Why Did You Doubt?
Twelve verses of the ESV print doubt, and one of them prints it twice. Four of the twelve belong to everyday speech or to a life left uncertain: Jacob sure that Joseph is dead, a curse on Israel, Job's sarcasm, the people of Malta watching Paul. The other eight speak to or about disciples, and four of those print the word faith in the same verse. One of those four is a question from Jesus, put to a man who had just walked on water.
I've had moments where I've doubted God. Peter's moment came after he had seen a great deal.
The disciples had just taken up what was left after Jesus fed thousands from five loaves and two fish (Matthew 14:19–21). Then Jesus sent the disciples ahead by boat and went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. By evening "the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them." (Matthew 14:24, ESV) In the fourth watch He came to them, walking on the sea, and they cried out in fear.
"But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.'" (Matthew 14:27, ESV)
Water does not hold up a man's weight. It held His. Jesus' own power over the order of the world is the foundation under everything that happens next. Peter said, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." (Matthew 14:28, ESV) Jesus gave him one word: "Come." (Matthew 14:29, ESV) Peter stepped out on that word, and the water held him too.
"But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, 'Lord, save me.'" (Matthew 14:30, ESV)
The wind had been against them long before the fourth watch, and it was blowing when he got out of the boat. Now he saw it. There is a whole lot of Peter in all of us. We often doubt the way he did, looking hard at what we can see and measure and losing sight of what Jesus has done and what He is doing. Seeing Him did not end doubt for everyone. On a mountain in Galilee the eleven saw the risen Lord:
"And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted." (Matthew 28:17, ESV)
"Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, 'O you of little faith, why did you doubt?'" (Matthew 14:31, ESV)
Matthew puts the hand first, and the question comes while Jesus has hold of him. Matthew used immediately for His word in verse 27, and he uses it again for His hand. Peter gets the rescue before he has any answer to give, and he still gets the rebuke. Doubt may be common among us, but Jesus still calls it little faith, and He still asks why.
We do not see Him on the water today the way they did. What God does is not always measurable, or even visible for that matter. God controls the things we cannot presently see and His relationship with us should help us see forward towards something not presently seen. Hebrews says this of faith:
"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1, ESV)
Some of what He is doing we can see, in the change that comes through Jesus, in ourselves and in others. Changing happens to us, when we allow it. God's word changes our hearts, and through a deeper relationship with the Father through Jesus we trust Him to a greater extent. That change is not something we do, it is something God does to us through time and experience, led by the Spirit through His word. Paul thanked God that the Thessalonians received His word as "the word of God, which is at work in you believers." (1 Thessalonians 2:13, ESV)
A heart God has changed moves in a new direction. He changes the person walking that direction, and the changed person works in love, not by checklist. Paul calls it "faith working through love." (Galatians 5:6, ESV) James says that "faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." (James 2:17, ESV) Peter's first step was obedience to a word, and so are ours.
What Jesus commands we do, and we do it trusting Him.
Doubt steals away trust and lack of trust changes how we love.
I doubt people who I should trust. I tend to be cynical at times, when I should trust that God has control of everything that is uncertain to me. Cynicism costs the people around us the love we owe them.
So what have we been looking at? What has Jesus called us to do that we have quit doing because of the wind? Jude gives the church a word for when someone near us doubts: "And have mercy on those who doubt" (Jude 22, ESV). We can extend that mercy because we have needed the same hand.
"And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, 'Truly you are the Son of God.'" (Matthew 14:32–33, ESV)
Peter got back into the boat with Jesus. The One who took hold of him is the One we are trusting today.
Where the ESV prints the word
Doubt (doubt, doubts, doubted, doubting: 13 uses in 12 verses)
Verse | Said of | Direction |
|---|---|---|
Matthew 14:31 | Peter on the water | a disciple |
Matthew 28:17 | some on the mountain in Galilee | disciples |
Luke 24:38 | the disciples before the risen Lord | disciples |
Matthew 21:21; Mark 11:23 | speaking to the mountain | asking |
James 1:6 (twice) | one who asks for wisdom | asking |
Romans 14:23 | one who eats with doubts | conscience |
Jude 22 | those the church is to have mercy on | mercy |
Genesis 37:33; Job 12:2; Acts 28:4 | Joseph's death, Job's friends, Paul on Malta | everyday speech |
Deuteronomy 28:66 | a life under the curse | uncertainty |
Faith (printed beside doubt in 4 verses)
Matthew 14:31; 21:21; Romans 14:23; James 1:6
Doubtless (Luke 4:23; 1 Corinthians 14:10) is not counted. The ESV prints faith in many more verses; only those beside doubt are listed.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2016.
Drafted with AI assistance from Herbert Berkley's own words and reviewed by him.
