CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE - "Why Did You Give Way to Doubt?"

 Some two years after meeting Jesus, Peter rowed throughout that windy night on the sea of Galilee, as mentioned at the outset of this chapter. Of course, we cannot know what memories crossed his mind. There were so many to choose from! Jesus had healed Peter's mother-in-law. He had delivered the Sermon on the Mount. Again and again, through his teaching and powerful works, he had demonstrated that he was Jehovah's Chosen One, the Messiah. As the months passed, Peter's faults, such as his tendency to give in to impulses of fear and doubt, had surely subsided to a degree. Jesus had even chosen Peter to be one his 12 apostles! Still, Peter had not yet vanquished fear and doubt, as he would soon learn.

During the fourth watch of that night, or sometime between 3:00 a.m. and sunrise, Peter suddenly stopped rowing and sat bold upright. There-across the waves-something was moving! Was it the spray of waves catching the moonlight? No, it was too steady, too upright. It was a man! Yes, a man, and he walking on the surface of the of the sea! As the figure neared, it looked as though he was going to walk right by them. Terrified, the disciples thought it was some kind of apparition. The man spoke: "Take courage, it is I; have no fear." It was Jesus! - MATTHEW 14:25-28. 

Next time: CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE - "Why Did You Give Way to Doubt?" - Continue

From the jw.org publications