Peter, impulsive and full of admiration for his Master, and ready to dare much to be near Him, left the boat to join Him where He walked. Then he found himself in circumstances that were new and strange to him, circumstances in which the creature could only sink and perish. But here comes the loveliest bit of the wonderful story. He felt his desperate need and cried out to His Lord, and “immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him,” and held him up. And together with the Master of every storm, Peter walked on the very crests of the waves. The gale still raged fiercely and the sea surged and swished about his feet, but he was held up by almighty power and walked by the side of his Lord, erect, fearless, and comforted.

The Lord who sits above the water floods, and rules the waves from His throne of eternal calm, does not send succor to His saints as a sympathetic onlooker who knows nothing experimentally of the sorrows they endure. No, He came down upon the waves. He came from the eternal peace of heaven into the storm where His loved ones labored—the winds blew and the waves tossed about Him. He was a man, and He is a man. This is the amazing thing! Because the children were partakers of flesh and blood, He, the Lord of Glory, likewise took part of the same, that He might know in His own experience the fierceness of the storms that beset our weak humanity. He was tempted in all points as we are, apart from sin, and so He can succor us with a sympathy that is perfectly human, though divine.