Matthew 14:22-33
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
There was a very popular book almost 20 years ago with a wonderful title, "If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat." Honestly, I don't remember much of the content of the book, even though I led a couple of studies on the book, but the title has stuck with me because this is one of the aspects of this biblical story that is often overlooked. It took incredible faith for Peter to step out of that boat. He was a fisherman who had spent his entire life on the water. I am certain he saw people be tossed overboard during storms that often arose on the Sea of Galilee. He certainly heard of stories of drowning on that large lake. He knew the dangers of open water, especially during a storm. But knowing all those dangers of the perilous sea Peter still stepped out of the boat. The impact of that kind of faith can't be overstated enough. It takes that kind of faith to do incredible things for the Kingdom of God.
