"And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm." (Matthew 8:24-26)

So the question is, if not directly from the power of Jesus himself, how was Peter, not the incarnation of a god, able to do this? The key is found in two phrases occurring in both the scriptural references just cited, "O thou of little faith" and "O ye of little faith". Jesus revealed the awesome meaning of this concept after another failure by his disciples, who were trying to exorcise a particularly vicious devil. His response not only speaks to the lack of faith issue, but gives an amazing biblical explanation to a great number of the anomalous human powers, which are well documented in human history. After Jesus completes the exorcism, the disciples ask why they failed:

"Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." (Matthew 17:19-20)

The ability to move objects with just the power of the mind is known as psychokinesis. In perspective, a space one-inch square would be large enough to fit over 600 mustard seeds. And, the word "faith" has a very simple meaning; it is translated from the Greek word, pistis, pronounced pis'-tis, meaning; persuasion. It comes from the word peitho, pronounced pi'-tho, meaning; to convince. Therefore, this statement is saying that if you have even a speck of positive thinking about your ability to move objects with your mind, you can perform psychokinesis. And, by default, this would also apply to the feat of levitation previously covered.

Anomalous Human Powers Explained

The last phrase of Matthew 17:20 is something that the pulpit never addresses, and seems to have been completely missed by the uncounted millions who have read it; "and nothing shall be impossible unto you". Jesus is speaking these words to students who are humans, not angels or people about to become divine beings, and he is clearly speaking in the present tense. He actually expresses impatience that the disciples are not already positive enough about their powers to be completely proficient in their use, when he states: "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?." (Matthew 17:17).