Scripture Story Sketch Notes · Matthew 14
“Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.” Matthew 14:27
One night, one storm, one invitation. Follow the boat across the sea, see the details Matthew noticed, and try to keep your eyes on the Light.
Before you begin
Earlier that day, Jesus had fed more than five thousand people with five loaves and two fishes. That evening He sent His disciples ahead across the Sea of Galilee by boat, and He went up a mountain alone to pray.
Through the night a strong wind blew against them, and they rowed for hours without getting far. Near dawn Jesus came to them, walking on the water. Peter asked to come to Him, and for a few steps Peter walked on the water too. When he looked at the wind he began to sink, and Jesus immediately reached out and caught him. When they climbed into the boat the wind stopped, and the disciples worshipped Him: “Of a truth thou art the Son of God.”
The Sea of Galilee, a large lake in northern Israel, at night. Jesus came “in the fourth watch,” about 3 to 6 a.m.
Watch how Jesus sees them struggling, comes to them, and reaches for Peter the moment he cries out.
Read it yourself: Matthew 14:22–33
Part 1 of 7
Seven stops, from the mountain where He prayed to the far shore. Scroll, or tap a number on the map.
Part 2 of 7
Six scenes, evening to dawn. Look for the Savior in each one.
Read it plainly
Tap any dotted word for its meaning. The scripture stays exactly as written.1
Part 3 of 7
This story is not a parable, so these are not symbols with assigned meanings. They are details in the text. Turn each card to see what it shows. Each back says where the insight comes from.
All nine. He prayed, He saw, He came, He spoke, He reached. Matthew 14:23–33
Part 4 of 7
Everyone in this story was in one of four places. Most of us have been in all four.
A next step for you
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Try it
Press and hold on the Light, and follow it as it moves. While your finger stays on Him, Peter walks. Let the wind pull you away and he begins to sink.
“Of a truth thou art the Son of God.” Matthew 14:33
“While Peter kept his eyes focused on Jesus, he could walk on water.” Elder Alvin F. Meredith III9
Part 5 of 7
A little background helps us feel the night the way the disciples did. Outside sources are labeled.
The Sea of Galilee is about 12½ miles long and 7½ miles across. “It lies 680 feet below sea-level; the heat is very great, and the cold air rushing down from the hills often produces sudden storms.”12
Fishermen like Peter knew this water, and they were still afraid.
The Jews divided the night into three watches, but “the Romans had four watches, and it is their practice that is followed in Matt. 14:25.”13 The fourth watch was about 3 to 6 a.m.16
He came at the darkest, most tired part of the night.
John says they had rowed “about five and twenty or thirty furlongs.”3 A furlong (Greek stadion) is commonly estimated at about 600 feet, so about three miles of hard rowing, into the wind.
Too far to swim back. Too far from the other shore.
In 1986, low water on the Sea of Galilee uncovered a first-century fishing boat, about 27 feet long and 7½ feet wide.18 It helps us picture the kind of boat the disciples rowed that night.
A small boat in a big storm.
Word study · Greek
egō eimi ἐγώ εἰμι · “It is I” (Matthew 14:27)
Keller writes: “Ego eimi means ‘I am’ or ‘I am he.’” When Jesus says it while walking on the sea, “He is giving his first explicit hint of His real identity. … He is I AM, Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament …”14 Outside · BYU RSC
Keller also notes that Peter calls Him kyrie, “Lord,” both when he asks to come and when he cries “Lord, save me,” “stressing once again that Jesus is the Lord—Jehovah.”14 The One who made the sea is walking on it.
Word study · Greek
distazō διστάζω · “doubt” (Matthew 14:31)
The lexicon gives “to doubt, to waver,” and connects it to dis, “twice.” Strong’s: “properly, to duplicate, i.e. (mentally) to waver.”17 The “twice” derivation is traditional; not every scholar treats it as the word’s core meaning.
It appears only twice in the New Testament: here, and on the mountain after the Resurrection, “they worshipped him: but some doubted.”4,17 Doubt here is not refusing. It is being pulled two ways, eyes on Him and eyes on the wind.
What the text does not say
It does not say Peter failed. He walked on water, and when he sank he did the right thing: he cried to the Lord.1 Mark and John tell of Jesus walking on the sea but do not mention Peter’s walk at all; only Matthew does.2,3 And the wind did not stop when Peter walked. It ceased “when they were come into the ship.”1
Part 6 of 7
Peter is the one we remember. But every verb that saves someone in this story belongs to Jesus.
He prayed. He saw them toiling. He came to them. He spoke first. He said “Come.” He stretched forth His hand. He caught him. He got into the ship with them.
Matthew 14:23–32; Mark 6:48–511,2“The Savior is willing to enter troubled waters for his disciples. … He comes to them.”
“It is my firm belief that if as individual people, as families, communities, and nations, we could, like Peter, fix our eyes on Jesus, we too might walk triumphantly over ‘the swelling waves of disbelief’ and remain ‘unterrified amid the rising winds of doubt.’”
“The Savior, who is always eager to save, reached out and lifted him up to safety.”
“Jesus knew the faith Peter had exercised to come unto Him on the water. He was also aware of Peter’s fear.”
Another Testament
The Lord to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery: “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.” Doctrine and Covenants 6:36 Peter’s night in one line.
Another Testament
Moroni: “dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.” Ether 12:6 Peter stepped out before he knew the water would hold.
Part 7 of 7
The Savior’s question
“O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” Matthew 14:31
He asked it while He was holding Peter up. “His words were not to scold Peter but to remind him that He, the Messiah, was with him and the disciples.”10 What pulls your eyes two ways?
Each thing you do is one more step toward Him. It saves on this device, one day at a time.
0 of 6 today
Six steps on the water. Keep looking tomorrow.
A quiet moment
“Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.”
Picture your own boat and your own wind. Read Matthew 14:27 three times, slowly, and hear Him say it to you. Then sit still for one minute. Matthew 14:27
A verse to hold
Talk about it
For adults and deeper study
Longer readings, harder questions, and where to study next. Each one says what it is before you click.
Retells the night in vivid detail, then applies it to individuals, families and nations: if we look to “the power and fury of those terrible and destructive elements around us rather than to him who can help and save us, then we shall inevitably sink.”8
Read the talk →Focuses on the Savior’s response: He knew Peter’s faith and his fear, and He reached “immediately.” Reads the question “wherefore didst thou doubt?” as reassurance, not rebuke.10
Read the talk →Elder Meredith’s “Look down the Road” is about focus: “The storm, the waves, and the wind could not hinder him as long he centered his focus on the Savior.” President Eyring reads Peter’s whole life: he “came to trust the Lord enough to stay faithful in His service all the way to his martyrdom.”9,11
Meredith → Eyring →Keller traces how the Gospels reveal Jesus as Jehovah, including the “I am” on the water. Swift reads Matthew 14 as three linked stories and notes, “Neither the winds nor the waves are sinking him: his fear is.”14,15
Keller → Swift →BYU Studies also lists readings for this week of Come, Follow Me.19 BYU Studies week 13 →
Every quotation, gloss, and piece of background on this page is listed here: scripture first, then Church sources, then outside scholarship (labeled).
Quotations checked against the linked pages on October 6, 2026. Scripture is quoted from the King James Version as published in the Gospel Library.
He sees you rowing. He comes in the fourth watch. He says “Come.” And when you sink, He reaches immediately. Matthew 14:31
Printable sketch notes
Everything on this page as a 11-page letter-size PDF: the map, scenes, cards, activity, word studies, tracker, Go deeper and sources. For home, class or a quiet Sunday.
More stories
Peter Walks on the Water is part of the Scripture Story Sketch Notes for the New Testament, set alongside Come, Follow Me for March 29–April 4, 2027 (Matthew 14; Mark 6; John 5–6).
See every story See all 2027 weeksIndependent study notes from Weak Things, not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Scripture quotations are from the King James Version. This is a historical account, not a parable; the insights in “Look closer” are labeled by source.
