fourth watch,[717] that is, between three and six o'clock
in the morning, He came to their assistance, walking upon the
storm-tossed water as though treading solid ground. When the voyagers
caught sight of Him as He approached the ship in the faint light of the
near-spent night, they were overcome by superstitious fears, and cried
out in terror, thinking that they saw a ghostly apparition. "But
straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be
not afraid."

Relieved by these assuring words, Peter, impetuous and impulsive as
usual, cried out: "Lord, if[718] it be thou, bid me come unto thee on
the water." Jesus assenting, Peter descended from the ship and walked
toward his Master; but as the wind smote him and the waves rose about
him, his confidence wavered and he began to sink. Strong swimmer though
he was,[719] he gave way to fright, and cried, "Lord, save me." Jesus
caught him by the hand, saying: "O thou of little faith, wherefore didst
thou doubt?"

From Peter's remarkable experience, we learn that the power by which
Christ was able to walk the waves could be made operative in others,
provided only their faith was enduring. It was on Peter's own request
that he was permitted to attempt the feat. Had Jesus forbidden him, the
man's faith might have suffered a check; his attempt, though attended by
partial failure, was a demonstration of the efficacy of faith in the
Lord, such as no verbal teaching could ever have conveyed. Jesus and
Peter entered the vessel; immediately the wind ceased, and the boat soon
reached the shore. The amazement of the apostles, at this latest
manifestation of the Lord's control over the forces of nature, would
have been more akin to worship and less like terrified consternation had
they remembered the earlier wonders they had witnessed; but they had
forgotten even the miracle of the loaves, and their hearts had
hardened.[720] Marveling at the power of One to whom the wind-lashed sea
was a sustaining floor, the apostles bowed before the Lord in reverent
worship, saying: "Of a truth thou art the Son of God."[721]

Aside from the marvelous circumstances of its literal occurrence, the
miracle is rich in symbolism and suggestion. By what law or principle
the effect of gravitation was superseded, so that a human body could be
supported upon the watery surface, man is unable to affirm. The
phenomenon is a concrete demonstration of the great truth that faith is
a principle