The Gospel and the Kingdom - Matthew - Walking on Water

 

TEXT: Matthew 14:22-36 – “²² Immediately Jesus ^[a]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, ^[c]“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.” ³⁴ When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret. ³⁵ And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick, ³⁶ and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well.”

Today we come to another of my favorite accounts in the miracles of Jesus. We will ponder the account of Jesus Walking on the Water.

We can see this portrayed for us in three sections –

• The events PRECEDING His Walk
• The events DURING His walk, and
• The events FOLLOWING His walk.

First, let us muse over the events PRECEDING His Walk

In verse 22 notice His COMMAND to the disciples, they were to cross to the other side. Knowing they were going to face this storm, He sent them out into it. Sometimes Thus in verse 23  we see His COMMUNION. He sought time alone with the Father. We often need to do the same – we need to live by His example. And then in verse 24 – we are shown the CRISIS – the violent storm seeking to destroy the disciple’s boat. Didn’t Jesus know this was going to happen? Of course, He did, and yet He sent them into it. God will sometimes send us into the storm to achieve His purpose.

So we ponder now the events DURING His walk Read about His APPROACH in verse 25. He comes walking on top of the angry waves. So, it is only natural to see the disciple’s ALARM in verse 26, this group of Disciples thought they were being visited by a ghost (possibly a demonic spirit). Jesus doesn’t leave them that way, He provides the ASSURANCE verse 27.

Now, I love this part – the ATTEMPT of Peter in verses 28-31. Peter first calls out to Jesus. Then when instructed he steps out of the boat, and what no one could have expected, he starts walking on the water toward Jesus.

But at this point, it takes a nasty turn -

• He takes His eyes off Jesus.
• He looks at the circumstances surrounding him.
• He begins to fear (look at verse 27b).
• He then starts to sink.
• He sends out a “flare prayer” – “Lord, save me.”
• Notice the continued focus on “He.”

Jesus then reaches out and lifts Peter up. What can we learn? Understand that Peter walked in faith and sank in doubt. Do we often do this? Step out in faith only to focus on the problems and not the Lord?

We finish this account with the AWE of the disciples in verses 32-33. They see wind cease immediately. They in turn worship Jesus as the Son of God.

Finally, the chapter ends with the events FOLLOWING His walk in verses 34-36. As soon as they land, many come to Him for healing, and so His compassion goes out to them and heals them.

So, how do we apply this account to ourselves today? Jesus has great compassion for those who are hurting, and seeks to provide for them. And in turn, we must remember that:

• To step out in faith often means we must step out of the boat and into the storm.
• We also often walk by faith, and stumble in doubt. With our eyes on Him we are safe, but when we look at the circumstances we struggle with our faith.`