Matthew 14:22-33 - It Was a Dark and Stormy Night...

Fear and faith are in a continual battle for control of your mind.

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Gospels: Week 5 - Jesus' power over creation, demons, hunger and unbelief

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CONTEXT: Five thousand men, besides women and children, have just eaten their fill of bread and fish that the disciples fed them in the middle of nowhere through Jesus' power.

Matthew 14:22–33 (NASB95)

²² Immediately Jesus 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!”

Nicene Creed

...And we believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,

the only Son of God,

begotten from the Father before all ages,

God from God,

Light from Light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made;

of the same essence as the Father.

Through him all things were made...

Summary

Yesterday's passage began with Jesus looking privately for a solitary place. But His rest was cut short when the crowd showed up hoping for Him to heal their sick. When the massive crowd became massively hungry, Jesus had enabled His disciples to feed them all with just five loaves of bread and a couple of fish.

But now that supper was over, Jesus sent His disciples on ahead of Him to the other side of the lake, and after He'd sent the crowds away, He finally found the rest He'd been hoping for - by going up on a mountainside by Himself to pray. How often don't we try and squeeze rest and relaxation out of manufactured experiences, only to exhaust ourselves even more in the process? We should follow Jesus' pattern of solitary prayer more often.

It wasn't until the fourth watch of the night - almost dawn - that Jesus finished His prayer and went out to the disciples' boat, which was being battered by waves driven by a contrary wind. But it's Jesus' mode of transportation that deservedly captures the attention in today's passage: He came to them, walking on the sea!

The disciples are understandably terrified because they think they're seeing a ghost (Greek = phantasma). But Peter - of course it's Peter! - boldly and faithfully calls out to his Lord, asking Jesus to command him to come to You on the water. After hearing Jesus utter the simple word come, Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

  Dig Deeper  

Faith has a mortal enemy: fear. It wasn't Peter's feet that failed as he put one foot in front of the other on top of the churning water, it was his eyes. Notice that it was when he saw the wind that fear got the upper hand in his mind and he began to sink. So often it's our sensory perception of reality that calls the shots. It has been so ever since Adam and Eve saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye.

But even in Peter's fear filled failure, it was only his faith that was left standing. As he sank, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" Matthew notes that Jesus' response was immediate. He stretched out His hand and took hold of him.

One thing we miss when we read written discourse, like this short conversation between Jesus and Peter, is the tone of voice the words are spoken with. Was Jesus angrily rebuking Peter with His famous and terse reply of You of little faith, why did you doubt?!? Or was there a gentle and reassuring smile on Jesus' face as he helped Peter back into the boat as the wind suddenly stopped? What do you think?

Peter, as he does so often, provides a myriad of lessons for us to learn from in this famous Bible story. But it wasn't Peter that Matthew, or any of the other disciples huddled in that boat, wants you to focus on here. They want you to know what they discovered on that dark and stormy night: that Jesus certainly is God's Son!

AAA Prayer (About)

• ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, whose Son has power over all that He has made;

• ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will walk by faith, and not by sight;

• ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

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