When
they got up into the boat, the wind ceased. Those who were in the boat came and worshiped him, saying, “You are truly the Son of God!”
Matthew 14:32-33
Matthew 14 [29.] He said, “Come!”
Peter stepped down from the boat, and walked on the waters to come to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was strong, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
Matthew 14 [31.] Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got up into the boat, the wind ceased. Those who were in the boat came and worshiped him, saying, “You are truly the Son of God!”
Matthew 14 [34.] When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret. When the people of that place recognized him, they sent into all that surrounding region, and brought to him all who were sick, and they begged him that they might just touch the fringe of his garment. As many as touched it were made whole.
Meaning:
Peter had walked on the water toward Jesus, but when he saw the strong wind he became afraid and began to sink. Jesus caught him and said, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:29-31). These two verses end the story. The storm stops, and the disciples respond by confessing together who Jesus is.
- “When they got up into the boat, the wind ceased”
Jesus did not even need to speak a word. In an earlier storm he had rebuked the wind and the sea, and the disciples asked, “What kind of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Matthew 8:27). Now, as soon as he and Peter climbed into the boat, the wind that had been against the disciples all night dropped. Mark puts it the same way: “He got into the boat with them; and the wind ceased” (Mark 6:51). The psalmist praised God for this very thing in the experience of sailors: “He makes the storm a calm, so that its waves are still” (Psalm 107:29). What the Old Testament says of Yahweh, the disciples saw Jesus do.
- “Those who were in the boat came and worshiped him”
Worship belongs to God alone. When the devil tempted Jesus to bow down to him, Jesus quoted the Law: “You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only” (Matthew 4:10). Yet Jesus did not refuse the worship of his disciples here. He received it as rightly his. Matthew records people worshiping Jesus at several points in his Gospel, and here it is the reaction of men who had just seen him master the sea.
- “You are truly the Son of God!”
The title “Son of God” had already been spoken over Jesus by the Father at his baptism: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). The devil used it as a taunt: “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread” (Matthew 4:3). At the cross, mockers would shout, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!” (Matthew 27:40). The disciples in the boat replace that “if” with “truly.”
Their understanding was still growing. Mark notes that they were amazed, “for they hadn’t understood about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened” (Mark 6:51-52). Only later would Peter confess, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). But here, in the boat, they began to see it.
The Significance of Matthew 14:32-33
- Jesus brings calm
The storm ended when Jesus was in the boat. He does not always remove the storms of life at once, but his presence changes them. Those who have him with them can face the wind without despair.
- Worship as the right response
The disciples did not only feel relief; they worshiped. Every rescue and every answered prayer is an invitation to turn from the gift to the giver and honor Jesus as Lord. One day “every knee should bow” and “every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:10-11).
Cross-References:
Psalm 107:29: "He makes the storm a calm, so that its waves are still." God’s power over the sea.
Mark 6:51: "He got into the boat with them; and the wind ceased," Mark’s parallel account.
Matthew 16:16: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Peter’s later confession.
Conclusion: When Jesus and Peter got into the boat, the wind ceased, and the disciples worshiped him, saying, “You are truly the Son of God!” They had seen him walk on the sea and calm the storm, doing what Scripture says only God does. The passage shows that Jesus is worthy of worship and invites every reader to make the same confession.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible