"Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."

"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."

"Come," he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshipped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God" (Matthew 14:22-33).

"Why did you doubt?" That is the question that Jesus puts to Peter, and it is the question that our Savior puts to us whenever we become slaves to worry and fear. When you have walked with the Son of God, why do you ever have moments of doubt?

It is amazing the think that Peter could have a lapse of faith. By this point in their time together, Peter had witnessed many of Jesus’ miracles. Jesus had removed a crippling fever from Peter’s mother-in-law. Peter had been in a boat with Jesus when He ended a storm by telling the wind and the waves to be quiet. Peter had seen Jesus drive a host of demons out of a man and into a herd of pigs. Peter had seen Jesus heal a paralyzed man, restore sight to the blind, and raise a little girl from the dead. And just a few hours previously, Peter witnessed Jesus feeding well over 5,000 people with only five loaves of bread and two fish. This was such a compelling miracle that the people who had been fed were considering making Jesus king in Jerusalem by force. It was because of these plans that Jesus hurried the disciples off in a boat while He dismissed the crowds—Jesus didn’t want the Twelve to get caught up in earthly politics.

So Peter and the other disciples set out onto the Sea of Galilee in a small boat shortly after dark. But all too soon, the weather made an ominous change. The wind came up and the Twelve end up rowing into rough seas. They rowed all night; by about 3:00 in the morning (the fourth watch of the night), they had only gotten 3 ½ miles from shore (John 6:19). By this point, they were cold, wet, and utterly exhausted. And then—an apparition, or so they thought. The disciples saw a human figure calmly walking across the water towards them, in the midst of the stormy seas. Their immediate reaction was one of superstitious panic—they assumed that death was coming for them. They cried out in fear.

But the figure was no supernatural bringer of death; it was Jesus. Jesus had been exhausted as well. Just a day ago He had been told that Herod had beheaded His cousin, John the Baptist. Jesus had crossed the Sea of Galilee with His disciples for quiet time following this disturbing news, but the people had followed, and Jesus had healed them, taught them, fed them. When they began planning to make Him an earthly king over His objections, Jesus knew that Satan was tempting Him to turn away from the coming disgrace of the cross and instead rule in earthly power and glory. Jesus sent the people away, thus resisting the temptation to be a popular earthly ruler. Then, exhausted from sad news, long hours and Satan’s temptations, Jesus withdrew privately to pray to His Father and receive renewed strength.

Now Jesus came, refreshed, to rejoin the disciples. As soon as He heard their cry of fear, He called out "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." Notice how Jesus referred to Himself. He did not say, "It is Jesus coming to you." He said, "It is I." This was the most comforting thing Jesus could say. In the Old Testament God was known by many names, but His personal, most holy name was Yahweh, which means "I AM". When God sent Moses to the Israelites who were slaves in Egypt, we read in Exodus 4:13-14: Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, `The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, `What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: `I AM has sent me to you.' " Jesus used the divine name I AM in reference to Himself several times in His ministry; in John 8:58 we read, "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" So when Jesus called to His disciples "It is I", He was subtly saying that the reason they should have courage and not be afraid was that God Himself approached them.

Of course, Peter now felt foolish for being afraid, but at the same time he also was overwhelmed with wonder, seeing Jesus walking on the water. When Jesus had sent Peter and the other disciples out on their first missionary journey, He had given them power to cure diseases and drive out demons. So Peter, full of faith, asked Jesus to make it possible for him to leave the boat and come to the Lord. Jesus, who always desires to increase faith in His followers, agreed—and Peter began to walk on the water towards His Savior! But then Peter did a foolish thing—he let himself get distracted by the wind, the waves, and the spray. He stopped looking at Jesus and turned his attention to the storm surrounding him. As soon as he did this, Peter began to sink into the waves. Panicked, he cried out for Jesus to save him. Immediately, Jesus reached out and rescued Peter, and they returned to the boat. When they were both aboard, the wind quieted, and St. John tells us that immediately the boat reached the shore where they were headed (John 6:21). Miracle upon miracle! No wonder that the disciples worshipped Jesus as the Son of God.

As He rescued Peter, Jesus asked him, "Why did you doubt?" Why indeed? After all the miracles that Peter had been witness to, why did he doubt? Matthew tells us the answer. Matthew, the writer of this Gospel, was there in the boat with Peter, and he tells us: when he saw the wind, he was afraid. The problem was that Peter took his eyes off Jesus and turned his attention to the bad weather surrounding him. In spite of all the incredible things Peter had seen Jesus do, he could still be distracted and frightened by the storm. Peter did not lose his faith—after all, he cried out to Jesus for rescue—but his fear of the storm weakened his faith enough that he began to sink.

As with Peter, so with us. We too have experienced the miracles of Jesus. Through the waters of holy Baptism, Jesus forgave our sins and sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts to build faith in the promises of God. Forgiveness is a miracle. Faith is a miracle. Only a miracle of God could forgive us for our innate selfishness and stubbornness. Only a miracle of God could cause us to trust in a Savior who is only heard through the words of Scripture, who is only touched through the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper. We have all been beneficiaries of the two greatest miracles of all—the death of the Son of God that paid the price for every human sin, and Jesus’ return from death to eternal life, guaranteeing our return to eternal life after our temporary, physical deaths.

Like Peter, we are awed by the miracles of Jesus. Like Peter, our love of Jesus makes us want to draw near to Him. But also like Peter, we often find ourselves surrounded by stormy seas. We find ourselves without enough money to pay the bills, we find ourselves struggling with disease, we find ourselves in troubled families. When we were looking steadfastly at Jesus, we were not scared. But when we start paying more attention to our problems than to the Savior who bids us come to Him, we become frightened. Our faith begins to falter and we begin to doubt. We start to doubt that we can ever be happy. We start to doubt that we can ever be at peace. And as we begin to doubt, our fears start to swallow us up until we feel like we are drowning in them.

Jesus was near to Peter through it all. The moment that Peter called out to Jesus for help, his Savior was there, holding his hand until the storm was calmed. Jesus is always near you as well. The moment that you cry out to Jesus for rescue from fear and worry, He is there beside you, holding your hand, giving you His strength until He sends the storm away. Jesus asks Peter and He asks you: "Why did you doubt?" Peter knew that his Savior was near. Peter knew that Jesus could rescue him. You know these things as well. But like Peter, we get into trouble when we stop fixing our eyes on Jesus, and let the cares of this world distract and worry us.

Anyone who has plowed a field or mowed a large yard knows that the only way to keep going straight is to find a landmark at the edge of the property and then stare at it while you move towards it. If you don’t pick a landmark, if you plow or cut while looking just in front of you or to either side, you will end up with a crooked row. Jesus is our landmark as we work our way through life. Only by keeping Jesus as the focus of our attention, through regular worship and Bible study, can we end up where we want to be—at heaven’s gates. And we have the assurance that whenever we lose sight of Jesus, whenever we start to go wrong and call to Him, He will come to us, He will straighten our path, and He will start leading us towards heaven once more.

So take courage, and don’t be afraid. The Son of God loves you, He cares about you, and He is always near. He bids you come to Him, and when you fall He lifts you up and leads you on. He only waits for you to call to Him for help. Our God promises, "call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me" (Psalm 50:15).