Horse racing, I can’t say that I am a huge fan of horse racing. I don’t really understand the odds and I don’t even find it to be all that exciting, but there is one thing about horse racing that I find to be quite interesting… A horse is an animal that is easily spooked and distracted. Therefore one would think that at the Kentucky Derby, as they are running down the track, the horses would get distracted by all of the people screaming on the sides, waving their hands in the air, and other such activities. But normally such activities do not distract them. One of the reasons for this is that before the race the jockey will place blinders on the sides of the eyes of the horse. This helps the horse to block out whatever might be happening on the side and to focus on what is ahead. In our lesson for today, we see Peter who is in need of some blinders himself. Note how Peter, you, and I need to:

Keep our eyes on Jesus.

(I.) Because when we focus on him, all is well.

(II.) And when we take our eyes off Jesus, problems occur.

²² Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³ After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, ²⁴ but the boat was already a considerable distance ^a from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

²⁵ During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

²⁹ “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

³² And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³ Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

When we focus on him, all is well. The disciples had no reason to doubt Jesus or take his eyes off of Him. This event occurs right after Jesus performed one of his awesome miracles—right after he fed the 5000. Their confidence in him must have been soaring. There was a problem, though. In response to this miracle, the people wanted to make Jesus their bread king. They wanted him to be an earthly ruler. They were much more intrigued with the thought of him taking down the mighty Roman army, and exalting the Jewish nation to a spot above the Roman Empire. The only problem with this thought is that this is not the reason for which Jesus came. Jesus became man to live the perfect life that we are not able to lead and to die a horrible death for you and for me. The people did not understand that, and they wanted to establish Jesus as their earthly ruler and not as their Savior from sin.

Jesus sent the disciples away to meet up with them later. So the disciples got into the boat and started rowing. In our account we read that they were already a considerable distance away. John in his account adds that they were 3½ miles away from land. The text also says that the boat was buffeted by the waves. The original picture behind this word is one of being violently shaken. They had been rowing all night. Scripture tells us that this happened in the fourth watch of the night—this would put the time between 3-6am. The disciples must have been absolutely exhausted. Their reaction should not surprise us. We most likely would have reacted in the same manner. After being physically exhausted, it is quite natural that one might see something that is not really there. How often in the Looney Toones cartoons don’t we see Bugs Bunny in the middle of the desert looking longily at an apparent pool of water, running towards it, and taking a dive right into a big pile of sand. The disciples’ reaction of “It’s a ghost” was a natural one. They had been up all night long rowing away battling waves and a strong wind.

Jesus answers the disciples fears and says—“take courage it is I, don’t be afraid.” In the midst of a storm with the disciples panicking, Jesus says, “don’t worry it is just me.” How often in the storms of life, don’t we hear that still small voice of Jesus say—“don’t worry about it, I am here.”

Peter’s next act shows boldness, courage, and the belief that Jesus was all powerful. He says—“Lord if it is you tell me to come out to you.” I am sure that at this point Peter must have been quite confused as to just what was going on. He must have doubted his eyes, remember this is between 3 and 6 in the morning, and he had been rowing all night long in a vicious storm. He must have been very tired and wondered just what was going on.

Despite all of these thoughts that must have been going through Peter’s mind, he gets out of the boat and starts to walk around. What confidence this shows. This act of walking on water is not normal. It goes against all natural laws. In the middle of night with all of these thoughts swimming around in his head, he takes that first step out of the boat and he starts walking around. This is amazing—people do not do this. Water is not meant to be something for one to walk on. Peter should have fallen in instantly. But he didn’t. Why is that? He was focusing on Jesus, and he had confidence in Jesus’ power to allow him to do this. So long as he focused on Jesus, he was fine; he was able to walk around on the water.

When we focus on Jesus and put him first in our lives, does not everything else just seem to fall into place? Focus on Jesus being your Savior from sin and out of love for what he has done for you everything else will work out. Out of thanksgiving for what Jesus has done for us, we put him first in our lives, and we lead good lives. Now by ourselves we cannot do these things, but Jesus sends his Holy Spirit to work in our lives—to make the impossible possible. If Christ is at the forefront of your marriage and he guides everything that you both do, Christ himself guarantees you that you will have a happy and perfect marriage.

But then why do we not always have perfect marriages? In our text, Peter himself started to sink. What happened? Because we don’t always focus on Jesus, we too can start to sink.

When we take our eyes off Jesus, problems occur. Here we see how it would have been so helpful if Peter had just been wearing some of those “spiritual blinders.” Peter while he is walking around he notices some of the waves. They were big waves and he started to doubt what he was doing. These are definitely not the kind of waves in which one ought to be swimming. Here he gets distracted and looses his focus on Jesus. Then a very natural thing occurs, when he took his focus off Jesus, he started to sink.

But here, as Peter is sinking, he remembers that Jesus is still the all-powerful God who had done all of these amazing miracles and he realizes that Jesus is his only hope and so he shouts out, “LORD SAVE ME.” Jesus here shows his personal touch. He immediately stretches out his hand grabs him and does not let him go down. He simply pulls him up.

Jesus then says to Peter—“you of little faith, why did you doubt?” This statement shows a couple of things. First of all, it shows that he had faith. Peter was not an unbeliever. Secondly, it also shows that even Peter doubted. We too are believers, but this does not mean that doubt will not enter into our lives. Yes, Peter should have trusted in Jesus, especially after all of the miracles he had just witnessed. But even the Apostle Peter who walked and talked with Jesus had doubts.

How often don’t the huge waves in life also distract us? Peter is so much like us. These huge waves come in various forms, but have the same effect—they cause us to doubt and to lose our focus on Jesus. They come in the form of money—and we wonder how am I going to make those next couple of loan payments. They come in the form of disease—and we wonder how could God let this happen to me. They come in the form of events like 9-11, and we wonder how God could have allowed that to happen. They come in many other various forms, but yet they all have the same result—they all lead us to question what God is doing; question his knowledge of what is going on in our lives; or question if he really is in control and working out all things for the good of our lives. Peter doubted. We doubt. But Jesus has an answer to both Peter and us, “Why did you doubt?” Brothers and sisters, why do we doubt? There is no reason for it. Has not Jesus repeatedly demonstrated his love and concern for us throughout our lives? Thankfully even though we do doubt, God does not simply let us sink. No, he grabs us and pulls us up. For we have a God who is all-powerful and is in control of all things.

What a true comfort it is to know that we have a God who even in the most impossible of situations will work out everything in this world for our good. What a comfort it is to know that he is always there to pull us up. Call out to him. Put on those Spiritual blinders like the horses wear in their race. Don’t worry about all the distractions that may come into this life. Focus on Jesus! AMEN!