Conversation in Faith

Sometimes when re reading familiar texts, new questions emerge. This text where Jesus and Peter walk on the water is often presented as Peter, the faithful disciple, trusting Jesus and stepping out of the boat.

I wonder, who gets out of a perfectly good boat? And was that really the faithful thing to do?

Immediately he made the disciples get into a boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and,beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” Matthew 14:22-33 NRSVue

As we think about this story, I am setting aside the question, “Did this miracle actually happen?” It’s an unanswerable question. The more helpful question to ask is why does Matthew tell us this story, in this way?

The story of Jesus and Peter walking on the water immediately follows the feeding of the five thousand. You will remember Jesus went to the deserted place to be alone after learning of John the Baptist’s execution. The crowds follow Jesus and he heals and feeds them.¹

This reading begins with Jesus finally, having time alone. He sent the disciples away in a boat and then he sent the crowds away. The disciples had been “battered by the waves” for several hours. If you have ever been in a small boat and struggled against wind and waves you can imagine the distress of the disciples.

As often happens in Biblical stories, there are layers of meaning. The disciples are literally in dangerous seas. And in the Bible, the sea is often a symbol of chaos.² The disciples are struggling against the forces of chaos that work against God’s good creation.

So the disciples are separated from Jesus, in a boat, threatened by the destructive forces of chaos. The “early morning” is the fourth watch, sometime between 3-6 am. They have been on the sea for hours, struggling, unable to get to the safety of land. They must have been physically and emotionally exhausted. And now they see and unknown figure walking on the water coming towards them. Being people who lived in the ancient world, they didn’t see a being defying gravity and surface tension. They saw an unknown figure overpowering the forces of chaos. This was something only God could do. Who is this powerful entity coming toward them? No wonder they are afraid.

Jesus identified himself, “it is I”. Now they know it is Jesus. The phrase, “it is I” also evokes God’s self identification to Moses, “I am”. “Do not be afraid” is the statement that angels and God regularly make to reassure humans that they are safe.

The disciples must have been relieved. Jesus has come to save them! So why does Peter want to get out of the boat?

Often we think this means Peter had great faith and wanted to be like Jesus. We interpret this to mean Peter believes Jesus will keep him safe and will enable him to do what Jesus does. That is a reasonable interpretation. But there is another one.

Peter is an impetuous disciple. He is enthusiastic. Like the other disciples, he often misunderstands Jesus. At the transfiguration, he starts talking and God has to interrupt him.³ He is the one who declares Jesus to be the Messiah and then promptly rebukes the Messiah.⁴ Peter tells Jesus “I will never fall away… Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And then he denies Jesus three times.⁵ At the same time, Peter is “the Rock” and becomes one of the first leaders in the early church. Peter is prone to sweeping statements and gestures. He is imperfectly faithful.

Perhaps, brash Peter is testing Jesus and the limits of discipleship. “Lord, if it is you command me to come to you on the water”. Believers call Jesus “Lord” and yet, there is a hint of a question, “If it is you…”. This strikes me as a realistic depiction of faith. It’s Peter’s version of “I believe, help my unbelief.” He wants to be with Jesus. He wants to be like Jesus. “Command me to come to you…”

Peter wanted to go join Jesus. This individual response is attractive to modern readers who see faith as a personal decision and act. We might aspire to be like Peter. But look what happened.

There are things Jesus does that the disciples can’t. Subduing chaos, is one of them. It is a divine task. Peter quickly realized he was trying to do something he could not do. He sees the immense power of chaos and he is afraid. He is literally over his head, in water too deep for him to manage. He needs Jesus to save him.

When Peter goes to join Jesus and notice what he does. He leaves the boat. He leaves the other disciples. He leaves the community. He leaves even though Jesus was coming to them. He didn’t wait for Jesus. He didn’t trust that Jesus would come to the boat and rescue all of them.

After Jesus rescues Peter, Jesus asks him “why did you doubt?” Perhaps Jesus meant, “why did you doubt that I was coming to the boat? Why didn’t you trust that I was coming to save all of you?”

Jesus, you will notice, takes Peter to the boat. They don’t keep walking on the water. They don’t head off to the shore, just the two of them. They both get in the boat and then “the wind ceased”. ” And those in the boat”, realized who Jesus was.

The early church thought about itself as a boat. A boat threatened by storms and the chaos of the world. A boat kept safe by Jesus. We don’t know exactly when or how this image developed. But it’s worth pondering. Modern Christianity has a strong individualistic tendency. We talk about, Jesus and Me. ( I capitalized “Me” on purpose.)

Certainly a personal response to and a personal relationship with Jesus is important. But perhaps, that’s not everything. Perhaps we need Jesus and the boat. Perhaps we need the community of the church more than we realize.

M. Eugene Boring says it this way, “What if the message of the text were, “If he had enough faith, he would have believed the word of Jesus that came to him in the boat as mediating the presence and reality of God?” Faith is not being able to walk on the water- only God can do that- but daring to believe, in the face of all the evidence, that God is with us in the boat, made real in the community of faith as it makes its way through the storm, battered by the waves.⁶

Over the past year, many people have been looking for someone to rescue us. Or they have felt powerless because they, themselves, could not fix things. Either way they were looking for an individual performing a grand gesture to save us. The Lone Ranger. The superhero. The mysterious man who rides into town and fixes things, (usually through violence).

But after the resurrection and ascension, the church grew because it was a particular kind of community. It wasn’t merely individual people focused on personal salvation. It was people committed to God, to Jesus, and to each other. That set of interwoven commitments is how the church survived. And that set of interwoven commitments is how we will survive. In fact, it is how we will thrive.

Living into God’s vision and hope for the world is not the work of one person. Even Jesus didn’t work alone. He gathered disciples and taught them how to live together in new ways. His charge to them was to expand and grow the community- to make disciples.

We all know, it can be uncomfortable to stay in the boat. People are complicated, and often difficult. It is tempting to strike out on our own, just Jesus and me. But the church is called to be the safe boat, the sturdy refuge for all of us. The world is a scary place. But will we trust that God is with us, always and everywhere?

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1. My reflection on the feeding of the five thousand is here. ↩︎
2. Think, for example, about God’s actions in Genesis 1: 2, “the earth was complete chaos…” and the story of the chaotic flood and the Ark. ↩︎
3. Matt 17:1-8 ↩︎
4. Matt 16:13-23 ↩︎
5. Matt 26:32-35; 69-75 ↩︎
6. Boring, M. Eugene, “The Gospel of Matthew” in The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol VIII Abingdon Press, Leander E. Keck Ed. 1994, pages 329-330. ↩︎