When Jesus walks on water, the disciples think they are seeing a ghost. They cry out in fear. It is night, and they are in a boat, presumably fishing. At first they probably wonder whether their eyes are playing tricks on them, but when Jesus gets closer, they are certain there is a human form coming to them on top of the water.
My kids drew pictures to illustrate this biblical scene. In the top picture, the disciples are looking out of their boat to the Lord, while lightning and thunder rages on the sea.
Peter is so excited to see Jesus when He identifies who He is. Peter says, “If it’s You, tell me to walk to You on the water.” Jesus does so, and Peter steps out of the boat with incredible faith that causes him to actually walk on water.
Peter walks miraculously on top of the water.
This fact is overlooked by most people who tell the story, who focus on the fact that eventually he begins to sink because of obvious gravity and an apparent lack of faith. When Peter stepped out of the boat at first, he had the faith to walk on water. But the knowledge of gravity caused him to sink because he was shocked at himself, that he was actually walking on water.
Let’s enjoy the moment of Peter walking on the water, even though the miracle only lasted a few steps.
Peter begins to sink, and he cries out to Jesus to save him from drowning. Jesus reaches out and pulls him up out of the water, returning him to the boat. The other disciples are probably thinking they’ve gone insane, watching two people walking around on top of deep water, which is impossible. Because Jesus was God, He had control over nature and was able to do anything He wished. And poor Peter felt like a failure for sinking even though I give him points for being gutsy enough to step out of the boat in faith in the first place!
If your children are too young to draw, here is a coloring page of the scene:
Here is a printable craft to help kids remember the story:
Here is a super cool black light activity, depicting Jesus walking on water:
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