Tuesday, June 5, 2018
Walk on water
Matthew 14:29
So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.
In the controversial rock musical of the 70s, Jesus Christ Superstar, King Herod sings, “So, you are the Christ, you’re the great Jesus Christ. Prove to me that you’re no fool; walk across my swimming pool.”
Jesus was no performing monkey doing tricks for the entertainment of those He stood before. Even in that piece, that missed the point of the gospel, they got that right, for Jesus never performed for any of the entreaties from their story’s mocking Herod.
Nor was Jesus an exhibitionist, invariably, His mighty miracles were performed in closed and small settings. Even His brothers had taunted Him about going to perform for the crowds and He didn’t bite the bait. “For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” John 7:4.
The one occasion when Jesus chose to go public and, in a sense, “put on a show,” he didn’t do anything that we would consider spectacular, instead, He went into Jerusalem riding on a donkey to fulfil prophecy. “They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.” Matthew 21:7
The present story on which we are meditating today is no different. In Matthew 14:22-33, we have the story of Jesus, going out to meet his disciples at sea, walking on the water. As we have observed, this event had a small audience of twelve. Jesus had just previously sent the multitudes away, set His disciples on a sea voyage, and He Himself went into the mountains to pray, as was His habit.
Unexpectedly for the disciples, the sea turned violent. If you have never been out on water that turned violent, this situation is very hard to comprehend.
When I was about 11 years old I was with a few strange men in a very small boat on the mighty Essequibo river when it suddenly and unexpectedly turned violent. Things were so bad that day that I have suffered from some memory loss of the events after the boat crashed into a pontoon loaded with stone from one of the quarries in that vicinity. I was on a mission to find my father that day when I had my first near death experience.
The Essequibo River is not the sea, but it can get really rough in that body of water when you are crossing it sometimes, especially near the mouth of the river. Last week, as visitors to Guyana for the Prison Fellowship Caribbean Forum 2018 were visiting the Mazaruni prison, the ride got a little bumpy at times. Some of these visitors, unaccustomed to river rides, were full of fear, some screamed, and one kept her eyes closed for most of the journey. The guy next to me, jokingly looked around and said to the 30 or so persons in the boat, “if you want to walk on water, get out of the boat.”
It is surprising that the disciples of Jesus seemed to always get scared in a storm at sea. Quite a few of these disciples were former fishermen who would have spent many a night out at sea and would, therefore, have encountered a wide range of different conditions at sea. Nevertheless, they were afraid.
Jesus, His prayer time over, headed out to sea to meet them, and since they already had the boat out in the water He chose to walk. Although close to dawn it was still dark and, combined with the weather conditions, visibility was low and so the disciples couldn’t see properly. In these conditions they declared the approaching Jesus to be a ghost. Twelve tough men are in a boat ready to run from a ghost. It sounds ridiculous now but in a near-death experience, the person who is fearing death sees everything differently.
These disciples were in an actual physical tempest out at sea. Many of us reading today are never going to be caught out there. Nevertheless, we are often caught in a tempest right here on dry land. Economic waves often batter us, and, family life and relationships for many can become as violent as the north winds. Right here on land, sickness and disease ravage us, and the pain of the death of loved ones can bring despair and depression.
The writer of the Hymn, It is well with my soul, Horatio Spafford, had himself seen many tempests in his life, and though he penned the lyrics while at sea where his daughters were lost, leaving Chicago where his son was lost, most of us who sing that hymn and find solace are never going out to sea.
Jesus came to those disciples in that tempest and Peter said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” Jesus called him and Peter, for a moment, walked on the waves that were battering the boat, and he faced the winds that tossed them back and forth. And then, just as inexplicably as the storm had come, Peter took his eyes off of Jesus.
Many of us, in a moment during a service, or in prayer and meditation, sense our faith welling up and we are prepared to walk on the water. But when the music fades, and reality bites we take our eyes away from Him and sink.
Think on these things:
- Have you ever had a near-death experience?
- If you had a near death experience what did it teach you about faith in God?
- What are the things that distract you when you are seeking to trust God to see you through difficult circumstances?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that we would keep our eyes on Jesus and not on the tempest around us.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex