Sinking in the Storm?

But seeing the wind, he became afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying,

“Lord, save me!”  Matthew 14:30

Jesus sent His disciples away so He could be alone.  He put them into a boat and commanded them to go over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee while He went up the mountain to pray. 

As the disciples made their way across the Sea of Galilee, a great storm arose, and the ship was being battered by the wind and the waves.  To make matters worse, it was in the darkest part of the night.  They were scared ... they were exhausted from countless hours of rowing … they were feeling alone and abandoned because Jesus wasn’t there with them. 

Then, lo and behold, Jesus comes to them walking on the sea!  At first, they thought He was a ghost.  I mean, who would have thunk it?  Jesus, walking on water?  Who can walk on water?  God can. 

Rule of restoration

Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” Matthew 26:34 (NKJV)

Jesus saw it coming. He saw how Peter, His most devoted and dedicated disciple, would openly deny Him three times when the heat was turned up. For Peter, this was unthinkable. 

“There’s nobody more devoted to You than me! I’d die before doing something like that! No way will that ever happen!”

It did. And Peter was devastated. Sometimes we do things that even surprise ourselves, and this was one of those moments for Peter. He was ashamed and shaken to his core. Even after Christ revealed Himself as being resurrected from the dead, Peter’s guilt must have gnawed away at his heart. Their relationship had been wounded and required restoration.