Matthew 8:23-27
Disciples at this Time Had Little Faith
23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”
Matthew 13:53-58
Jesus Without Honor
53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. 54 Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. 55 “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56 Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 And they took offense at him.
But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.”
58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
Matthew 14:22-33
Jesus Walks on Water, and Peter Tries to Walk on Water
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,”they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,”he said, “why did you doubt?”
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Matthew 26:47-56
Jesus Arrested
47 While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” 49 Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him.
50 Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.”
Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. 51 With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.
52 “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. 53 Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”
55 In that hour Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. 56 But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.
2 Peter 1:12-21
Peter an Eyewitness to Jesus
12 So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 13 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14 because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
19 We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
John 21:24-25
John an Eyewitness to Jesus
24 This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.
25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
2 Corinthians 6:14-18
The Temple of the Living God
14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
17 Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,
18 and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”
One might think it would be easy to see or be an eyewitness to Jesus and then to grow or have a strong faith, but I do not think so...Doubts come from different places and from our own thoughts and from others...Everyone who saw Jesus did not believe who He was or who He claimed to be...Even the people who knew Him the longest, we those in His hometown of Nazareth, were of little faith...
And faith seems for the most part to grow...Strengthen your faith and see what happens...So yoke yourself with believers...Faith can be hard enough, let alone when you constantly are hearing or reading about those who do not believe...Like a parent teaches a child how to learn about crossing the street, or finding out about heat and learning about touching a hot stove -we learn things and more things over time...Exposing ourselves to non-believers and being yoked and pulled by their doubts and ideas may weaken our own faith...So let us strengthen our faith with readings and people of the faith...
Sometimes we are in an only position, but to take a leap of faith...To me we seem to be confronted with this leap of faith scenario more often than we think, because of what we know and how much we emphasize our own reasoning and logical abilities...Maybe after reading the gospels or actually being with Jesus, coming to one’s faith still needs this leap...To be a believer and to only use reason and logic is still very difficult, because Jesus goes beyond our personal reasoning and thinking abilities...But a leap of faith does not mean blind faith...Faith can be reasonable...For example, when Peter, the disciple, says he was an eyewitness of His Majesty and says he did not follow cleverly devised stories when the disciples told us about the coming of our LORD Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of His Majesty...Peter is admitting to being an eyewitness of Jesus...Peter is being reasonable and has seen what Jesus can do...And Peter says he and others heard Jesus receiving honor and glory from God the Father, when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is My Son, whom I LOVE; with Him I AM well pleased.”...We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with Him on the sacred mountain...
Peter also talks about the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and we should do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts...Above all, we must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things...For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit...Human will may carry mostly our reason and logic, let us at times look outside reason and logic for faith...
To me these things mean that Peter wrote tells me he had faith in Jesus but he could not understand what all that Jesus did...He did not understand how Jesus walked on water, and he couldn't...Jesus told Peter that he had little faith as he sank into the water on the lake...Peter did not understand how Jesus could calm a raging storm, and neither could his fellow disciple John...But when John says that he also was an eyewitness to Jesus and gave testimony to Him and He is the disciple that testified to these things and who wrote them down, so others could read about Jesus -John is talking about his faith in Jesus...And John knows that Jesus' testimony is true, because he was an eyewitness to these things...And then John adds that Jesus did many other things as well...And that if He tried to write all of them down, then he supposed that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written...John now understood who Jesus was then and knew He did the things He did, and could do so much more...
So Peter and John learned over time much about faith...And at times, even with being with Jesus they had little faith, according to Jesus...And these two had seen the teachings and all the evidences of Jesus and Christianity...And even after three years, when he was arrested they ran from Him...But it took three years and they were with Him, most of the time...Their faith grew, but it took some time and some encouragement...