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Matthean notion of faith: Mt 14:22-33*Andreas Dettwiler, "Matthean notion of faith (as provided by the example of 14: 22-33)", in Études théologiques et religieuses, 73(1998)333-347
The Matthaean version of the story of Jesus'
walk on the waters is a masterpiece of reflection on
the phenomenon of faith.
Several synchronic and diachronic approaches
allow Andreas Dettwiler to describe the journey of faith,
having a paradigmatic value, proposed by Mt 14.
The Christological foundation, the confidence, the crisis and,
finally, the restructuring of faith through prayer
are the main stages, which show the act of faith, as a whole,
is determined by the Matthaean Christology of Emmanuel.
There are issues that are topical today, but will be forgotten tomorrow. These are questions of little importance. But there are also questions that are as simple as they are fundamental and which, for this reason, must be exposed and studied again and again. One such question, at least from a Christian point of view, is that of faith. To what or to whom is faith addressed? What is its foundation? What are its constituent elements? What is the understanding of God and man that is articulated in it? The question of faith is of the utmost importance, because it expresses the question of human life in its entirety. Faith does not only include certain aspects of human life, but life as such. The question of faith and the question of authentic life are closely linked.
A glance at the New Testament reveals that the phenomenon of faith is conceived and developed in a wide variety of ways. Indeed, the New Testament writings show a certain plurality in the way they understand faith. In my opinion, an interesting understanding of faith is presented by Matthew's Gospel. Its interest lies in the fact that it does not simply distinguish between faith and unbelief, but also reflects on aspects such as doubt and fear within faith. In this way, it gives an impressive account of the ambiguity of this human experience, in which faith and doubt are intimately linked.
I'll try to pinpoint the Matthean understanding of faith by taking a closer look at a single story, that of Jesus and Peter's walk on the waters, found in chapter 14 of Matthew's Gospel. This approach is not without its risks. But I hope to be able to demonstrate the power of conviction that emanates from Gospel stories about faith.
My approach is based on the following elements. First, I will situate the text in its literary context. Next, I will analyze the text's narrative and theological structure and dynamics. A third approach will attempt to understand the text as the result of a restructuring of tradition. Fourthly, I will address the symbolic dimension of the text. Finally, in a fifth and last approach, I will sketch out a brief phenomenology of Matthean faith, based on our reference text.
I. First Approach: the Literary Context of Mk 14:22-33[1]
What is the literary context of Mt 14:22-33 and what is the function of this text in its context? Three observations seem worth mentioning.
- First of all, we must recognize that our text is an integral part of the Matthean narrative of the story of Jesus. All the actors in our story have already been introduced into the narrative and have already acquired a relative depth. We know, for example, from the first chapters that the hero of the story, Jesus, was given the title Son of God, that this Jesus called disciples to follow him and that he had regular contact with the crowds. Moreover, we are already familiar with the motifs of the boat, the wind and the waves, as well as the all-important Matthean concept of the disciples' lack of faith (oligopistia) (see the story of the stilled storm in Mt 8:23-27). As the story unfolds, we'll focus on the figure of Peter. Finally, in the Matthean account of the Passion, we see that the same Jesus who, in the story of the walk on the waters, is presented to us as a divine and sovereign being, will go all the way to the cross out of obedience to his Father. And there, he will have nothing to oppose the sarcasm of his enemies, summoning him to come down from the cross so that they can believe in him as the Son of God (Mt 27:42-43).
- The context close to Mt 14, i.e. Mt 12-16, is marked by the radicalization of the conflict between Jesus and Israel and, at the same time, by the increasingly visible formation of the community of disciples[2]. At the beginning of chapter 14, we learn of Herod's execution of John the Baptist; already a chapter later (in Mt 15:1-20), we see Jesus engaged in a heated controversy with Pharisees and scribes, over the ritual commandment of washing hands. In this increasingly gloomy atmosphere, Jesus approaches the crowds and disciples as a compassionate and sovereign miracle-worker. The contrast couldn't be greater: here, light and darkness, death and life are very close together. Even the disciples' existence is one threatened by death: exposed to the wind, they are initially unable to perceive Jesus' saving proximity; Peter then fails in his march towards Jesus.
- If we examine our passage a little more closely, we see that the walking on the waters is closely linked to the previous pericope, the feeding of the crowd (Mt 14:13-21). In both accounts, Jesus withdraws, evening has already come and the disciples find themselves in a critical situation. What's more, in both pericopes, Jesus intervenes in a miraculous way. In both cases, this intervention is characterized by the overcoming of a material threat: in the first story, the lack of food; in the second, the threatening elements of wind and water. In both cases, it's a matter of overcoming a hopeless situation for the disciples, thanks to Jesus' saving presence. Nevertheless, we can immediately identify a significant development between the story of Jesus feeding the crowd and that of the walk on the waters: at the beginning of the walk on the waters, Jesus separates the crowds from the disciples. The circle around Jesus becomes smaller, so that the walk on the waters is a story entirely focused on the disciples, a story that will, in particular, express the desperate solitude of the disciples and, at the same time, the overcoming of this solitude thanks to the liberating closeness of Jesus.
II. Second Approach: the Text as a Structured Unit
- Text structure
The pericope is impressively coherent. As a whole, it is characterized by a clear dramatic development and an unambiguous presentation of the actors in the story. It can be divided into four parts.
The first (v. 22-23) is a transition, i.e. both the conclusion of the previous story and the introduction to the next.
The second part (vv. 24-27) recounts an epiphany of Jesus before the disciples on the lake. It begins with the motif of distress (v. 24). This is followed by the coming of Jesus (v. 25), which is specified in temporal and modal terms: the scene takes place on the fourth watch of the night, i.e. between 3 and 6 a.m.; Jesus walks on the water. The next scene (v. 26) describes the reaction of the disciples, a reaction marked by misunderstanding and fear. With v. 27, the second part of the story reaches its climax: Jesus' self-revelation, linked to a word of consolation.
The third part (vv. 28-31) describes Peter's walk on the waters. This part includes Peter's unexpected request (v. 28), Jesus' granting of this request (v. 29a), Peter's walk on the waters (v. 29b), the distressing situation linked to Peter's prayerful appeal (v. 30), and Jesus' rescue and rebuke of the disciple (v. 31). Like the previous section, this one ends with a direct speech by Jesus.
The fourth part (v. 32-33) brings the story to a close. First of all, mention is made of the miracle (the storm has subsided!), but only incidentally and rather belatedly: follow the topoi typical of a miracle story, i.e. admiration, embodied in proskynesis, and acclamation. The latter, formulated in direct discourse, constitutes both the climax and the narrative and ideological conclusion of the story.
If we look at the narrative as a whole, we see that it comprises two moments; the two middle parts, i.e. the epiphany (vv. 24-27) and Peter's walk on the waters (vv. 28-31), are in a striking relationship of correspondence. Peter's walk on the waters is nothing more than a second narrative, which is both determined by and develops the first. As such, it acquires a very specific weight. The following elements are worth highlighting: from a narrative and theological point of view, Jesus' epiphany conditions the subsequent sequence insofar as Peter, perceiving Jesus' identity, has become able to ask him to approach him (v. 28) : just as Jesus walked on the sea, so Peter is authorized to act in a similar way; just as the disciples were exposed to the wind and waves, so Peter fails when he sees the wind; just as the disciples cried out in fear, so Peter panics and cries out - not because he would mistake Jesus for a ghost, but because he is sinking; finally, just as Jesus addresses the disciples directly and offers them new life through his consoling word, so he acts towards Peter by opening up new life to him. In short, the references are clear. The conclusion is self-evident: Peter here is a paradigmatic figure. He must be understood as the disciple par excellence.[3].
- The narrative and theological dynamics of the text (in terms of distance and proximity)
To grasp the dynamics of the story even more precisely, we need to analyze it from the point of view of the tension between distance and proximity.
The story begins by establishing a double distance: on the one hand, the distance between Jesus and the crowds, and hence the distance between the crowds and the disciples; and, on the other, the distance between Jesus and his disciples. This separation is underlined by spatial and temporal categories. Significantly, the solitude of Jesus and that of the disciples are qualitatively different: Jesus, high up on the mountain, the classic place of encounter with God, gives himself over to God in prayer, while the disciples, low down on the sea, are left to the wind and the waves. Jesus seeks God's closeness: the disciples, on the other hand, are tormented by the life-threatening elements. Their solitude is permeated by death; Jesus', by contrast, is marked by life. The central theme of Jesus' epiphany in vv. 24-27 is that of the overcoming of this initial distance, but exclusively by Jesus: Jesus shatters the disciples' solitude by approaching them, by intruding into their dangerous situation. But this proximity first provokes a reaction of incomprehension on the part of the disciples; they think they are confronted with a ghostly being (a fantasma), a being they can in no way integrate into their horizon of understanding. However, Jesus also overcomes this distance of incomprehension, by declaring his identity and revealing his divine condition (v. 27).
The sequence centered on Peter (v. 28-31) continues this dialectical movement between distance and proximity. Peter's request in v. 28 should be understood as a faith-filled response: "Lord, if it is you..."[4]. Peter knows the identity of the one who appeared to them ("kyrie"). After Jesus had sought to draw closer to the disciples, it is now Peter who seeks the closeness of his Kyrios. But the content of the request underlines unequivocally that Peter's closeness to Jesus cannot be the result of Peter's own initiative: Peter's walk on the water is made possible exclusively by Jesus' word ("Lord, if it is you, command me to come unto thee!"). The rest of the scene emphasizes the fact that Peter's faith is a faith in crisis, a faith that is unable to maintain closeness to Jesus: "but seeing the wind..." (v. 30). The evidence of the elements of death is stronger than the evidence of the Kyrios' word; Peter distances himself from Jesus: he sinks. Yet Jesus does not abandon his disciple to death, but brings him back to himself. Once again, he overcomes the distance, a distance that Peter has guiltily recreated. In pairs, Jesus and Peter then get closer to the other disciples as they climb back into the boat. At the very end of the story, for the first time, the group of disciples come closer to Jesus in a spiritual way, expressing their Master's true identity through a confession of faith (v. 33). The dramatic tension between distance and proximity, which structures the whole story, finds its fulfillment here.
III. Third Approach (Diachronic Analysis): the Text as a Restructuring of Tradition
Until now, the text has been read and interpreted exclusively as a structured unit, in its final literary form. But the text is no longer just a structured unit, it is also the result of a restructuring of a tradition. This phenomenon is theologically rich in meaning. It is drawing our attention to the fact that Matthew has indeed preserved a tradition, but by reinterpreting it, the evangelist has modified the tradition with reference to the lived experiences of his community and to his own theological understanding; he has taken up and developed the tradition's potential for meaning, while endowing it with wholly original accents.
- From Mark to Matthew
The story of the walk on the waters is attested by Mark, Matthew and John. In what follows, I will very briefly outline my conception of the literary genesis of the Matthean version, without however being able to justify my position in detail, nor analyze the nature of the relationship existing between the synoptic tradition and the Johannine tradition.
According to the two-source theory, Mk is the written source of Mt. This hypothesis is also plausible for our pericope. Virtually all the differences between the Matthean and Marcan versions can be fairly easily explained by the literary and theological project of Mt.[5]. What is immediately obvious is the fact that Mt has fundamentally changed the final part of the Marcan version: on the one hand, he has inserted the sequence of Peter's walk on the waters between the epiphany and the end of the narrative (v. 28-31 of the Matthean version); on the other, he has profoundly modified the last verse of the Marcan narrative. I'll come back to this point later. The part specific to Mt (v. 28-31) probably originates from the editorial work of Mt.[6]. Nevertheless, Mt may have known and worked on an oral tradition about Peter (see John 21:7-8).[7].
- Literary and theological assessment
- Changing the literary genre
From a formist point of view, the marcan version (Mk 6:45-52) is a mixed form of epiphany and deliverance story[8]. It is not the disciples' deliverance, but rather the question of the miracle-worker's divine identity that is at the heart of the story. Two or even three narrative features underline this central intention. Certainly, the disciples are exposed to the adverse wind; but they are not frightened because of these unfavorable circumstances, but because they see a "ghost". Certainly, the miracle of the stilled storm will take place; but compared to the account in Mk 4:35-41, it has a different status: the stilling of the wind has an almost incidental role; unlike in Mk 4:39, Jesus does not utter any virtually exorcising words of threat against the elements of nature; it is not even explicitly stated that Jesus performed this miracle.
On the other hand, still from the formist point of view, the matthean version is more complex. Of course, it's still an epiphany with a soteriological accent. But the insertion of the Peter sequence shifts the narrative's center of gravity. From a formist point of view, we are now dealing with a story of deliverance. The situation of distress, and then the act of deliverance, are described in detail. So, compared with the Marcan version, the "miracle of deliverance" dimension has been strengthened. But at the same time, we must not overlook the fact that the sequence has a strongly paradigmatic character. In Mt, epiphany and the story of deliverance are placed at the service of the theme of discipleship.
- Emphasizing symbolic significance
As in the story of the stilled storm (Mt 8:23-27), Mt has reinforced the paradigmatic, symbolic aspect of the story compared to Mk. A few narrative features of the Matthean version illustrate this symbolic reinforcement. Firstly, in Mt, it is no longer the disciples but the boat that is endangered (Mt 14:24). This takes us back to Mt 8:23-27, a story that Mt clearly interprets as a paradigm of discipleship. In all likelihood, in Mt 8, the boat becomes the symbol of the post-pascal Church, a Church in a bubble with all kinds of distress[9]. Secondly - as I have already briefly noted - Mt's own passage, i.e. Peter's walk on the waters, has a strongly paradigmatic character. Both the dialogical form of the passage, the use of Old Testament psalmic language and the final proskynesis of v. 33 are highly significant. From the point of view of narrative logic, the scene is not without its problems, since the simultaneous proskynesis of all the disciples in a small boat is not without its risks! The ecclesiological character of the little scene is obvious.
- Emphasizing the theme of faith
The two aspects I have just mentioned - the modification of the literary genre and the deepening of the story's symbolic scope - result from the accentuation of the theme of faith. It is in this emphasis that Mt's central intention is revealed, and this explains the heavily modified reading of the Marcan text. Two elements are worth highlighting. Firstly, the sequence relating to Peter (v. 28-31) is nothing other than a theological teaching on faith - a theological teaching in narrative form, of course. Secondly, the profound Matthean modification at the end of the Marcan narrative reveals a new conception of faith. In Mk, the disciples are described as stricken with total incomprehension: "For they understood nothing of the loaves, [but] their hearts were hardened" (Mk 6:52). In Mt 14:33, on the other hand, the disciples become men of understanding, prostrating themselves before Jesus and saying, "Truly, you are the Son of God". As exegetical research has often pointed out, in Mk the motif of the disciples' incomprehension has a specific function. The Marcan disciples do not understand Jesus' true identity while he is alive. It is only in the presence of the Crucified One that Jesus' true identity as Son of God is revealed and formulated (Mk 15:39). Mt, on the other hand, describes the disciples as those who understand[10]. The disciples understand what Jesus is teaching them (see e.g. Mt 13:51). Jesus' teaching is aimed at the disciples' understanding. They understand not only his teaching, but also his divine identity. Yet Mt does not idealize the disciples. Our pericope, for example, describes the disciples - and in particular their representative Peter - as inhabited by fear, doubt and failure. The Marcan motif of the disciples' incomprehension is thus subjected in Mt to redesign of the context that is characterized by two aspects: on the one hand, the motif of incomprehension is detached from its primary context - the theology of the cross - but, on the other, it is taken up and reinterpreted using the motifs of fear and failure. For Matthew, the disciples have become the paradigm of life in faith proper to a post-pascal community.
IV. Fourth Approach: The Symbolic and Fictional Nature of the Story
Our analysis has shown that the Matthean story of the walk on the waters has many symbolic connotations. What then are the methodological procedures for determining the symbolism of this narrative? Essentially, I see three.
Firstly, we need to pay attention to the narrative and semantic features of the story, which hint at a symbolic dimension. I'll give two examples: From a semantic point of view, the use of the verb basanizein ("to torment") in v. 24 is unexpected. On hearing this verb, the ancient man does not first think of a boat threatened by waves, but of torture and suffering of all kinds inflicted on men. From a narrative point of view - as I have already shown - the disciples' proskynesis in v. 33 immediately suggests a shift to the symbolic register.
Secondly, there are a number of intratextual references that call for a symbolic reading. One such reference, echoing an earlier element in the Matthean narrative, is given with the motif of the boat, a motif that has already been interpreted symbolically in Mt 8; I have already emphasized this point.
Thirdly, symbolic meaning can be generated by intertextual references, i.e. references from our story to other writings, predating the first Gospel. Recourse to the language of the Old Testament Psalms is particularly important and significant here. A few well-known examples will suffice to illustrate the point[11]: the motifs of waves, wind, water and sea already have strong symbolic connotations in the Psalter (Ps 32:6; 42:8; 65:8, etc.); they all suggest the dimension of threat, distress and chaos, whether material or spiritual. As for the temporal indication of the fourth watch of the night, it evokes, on the one hand, the night as a sphere of threat and insecurity; on the other, it refers to the fact that the night will soon be over and a new day will dawn. In the Old Testament, daybreak is the time of God's saving intervention (Ps 46:6: "God helps at the turn of the morning"; Isa 17:14); in the New Testament, the time of Jesus' resurrection (cf Mt 28:1). Moreover, Peter's prayerful cry in v. 30, "Lord, save me! - unmistakably echoes the prayerful language of the Psalter (cf. e.g. Ps 69:2-3: "Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my soul. I sink into the mire of the abyss, and nothing holds; I have entered the abyss of the waters, and the flood overwhelms me").
It's clear, then, that this little story of walking on the waters symbolizes post-pascal experiences. On the one hand, it reflects the faith experiences of the Matthean community; on the other hand, it itself wants to evoke faith and help clarify it. It does so by depicting the condition of the disciple after Easter, more precisely by developing the important elements of that faith. It also does so by means of fiction. It is clear, in fact, that, theologically, this narrative presupposes the post-paschal faith confessing in Jesus the Risen One; in terms of our conception of historical truth, our passage does not recount a raw historical fact. I'll briefly mention the clues that support the story's non-historicity[12]. Firstly, walking on water is only weakly attested in the New Testament. Neither Mt's "Sondergut", nor Lk's, nor the Q document attest to it. Moreover, it should be noted that, unlike Jesus' exorcisms and healings, the story left no trace either in the tradition of Jesus' logia or in the summaries (Mk 1:32-34; 3:7-12; 6:53-56). Secondly, the image of Jesus sketched out in the account of the walk on the waters fits in very well with the development of post-paschal Christology. Jesus is described as a being with the divine competence to walk on water, to save sinking people and to calm storms. His disciples confess him as "Son of God" (Mt 14:33) - a post-pascal Christological title (cf. e.g. Rom 1:3-4). But how can this negative historical result be interpreted positively? By resorting to fiction, this little Gospel story aims to open the way to a new and deeper understanding of Jesus' true identity, and of the nature of faith. In its own way, it is a paschal reinterpretation of Jesus and faith. At the same time, it helps us to understand that the work of anamnesis always has recourse to fictitious elements and the imaginary, if at least it does not want to limit itself to simply enumerating, in a quasi-mechanical way, raw historical facts, but rather to unfold their meaning. The meaning of the past - in our case, the meaning of the person of Jesus - can never, in the end, be brought to language by the work of historical reconstruction alone; it is the fruit of creative, imaginative retrospection of the past. The author of the story of the water walk understood this necessity.
V. Fifth Approach: a Brief Phenomenology of Matthean Faith,Based on Mt 14:22-33
How can we describe in greater detail the path of faith presented to us in the Matthean story of the walk on the waters? What are its constituent elements? This is the question I'd like to address in this final, more systematic section.
- The foundation of faith
It is theologically fundamental that the sequence centered on Peter, which develops the theme of faith, is preceded by Jesus' epiphany to his disciples. Jesus' activity precedes the disciples' faith and makes it possible. As for Jesus' previous activity, two points are theologically important. On the one hand, it is Jesus' word in v. 27 that makes the necessary clarification possible, not Jesus' appearance as such. Without a clarifying word, Jesus remains a "ghost"! On the other hand, it is Jesus alone who makes it possible to discover his authentic identity, not the disciples. Only Jesus' self-revelation - an act which, at the same time, creates new life ("don't be afraid!") - makes what we call faith possible. Only this self-revelation of Jesus gives birth to faith, and leads to discipleship.[13]. In this context, faith is understood as a response. It is not a human act founded in itself, but one conditioned by the experience of Jesus' saving presence. It is not its own beginning; on the contrary, it is a response to a primary experience of grace, of God's presence in the person of Jesus. Matthew's Gospel expresses this fundamental aspect, among other things, by beginning and ending his account with the presentation of Jesus as "Emmanuel", as the "God with us" whose last words to the disciples will be: "And I am with you always, to the end of time" (Mt 28:20).
- The confidence of faith
Moreover, according to Mt - as indeed according to the synoptic tradition as a whole - faith is an active trust in Jesus' miraculous omnipotence.[14]. Like his Kyrios, Peter is able to walk on water - a skill which, according to ancient understanding, was reserved for divine beings.[15]. According to this image, faith implies a kind of participation in Jesus' omnipotence. Peter's walk on the waters is a suggestive illustration of Christ's Matthean promise that faith is capable of anything, that nothing is impossible for believers (Mt 17:20; 21:21). But - and this is underlined just as impressively in our story - this faith that transgresses all limits is not, in the final analysis, an act of which man is master, nor an act testifying to extraordinary heroism. Peter asks his Lord to command him (!) to come to him. Peter's faith is expressed here precisely in the fact that he gives up the idea of being able to walk on the water by himself, and instead expects everything from Jesus' word. Jesus' injunction in v. 29 - "Come!" - makes what she asks possible. Peter's faith, then, is a faith that surrenders itself entirely to the all-powerful word of Jesus; Peter expects everything from this word; thanks to it, he is able to renounce all security. Faith is an act of supreme audacity, a renunciation of all the security systems offered by the world.
- The crisis of faith
The sequence centered on Peter not only underlines the power of such faith, but also its impossibility. Peter fails. No one in the synoptic tradition has considered the problem of doubt and lack of faith as explicitly as the first evangelist.[16]. What are the results of his thinking? First of all, the concept oligopistia - which we usually translate as "little faith" or "lack of faith" - is not identical with that of unbelief (in Greek apistia). It is the crowd that is unbelieving, not the disciples (cf 13:58; [17:17]). But we must immediately add that, in Matthew's Gospel, the disciples are not presented as believers, but as men of little faith (oligopistoi). Surprisingly, it is not the disciples who embody the paradigm of faith, but almost always people from the "outside", such as the centurion from Capernaum (Mt 8:10) or the Canaanite woman (Mt 15:28).
Lack of faith (oligopistia), then, is not to be understood as a small faith opposed by a larger faith (see Mt 17:19-20!). Rather, oligopistia is to be understood as the expression of unbelief within faith[17]. What distinguishes the disbelief of the disciples from that of the crowd is the fact that the disciples have been graciously given access to an understanding of Jesus' identity. In Matthew's Gospel, the disciples are presented as the ones who understand. Their initial lack of understanding is overcome by the presence of Jesus and the development of his teaching. But the same disciples who understand are unable to persevere in faith when confronted with the reality of the world.
This problematic faith of the disciples is finally made explicit by the concept of doubt: "Man of little faith, why did you doubt?" says Jesus in v. 31. How does doubt arise? Doubt arises from the almost unbearable tension between Jesus' word and the experience of the world's reality. Thanks to Jesus' word, Peter has become able to walk on water. On the other hand, he is unable to stand by his word; the evidence of the world is stronger than the evidence of his Kyrios' word. Doubt, then, is not identical to the attitude of the skeptic, the one who has not yet chosen faith. Rather, doubt is born within the act of faith, and constitutes an element that is indissolubly linked to it. From a hermeneutical point of view, two elements need to be emphasized here: on the one hand, it is remarkable that the phenomenon of doubt is, quite simply, taken into account and thought through, and this in such a way that we are not moralistically asked to have an absolutely pure faith, a faith that would be unaffected by doubt. To put it a little provocatively: certainly, Peter fails by not being able to assume the tension between Jesus' word and the experience of the world's reality.. But it is precisely this Peter who is going to be saved! On the other hand, doubt is neither idealized nor glorified. Mt does not idealize the phenomenon of doubt; there is no theological coquetry in doubt. Faith, ultimately, is about overcoming doubt.
- Prayer of faith
Finally, our little story emphasizes that faith is expressed in and through prayer. Peter, in the middle of a shipwreck, cries out: "Lord, save me". In so doing, he once again expresses his faith, for he knows that it is only his Kyrios who can save him. Peter himself is unable to free himself from doubt and fear. Only Jesus' outstretched hand can pull Peter out of his desperate situation. More to the point, only the words of the Risen One in Mt 28:17-20 have the power to dispel the doubts of the disciples - disciples who "see" the Risen One, yet doubt his presence[18]. In praying to Jesus, Peter radically abandons himself for a second and final time. He surrenders himself entirely to the One from whom he expects everything. He can no longer resort to his own possibilities and capacities. He has had to abandon all that. All he knows is that he can invoke his Lord. But in doing so, he also knows that he cannot impose anything. Prayer is not a religious security mechanism. Prayer cannot guarantee absolute security for the one who prays. Peter could have been abandoned to his destiny of death, the same Peter who would later try to turn Jesus away from his path of suffering (Mt 16:21-23) and who would later deny him. Peter could have been abandoned - but he was not: Jesus heard his disciple's cry.
* This text is a slightly modified version of a lecture given at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Neuchâtel on November 4, 1996. Many thanks to Jean Zumstein who kindly corrected the article from a linguistic point of view! Andreas Dettwiler was professor of New Testament at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Neuchâtel, then in Zurich, and now teaches at the University of Geneva.

1 For the bibliography of Mt 14:22-33, I refer you to W.D. Davies - Dale C. Allison, The Gospel according to Saint Matthew, t. II, Edinburgh : T&T Clark, 1991, p 514f. To be added: Patrick J. Madden, Jesus' Walking on the sea. An Investigation of the Origin of the Narrative Account, Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1997 (see bibliography on p. 143-156). 
2 See on this topic Ulrich Luz, Die Jesusgeschichte des Matthäus, Neukirchen-Vluyn : Neukirchener, 1993, p. 96-98. 
3 See for example Charles R. Carlisle, "Jesus' Walking on the Water: A note on Matthew 14 : 22-33", NTS, 31, 1985, p. 155; "Matthew [...] uses Simon Peter as a model, almost as an archetype, of the role of a disciple of Christ". For the Matthean description of Peter, see above all Ulrich Luz, "Exkurs : Petrus im Matthäusevangelium", in : DERS., Das Evangelium nach Matthäus (Mt 8-17). Zürich /Braunschweig /Neukirchen /Vluyn : Benziger/Neukirchener, 1990, p. 467-471 (bibliography p. 451) ; "Petrus im Matthäusevangelium", in : Raymond E. Brown - Karl P. Donfried - John Reumann (ed.), Des Petrus der Bible. Eine ökumenische Untersuchung, Stuttgart : Calwer/Katolisches Bibelwerk, 1976, p. 68-95. 
4 See Jean Zumstein's argument, La condition du croyant dans l'Évangile selon Matthieu, Fribourg/Göttingen : Éditions universitaires/Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1977, p. 250. A slightly different interpretation by U. Luz, Das Evangelium nach Matthäus. op. cit., p. 409. 
5 See U. Luz, Das Evangelium nach Matthäus, op. cit., p. 405 ; P. J. Madden, Jesus' Walking on the Sea, op. cit., p. 103-106. 
6 See Reinhard Kratz, Rettungswunder. Motiv-. traditions- und formkritische Aufarbeitung einer biblischen Gattung, Frankfurt a. M./Bern/Las Vegas : Peter Lang, 1979. p 296s. ; U. Luz, Das Evangelium nach Matthäus, op. cit., p. 405. 
7 See U. Luz, Das Evangelium nach Matthäus, op. cit., p. 405f. ; P. J. Madden. Jesus' Walking on the Sea, op. cit., p. 105 ; Joachim Gnilka, Das Matthäusevangelium, Freiburg /Basel /Wien : Herder. 1988. p. 11f. 
8 See the formalistic analyses of Gerd Theissen, Urchristliche Wundergeschichten. Ein Beitrag zur formgeschichtlichen Erforschung der synoptischen Evangelien, G¨tersloh : Mohn. 1974, p. 102-111 ("Epiphanie mit soteriologischem Charakter", p. 106) ; John Paul Heil, Jesus Walking on the Sea. Meaning and Gospel Functions of Matt 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52 and John 6:l5b-2l, Rome : Biblical Institute Press. 1981. p. 8-30 (a "sea-rescue epiphany", p. 17) ; P. J. Madden. Jesus' Walking on the Sea, op. cit., p. 86-88. 
9 See U. Luz, Das Evangelium nach Matthäus, op. cit., p. 28f. 
10 As far as the Matthean understanding of disciples is concerned, the following works are always valuable to consult: Gerhard Barth, "Das Gesetzesverständnis des Evangelisten Matthäus", in : Günther Bornkamm - Gerhard Barth - Heinz Joachim Held, Überlieferung und Auslegung im Matthäusevangelium, Neukirchen-Vluyn : Neukirchener, 1975, p. 54-154, especially p. 98-117 ; Ulrich Luz, "Die Junger im Matthäusevangelium", ZNW, 62, 1971, p. 141-171 ; Georg Strecker, Der Weg der Gerechtigkeit. Untersuchung zur Theologie des Matthäus, Göttingen : Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1971, p. 191-206 ; J. Zumstein, La condition du croyant, op. cit. 
11 Apart from the comments, see R. Kratz, Rettungswunder, op. cit., p. 294-310. 
12 See for example Gerd Theissen - Annette Merz, Der historische Jesus. Ein Lehrbuch, Göttingen : Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1996, p. 272-275. It is to be noted that P. J. Madden, Jesus' Walking on the sea, op. cit., p. 116-139, has taken up and defended the old hypothesis that the story of Jesus' walk on the waters is a retroprojection of an Easter epiphany (concerning the history of the exegesis of Mk 6:45-52 and parallels in this perspective, see ibid., p. 1-41). 
13 See Heinz Joachim Held, "Matthäus als Interpret der Wundergeschichten", in : Günther Bornkamm - Gerhard Barth - Heinz Joachim Held, Überlieferung und Auslegung im Matthäusevangelium, op. cit., p. 194 ; see also Gerhard Barth, "Glaube und Zweifel in den synoptischen Evangelien", ZThK, 72, 1975, p. 287: "Jesu Epiphanie hat hier also eine Nachgeschichte: sie betreit zum Glauben und führt zur Nachfolge" ("So Jesus' epiphany has a follow-up story here: it begs to believe and leads to discipleship"). 
14 See for instance G. Barth, "Glaube und Zwetfel", art. cit., p. 269s., 280. 
15 On the power to walk on water and its religious understanding in the ancient world, see U. Luz, Das Evangelium nach Matthäus, op. cit., p. 406-408. 
16 See G. Barth, "Glaube und Zweifel", art. cit., p. 282. 
17 See Heinz Joachim Held, "Matthäus als Interpret der Wundergeschichten", art. cit., p. 281 ; Peter Bonnard, L'Évangile selon saint Matthieu, Neuchâtel : Delachaux & Niestlé, 1963. p. 261 , J. Zumztein, La condition du croyant, op. cit., p. 254. 
18 A valuable reflection by G. Barth, "Glaube und Zweifel", art. cit., p. 286: "Das Problem des Zweifels wird hier konsequent theologisch angegangen. Es ist gesehen, dass weder eine objektivierende Zurückwendung zur Vergangenheit der ersten Zeugen noch die letztlich gesetzliche Mahnung, man müsse eben glauben ohne zu zweifeln, hier weiterhilft. Einzig das Wort des Auferstandenen schafft Glauben und überwindet den Zweifel" (The problem of doubt is consistently approached theologically here. It can be seen that neither an objectifying return to the past of the first witnesses nor the ultimately legal admonition that one must believe without doubting is of any help here. Only the word of the Risen One creates faith and overcomes doubt.) 
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