Peter’s Venture on the Water i Mathew 14:26-33 By JOHN McNEILL
L ET us come at once to the verse that opens this narrative, within . the narrative of miracle and grace. Peter answered and said, “ Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water. And He said, ‘Come.’ When Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.” We see here some thing illustrative of the character of Peter and illustrative of the charac ter of faith. What About Peter? What are we to say about Peter? As we look at him climbing down out of this boat to go to Jesus, dif ferent views are taken of his con duct. Some say: “ Ah, this is just, in its ways, a rehearsal of the tre mendous downfall that is to come bye and bye, when he who said so loftily, ‘Though all men should for sake Thee, yet shall not I,’ shall deny his Lord and Master with oaths and curses.” ■ “Here,” they say, “ is just a rehearsal of that over-confidence and over-boldness. He climbs down out of the boat to walk upon the water, only to bring himself in dan ger o f a watery grave, but for the Lord’s help.” I think that that is an extreme -view. I would rather take the view that Peter—at the begin ning. at any rate—was right in what he did. My one great regret is that he did not carry it through well. It was well begun, and, according to the proverb, “Well begun is half done.” But no amount of proverb can make half done whole done, and it was the other half in which he failed. ♦An address delivered by Rev. John McNeill at the Montrose Bible Conference, August, 1914.
Yes, he began well. We are glad that the Gospel narratives contain a story like this. If it had not been there, commentators would have been sure to say, as they read the narra tive, “ Now, why did these disciples get still more alarmed when they saw a vision of Christ, or what they thought to be simply a vision, though He assured them that He was the same Jesus who had left them but a few hours before?” Why did they get still more alarmed ? They would probably have said, “ Here is a splendid chance for Peter or for John, or for some of them to lift themselves out of their fear and out. of their alarm and to go to Him on the sea.” We are glad that the Gospel narratives contain a story like this. What a pity that Peter did not push on and make the whole journey. Let us learn some lessons for our selves out of his beginning and out of his subsequent failure. Venturing a New Thing This was a new thing, an entirely new thing, and that is one of the blessings of it. There are great out comes in Christ Jesus if we would only yield to these outcomes when they struggle within us. Faith in Jesus Christ is anything but dull and flat and stale and unprofitable. Alas, alas! many of us make it that. There is a little glow and a little ' quiver when we first come to Jesus, and then everything, fades away into the common light of day until we come to our death-bed, when we again hope for great revelations of the Lord, and a marvelous increase and accession to the lifting and glorifying power of faith in Him. But here Peter certainly leads us right. We have
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