Matthew 14

Jesus Walks on the Sea

22 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. 23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. 24 But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.

25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.

27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”

28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”

31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”

Summary of the Bible Reading

In this story, Jesus has just had a busy day ministering to the multitudes of people who follow Him everywhere.  He tells his disciples to get in a boat and go to the other side, while He finishes up with the people and sends them home.  Afterwards, Jesus goes up on a mountain to pray in solitude. 

As the night grows deeper, a storm begins to arise on the water.  The boat the disciples are in begins to toss in the wind and waves.  Suddenly disciples see a form coming towards them, walking on the water.  They scream in fear, thinking it is a ghost.

Jesus calls out to them, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”  Unsure whether this apparition is truly their Lord, Peter challenges the figure, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

Jesus simply responds, “Come.”

Peter gets out of the boat and begins to walk on the water towards Jesus.  But, then Peter looks around himself at the wind and the waves.  Fear grips him, and he begins to sink.  “Lord, save me!” he cries out.

Immediately, Jesus stretches out his hand and catches Peter.  Jesus questions him as to why he doubted.

As soon as Jesus and Peter enter the boat, the wind stops.  Everyone is amazed.

Lesson 

Prayer is Key to Seeing the Power of God

Prayer is key to seeing the power of God.  Even Jesus spent countless hours alone in prayer. 

Before many of the most amazing outpourings of His power noted in the Bible, it is also noted that Jesus spent time in prayer.  For example, in the account of Jesus feeding the five thousand with fives loaves of bread and two fish, it is noted that Jesus was in prayer before the crowd gathered, He prayed over the food before it multiplied, and then again after sending the crowd away, the Lord “went up on the mountain by himself to pray.”  Matthew 14:13-23.  Before he walked on water, Jesus spent time in prayer.  Matthew 14:23.  As Jesus healed a leper and a multitude of others from a variety of diseases, the Bible says, “He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.”  Luke 5:16.  And again, before the transfiguration on the mount, Jesus prayed.  Luke 9:28-29.  Before Jesus allowed the Roman soldiers to capture Him and the passion of Christ began, He spent hours in prayer.  Mark 14:32-40.  Even as Jesus hung on the cross, before He took His last breath, He prayed.  Luke 23:34.

The manifest power of God and prayer go hand in hand.

Do Not Be Afraid

Over and over again in the Bible, we see the Lord comforting His people, “Do not be afraid.”  However, like Peter and the other disciples, many of us live in fear.  We expect failure, not miracles.  We expect to sink, not to walk on water.  Thus, even as the Lord is performing a miracle, we begin to let doubt creep into our hearts and minds.

The greatest obstacle we face is often not a physical obstacle, or even an obstacle put up by another.  Instead, Fear is often the biggest obstacle we must conquer. 

Fear often prevents us from completely trust in Jesus.  We are afraid to “Let go and let God.” 

There was a mountain climber who wanted to climb the highest mountain. He began his adventure after many years of preparation. But since he wanted the glory just for himself, he decided to climb the mountain alone.

The night felt heavy in the heights of the mountain and the man could not see anything. All was black. Zero visibility, the moon and stars were covered by clouds.

As he was climbing, only a few feet away from the top of the mountain, he slipped and fell into the air, falling at great speed. The climber could see nothing as he fell and only felt the terrible sensation of being sucked by gravity. He kept falling . . . and in those moments of great fear, all the good and bad episodes of his life came to mind.

He was thinking how close death was getting, when all of a sudden, he felt the rope tied to his waist pull him very hard. His body was hanging in mid-air. Only the rope was holding him. In that moment of stillness, he had no other choice but to scream, “Help me God!”

Suddenly, a voice came from the sky answering, “What do you want me to do?”

“Save me God!” the climber screamed.

“Do you really think I can save you?”

“Of course I believe You can!”

“Then cut the rope tied to your waist,” God said.

There was a moment of silence; and the man decided to hold onto the rope with all his strength.

The rescue team tells, that the next day, a climber was found dead and frozen . . . his body hanging from a rope . . . his hands holding tight to it . . . only 10 feet away from the ground.

Fear prevented him from trusting God and achieving victory.

Keep Your Focus on Jesus, Not on Circumstances

A third lesson we learn in this story is that we need to keep our eyes on Jesus, not on our circumstances.  We take our eyes of the Lord, and instead begin to focus on the circumstances. 

But, if we are expecting the supernatural, then why do we limit ourselves to what we see, know and understand?  The Lord desires that we take our eyes off the natural.  Instead, we need to set our eyes on Jesus.  It is only when we stop focusing on our own inability and begin focusing on His ability, that we are able to expect great and mighty things.

The Book of Acts tells the story of the healing of the lame man who sat by the Gate Beautiful:

 1 Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; 3 who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. 4 And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” 5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6 Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” 7 And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8 So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God. 10 Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Acts 3:1-10. 

Here we see a sharp contrast between the lame man and the disciples.  The lame man’s eyes were set on the disciples.  He “expect[ed] to receive something from them.”  Acts 3:5.  But, the disciples turned to the Lord.  They did not look in their own pocket for spare change.  They did not try to bless the lame man through their own ability.  Instead, they recognized their own inability, admitting, “Silver and gold I do not have.”  Acts 3:6.  The disciples then turned to what they did have, the name of Jesus.  They looked to God.  And they expected the Lord to perform a miracle.  Thus, they took the lame man “by the right hand and lifted him up.”  Acts 3:7.  “[I]mmediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.”  Acts 3:7.

As we look to the Lord, praying with expectation, the Lord will perform the miracle we are desiring.

When They Got Into the Boat, the Wind Ceased

Verse 32, “And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased,” is an amazing verse.  Too often we wait outside the boat waiting for the wind to cease.  We say, we will only step into the boat after the wind ceases.  When things are calm and happy and all the troubles are out of our lives, only then will we trust fully in Jesus.  We will not get “into the boat” with Jesus.  But here we see, the winds continued, the storm did not stop, until Peter got into the boat with Jesus.  And as soon as Peter got into the boat with Jesus, the wind ceased.  In the same way, sometimes we have to trust Jesus even before we see the miracle…and then He will do the miracle.

We have often seen that Jesus shows people His power, once, twice and even three times.  But, at some point, He requires a commitment, a real belief, before He continues to perform miracle after miracle. 

Conclusion

Let us put aside all fear and step into the boat with Jesus, keeping our eyes focused on Him.  He will never fail us.

My dad gave me a 1 dollar bill,
’Cause I’m his smartest son!
And I swapped it for 2 shiny quarters,
’Cause 2 is more than 1!

And then I took the quarters,
And traded them to Lou,
For 3 dimes (I guess he didn’t know),
That 3 is more than 2.

Just then along came old blind Bates,
And just ’cause he can’t see,
He gave me 4 nickels for my 3 dimes,
And 4 is more than 3.

And I took the nickels to Mr. Coombs,
Down at the seed-feed store,
And the fool gave me 5 pennies for them,
And 5 is more than 4.

And then I went and showed my dad,
And he got all red in the cheeks,
And closed his eyes and shook his head,
Too proud of me to speak!

Sometimes we are not as smart as we think we are.  We use our “wisdom” to get ahead…only to find that we have not gotten ahead at all…but have in fact fallen behind.  Why is this?  Because there is a difference between earthly wisdom and Godly wisdom. 

Earthly wisdom is generally premised in envy and self-seeking.  Such wisdom tells us that telling a small “white” lie is okay in order to get ahead.  Such wisdom tells us that the rules of business and the rules of life are different…in business we will have to lie, cheat and deceive to succeed.  Such wisdom tells us that ultimately we need to look out for no one other than ourselves. 

But, Godly wisdom is completely different.  Godly wisdom is pure and gentle.  It is willing to bow down before others.  It is humble and merciful, full of goodness.  Such wisdom tells us that all lies are from the devil and the truth shall set us free.  Such wisdom tells us that business is a part of life and we must never compromise our ideals.  Such wisdom tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves.

This week I really wanted to go to the fair.  But, no one would come with me.  Earthly wisdom told me to throw a tantrum and get my way .  But, Godly wisdom told me to be patient and pray.  I chose Godly wisdom and ended up going to the fair not only once, but twice!

This reminds me of an incident with a friend of mine.  She applied for a job.  And her husband convinced her to lie on her CV.  She said she had certain certifications that she did not have.  Well, the employer asked her to produce the certificates.  Now, she was in a bind.  She thought to lie again and say that the certificates had been lost.  Worldly wisdom said this would be best.  The employer would probably not push too hard and give her the job.  But, Godly wisdom said to tell the employer the truth, even if this meant risking not getting the job.  We prayed.  She decided to tell the truth.  And guess what?  The employer was so impressed by her honesty that he hired her immediately and said, “You are just the type of person I was looking for!”

I want to challenge you.  This week, try to use Godly wisdom instead of earthly wisdom when making your decisions…and see the difference.

And if you are thinking, “But I do not have Godly wisdom,” ask God.  The Bible tells us that God gives wisdom freely to those who ask!  See James 1:5.

Jon shared that some time back, he developed excruciating pain in his back that would run down his leg.  When the doctors ran tests, they discovered that Jon had two herniated discs that had ruptured.  These discs were pushing on some nerves, causing extreme pain.  Jon was unable to sit.  He would go to work and stand for 8 hours as he worked.  When he came home, he would just lie flat on his back, unable to do anything.  In the middle of the night he would wake up in unbearable pain.

The doctors told Jon, the only cure was surgery.  They said that without surgery, Jon was likely to become paralyzed.  But even with surgery, the prognosis was not good.  Surgery was very risky with a low success rate.  They said even with surgery, there were chances Jon would become paralyzed.

Jon decided against surgery.

Despite the pain, Jon and his wife continued to attend church and continued to pray for a miracle. 

Just as Jon was beginning to feel discouraged and lose hope, the pastor in his church started a series of messages about healing.  For an entire year, every Sunday, the pastor would preach on healing.  And Jon told me that is what made the difference.  During the week, Jon would be in excruciating pain.  And just as he would begin to lose hope, Sunday would roll around and Jon would go to church.  In church, the pastor would preach a fire-filled message on healing.  Jon said, immediately his faith would rise and he would have the hope and strength to face another week.

And as Jon’s faith rose, one day in January, one of the associate pastors in his church had a word of knowledge.  He said, “Someone has a slipped disc problem in the left side.  God is healing it right now!”  And from that moment onwards, Jon’s pain completely disappeared!  Jesus healed him!

In Romans 10:17, the Bible tells us, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  As Jon heard the word of God every Sunday in church, his faith increased.  And eventually he received his miracle.

Many people wonder why they need to attend church.  They say, “I believe in God.  I pray.  That is enough.”  But attending church is important, because there we have the opportunity to hear the word of God.  And that is how faith grows.  And faith is a key ingredient to seeing miracles in our lives.  We should never be satisfied with how much faith we have…we should always want more.  There is no such thing as “too much faith.” 

In addition to attending church to hear the word of God, we also should read His word.  Now, you may say, the scripture says “hearing” results in faith, not “reading.”  But, my little three year old nephew put it best when he said, “When we read the Bible, we are speaking it to our heart!”  So, our heart is hearing the word…and faith comes!

So today, if your faith is weak…if it is wavering…if it is lost…or even if it is strong…I encourage you to “hear” the Word of God.  As you do, faith will come…and when faith comes…so will your miracle!