“Take Courage! It Is I! Don’t Be Afraid!”

“Take Courage! It Is I! Do Not Be Afraid!”(Mt.14:22-33).
The disciples enter a boat to cross to the other side. Jesus remains behind. He goes up to a mountainside to pray. The sea is rough, the winds and the waves hitting repeatedly on the boat. The disciples are terrified; especially as they see Jesus walking on the lake coming towards them.
Jesus calms their fears with these assuring words: “Take courage! It is I! Don’t be afraid!”
Peter wants to be sure it is not an apparition as they thought. He asks Jesus to ask him to come to him. Jesus tells him, “Come.” Peter starts going to Jesus but is terrified by the wind and begins to sink, so he cries out, “Lord, save me!”
Jesus reaches out his hand and catches him, and says, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
When Jesus climbs into the boat, the wind calms down, and those who are in the boat worship him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Unless you are drowning and the only option is to walk on the water, this is not a proof text for any believer to want to walk on water as proof that s/he has faith.
This text is to show us that Jesus is Lord of the sea, the waves, winds, and storms. If God could divide the Red Sea and cause the sea to become like an iceblock, his Son can cause the water to be molten for him to walk upon.
Peter’s action does not only portray lack of faith, he first of all doubts that it is Jesus walking on water coming to them. Like we said the other day, doubt is the beginning of loss of faith.
You sea my friend, in this life we are in a boat crossing over to the other side of life. All things being equal, our sea is calm, and we have smooth sailing. But then, the winds blow, and the storms rage, and the waves threaten to capsize our boat! We become terrified, but lo and behold: The Lord Jesus Christ walks to us when we least expect him. In the midst of our fears, he says, “Take courage! It is I! Do not be afraid!” When he enters our boat, the wind dies down. And when this happens, we should worship him for truly he is the Son of God.
We should, by all means, eschew the spirit of individualism displayed by Peter in this text. Jesus was coming to all of them in the boat. What did Peter aim to achieve by going to meet Jesus alone?
Our God is “Immanuel!” He is with us, meeting us at our points of need. We pray for eyes of faith so that when he is coming to us, we should not see him as a ghost.
Weekend prayer: Holy Spirit, increase our faith so that we do not doubt what the Lord Jesus Christ does for us. Amen!
Have a blessed weekend! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.
07/02/2025.