Reflections On The Gospel Of John Sample

IT’S TIME TO GET OUT OF THE BOAT In the Gospel of John chapter six, Jesus sent His disciples on a journey to the other side of the Sea of Galilee on a boat ahead of Himself. During their journey to the other coastline, the disciples encountered a violent storm with winds that tossed the boat from side to side with all onboard being overcome with fear. In the midst of the tumult, a figure began to emerge from the storm in the form of a man. It was Jesus, their Master and Savior, walking through the storm on top of the water. The disciples began to question whether what they saw was real or not, and as Jesus continued to approach He reassured them that it was indeed He and not some unknown or unfamiliar spirit, comforting them with the words “Fear not” (in the King James Version), and “Stop being afraid” (in other translations). Although this story is recorded in multiple gospels, this is where Matthew’s account goes into a little more detail, specifically with the actions of Simon Peter throughout the entire ordeal. Peter, being impulsive and quick to speak as he normally is, says to Jesus “if it’s really you then allow me to walk out on the water with you.” Jesus simply replies, “Come” (MAT.4.28-29). Peter then stepped out of the boat and began walking toward Jesus with his eyes firmly fixed on Him. However, as the storm continued to rage around them, as Peter began to notice the violence of the sea and power of the wind, he began to take his eyes off Jesus and began to sink in the water. Although many consider this event to show a lack of faith on the part of Peter as he began to lose focus and allowed what he saw in the natural to hinder him. I would submit that in actuality this is a great lesson in demonstrating how we are to overcome fear in our own lives because although the other disciples were paralyzed with fear, at least Peter had enough courage to stand up and step out into the unknown. He stepped out simply on a word from Jesus. There are many in the body of Christ today who are like the disciples, they remain in the boat and never venture out, while Jesus is all the while bidding us to “Come.”