Water Walking

Of the story of Jesus walking on water and Peter's attempt to do likewise, Nadia Bolz-Weber writes that Peter's failure to have faith enough for the miraculous is not the point. The point she emphasizes is that Jesus was coming to him already and to get into the boat with his fearful followers.

I would consider another aspect of the story as well: When Jesus chided Peter for being "of little faith" (and I will use the gentler "chide" rather than "rebuke"), was He referring to Peter's failed attempt, or to Peter's challenge in the first place "Lord, if it is you, command me..."?

Peter's imposition strikes me as more dubious than his presumption to walk on water on two counts.

First, it eerily echoes Satan's challenge to Jesus "if you are the Son of God...", challenging the apparition to prove its identity, even after hearing its voice across the waters "Take heart, it is I, do not fear". Peter did not take heart at the familiar voice, believing, perhaps, that he was left vulnerable by his lord in the middle of the sea to the deceptions of random ghosts and sea sprites.

But the second indictment of Peter's faith was that, as an experienced fisherman caught in a storm, he was ready to jettison all he knew of the sea, storms and sailing for some kind of immediate magic that would carry him above, not through, the storm. Sometimes faith is demonstrated, not in spectacular deliverance, but in pressing on every day, doing what you know.

Happily, as Bolz-Weber expounds, Jesus' response to Peter's shortcomings in the faith department - whatever its source - is His immediate and comforting presence in the boat with those He loved. It was when they knew He was already at their side that He quieted the wind.