Peter Walks on Water

A boat, a mountain, and a coming storm

One evening, after Jesus had fed thousands of people on a sunny hillside, He told His disciples to climb into their fishing boat and sail across the big blue lake without Him. He wanted some quiet time to pray. So they pushed off from the shore as the sun went down.

Up on the mountain, Jesus prayed. Down on the lake, the disciples rowed. But before they were halfway across, the wind started to howl. The waves grew tall. The sky turned dark. Their little boat bobbed up and down like a cork. They pulled their oars as hard as they could — but they barely moved.

All night long they fought the storm. Their arms burned. Their hands blistered. The wind shrieked in their ears. And Jesus was nowhere to be seen.

Someone is walking on the water

It was the darkest part of the night — somewhere between three and six o'clock in the morning, when even brave men feel sleepy and small. And then, in the middle of all that wind and water, the disciples saw something that made their blood run cold.

Someone was walking. Across the waves. On top of the water. Toward them.

They screamed. They grabbed each other. But then the voice that came across the waves was a voice they knew — the warmest, kindest voice in the world.

It was Jesus. Walking on the water. Coming to them through the storm.

"Lord, tell me to come"

Peter was one of the disciples in the boat. Peter was the kind of person who blurted things out, the kind who jumped first and thought later. And right then, Peter said something that maybe nobody else would have ever said.

And Jesus said one beautiful word.

So Peter — sopping wet, with wind blowing his hair sideways and waves crashing all around — swung his leg over the side of the boat. He stepped down. His foot touched the water. And the water held him up. Like solid ground. Like a road.

Peter stood up on the sea. And then, with his eyes on Jesus, he took a step. Then another. Then another. The other disciples stared with their mouths open. Peter was walking on water!

"Lord, save me!"

But then — for just a moment — Peter looked away from Jesus. He looked down at the waves. He looked up at the wind. He thought, "This is impossible. I'm walking on water. Nobody walks on water."

And the moment he stopped looking at Jesus, he started to sink. His feet went down. The water came up to his knees. His waist. His shoulders.

It was the shortest prayer in the Bible. Three little words. "Lord, save me!"

And Jesus did not stand back. He did not wait for Peter to figure it out. He did not say, "Sorry, Peter, you'll have to swim."

Jesus reached straight down and caught him.

Jesus pulled Peter up. Jesus stood him on the water again. And together, holding on tight, the two of them walked back to the boat.

"Truly You are the Son of God"

The moment Jesus and Peter climbed into the boat — whoosh — the wind stopped. The waves laid down flat. The lake was as smooth as glass. The whole storm was just… over.

The disciples looked at Jesus. They looked at Peter. They looked at the calm water. And without anyone saying it first, they all fell to their knees inside that little fishing boat.

Then they finished rowing across the lake — easy now — and they never forgot the night the storm tried to swallow them, and the Son of God walked right out onto the water to bring them home.