"Peter Stepped Out of the Boat. Should You?" by Glenn Martin

Lesson Transcript

Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him, and a three-fold cord is not quickly broken. Welcome to Strength to Strength. It is an honor to welcome you here and to connect with you here on our platform. This morning we are honored to share with you some insights from the New Testament this morning, and we want to offer it for your journey with Jesus.

Our mission here at Strength to Strength is to advance Jesus' kingdom by assisting the Church in earnestly contending for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints, through tackling thought-provoking topics, by stimulating candid discussions, and by sharing faith-building testimonies. And this morning's talk is one of those thought-provoking topics. I think it's an honor to look at the stories of Christ and to see what we can learn from them.

This morning is a story where we think of Peter, Peter stepping out of the boat, and should you. So we are blessed to have Glen Cher on this this morning, and Glen is someone who keeps this ship of Strength to Strength running and going smoothly. He works hard behind the scenes to keep the website up and running, as well as taking care of book sales and shipping them out. Him and his wife look after that.

So this morning his talk is reflecting on the story of Peter, and how Matthew recounts Jesus walking on the troubled waters to the disciples in the boat. Perhaps more astounding, Peter famously stepped out of the boat to walk to Jesus too. Though everyone acknowledges that this story has a lesson to teach us, what is that lesson? Most commonly, Peter is commended for his courage to step out of the boat.

We are encouraged to learn from Peter to keep our eyes on Jesus, not the circumstances around us, to prevent us from sinking. But is that view supported by the text? In this presentation, Glen Martin challenges this view and offers a different conclusion. So I am really curious what Glen has to share with us this morning. This is one of those stories we easily take for granted and have learned from when we were a child in Sunday school, or whatever circumstances we grew up with.

Maybe we learned it from our parents telling us this story, or from going to school, whatever it may be. Some of these stories we can easily take for granted and don't realize all the deep meaning that could be packed in there. So I'm excited to hear what Glen has for us this morning. So we're going to begin by having a word of prayer together, and then we'll turn it over to Glen. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for this opportunity to meet with you here, and to hear from you, and to look into these stories that are in your Scriptures, especially these stories that are in the Gospels, recounting what happened when Christ walked on earth. And we thank you for this story of you coming on the waves to the boat, and this story of Peter stepping out and seeing if it was you, and walking towards you. And help us, Lord, to learn what we can from this story. And bless Glen as he shares this.

Watch over him, give him health, strength, and courage, as well as clarity of mind as he brings what he has learned to us. And may your will be done, and your name be honored and glorified through this discussion, through this learning more of this story. And help us, Lord, to be constantly in a frame of mind to open our hearts and minds to learning, and to be humble, and to be willing to realize we have much to learn, and that through learning we can become more like you, and to realize who you are.

So guide us, and go with us as we share together in this way. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. All right. Thank you, Justin. And good morning, everyone. Happy to be here with you this morning on Strength to Strength, and yeah, privileged to share here today about a topic that I've investigated recently and find interesting. I think I'll jump right in here.

Yeah, so the title is, "Peter Stepped Out of the Boat: Should You." So I'd like to take a look at this subject here a little bit and see if there's something here for us to learn. So this is a familiar story. Peter walked on the water, and I will be reading this account now from the book of Matthew. And here's what Matthew says. "The boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.

And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, 'It is a ghost!' And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'Be of good cheer; it is I; do not be afraid.' And Peter answered him and said, 'Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.' So he said, 'Come.' And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.

But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, 'Lord, save me!' And immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, 'O you of little faith, why did you doubt?'" So I think all of us, as we read this, we know this is more than only historical. There's some lesson here for us. And the question is, what is that lesson? So when we think about this, it's probably typical that we ask ourselves, what does the boat represent?

What do the waves represent? Who does Peter represent? What do the other disciples remaining in the boat represent? And more generally, what is the lesson of this story? So many people would agree on these answers. I ask AI for a response to those questions, knowing that this would give a pretty typical answer. So I ask the question, what does the boat represent in this story? And AI responds, saying, "The boat represents safety, comfort, and familiar circumstances.

The secure but limiting place faith must be willing to leave." So I ask AI, what do the waves and storm represent in this story? AI responded, "The waves and the storm represent lives' trials, doubts, and fears, the chaotic circumstances that threaten to overwhelm faith when focus shifts from Christ." So I ask, who does Peter represent in this story?

AI responded, "Peter represents the ordinary believer, bold enough to step out in faith, yet still prone to doubt and fear like anyone else." So I ask, who do the other disciples remaining in the boat represent in this story? And AI responded, saying, "Those who stay safely uncommitted, cautious believers who witness Jesus' power but don't risk stepping out in faith themselves." And then I ask, what is the lesson of this story? And AI said, "Keep your eyes on Christ, not your circumstances.

Faith falters when fear takes over, but Jesus catches you when you cry out." So in case there's anybody here who thinks that AI is actually intelligent, I'll just mention that AI did not read this story and come up with these lessons. AI is telling you and me what it learns from what people have said. So the responses here that AI gave are pretty vanilla answers.

Many go much further than what AI did, saying that the boat represents the Church, but it represents the Church with its legalism, and Phariseeism, and religious ritualism. And then Jesus invited Peter to leave all that behind and come and follow him instead. So here's two quotes with that idea. The first one says, "We need to go out of our way to build caring relationships with those who are not yet followers of Christ. They need to see Christ in us.

This cannot happen if we simply huddle together in our boat, the Church. To be effective, we must get out of the boat." Here's another quote with a similar sentiment, "The boat represents human security, familiar routines, and the legalistic mindset of trying to earn righteousness through strict rules and human effort. Staying in the boat feels safe and controllable." So this is not an uncommon view. I could list many more quotes like this.

But if we were to stay within the story that I already read, if we simply take that text that I already read, how would you refute this from that text? I think it's maybe a little difficult to do that. Like, this is a possible interpretation that if we only look within the text that we have here, would be a plausible explanation. So as we talked about at the beginning, everyone believes the story has a lesson. But what is that lesson? So the responses that we've read, is that the lesson?

They might seem understandable and reasonable. Or is it something else? And this might come as a surprise, but I think it's entirely possible that we have misunderstood the story. Is that possible? Is it possible that the common answer that Peter was virtuous and stepping out of the boat full of faith, and the other disciples were not so courageous, is that a good answer? I don't think so, and I will tell you why. So context matters.

How many of you thought about it when I read this story that I did not read the entire story? So I'd like to get some context. So you will notice, I have it here on the screen, that we have read from verses 24 to 31. But the story actually begins two verses earlier and ends two verses later. So we're going to start a little bit earlier, and go a little bit further, and see if there's something significant here that could challenge that popular lesson. So here we have it, starting in verse 22.

"Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat, and go before him to the other side while he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up on a mountain by himself to pray. Now when evening came, he was there alone." But the boat was now in the middle of the sea. And then we read that about Peter, the story we already read. Then continuing at verse 32, "And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped him, saying, 'Truly you are the Son of God.'" So is there anything that you see in this context that would make us second-guess the popular lesson that we have all been taught? So there's two things I'm going to point out. And the first is in verse 22. This is the earlier part of the story. It says in verse 22 that Jesus made his disciples get into the boat. So that's interesting. They were told to get into the boat.

And then the story follows, and we come to verse 32. And here it tells us that Jesus and Peter eventually got in the boat with the others. So now think about that lesson. If the boat represents the Church, or represents stuffy legalism, stuffy religion, then we would need to say that Jesus told them to get into that. And even worse, we would need to say that Jesus became a part of that. So I'll tell you where I'm headed with this. I think Peter should have stayed in the boat.

We typically present Peter as having made a brave and virtuous choice. I don't think that's correct. So if you think about it, it was only Peter who received any rebuke. He did not receive any commendation. The others who were remaining in the boat, they were never rebuked for staying behind. Only Peter was. And if you think about other stories that we know, we know the story about the ten lepers, where one of them came back to thank the Lord. And what happened there? Jesus asked him.

He said, "Where are the other nine?" You know, that doesn't happen here with Peter, where Jesus kind of rebukes those who did not step out. Where are the other 11 disciples? Why didn't they come out here? That's not what was happening. So the boat was actually safer than walking on the water. Only Peter needed to be rescued. So with this additional context, the whole lesson changes. A possible lesson? You can test this and see if this has any value. And here's a possible lesson.

Being in the boat, the Church, with other disciples is what Jesus intends for us. When the going gets rough, it's not a great idea to chart our own course with Jesus. And to those who try that, like Peter did, Jesus may well say, "Come, we'll see how that works out for you." And then what did Jesus do? He guided Peter back into the boat, back into the Church. We're not intended to chart our course alone.

So another way that we can broaden the storyline is by looking at what the other gospels say, and see if there's something to learn there. So we have this recorded in Matthew, Mark, and John. We already read Matthew. I'm going to read just an excerpt here from the book of Mark. And it says, "They all saw him and were troubled.

But immediately he talked with them and said to them, 'Be of good cheer; it is I; do not be afraid.' Then he went up into the boat to them." So you notice there that Jesus came and he got into the boat. But what happened to Peter? Like Mark in telling the story, he forgot about Peter. That's interesting. So Matthew recorded it. Mark left that detail out. Let's look at John. John says, "Then they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat, and they were afraid.

But he said to them, 'It is I; do not be afraid.' Then they willingly received him into the boat." Huh. Where's Peter? So John tells the same story. And like Mark, John forgot to tell about Peter. Isn't that interesting? Luke doesn't mention the story at all. So it seems a little unusual that if this is a story to teach us about faith and Peter's virtuous walk on the water and his courage, it's just a little unusual, I think, that Peter was a detail missed by Mark and John.

So I think it's possible that maybe Mark and John aren't telling about Peter because they didn't want to reflect negatively on him. I don't know. That's speculation. But it seems notable that something as significant as walking on the water somehow was left out. All right. So let's see if we can gain anything else. So we talked about context. What do the other gospels say? What does the early Church say? Well, we don't have very much from the early Church on this story of Peter.

We do have some different comments about the story as a whole. But speaking specifically of Peter, not so much. In the Antanassip period, we have Tertullian. He commented that Peter in the water and the disciples showered by the waves does not represent Christian baptism. That was Tertullian. He's talking about baptism. He's just like, "This story is not about that." So he didn't comment on Peter. This doesn't help us. And so in the Antanassip period, we really don't have much to go on at all.

Let's move forward to the Nicene and the Post-Nicene period. Here we have some comments about the virtue of Peter's action. Augustine, he criticized in writing, in some of his writing, and then he endorsed it in others. So we have that, like I mentioned with Augustine. We're going to read a quote from here in just a moment. And then others did comment about Jesus' power over the waves and various other remarks. It was Jerome. He commented about his boldness, but he didn't say if it was good or bad to get out.

Chrysostom, he thinks it was presumptuous for Peter to get out. And he compared his sinking to the denial of Jesus at the crucifixion. And you would need to read Chrysostom to understand why he said that. There's also comments from Ambrose and Athanasius, who comment about this, but not in very useful ways. So I'm going to look at a quote, like I mentioned, from Augustine. And this is about the 400s. And he's one of the earliest to comment. And so here it is. And he's not impressed.

"Meanwhile, the ship which carries the disciples, that is, the Church, is tossed and shaken by the tempest of temptation and the contrary wind, that is, the devil, her adversary, rests not and strives to hinder her from arriving at rest. But greater is he who makes intercession for us. For in this our tossing to and fro, in which we toil, he gives us confidence in coming to us and strengthening us. Only let us not, in our trouble, throw ourselves out of the ship and cast ourselves into the sea.

For though the ship be in trouble, still it is the ship. She alone carries the disciples and receives Christ. There is danger, it is true, in the sea, but without her there is instant perishing. Keep yourself, therefore, in the ship and pray to God." So like I mentioned, this was written by Augustine, probably about the year 400, plus or minus. And initially it seems like a pretty clear case of what he thinks about this. It's not quite so clear, though, because of two things.

One is, I mentioned that elsewhere Augustine actually commends what happened here with Peter. But another thing is, just keeping in mind the context of Augustine, he's late enough that there's already diversity in the Church. Normally I wouldn't even quote Augustine, but I do here, just because the commentary is so sparse. But also, keep in mind here that this is a Post-Nicaea, and the Church was unifying with the state. And Augustine, very well, may have been arguing here for solidarity with the state Church.

So while he disapproves of Peter, it is pretty late commentary. And secondly, it might be motivated by other things going on. So I agree with what Augustine says, but it's not maybe a good source here to base too much upon. So there's other writers who come to very different conclusions about the lesson here. And you might be surprised to hear that some people have read eschatology in this account. So I'm going to read another quote here. And this is also written about the year 400.

"As these events were happening, the disciples were being buffeted by wind and waves, by all the agitations of the world, and by the opposition of the unclean spirit. In the fourth watch of the night, the Lord came. For it was at that point that he returned to an errant and foundering Church. In fact, in the fourth watch of the night is an appropriate number that represents his concern. The first watch is that of the law, the second of the prophets, the third of his bodily advent.

So the fourth is in his glorious return. But will he find the Church exhausted and buffeted about by the spirit of Antichrist and by all the world's troubles? For he will come especially to those who are anxious and in anguish, because it is typical of the Antichrist to harass by using every new kind of temptation. They will panic at the Lord's coming, fearful of the false and insidious images of things which deceive the eyes.

But the good Lord will immediately speak to them, drive away their fear, and say, 'It is I,' banishing their fear of a certain shipwreck, with faith at his coming." So isn't that interesting? Here, instead of the theme being about Peter, the theme is about eschatology. So you might think this sounds strange, but it's not too strange. When you consider even many things that the writer here didn't comment on, for example, it says Jesus sent them there. He went up into a high mountain.

There's probably some parallels there. If you think also about the parable that Jesus told about the farmer who went on a trip for a long time. He was gone while the people were supposed to be taking care of the vineyard. And eventually he came back to judge them. There's some parallels there. But also, think about what John said in his account of this. It says that they willingly received him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.

So there, that again sounds like Jesus has been gone for a while, and they're having this tribulation in the boat. And then Jesus returns during the worst storm of the night, just before dawn. And when he does, then they were at their destination. We'll be at our destination when the Lord comes walking on the water. So I think we'll move on from here. The early Church, unfortunately, does not provide a lot of commentary on this. So we're going to ask another question. What about any biblical typology?

And what does the boat represent? So of this, we have some things we can look at. We know that the world was saved by people in the ark. We know that Noah and the flood is mentioned five times. It's mentioned in five different New Testament books. And it's broadly referenced by the early Church as being a type of the Church. So there you have it. The boat is something that saved the people. We also know of baby Moses when he was being protected there from Pharaoh, who represents the devil.

There you have Moses on the water in a boat. And it was a vessel of protection. Origen actually calls it that. Origen refers to the story and says this was a basket, a vessel of protection. And said that the water represents the dangers of the world. There's another story, and that is of Peter. I'm sorry, of Paul. Paul was saved by a boat. And interestingly, of course, this was a shipwreck. But they had lifeboats. They had other options. And some of the folks were about to leave down the lifeboats and escape.

They said, "We're out of here." But Paul said that unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved. So that's interesting. So even in a shipwreck story, the boat is the safest place to be. And then finally, we have one more story. And that is the story of Jonah. Jonah was thrown overboard. He did not stay in the ship. Not a good example to follow. And you will notice in this story, the person running away from God is the person who leaves the boat.

So in summary of this typology, I would say that yes, we do have reason to believe that a boat corresponds to safety. We could look at other Church history. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this. I don't find it especially useful as we get later away from the biblical record. But nonetheless, I'd like to just mention one thing here quickly. I wonder if anyone here knows what a nave is. N-A-V-E. So if you think about a cathedral, a nave is the auditorium, if you will.

It's the interior of a Church, the long central hall. And oftentimes it's got this large cathedral roof. That room is called a nave. It's very interesting that the word nave comes from the Latin word navis, which means ship. And you ask yourself, why would this room be called a ship? Well, it's simply because if you would take a ship and turn it upside down, you have the ceiling of this room looks like the hull of an inverted ship. So that's interesting.

In fact, on the screen there, it says there in the history, "First recorded in English in the 1670s, the term was applied to the main body of a Church because of a fancied resemblance between the high vaulted timber ceilings of a large Church, of large buildings, and the inverted hull or keel of a ship." Also mentions there in symbolism that the early Christians viewed the Church as a ship. Navis where we also get our word navy and naval, like a naval fleet. So anyway, it's just an interesting factoid.

Nothing deep or spiritual about that. Just something I thought I'd mention for interest. As you go through Church history, you can look at what artists have done. Some artists, like in the example here, you got some stained glass. And there you have Jesus walking on the water. That artist somehow didn't think it was necessary to draw Peter into the picture. But then, of course, other times people do. So again, I don't think it's very helpful. We're pretty late in Church history to be looking at things like this.

So kind of for lack of more early material. So here we are today. And I think today the perspective that Peter should have trusted Jesus' command to stay in the boat is an idea that's nearly lost. So there's one thing yet that I would like to talk about. We are missing something important. And I'm wondering if anyone is thinking about what this might be. If it was only what I read so far, you might think we don't have a very conclusive case. And that may be the case.

But nonetheless, we are missing something very important. We need to ask ourselves, what were the disciples thinking about? And the things that we did look at, context and all those things, those are important. But it doesn't answer the question of what the disciples were thinking. So they were not thinking about the context of Matthew's Gospel. They weren't thinking about what the other Gospel writers said. This is prior to all that. They weren't thinking about what the early Church said.

They probably weren't thinking about how the boat is representing safety. At least Peter was not. And Church history, again, this is not what they were thinking about. They weren't watching Strength to Strength to get our opinions on this. So the obvious question is then, what were they thinking? Well, I think they were having the Old Testament in their mind. And we're going to look at a few more things in this story that can provide some more context to their worldview.

So one thing that we know is that they would have been immersed in the Old Testament scriptures. And it's very possible that as Jesus came walking on the water, they thought about verses like this. In Job 9, verse 8, we have here, it says, "He who alone stretches out the heaven, he who walks on the sea as on firm ground." That's Job describing Yahweh. And it says here that he alone walks on the sea. So that is kind of messianic. We don't walk on the sea.

And it may be that in the minds of the disciples, they saw that Yahweh walks on the water. Here comes Jesus walking on the water. Therefore, Jesus must be Yahweh. And so they're probably having this thought that Jesus is the Son of God. I think that's reasonable. I think that's likely what they were thinking.

In Psalm 76, we have this verse by the psalmist, "Your way is in the sea, and your paths are in many waters." Again, in Job, it says here that, "Have you come upon the fountain of the sea and walked in the tracks of the deep?" That is God demanding answers from Job. And these are questions that God is asking Job that are true of himself, but not of Job.

Like he said, "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the world?" And here again, he says, "Who walked in the tracks of the deep?" Implying that he himself did. Also in the book of Sirach, it says, "I walk in the depths of the abyss." So in all of these cases, the lesson is simple, that Jesus is the Son of God. I think they recognize that. So we talked here about how Jesus walks on the sea. Let's continue here and see if there's something else. In Mark chapter 6, there's an interesting little detail here.

It says, "And now about the fourth watch of the night, he came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by." That's interesting. So if you think about the Old Testament, this might remind you of Yahweh presenting himself to Moses. And we have that in Exodus chapter 33, verses 18 to 22. It recounts how Moses is asking to see the glory of Yahweh. And Yahweh responded, saying, "I'll pass by you, but you can't see my face." And so for Moses, he was experienced only in part.

Now the disciples were experiencing him in his fullness. He would have passed them by, but he actually stopped there for them. He was the mediator that Job was saying that, "Oh, there would be a mediator between us." And that day has now been realized. So I think when they saw that Jesus would have passed them by, and then he didn't, they thought, "Wow, this is the Son of God." I think they recognized that. All right, so we talked about how he walked on the sea, how he would have passed them by.

Is there anything else? I think there is. Recorded in all three of these accounts. Here we have the account from Matthew. It says, "Immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'Be of good cheer, it is I, do not be afraid.'" So when he met them, he said, "It is I, do not be afraid." So here on the screen is Exodus 3 from the Septuagint. And this is the account where Moses is at the burning bush, and Yahweh met him there. And what did Yahweh say to him? He said, "I am." Ego imi.

And that's exactly now what Jesus said to the disciples as he came walking on the water. He said, "I am." The same words taken here from Yahweh's words to Moses many years before. And I think it's quite likely that the disciples thought, "Wow, he's saying, 'I am,' in the same way that has been said long before to Moses." And that's something that is the name of God. So how do we know that this was the intended meaning? Well, a few things here.

So we talked about how he walks on the sea, how he would have passed them by, and how Jesus identified himself as the "I am." I think that the reason that we can know that that is what they were thinking about, that this is something messianic, is because of their response. And their response is this. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped him, saying, "Truly, you are the Son of God." So I've offered here a few lessons this morning. We should stay in the boat. Staying in the Church.

A call against individualism. And then secondly, eschatology was given as a possible meaning. Jesus will come in the darkness of night, walking on the water, if you will, to rescue us. And then finally, Jesus is the Messiah. He's the Son of God. He is Yahweh in the flesh. What is not the lesson here is to step out of the boat. So taking the first lesson alone here about staying in the boat, the Church, I was reminded of this song. I love this song.

"People of the living God, I have sought the world around, paths of sin and sorrow trod, peace and comfort nowhere found. Now to you my spirit turns, turns a fugitive, unblessed. Brethren, where your altar burns, oh, receive me into rest. Lonely I no longer roam like the cloud, the wind, the wave. Where you dwell shall be my home. Where you die shall be my grave. Mine the God whom you adore, your Redeemer shall be mine. Earth can fill my soul no more, every idol I resign.

Tell me not of gain or loss, ease, enjoyment, pomp and power. Welcome poverty and cross, shame, reproach, affliction's hour. Follow me. I know the voice. Jesus, Lord, thy steps I see. Now I take thy yoke by choice, lay thy burden now to me." So that's what I had to share here this morning. Maybe just one further comment that I might make on the subject of making this practical here. And that is that there is a better way than getting out of the boat. Our answer is not to chart our own course with Jesus.

The answer is not individualism. If you think about that song, probably familiar to many of you, there's nothing out there for a soul that's once known God. So I think we're called here to keep the faith. Jesus will be coming for his Church, and you and I will want to be there. So yeah, thank you. And back to you, Brother Just. Thank you, Glenn. That was very, very interesting. I really enjoyed that. You had a nice, clear presentation for us there with your slides, and it was easy to follow.

And it really blessed me. I came thinking that this story would be about Peter, and it was. But I was really blessed by the character of Christ and the revelation of God through this story, and that he truly was the Son of God. He wasn't just a superhuman, but he was God himself on earth. And I loved your connection to the revelation in the Old Testament, how in that encounter with Moses, God said, "I am." And here he says essentially the same thing, "It is I." Probably just translated different. And I love that.

This is God, Yahweh, who is able to tread on the sea, as is mentioned in Job. Beautiful. Beautiful. And I'm sure this scripture would have been familiar with the disciples, and they knew who this was. This truly was the Son of God. Not only was he able to calm the sea and rescue Peter, but he was able to give them a visual picture of Old Testament revelation of him.

It would have, yeah, been a mind-blowing, mind-opening experience for them to see that, that this truly is the Son of God, just as we saw in scripture and now can see in the flesh with us. God with us. And I had to think too of how that lesson for us to stay in the boat and to be careful not to just go out on our own, away from the community, so to speak. And that this idea of independence or individualism, that we can just, as long as we have Jesus, we're fine.

How really, if you think of it, we often do what Peter did and take for granted the sea, the sea of life. If we would be all by ourselves, and even if it's a little boat we're in, and the waves are rocking around us, there's deep sea below us and land far from us, we would realize how vulnerable we are. And life is that sea. We are vulnerable. There's storms, there's instability, danger. We can easily get swallowed up by the sea, especially when we're out on our own.

So what a good lesson for us to stay with the community of believers, to find our way through life with the ship. Stay with the ship and find Christ together, worship him together, and realize that truly he is the Son of God and worthy of our worship.

So yeah, again, I am intrigued by your gift, Glenn, of being able to take ordinary Bible stories that we so easily take for granted and to be able to look into them deeper and fuller and to see the deeper meaning that's there and the lessons that we're missing and maybe the misconceptions that we are believing as well. One of the first books that we published at Strength to Strength is Righteous Lot. And I have a stack of them right behind me there. You can see on the bookshelf.

And we sell those at Strength to Strength. And that's a book that blessed me a lot when I read it. And I realized that there's more to the story of Lot and how he indeed was righteous, like Peter says in his epistle. And so thank you, Glenn, for sharing your gift of being able to find more depth and meaning in some of these stories as well as addressing the misconceptions that we easily can carry. So yeah, may God be praised and his name honored and glorified through this story.

And may we be learning the lesson of Peter and to stay with the ship. That actually was very fascinating to me that both Mark and John don't address this story or don't include, I should say, the story of Peter walking out on the water. So that was intriguing to me.

And seeing Mark, who I believe is the gospel according to Peter and written by his right-hand man, Mark, we don't know that for clear and certain by scripture, but it would seem that that's what happened there, is that Mark wrote down the gospel according to Peter and may have been the eyewitness of the scene towards the end of Mark where Jesus was arrested. It mentions briefly a 14 or no, maybe it didn't have his age, a young man, I think it says, and he fled the scene naked when they tried to grab him.

That, I believe, was the author. And so he was an eyewitness, although a young one, and later was a huge help and support to the apostles in their ministry. So I think Mark would have been telling the story according to how Peter recounted it and left. That's interesting to me that that part is left out, as well as John. He also left that part out. And maybe that was a humiliating experience for Peter to go through, to realize that he made a mistake.

He should not have tested Christ like that and stepped out on his own away from the safety of the boat. So yeah, may we learn too that community of fellowship around Christ and being with the believers is what we need. We need to learn from them to become better disciples ourselves. And in the multitude of counselors, there is safety. So may God go with you this week and in the coming weeks. May he give you strength and may he be revealed that he truly is the Son of God to you personally and in your community.

Go with God and share him with others that you encounter on life's journey and worship him together with your fellow believers in your life. May God bless. As Iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.