews 11:1 tells us, faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Peter didn't have to HOPE to walk on the water--he DID it.

4. Peter lost his faith after already seeing that Christ was allowing the impossible to occur.

It's always fun to think of Peter and the rash things he did like freaking out during the Transfiguration or betraying Christ (and these are only the documented ones), but we should all take great comfort in Peter's shortcomings, since we share them as well. Anytime we endeavor to do something to further God's kingdom and then we don't follow through for whatever the reason, it's our version of walking on water and then letting doubt creep in. Peter reminds us that we're human and fallible--and that God can use us anyway.

Scott