<p>14:30&nbsp;<em>But when he saw</em>- His focus wandered from Jesus, for one can only 'see' the wind by seeing what it blows. Perhaps his focus moved from the face of Jesus to His clothes, or maybe he even looked back to the sails of the ship being blown, or down to the waves beneath him. Our focus on the Lord's face likewise so easily wanders.</p>
<p><em>The wind was strong-</em>&nbsp;The Greek can strictly mean 'stronger, mightier', with the sense of comparison to something else- as in &quot;one&nbsp;<em>mightier</em>&nbsp;than I&quot; (Mt. 3:11), &quot;a&nbsp;<em>stronger</em>&nbsp;than he comes&quot; (Lk. 11:22). The wind seemed stronger to Peter- than what? Presumably- stronger than the power of Jesus. Maybe Paul had this in mind when he used the word in 1 Cor. 1:25; 10:22: &quot;The weakness of God is&nbsp;<em>stronger&nbsp;</em>than men... [men] are not&nbsp;<em>stronger</em>&nbsp;than Him&quot;. Even though the Lord was Himself standing at ease upon those waves. Peter later uses a related word to speak of the strength or might which God gives in order to fulfil our ministry (1 Pet. 4:11). He had learnt the lesson- that nothing equals God's power, nothing is really stronger than Him. And yet any lack of faith in Him is effectively saying that there are winds or crises stronger than Him.&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>He was afraid-</em>&nbsp;The record presents this as direct disobedience to the Lord's command &quot;Be&nbsp;<em>not</em>&nbsp;afraid&quot; (14:27). The Gospel records are transcripts of the preaching of the apostles, and they seem to love to emphasize their own weakness, especially that of Peter, their early leader, the rock upon whom the church was initially built. Such recognition of weakness should likewise stud our own presentations of the Gospel.</p>
<p><em>And beginning to sink</em>- The same word is only used elsewhere in Mt. 18:6 where we read that those who turn away the little ones, as Peter and the other disciples had wished to do by wanting to send the crowd away, will be condemned by being cast into the sea where they will drown (s.w. &quot;sink&quot;). It wasn't that the Lord was punishing Peter for his attitude, but rather helping him realize that this was what condemnation would feel like for turning little ones away. We noted on 14:28&nbsp;<em>come unto you</em>&nbsp;that the Lord's subsequent discourse when they reached land pointed out that their turning away of the crowd was the very opposite of His refusal to turn away any who come to Him. We must pause and reflect whether in any way we are turning the little ones away; or whether we are lending support to any church policy which results in that. Peter's experience of what condemnation would feel like surely empowered him never to do this in any way. Especially through supporting exclusions of the little ones from the Lord's table we run the risk of making the same mistake- with eternal consequences. We really must think through the implications of our positions, whatever it costs us in this brief life.</p>
<p>When Peter was sinking, he was living out the picture we have of condemnation at the last day. When we read that he began to &ldquo;sink&rdquo; into the sea of Galilee, this is exactly the image we find in Mt. 18:6, where the Lord says, in response to the question &lsquo;Who will be the greatest?&rsquo;, that he who offends one of the little ones will be drowned [s.w. &ldquo;sink&rdquo;] in the midst of the sea, His audience would have immediately associated this with the midst of the sea of Galilee, just where the storm had occurred. Peter seems to have realized that this warning was pertinent to him, for it is he who then interrupts the Lord to ask how often he should forgive his brother (Mt. 18:21). Peter sinking into Galilee, giving up swimming but desperately throwing up his hand to the Lord [you don&rsquo;t swim with a hand outstretched], is the position of each person who truly comes to Christ. This is the extent of our desperation; baptism, conversion to Him, is most definitely not a painless living out of parental expectations. Note how they were &ldquo;tossed&rdquo; or &lsquo;tormented&rsquo; (Gk.) by the raging waves (Mt. 14:24)- the very same word is used about how the rejected will be &ldquo;tormented&rdquo; in condemnation (Rev. 14:10; 20:10). Peter&rsquo;s salvation by the hand of the Lord was representative of us all. As he drowned there in the lake, he was effectively living out the condemnation of the last day. But he appealed urgently to the Lord: &ldquo;Save me!&rdquo;. Later, Peter was to use the same words in his preaching, when he appealed to his nation to &ldquo;save [themselves]&rdquo; by calling on the name of the Lord, just as he had done on the lake (Acts 2:40). He saw that those people were in just the position which he had been in on the lake.&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>He cried out, saying</em>- The use of the two words highlights the significance of his words.</p>
<p><em>Lord, save me!</em>- Even in a moment of crisis, Peter&rsquo;s mind was in God&rsquo;s word; for here he is quoting from the urgent cry of the drowning man which is recorded in Ps. 69:1,2,14,15. This is where our subconscious absorption of God&rsquo;s word is so valuable. In the split second of crisis, the word comes to mind. The words are significant because they are the words used by Peter in urging others to call upon the same Lord to be saved. He was such a compelling preacher- persuading 3000 people to be baptized instantly- exactly because he had called out these very words himself. It is only by knowing our own desperation that we will be compelling preachers. No amount of artistry, presentation or wordsmithing can produce anywhere near the same effect. He encouraged the crowds to likewise call upon the name of the Lord and be saved (Acts 2:39). He saw himself then and there, in all his weakness and yet sincere desperation, as the epitome of us all. But the parallels don&rsquo;t stop there. Peter had asked the Lord bid him &lsquo;Come unto me&rsquo; (Mt. 14:28). Yet this is the very language of the Lord to all: &lsquo;Come unto me...&rsquo;. Yet Peter went further; in the same way as the Lord stretched forth His hand and saved Peter, so He stretches forth His hand, Peter observed, to save all who would come to Him (Mt. 14:31 = Acts 4:30). But Peter is framed as Jesus, in that he too stretched out his hand to save others as Jesus had done to him (Mt. 14:35 = Acts 5:15,16; Mt. 14:31 = Acts 3:7), bidding them come through the water of baptism as Jesus had done to him. As Jesus was worshipped after saving Peter, so men tried to worship Peter (Mt. 14:33 = Acts 3:11). So Peter went through what we all do- having been saved by Jesus, having come to Him and having been rescued by the outstretched arm, he responds to this by doing the same for others. When the Lord &ldquo;caught&rdquo; hold of Peter as he sunk in the waves (Mt. 14:31), a Greek word is used which occurs only once elsewhere: &ldquo;He did not take hold [s.w. to catch] of Angels, but of the seed of Abraham&rdquo; (Heb. 2:16). The Hebrew writer was surely alluding to the Lord&rsquo;s &lsquo;catching&rsquo; of desperate Peter and pulling him to salvation- and saw in Peter a symbol of all those who will be saved by Christ.</p>
<p>Note that Peter cried out &ldquo;<em>Lord</em>, save me!&rdquo; when most men in that situation would have simply cried out &ldquo;Save me!&rdquo;. But his grasp of the Lordship of the One he followed inspired faith. If He was truly Lord, He was capable of all things. &ldquo;Lord, save me!&rdquo; was a call uttered in a moment of weakness. His &ldquo;sinking&rdquo; (Mt. 14:30) is described with the same word used about condemnation at the last day (Mt. 18:6), and yet Peter in his preaching persuades condemned men to do just the same: to&nbsp;<em>call</em>&nbsp;on the&nbsp;<em>Lord</em>&nbsp;in order to be&nbsp;<em>saved</em>&nbsp;(Acts 2:21,40,47; 4:12; 11:14). He invited all men to enter into the weakness and desperation which he had known on the water of Galilee, and receive a like unmerited salvation. And when he tells his sheep that the righteous are &ldquo;scarcely saved&rdquo; (1 Pet. 4:18) he surely writes with memories of that same gracious deliverance. And in discussing ecclesial problems he points out that all of us have had a similar salvation, and should act with an appropriate inclusiveness of our brethren (Acts 15:11).&nbsp;</p>