Eyes on Jesus | Peter Walking Toward Jesus on the Water

About Eyes on Jesus A Note from Mark Mabry It is past midnight on the Sea of Galilee. The disciples have been rowing against the wind for hours. They see a figure walking on the water and they think it is a ghost. Then they hear his voice. Peter answers him. He does not ask for a sign. He asks for a command. Not proof. A job. Jesus says come. And Peter swings a leg over the side and steps onto the sea. Look at the boat. Some of those men barely knew each other yet. Their reactions probably ran from horror to admiration to "I can't believe he is actually doing this." Some friends call us back when faith looks risky. Some friends cheer us forward. They raise their hands, not their eyebrows. They pray while you step. That is how God keeps us steady on the water together. Following Jesus freaks me out (maybe that's the point). What is Jesus telling me to do? If I do it, what will it do to the guys in my boat? Will they call me back, or will they jump out with me? I used to feel sorry for Peter when he sank. Now I think he was lucky. He sank in front of the only Person who could reach in and pull him out. He had to sink to walk with Jesus. So did I. This is a painting. I art-directed it with Pieter Van Tonder, a South African painter I recruited a few years ago to paint Christ. We built the water first in 3D motion, frame by frame, until it behaved the way real water behaves under that light. Then Pieter painted the whole thing by hand from that reference. The water. The men in the boat. Peter. The face Peter cannot stop looking at. This is what I am after with modern Christian art. A realistic image of Christ that puts a question in the room. A few weeks after the piece came out, my sixteen-year-old son asked me to hang it in his bedroom. I keep thinking about that. He is at the age where Peter's question matters most. ps. Peter walked on water twice. The first was the gutsy walk away from his friends. The second was the walk back to the boat with Jesus on his arm. After that second walk, for the first time in the gospels, the men in the boat fell down and worshipped Jesus together. Faith done in front of friends pulls them with us. "Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water." (Matthew 14:28, KJV) The original solo moment, with Jesus walking on water before Peter joins, lives in Walking on Water. The post-resurrection John 21 painting, Peter again throwing himself into the sea, is Heart Overboard. Common questions What scene does Eyes on Jesus depict? Matthew 14:22-33. Past midnight on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus walking on water alone on the left of the frame. Peter walking toward Him in the middle. The disciples watching from the boat on the right. Is Eyes on Jesus a painting? Yes. Mark Mabry art-directed the piece with South African painter Pieter Van Tonder. The water was built first in 3D motion, then Pieter painted the whole scene by hand from that reference. What is unique about the aerial composition? Most depictions of Peter walking on water put the viewer at sea level. Eyes on Jesus puts the viewer above the scene. The aerial perspective reads as witness. The boat, Peter, and Jesus are all in view at once, and the distance between Peter and the Savior is closing. Where does Eyes on Jesus look best in a home? In a bedroom, an entryway, a study, or anywhere the question Peter asks belongs in the room. Collectors describe it as the image that asks more than it tells. Who is Eyes on Jesus for? For the person being asked to step out of the boat. For the home where faith is more of a posture than a certainty. For the friend who cheers others forward.