New Perspective about Peter walking on the water
25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
Analysis
I’m sure that many of us are familiar with this story of Peter walking on the water. We know that the Savior called out to Peter and told him to come out and meet him on the water. Peter is successful for a while until he became afraid and started to sink. He cried out for help and the Savior reached out and saved him.
After the Lord saved Peter he asked him,”Wherefore didst thou doubt”. From this experience we are taught in all of our Sunday School meetings that Peter started to fall because he took his eyes off the Savior. I believe that this is true, and there is a lesson to be learned.
However, I think that there is another lesson to be learned that is not talked about enough in our meetings.
It has to do with when Peter begins to drown and, “he cried, saying, Lord, save me.” And it has to do with the Savior’s response after saving Peter, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” I think that most of the time we interpret this as the Savior questioning Peter’s doubt and fear of the storm going on around him. Almost as if the Savior said, “Why did you stop looking at me? You were doing so well until you got scared.”
I don’t think this is what the Savior meant when he said, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” Its hard for me to think he was criticizing Peter’s faith after he had just walked on water. When that statement from the Savior is directed more towards Peter’s cry for help, then it makes more sense.
Put in modern day terms the Savior may have said, “Did you really think that I wasn’t going to save you?” “Did you really doubt that I wouldn’t come to your aid?”
The lesson here is that we should never doubt in the Savior’s saving abilities. He will always come to us in our hour of need. When we feel that we are drowning in life’s troubles I promise that the Savior will be there to catch us if we reach out to him.
