Jesus Walks on the Water

Jesus Walks on the Water, written by well-known writer Nancy I. Sanders, is part of Concordia Publishing’s Arch series of books, which includes a whole line of short children’s picture books about various characters and stories in the Bible.

In this story, Jesus comes to the rescue of his disciples, who are in a boat on the lake during a bad storm. Jesus appears to them by walking on the water. He tells them, “Don’t be afraid. I am the one who stands right here. I’ll rescue you today.”

Peter, who doesn’t have enough faith to believe that it’s really Jesus, and that He can walk on water, says, “Sir, if it’s really you, just tell me to come over there. I’ll walk on water too.”

Jesus gives the okay and Peter steps out onto the water. He’s fine until he looks around, realizes what he’s doing, and gets scared. Then, he begins to sink. He cries out to Jesus to save him. Jesus reaches out his hand and pulls Peter back up. He chides him by saying, “Why did you doubt, O man of little faith?” When Jesus and Peter step into the boat, the storm instantly ceases. All the disciples realize that Jesus really is the Son of God.

Matthew 14:22-33 and Mark 6:45-51 are the Bible verses cited as references for this story.

The illustrations, by Elizabeth Swisher, are expressive, but they are rather dark.

What I Like: I like short, easy-to-read stories from the Bible.

What I Dislike: The text is written in verse, and as you should know by now, I am not a big fan of stories written in this manner as they are difficult to write and do it well. Unfortunately, the rhyme scheme in this book is forced on several occasions, which interrupts the rhythm of the story.

Overall Rating: Good.

Age Appeal: The publisher suggests 5-9 as the appropriate age group for this book. However, although the stories are short, and there are lots of pictures, the language level is rather high for the younger end of this group.

Publisher Info: Concordia Publishing, 2005; ISBN: 0758608640; Paperback, $14.94.

Buy now at Amazon.com $12.70!

Special Info: Read our reviews of other books in the Arch series written by Nancy I. Sanders. Read our reviews of other books illustrated by Elizabeth Swisher.