For the past two a half years, I have been doing a deep dive into Matthew 14:22-33 where Jesus AND PETER walk on water.  The quarantine grounded my ability to travel around the country to proclaim the Gospel, but allowed me to complete the work on a new small group process that NEM is producing.  This new process has emerged out of a recognition of how many people in our pews really don’t have a good understanding of or good relationship with the Holy Spirit.

I believe that at the root of this problem is a profound lack of faith.  Covid 19 has revealed to many of us this truth as we somehow have begun to live in fear as if God is powerless over the virus.  Those walking with the Spirit, however, have a strong sense of calm because they know the truth. God is the Lord of life and death. We will not add nor take a single day of our life beyond what God has planned for each of us. 

As we began the quarantine, people entered into the unknown and were afraid on many levels. This added even more light to my study of Matthew 14. The apostles were in the middle of darkness and the sea was kicking up. As fear of the unknown was increasing, Jesus approached them, walking on the water.

They were immediately confronted with fear because what they were witnessing  couldn’t be true. People can’t walk on water. If that is not Jesus, then it must be a ghost of Jesus. Despite what appears to be true, the truth is that Jesus is God and has the ability to walk on water. 

As Jesus approached and told them not to be afraid, Peter began to believe that it was Jesus. His faith compelled him to do the unthinkable. “Lord, if it is you, command me to come out to you on the water.”  (vs 28 NRSV) It is at this point that the other apostles had to have reacted to Peter’s request. There is no record of it, but if I were there, I could imagine the thoughts and even comments they would have said.

“Are you nuts?”, or “You must be crazy!”, or “You can’t go out there, you will die for sure”, would be some of my own thoughts, let alone those of the apostles who were there. Jesus rewards the faith of Peter by commanding him to join Him on the water. I can imagine the Lord’s voice booming over the sound of the wind and the waves. “COME”!

Peter and many of those with him have lived on the sea much of their lives, and they know with great certainty that Peter can’t walk on water. Yet, they watch with shock as Peter climbs over the gunnel. What Peter understood was that if Jesus could sustain himself on the water, then Jesus could sustain him. What does that mean?

Like the apostles remaining in the security of their boat during the stormy seas, we hide in our homes in fear. And yet, Jesus is out there in the midst of the threatening darkness and He is calling each of us to “COME”! Come out from the fear and fake security of the boat and learn to trust in the One who sustains everything. When we cling to God, we find the courage to push through the fear of the unknown and embrace what we do know – JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD!  

If we have died with Christ, then will rise with Him. Let us hold on to that truth and leave the quarantine trusting not that we won’t get sick, but that our lives belong to Jesus who loves us and wants our very best! Jesus, I trust in YOU!