‘Jesus reached out’
- Feb 28, 2025
- 6 min read
Matthew 14:31:'Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”'
Love heard, love reached, and love saved.
The whole point of the story is not to highlight the weakness of Peter’s faith but to demonstrate the greatness of God’s grace. Grace covered it all: the storm, the sinking, and the saving rescue.
This story is not about Peter’s faith, it’s about Jesus’ faithfulness.
What have we accomplished that’s come through a storm-induced FAITH?
What has been achieved in and through our lives that can’t be explained other than God was in that experience?
Helen Keller once said, “Life is either a daring adventure, or it is nothing at all.”
I hope you are able to reflect and truly understand how God has been with you throughout it all!
We’ve discovered from looking at Matthew 14 that our story of the Christian life is one of a God who is relentless in calling us to step out into the gaps, the unsure places. A God who is always calling us forward, beyond our fear, our feeble faith and our falling away. A God who promised that as we are warmly encouraged to come, to step out, let go and believe, will never let us go.
You’re never beyond God’s REACH!
“The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down” (Ps 145:14).
First Jesus caught Peter, then He taught him. His Lord had taken him by the hand, and Peter sank no further.
C H Spurgeon commented, “What a sight! Jesus and Peter, hand in hand, walking upon the sea!”
The Psalmist said, "When I said, 'My foot is slipping', your unfailing love, Lord, supported me.” (Ps 94:18). What an amazing and beautiful picture this is! When I said 'My foot is slipping', your "unfailing love supported me."
Sitting at my desk this morning an old song came into mind.
Love lifted me, when nothing else could help, Love lifted me.
I was sinking deep in sin, far from the distant shore,
Very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more,
But the Master of the sea lifted me, heard my despairing cry
From the waters lifted me. Now safe am I
Love lifted me, Love lifted me.
Psalm 18:16: "He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters."
If we’re honest, we all fail. But the great lesson for us today is that when we fail there is a Lord who will rescue us. When we lose sight of Him, which we often do, the great truth is He hasn’t lost sight of us and is close at hand to help, to bless and save us.
What Good News! We have a Saviour who saves completely. Not only in the past and the future, but in the moment-by-moment, day-to-day life.
"Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him" (Heb 7:25).
Although Peter failed Jesus, Jesus did not fail Peter.
Be open to what God wants to TEACH you
Jesus’ purpose in Peter’s life was simply to teach him to TRUST!
I think Peter had got the message. In 1 Peter, he writes to Christians going through their own storms and he says this:“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith… may be found to result in praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 1:6).
Jesus did not let Peter sink.
“You of little faith.” Jesus rebuked Peter for having “little” faith, but not for having “no” faith. Faith here is a single Greek word which actually means 'little-faith-one.' It’s only used five times in the New Testament, and every time it’s spoken by Jesus. I don’t know about you but I think I would prefer to hear 'little-faith-one' rather than“You of little faith.” It sounds less harsh and more accepting.
Jesus does not despise a little faith. He does not snuff out a smouldering wick, or crush a bruised reed, or leave Peter, or you or me, to drown in our doubt and death.
“A bruised reed he will not break, a smouldering wick he will not snuff out” (Is 42:3 ).
Jesus does not abandon you. He does not let you go. He does not move away from you, but towards you.
He welcomes the broken and fragile of this world! I for one, am so pleased.
'Little-faith-one' He said, “why did you doubt?” I think Jesus is wanting Peter to reflect on the lesson He was teaching him. He had to learn that God was there as his protector and deliverer.
Psalm 121:7-8:"The LORD will keep you from all harm, he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore."
R T France sums it up: “The faith which can move mountains would have kept Peter safe, if he had not allowed his obedience to Jesus’s call to be overwhelmed by his very natural perception of the danger to which he had rashly exposed himself. It is thus an illustration of the vulnerability of the disciple who allows doubt, the natural human perspective, to displace the faith which relies on the supernatural power of God.”
What is my relationship with Jesus really like? Is it more about me or is it all about HIM? Do we need to work on that ‘T’ word: TRUST? Perhaps we need to get to the point of ‘trust the knowing’ and not the doubting!
What caused Peter to sink? His faith began to waver because he took his eyes off the Lord and began to look at the circumstances around him. “Why did you doubt?” Jesus asked. This word translated 'doubt' can mean “standing uncertainly at two ways.” Peter started out with great faith, but ended up with great doubt because he saw two ways instead of one. Also, the tenure of the Greek means for what purpose? To what end having come so far?
Os Guinness writes, “To believe is to be in one mind about accepting something as true; to disbelieve is to be in one mind about rejecting it. To doubt is to waver between the two, to believe and disbelieve at once and so to be 'in two minds.'"
Do you remember the last time God asked you “why did you doubt?” It makes me think about what doubt can do in our lives and cause so much pain.
Take, for example, just doubting God and wondering where He is, or what about Him answering that prayer, or, does He really love me? You see, what doubt does is stop faith from being active and it undermines TRUST!
Let’s be serious about those things that distract and that lead to doubt!
Peter walking on water was a miraculous thing, but he doubted!
We all fail at some point in our lives. Don’t let the failure take you back - fail forwards! Peter’s life still became a testimony of who God is and what He can do with failures.
Even when we don’t get it right, His love and mercy are everlasting and they don’t change. No matter what we’re going through, He is ready to reach out, to catch you, to rescue you. Let ‘Love lifted me!’ be your testimony. Let Him ‘REACH,’ ‘TEACH’ and be the...
Repairer of the BREACH.
Jesus is greater than your greatest failure. He’s more powerful than any breach of faith. As Lord, He is the One that ‘dissolves distance’ between the ordinary and the holy! From sinking down, to being caught by God. He dissolves distance, separating the failed walk of faith and the dawn of a new day; from the common to the sacred.
"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus" (Phil 4:19).
Notice the source of the supply: "my God". Not just ‘God will supply’, but ‘my God’; a God known in personal relationship and experience. He’s our heavenly Father, not some remote being running the earth. He ‘dissolves distance!’
'Jesus reached out'
Perhaps today, He’s longing to deepen your faith and trust for a new ministry within the church, or a new job, or just longing for you to go deeper in your relationship with Him. Take His hand and see!
Comments