Matthew 14:22–33

“Be Not Afraid”

Jesus Christ walking on the sea of Galilee toward a small fishing boat

Jesus Christ walked on water and invited Peter to do so as well. As Peter saw the storm and waves, he began to sink and cried out to the Savior for help. This lesson can help you follow Peter’s example of turning to the Savior during fearful or overwhelming situations.

Giving students time to answer. Sometimes students may not immediately respond to an effective question. Don’t be afraid to give students time to think about the question. At times, students need an opportunity to reflect on what they have been asked and to consider how to respond. Such reflection can facilitate instruction by the Holy Ghost.

Student preparation: Invite students to ponder the following questions from Come, Follow Me: “What could have inspired Peter to leave the safety of his boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee during a boisterous storm? What led him to believe that if Jesus could walk on water, he could too?” (“March 27–April 2. Matthew 14; Mark 6; John 5–6: ‘Be Not Afraid,’” Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families: New Testament 2023).

Possible Learning Activities

Jesus can calm us during storms of life

This lesson encourages students to turn to Jesus Christ for peace and safety during times of tribulation. In a future assessment lesson, students will be invited to recognize the progress they are making in finding peace in Christ during these times. Notice that there are multiple ideas in the “Supplemental Learning Activities” section that could be used in this lesson. Choose the activities that are most relevant for students.

Jesus Christ depicted walking on the water of the Sea of Galilee

Consider writing the following quotation from Matthew 14:30 on the board and displaying this image while students discuss the following question.

This image portrays a terrifying moment in the Apostle Peter’s life. Matthew 14:30 states, “[Peter] was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.”

What modern situations can cause youth today to feel like Peter?

Invite students to silently ponder the following question.
Is there anything in your life that is causing you to feel afraid or to feel like you’re sinking?

Ponder for a moment where or whom you normally turn to for help and peace when you are feeling this way. After miraculously feeding over five thousand people, Jesus Christ asked His disciples “to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side” of the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 14:22).

Read Matthew 14:23–33, looking for truths about the Savior that can help you turn to Him when you feel afraid or feel like you’re sinking. Be mindful of thoughts and feelings that come from the Holy Ghost. He can help you recognize how these truths apply to what you are experiencing in your life. Write the truths you identify in your study journal or in your scriptures. (Note: “The fourth watch” was between 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m.)

After providing sufficient time for students to write, invite students to write the truths they learned on the board. As needed, consider asking questions like the following to help students continue to analyze and learn from this account.

What truths did you learn from this account?
Where was Peter’s focus when he stayed on top of the water? What caused him to sink?
What did you learn about Jesus Christ that might help you turn to Him when you feel afraid or overwhelmed?

The following activity and video are meant to help students understand how focusing on Jesus Christ can help them in their difficulties. Based on the students’ needs, different truths from the account could be focused on instead.

The exercise below could be completed as a class using the following adjustments:

Display a picture of Jesus Christ on one side of the room. Invite students to write something that feels overwhelming on a piece of paper and to place it on the other side of the room. Then invite them to shift their focus from one side of the room to the other as suggested in the activity below.

Focus on the Savior

Peter’s example teaches us what we should focus on. Remember what happened to Peter when he focused on Jesus Christ and what happened when he shifted his focus to the storm around him (see verses 28–31). Write on a piece of paper something in your life or future that might feel overwhelming to you. Place this paper on the left side of you. Now place a picture of Jesus Christ or something else that reminds you of Him on your right side. Alternate back and forth between focusing your thoughts and eyes on the overwhelming situation and then on the picture of Jesus Christ.

How can focusing on your faith in Jesus Christ and His power and love for you during difficult situations help you?
What are some ways to focus on the Savior during challenges?

You may want to watch the video “Finding Christ during Difficult Times” (4:35), located on ChurchofJesusChrist.org, looking for what the young man in the video did to turn his focus to Jesus Christ during his challenges.

Consider sharing a personal experience of reaching out to God in prayer to receive strength and support from the Savior during a trying time. Invite willing students to share experiences as well. As students share, ask what they did to reach out during those times.

To conclude this lesson, record the impressions you have received. What did you learn about Jesus Christ and why we should turn to Him when we are sinking? What do you plan to do to reach out to Him?

Commentary and Background Information

How do our lives change when we focus on Jesus Christ?

President Howard W. Hunter (1907–95) taught:

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.” But if we turn away our eyes from him in whom we must believe, as it is so easy to do and the world is so much tempted to do, 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 in a sea of conflict and sorrow and despair.

(Howard W. Hunter, “The Beacon in the Harbor of Peace,” Ensign, Nov. 1992, 19)

Matthew 14:27. How can we “be of good cheer” when we are experiencing hardships?

Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained:

We cannot have “good cheer” [Doctrine and Covenants 68:6] and be mired in fear. The two—cheer and fear—are mutually exclusive. …

To be of good cheer is to trust [Jesus Christ] when things don’t work as we planned. It means to soldier on when difficult tasks and twists in life take us in unexpected directions, when tragedy and hardship shatter our dreams. But the Lord reminds us, “In this world your joy is not full, but in me your joy is full” [Doctrine and Covenants 101:36].

(Ronald A. Rasband, “Jesus Christ Is the Answer” [evening with a General Authority, Feb. 8, 2019], 1–2)

How can fear cause us to lose blessings that the Savior offers?

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared the following statement:

This scriptural account reminds us that the first step in coming to Christ—or his coming to us—may fill us with something very much like sheer terror. It shouldn’t, but it sometimes does. One of the grand ironies of the gospel is that the very source of help and safety being offered us is the thing from which we may, in our mortal shortsightedness, flee. For whatever the reason, I have seen investigators run from baptism, I have seen elders run from a mission call, I have seen sweethearts run from marriage, and I have seen young couples run from the fear of families and the future. Too often too many of us run from the very things that will bless us and save us and soothe us. Too often we see gospel commitments and commandments as something to be feared and forsaken.

(Jeffrey R. Holland, “Come unto Me” [Brigham Young University devotional, Mar. 2, 1997], 8, speeches.byu.edu)

Supplemental Learning Activities

A parallel of the plan of salvation

Peter’s experience of leaving the boat, needing help, and being safely brought back by the Savior can teach us about our own mortal journey and the plan of salvation. Ask students the following questions: What parallels do you see between this account and the plan of salvation? What do you learn about the mission of Jesus Christ when you look at the account in this way?

Matthew 14:27. “It is I; be not afraid”

Invite students to list help that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ offer but that people sometimes avoid because of fear. This could include things like praying, interviewing with a bishop, serving a mission, accepting a calling, or getting married. Help students focus on the fact that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ offer this help to them. There is no need to fear coming to Them or receiving what They offer us. Consider displaying the statement from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s talk “Come unto Me,” found in the ”Commentary and Background Information” section of the lesson, to help with this discussion.

Additional details in Mark and John

Different Gospel writers often shared unique details about the same account. Therefore, reading multiple Gospel perspectives can help us learn more about Jesus Christ as we study the New Testament. For example, a detail we learn in John 6:16–19 is that before the Savior came to the disciples, the storm caused them to cover only 25 to 30 furlongs on their boat (around 3.1 to 3.8 miles, or 5 to 6 kilometers), about 70 percent of their journey, after laboring through most of the night (see Mark 6:48).

Write Mark 6:47–51 and John 6:19–21 on the board, and invite students to search these passages for details that are not in Matthew’s account and to share what they learn about the Savior from these additional details.

Matthew 14:27. “Be of good cheer”

Draw students’ attention to how the Savior invited His disciples to “be of good cheer” (Matthew 14:27) even though they were in a difficult situation. Invite students to search for other scripture passages where the Savior invites us to “be of good cheer.” Discuss ways we can be of good cheer, even in difficult circumstances.