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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Matthew 14:28 - 14:33
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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat_14:28-33
28Peter said to Him, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." 29 And He said, "Come!" And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" 31Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand, and said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. 33And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, "You are certainly God's Son!"
Mat_14:28 "Peter said to Him" This event is recorded only in Matthew's Gospel. Peter was so impetuous. He was a mixture of great faith and great doubt.
▣ "if it is you" This is a first class conditional sentence, which is assumed to be true from the author's perspective or for his literary purposes. Peter recognized it was Jesus.
Mat_14:30 "seeing the wind" He saw and felt the wind and the waves and began to lose his faith focus.
▣ "Lord, save me" This is a good example of the word " saved" used in the OT sense of "physical deliverance" (cf. Jas_5:15).
Mat_14:31 "You of little faith" This is a recurrent theme in the Gospel of Matthew (cf. Mat_6:30; Mat_8:26; Mat_16:8). Many of Jesus' miracles were done to increase the faith of the disciples. God works with those who have little faith. Amen!
Mat_14:32 "worshiped Him, saying, 'You are certainly God's Son'" Jesus accepted this worship. How much they really understood concerning the term " Son of God" (see Special Topic at Mat_27:54) and how much they understood by hearing and seeing the supernatural aspects of His ministry is uncertain. This obviously set the stage for the full theological confession of Mat_16:16. Matthew's Gospel does not exhibit the "Messianic secret" to the extent Mark's Gospel does (i.e., Mar_6:52).
The term "Son of God" was used quite often in the Gospel of Matthew (cf. Mat_4:3; Mat_4:6; Mat_16:16; Mat_26:63; Mat_27:40; Mat_27:43; Mat_27:54). There is no article with the term here as in Luke Mat_27:54. Many assumed that this implied that they did not have the full theological implication of the term, which implied full deity. This may be true. Their understanding was progressive and not instantaneous. But it is dangerous to build too much theology on the presence or absence of the Greek article!