Matthew 14: 22-36

²² Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away.

²³ After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.

²⁴ But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary.

²⁵ And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea.

²⁶ When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out in fear.

²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid."

²⁸ Peter said to Him, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water."

²⁹ And He said, "Come!" And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

³⁰ But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!"

³¹ Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"

³² When they got into the boat, the wind stopped.

³³ And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, "You are certainly God's Son!"

³⁴ When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret.

³⁵ And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding district and brought to Him all who were sick;

³⁶ and they implored Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were cured.

Confluence of events. I heard this passage referenced this morning, on the radio (I was listening to the Catholic radio station because the talk shows on there are better by far than the talk shows that play in the morning on the radio). Anyway. The host was using this passage as a proof of St. Peter's primacy. Because he was the first man out of the boat, heading for Christ. I don't know, that one seems a bit of a stretch to me.

But then, I was reading a discussion over on OrthodoxChristianity.net, about OSAS, and the same passage was used to argue against OSAS. Because, see, St. Peter was okay walking on the water as long as he kept his eyes, his focus on Christ. As soon as he was distracted and looked away, he began to sink. It was only Christ's reaching out for him, drawing his attention back to Himself, that saved him. So the poster's argument was that, if we're using this as a metaphor, then if OSAS was true then even if St. Peter was distract, by, say, the wind, then he should have remained okay walking on the water. But, because he wasn't, then it plays into the understanding that one can lose salvation, if ones focus shifts to other things besides Christ.