圣经问答
Why Did Peter Begin to Sink When Walking on Water?
Peter began to sink when he took his eyes off Jesus and focused on the threatening wind, allowing fear to replace his initial faith.
回答
Peter's request in Matthew 14:28 reveals a faith bold enough to ask for the impossible—walking on water toward Jesus. Verse 29 shows that this faith was genuine: Peter actually stepped out of the boat and walked. The moment he "saw the wind," however, his attention shifted from Christ's power to the storm's threat (verse 30). Fear entered where faith had sustained him, and his body began to sink.
Jesus' response in verse 31 identifies the root cause: "O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" The Greek word translated "doubt" (distazo) suggests a double-mindedness—being pulled between two perspectives. Peter was simultaneously trusting Jesus and calculating the danger of the wind. His doubt was not the absence of faith but faith divided.
The passage does not present Peter as a failure but as a disciple in process. He still cried out, "Lord, save me," and Jesus immediately reached out his hand. The sinking did not disqualify Peter's faith; it exposed where faith needed to grow. The episode becomes a mirror for every believer who steps out in obedience and then feels the surrounding circumstances closing in.
背景
Matthew 14:22-33 sits between two great miracles. Jesus had just fed over five thousand people with five loaves and two fish (verses 13-21), then constrained his disciples to cross the lake while he withdrew to pray. A contrary wind battered their boat through the night watches. Jesus came to them walking on the sea, and the disciples initially cried out in fear, thinking they saw a ghost (verse 26). Jesus' words "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid" (verse 27) are the immediate backdrop for Peter's request.
相关经文
- Matthew 14:28 Peter's request, "Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee upon the waters," reveals faith willing to step out only at Jesus' word. His later sinking shows that even faith-driven obedience can waver when circumstances intensify.
常见问题
Did Peter lack faith entirely when he sank?
No. Jesus called him "thou of little faith," not faithless. Peter had enough faith to step out of the boat and walk on water. His problem was divided attention—keeping one eye on Jesus and one on the wind—which the passage calls doubt.
What caused Peter to sink specifically?
Matthew 14:30 states plainly: "when he saw the wind, he was afraid." His fear replaced his focus on Jesus, and his body began to sink. The wind itself did not sink him; the fear that shifted his trust did.
How does Peter's experience apply to believers today?
Peter's walk on water illustrates that faith often begins with a step of obedience but must be sustained by continued attention to Jesus. Trials, opposition, or threatening circumstances—like the wind—can draw our gaze away from Christ. Peter's quick cry for saving help, and Jesus' immediate rescue, show that wavering faith is not fatal faith; the believer's recourse is always to call on the Lord.