O you of little faith, why did you doubt?

Peter's walk on the water

The picture above is an incredible work by Yongsung Kim an astonishing glimpse of what Peter might have seen after failing to stay atop the waves. Jesus sent his disciples into a boat on the Sea of Galilee while he went to the mountains to pray. A storm arose in the middle of the night and threatened their very lives. Jesus came walking out on the water to meet them, which terrified them even more, if that was possible. Mark records this story in 6:45-52, and interestingly enough, with Mark being Peter’s gospel, he does not record Peter’s cry to Jesus to allow him to walk out on the tumultuous waves. It is an interesting speculation as to why Mark does not record this…but Matthew does. Matthew writes of it in 14:22-32.

Our bible study group just finished covering the denials of Peter immediately after the arrest of Jesus in Gethsemane. The whole scene resonated with me…I resonate with Peter in particular. He seems to have courage, but failure is just around the corner. Do we have no reason to question Peter in the sense of a lack of faith? It does not seem so. After some personal reflection on this denial passage, the same evening, I watched the last episode of the Chosen Season 3, which just happened to cover the walking on the water scene. Many people criticized the show because it took some liberties in speculating what life might have been like for the disciples, Jesus, and those around them at the time. However, I think the speculation is warranted; the writers are just trying to humanize everyone…because the disciples were human. They were real men trying to follow the Son of God with real baggage, hangups, sinful habits, and emotion.

Peter’s background story in the show may or may not be accurate, but it makes us look at Peter as a real guy undergoing spiritual and emotional conflict. Therefore it landed with me, especially when Jesus said to him while rescuing him in the water, “O you of little faith, why do you doubt.” Earlier, Peter had remarked that faith was never an issue with him; he always knew Jesus could do whatever He willed, but he didn’t understand why He had chosen not to exercise that power at times when Peter thought He should.

“Faith” is believing that Jesus has the power and can act, but does it not also include trusting him to act when he deems it right? Do faith and trust go hand in hand?
I humbly propose this as a questioning disciple myself.