The Life of Christ

better and become a little stronger. Until finally the chick learns how to catch the currents of air and soar by itself, no longer needing mother to catch it from falling.

Mk. 6:49 But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out;

Things were bad enough already; now they are seeing ghosts walking on the water!

• They probably thought it was the “Grim Reaper” who had come to remove them from this life!

• There are times when the Lord’s appearance is not always clear and recognizable.

• This helps explain why blasphemy against Jesus is a forgivable offense.

Regarding the idea of walking upon water, among the ancient Egyptians, the symbol of impossibility was the simple figure of two feet planted upon a fragment of the ocean.

Mt. 14:27-28 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” 28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

With ghosts still on their mind, to make sure this was really Jesus, Peter asks for a strange confirmation.

• “Jesus, if this is you, command me to come to you on the water!”

• The essence of what Peter was asking was, “Jesus, if this is You, then involve me!”

• Peter may have sounded quite bold at the moment, but we can only wonder if his mood suddenly changed after hearing Jesus say, “ Come. ”

• The sea was raging, and had the water not held, Peter would have drowned.

By this time, however, there appeared to be nearly as much water in the boat as there was outside the boat.

• What we often overlook when in the midst of trouble is that to remain in the boat is also to drown; the boat was fast filling with water and would soon go down.

• Only after Peter stepped out of the boat did the storm cease, thus preserving the lives of himself and his crew members.

Verse 32 says when they got into the boat the winds stopped.

• The lesson of this story is that there are situations that REQUIRE that we take a bold step out of our boat; to remain in the boat will result in tragedy!

In practicality, to get out of the boat is often to take a leap of faith into a situation that looks worse than being in the boat.

• To Peter’ s credit, let ’s remember that he was without the benefit of having the biblical precedent of Mt. 14.

Mt. 14:29 And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

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