The Cloud of Witnesses

Former title Lessons From the People of the Bible

Set 1

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Abraham (5) — David (5) — Esther (4) — Gideon (5) — Isaac (6) — Jacob (7) — Job (6) — John the Baptist (6) — Jonah (4) — Jonathan (6) — Joseph (10) — Joseph of Nazareth (6) — Mary (4) — Mary Magdalene (4) — Mary of Bethany (3) — Moses (5) — Nehemiah (8) — Nicodemus (4) — Noah (6) — Paul the Apostle (5) — Peter (5) — Philip (4) — Ruth (7) — King Saul (6) — Stephen (6) — Thomas (4)

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The lessons of set 1 are also available as individual online lessons below.

Set 2

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PDF These lessons are available as PDFs (with the number of lessons in brackets). These PDFs have not yet been updated to the new name.

Andrew (7) — Caleb (7) — Daniel (7) — Elijah (6) — Elisha (5) — Isaiah (21) — John (22) — Joshua (16) — Leah (2) — Luke (22) — Mary Magdalene (3) — Matthew (9) — Miriam (4) — Nahum (2) — Rachel (6) — Rebekah (5) — Samson (5)

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Peter

Lesson 2: Peter – Walking On Water!

Reading

Matthew 14:22-36.

Miracles always follow obedience.

I love the record of this event.

The disciples had just ‘witnessed’ and been involved with the miraculous feeding of the 5000. They were on their way ‘home’, crossing Lake Tiberias in the dead of night when they saw something absolutely weird - a ‘form’ walking towards them on the water. They were scared stiff and cried out in fear, but Jesus told them to relax, as it was only Him!

Peter, quick as a flash shouted out – if it is You, invite me to come over to You. Jesus simply replied, “Come”.

Peter got out of the boat and found the water like concrete! He started thinking – “I must be crazy” or something like that because the wind was still howling in his ears, and so he took his eyes off Jesus and started to sink. He had to cry out for Jesus to save him, which of course Jesus did immediately, and they both returned to the boat.

Please notice – All the disciples were in the boat. They all saw and heard Jesus, however, only Peter took the risk to go to where Jesus was.

I believe if you asked the other disciples about that day, they would reply something like this – Oh yes, I remember that day. The day Peter made a fool of himself big time. We were all in the boat on our way home. Jesus came by and was about to join us but Peter had to make an issue out of it. He wanted to walk on water. We told him not to be so silly. Jesus was coming towards us and would be there in the boat with us very soon. So we told him, ‘Stay in the boat, He’ll be here in a minute. But no, Peter jumped out, started sinking and made Jesus rescue him right in front of our eyes. Oh yes, I remember that day!!

But what if we ask Peter? “Wow, do I remember that day? We were all in the boat – scared out of our wits seeing this apparition coming towards us. Then Jesus said it was Him and for us to relax. I said, ‘If it’s You, invite me over’. He said, ‘Come’. So I jumped out of the boat and then had one of the biggest shocks of my life. The lake went all hard and I could stand up and walk on it. My, that was scary and when I rationalised about it, I started sinking. I cried out for Jesus to save me and He did straight away. Then we walked back together on the water into the boat. Amazing – none of the other disciples ever walked on water, but I walked on it twice – on the way to Jesus and after He picked me up, we walked back to the boat together. Do you know – I wouldn’t have missed that experience for all the world!”

Yes, Jesus didn’t say, “Come, Peter”, He just said, “Come” – so any and all the disciples could have done so if they had wanted to – but they didn’t! They wanted to take the quiet and ‘safe’ approach. Peter realised that faith is often spelt R.I.S.K.

Peter would say to us today...

You have to get out of the ‘boat’ to walk on water. Never forget ALL the other disciples were in the boat –but only I had the thrill of walking on water – and I did it twice!

Whenever God calls you to do something for Him, regardless of how impossible it seems – just do it. You will never ever regret it. (If you do it often enough, you won’t even need to go bungy-jumping!!)

Prayer

Father, it would be so much easier if You just performed the miracles before I have to do anything. However, I now realise that I would miss out on so much excitement and blessing if You did! Please give me more opportunities and courage so I can experience more miracles in my life, but may I remember that they are always for Your glory. Amen.

Additional readings

Exodus 14:1-31; 2 Kings 5:1-14; John 21:1-12.

Questions

Why does God want us to ‘step out in faith’ before He sends a miracle?

Why do we want to stay within ‘familiar’ boundaries?

What would cause you to ‘risk’ your life for God?