– An alternative reading on Matthew 14:22-33
In Christian homilies the topic on Mat. 14:22-33 has predominantly been one on faith. And it is the faith of one protagonist (if not the key): Peter’s, that has been the focus. So, the story goes – in the midst of a deep dark night while trying to cross a storm-ravaged sea, the distraught disciples toiled in battling the uncompromising waves, they suddenly saw a ghost-like figure walking on water. He that walked on the sea quickly identified himself as the Incarnate God the Son, and so the disquieting fear of the disciples subsided.
Peter, true to character, greeted his Lord with elation and alleged great faith, jumped out of the boat and walked towards Jesus on the still tempested water. In the story, as in life, great faith diminishes in drastic fashion subject to circumstances. Seeing the strong gust, Peter’s faith evaporated and he began to sink. He cried out to the Lord for help and Jesus saved him from drowning.
Yet Jesus admonished Peter for lacking in faith, which was, supposedly, demonstrated in his sinking as a result of doubt. The reasoning is that with superior faith Peter left the boat and was able to walk on water as Jesus did, but with shaky faith he failed to continue and began to sink. This story then became for believers a lesson of exercising faith in life’s many trials and temptations. The Gospel story ends with the disciples worshipping Jesus as the true Son of God.
The above understanding, though popular and widely accepted, may not be supported by a careful reading of the text.
Firstly, the parallels to the story are recorded in Mark 6:45-52 and John 6:16-21, both of which lack the portion regarding Peter in the story. Worth noticing is that Mark, believed to be the one who put Peter’s eyewitness account into writing (Baulkham, 2006, 155 ff.), did not record Peter’s part. That part of the story also did not appear in the Gospel by John, who never shied away exposing the many failings of this “leader-of-the-pack” disciple. That the Peter portion is only recorded in Matthew does not cast doubt on its provenance, but it should alert readers about what the focus of the story is. The main thrust is that Jesus as the Incarnate Son of God, as the Lord of all creation, walked on the sea to demonstrate His true identity to the doubting disciples.
Also interesting is the way Mark ends the story by adding: “… they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened”. This may well be compared to Jesus’s admonition: “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” This will be further investigated below.
In reading the text, the following points need to be taken into consideration:
Jesus Demonstrating His Identity
As the above quote from Mark indicates, even the disciples in the boat, Jesus’s closest associates, did not understand about the loaves, i.e. the miracle he just performed before the night. John 6:15 says that the people at the miracle “were about to come and take him by force to make him king”. There was a common misconception about whom Jesus was and what his mission was truly about. It can be postulated then that Jesus’s motivation to walk on the sea was to demonstrate His true identity to His most intimate followers. In John’s gospel, the incidence is followed by a lengthy saying by Jesus about the spiritual meaning of Himself being the bread of life.
No Ordinary Fear
Given the occupation of some disciples as fishermen, who were in a familiar location, no less, the experience might not be their first struggling to steer in a raging sea. But their startling fear when seeing a phantom-like figure walking on the sea attested to the fact that what they saw was no ordinary possibility. This gives the lie to rationalist explanations that Jesus was only walking on shallow water and no miracle was witnessed.
Jesus’s Deity Revealed
Most commentators agree that Jesus’s statement: “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid” is an allusion to the self-revelation of God to Moses in Exo. 3:14: “I am who I am.” Here, “it is I” (ESV), ἐγώ εἰμι (lit. “I am”) is exactly as in ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ Ὤν (Exo. 3:14 LXX: “I am the being”).
By using this timeless (or present) pronoun + verb, and by performing a supernatural act, Jesus self-identified to His disciples as the universal Lord of creation.
Grammatical Considerations
Interpretation of the “Peter portion” of the story in Mat. 14 centres on understanding Peter’s statement in v. 28b. Various English translations are listed as follows:
- “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you in the water.” – ESV
- “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.” – KJV
- “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” – NASB2020
- “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” – NIV
- “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” – NRSV
- “Lord, if it is you, order me to come to you on the water.” – NET
- It is also interesting that in MSG, the verse is paraphrased as “Master, if it’s really you, call me to come to you on the water.”
All versions begin Peter’s statement after a simple vocative “lord” with a conditional “if”. The phrase Εἰ σὺ εἶ (lit. “if you are) with “you” in emphatic and indicative εἶ “marks the protasis of a first-class conditional statement …” [Quarles, 2017, 166]. The apodosis begins with a 2nd singular active imperative Κέλευσόν (command) followed by accusative με (me) as the subject of action that ensues.
The word Κελεύω (command) and its derivatives are used in other places in the NT, usually denote orders or commands given from one, usually an authority, to others. For examples, the word is used in Mat. 8:18 when Jesus “gave orders to go over…”; another case is in I The. 4:16 where Paul describes the Lord’s Parousia in which a “command” will be given for the dead to rise. Thus, this word, as the above translations aptly indicate, never conveys a softened notion as merely suggestive or an invitation (contra France, 2007, 571).
The natural reading of Peter’s statement, then, is that after half-heartedly taking in Jesus’s self-identification, he taunted this phantom-like figure to show more proof. Plainly, Peter demanded Jesus, if he was truly whom he claimed he was, to issue a command for him to come to Jesus on water (contra Nolland, 2005, 602).
Jesus answered with a similar Ἐλθέ (Come), 2nd singular active imperative.
Stepping Off in Doubt
Since Peter essentially gave Jesus a challenge and taunted him for more proof, his actions afterward, i.e. getting off the boat and walking on the sea, should not be construed as voluntary but were the results of Jesus’s authoritative command. In any case, Peter’s walking on water was only possible because of divine enablement.
Instead of stepping off the boat in faith, Peter went off from it in doubt.
V. 30 puts it rather graphically the change in Peter’s psychological disposition in relation to the circumstance. He saw the wind, as if he only saw it the first time. A ghostly encounter was where his fear first fixated; now it switched to the stormy waves with which he was once familiar, only this time there was nothing in between them and his bare feet. It was the Lord who caused Peter to walk on water, it was also the Lord who let him sink. Peter, the feisty, confident born leader, had to sink. There are at least two reasons.
Restored to Faith
First, there can only be one hero in the story; and, there is only one true hero. Had Jesus continued to sustain Peter on the water until he reached him, and together they got back into the boat, there would not be v. 33. The story cannot end with accolades being showered on two individuals who successfully walked on water.
Second, and intricately important to Jesus, was that Peter needed to be restored to faith. Rather than lacking faith that caused Peter to sink, it was in sinking that Peter was brought to faith. It was at wit’s end that he cried out to the only One who could save from his predicament. In crying out: “Lord, save me” he finally recognized the One who walked on the raging sea.
Failing to complete his walk-on-water feat was never the reason Jesus admonished Peter for lacking in faith. It was on Peter’s doubt in Jesus’s words identifying who He was.
Conclusion
We are often obsessed with performative faith – faith that moves mountains, or that heals thousands. True Biblical faith begins in a state of brokenness, a disposition to yield, submit, lean on, abide, and hold on to that outstretched hand (v. 31). When Jesus comments on faith (Mat. 17:20, John 15:7), he never leaves out the proper object of our faith: Himself.
We are so easily distracted, even when reading the Bible. We can be so captivated by ordinary people attaining the extraordinary, but less awed by the majesty and power of God that never changes. Could it be this reason that two other gospel writers leave out the portion of this story that distracts?
P.S. The gospels record two incidences where Peter got off a boat (Mat. 14:29, John 21:7), in both situations many misconstrue Peter’s reaction and overlook his inner turmoil.
Article was originally written on 2021-11-23.
Bibliography:
Bauckham, Richard, “Jesus and the Eyewitnesses – The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony”, (Grand Rapids, MI, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2006).
France, R. T., “The Gospel of Matthew”, NICNT, ed. Gordon D. Fee, (Grand Rapids, MI, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2007).
Nolland, John, “The Gospel of Matthew”, NIGTC, eds. I. Howard Marshall and Donald A. Hagner, (Grand Rapids, MI, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2005).
Quarles, Charles L., “Matthew – Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament”, gen. eds. Andreas J. Köstenberger, Robert W. Yarbrough, (Nashville, TN, B&H Publishing Group, 2017).
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