{"id":26365,"date":"2025-06-26T17:14:08","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T22:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/?p=26365"},"modified":"2025-06-26T17:14:28","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T22:14:28","slug":"thankfully-peter-did-not-walk-a-mile-on-water-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/thankfully-peter-did-not-walk-a-mile-on-water-heres-why\/","title":{"rendered":"Thankfully, Peter did not walk a mile on water. Here’s why."},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cBut seeing the wind, Peter became afraid and beginning to sink, he cried out, \u2018Save me, Lord!\u2019 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him\u2026.\u201d (Matthew 14:30-31).<\/strong><\/p>\n

You’ve seen the video of the Boston Red Sox first baseman letting that World Series game-winning single run through his legs. It’s iconic.<\/p>\n

It was the 1986 World Series and the player was Bill Buckner.<\/p>\n

Had Buckner caught that ball and stepped on first base, the game would have been over and the Red Sox would have ended that so-called curse a full fifteen or twenty years earlier than they did.\u00a0 Ask the Buckner family.\u00a0 The video has run a zillion times on Youtube and in the minds of the fans.\u00a0 They have enshrined his failure.\u00a0 Most Red Sox fans forget all the thousands of put-outs Buckner made at first base, the hits he got, the runs he produced.<\/p>\n

That is how the Apostle Peter must have felt.<\/p>\n

Think of Simon Peter walking on the water to Jesus that night when the winds howled and the sea raged and far from being impressed\u2013as one would think we should be!\u2013we see only that he took his eyes off Jesus and put them on the wave<\/em>, and began to sink.\u00a0 As though we would have done better!<\/p>\n

Actually, we should be glad Peter did that.\u00a0\u00a0Yes, we should rejoice that he walked those few steps on the Galilee and yes, we should be impressed.\u00a0 But everything inside me gives thanks that after that, Peter had a problem with what he was doing and messed it up.<\/p>\n

Just imagine\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Suppose Peter had spent 30 minutes or an hour outside the boat, walking and then dancing and then pirouetting across the sea!<\/p>\n

Get that picture in your mind\u2019s eye.\u00a0 At first, he walks hesitantly toward Jesus.\u00a0 Then, more confidently.\u00a0 And then he gets the hang\u00a0of it and strides more confidently.\u00a0 And finally, he\u2019s jumping and running and bouncing.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeter, that\u2019s enough.\u00a0 You can come in now.\u201d\u00a0 The Lord had to call him inside, to get back in the boat with the rest of the disciples and to settle down.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u2013The man would have been insufferable.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cOh man, John, you should have done it!\u201d\u00a0 \u201cAndrew, why didn\u2019t you come, too?\u00a0 Mom and Dad are going to be asking.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cBartholomew, let me tell you how it felt!\u201d<\/p>\n

They couldn\u2019t have shut him up.<\/p>\n

After that, his teaching and preaching would have taken on a different character.\u00a0 He would not have understood failure.\u00a0 \u201cYou can be perfect.\u00a0 You can do this.\u00a0 We will allow no slip-ups!\u00a0 No failures accepted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013He would have become a celebrity.\u00a0 Like Buzz Aldrin and Neal Armstrong after their walk on the moon, everyone just wants to see them and touch them.\u00a0 They\u2019re super human now.\u00a0 They\u2019re not allowed a silly moment, a down time, to get tired or impatient.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ve been to the moon. Nothing else is too hard for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013And he would have made a terrible teacher.\u00a0 “Come on guys.\u00a0 You can be perfect!”<\/p>\n

Actually, most people agree that the best teachers and instructors are not those who made 4.0 on everything, who are Phi Beta Kappas and Mensa members.\u00a0 The best teachers tend to be those who struggled to pass math, who had to repeat calculus, and who burned the midnight oil to get the hang of physics.\u00a0 This person understands.\u00a0 He knows. She has been there and struggled, so she understands my difficulty in getting a grasp on mathematics.<\/p>\n

Our Lord Jesus has been there, done that.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I recall reading where the Italian movie star Marcello Mastroanni was telling why he had trouble following Jesus.\u00a0 \u201cHe was perfect,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cAnd we are not. It was easy enough for Him to live that life\u2013turn the other cheek, forgive those who were executing Him\u2013but I can\u2019t do that.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

His little analysis is based on a misconception. Well, several in fact.\u00a0 One, that doing these things came easily for Jesus, as though He was an automaton on automatic pilot, just going through the motions.\u00a0 And two, that the Christian life is all about doing good works like Jesus.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t come easily and it\u2019s not about good works (\u201clest any should boast\u201d\u2013Ephesians 2:9).<\/p>\n

The writer of Hebrews gave us something about the Lord Jesus that \u201chelps us in our weakness.\u201d\u00a0 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin<\/em>\u00a0(Hebrews 4:15).<\/p>\n

He has been where you and I are, and has the scars to prove it.\u00a0 He did not emerge unscathed.\u00a0 Obeying the Father meant going to the cross.\u00a0 Take a good look at Jesus praying in Gethsemane, just hours before Calvary.\u00a0 Scripture says he sweat drops of blood.\u00a0 Now, that is agony! (Luke 22:44)<\/p>\n

Peter continued to struggle<\/strong><\/p>\n

Later, Peter would deny even knowing Jesus three times. The kicker is that when he was doing that, the Lord stood not far from him, on trial for His life.\u00a0 And then, we read, And immediately, while he was still speaking, a cock crowed.\u00a0 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter.\u00a0 And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, \u2018Before a cock crows today, you will deny Me three times.\u2019\u00a0 And he went out and wept bitterly<\/em>\u00a0(Luke 22:60-61).<\/p>\n

But the Lord didn\u2019t give up on him.\u00a0 In fact, same chapter, earlier the Lord had said, Simon, Simon.\u00a0 Behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat.\u00a0 But I have prayed for you, that your faith fail not.\u00a0 And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers<\/em>\u00a0(Luke 22:31-32).<\/p>\n

Jesus knew His man.\u00a0 In fact\u2026<\/p>\n

Peter was Jesus\u2019 star pupil.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss that.\u00a0 Ask any teacher.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re harder on the star pupils than anyone else in the room. Because this one has the greatest potential.\u00a0 But you see the struggles he has to overcome his lower nature. So, you get tough with him and talk straight.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why the Lord\u2019s words to Peter on the Galilee that stormy night were far from a rebuke.\u00a0 O ye of little faith!\u00a0 Why did you doubt?<\/em>\u00a0(Matthew 14:31).<\/p>\n

Jesus was proud of Peter.\u00a0 I can almost see the gleam in His eyes as He chastens this one whom He loves so much, in whom He sees such potential, but in whose heart there wages such a war.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s tough being the student with the most potential in the class.\u00a0 The goals are higher, the expectations stronger, the lessons tougher, and the teacher more insistent.<\/p>\n

Bill Belichick never yelled at any player on any team he ever coached more than he did Tom Brady.\u00a0 Brady, his hall-of-fame quarterback who led the New England Patriots to win five Super Bowls and secured Belichick\u2019s legacy.\u00a0 The single player most responsible for Belichick\u2019s lasting fame.\u00a0 And yet, the expectations on Brady were the highest, the standards the toughest.<\/p>\n

So, don\u2019t be surprised when the Lord is hard on you, friend.\u00a0 He sees what you can do, knows what you are capable of, and believes in you more than you do yourself.<\/p>\n

He has big purposes for you.<\/p>\n

Trust Him.\u00a0 And when you fail or take your eyes off Him and begin to sink, do what your friend the Apostle Peter did and reach out your hand and let Jesus take hold of you.<\/p>\n

Then see if you can get it right next time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cBut seeing the wind, Peter became afraid and beginning to sink, he cried out, \u2018Save me, Lord!\u2019 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him\u2026.\u201d (Matthew 14:30-31). You’ve seen the video of the Boston Red Sox … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[140,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-failure","category-faith"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26365"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26368,"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26365\/revisions\/26368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}