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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." ~ Matthew 14:25-33
Today, we return to our study of Matthew 14 where the Lord Jesus has just fed 5000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish. After performing this miracle, His greatest miracle, the Lord Jesus sent His disciples to Capernaum by way of a boat on the Sea of Galilee. The word "immediately" is used several times in this chapter. While out in the boat the disciples encountered the most intense storm. In fact, it was so intense they thought they were going to die. The Lord did not immediately calm the storm, He let it do its thing in order to reveal a great lesson to His followers. He had to, otherwise they would not have seen the fact that He is Lord over even the storms.
In v.25-26 of today's passage we read, "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."
Right on the heels of yet another miracle performed by the Lord Jesus, the disciples found themselves in yet another intense trial. This test, like all of our trials, was designed of the Lord to deepen the disciples intimacy with Him. At the beginning of the storm He was not with them because He had gone up into the hills to pray. The storm arrived when the disciples were at the most vulnerable spot on the lake, out in the middle. And, as the storm blew in, at the darkest moment in the night, the Lord Jesus came to them walking on the water. When the disciples saw what they thought was a ghost their fear increased. We miss out on much that God has for us because He, in our view, is often smaller than our storms. To see Him most clearly we must avail ourselves to the risks of our storms. To be put in the vulnerable place is a must in any relationship if we are to grow deeper and closer through them.
In v.27 of today's passage we read, "But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.'"
"Immediately" the Lord Jesus spoke at just at the right time. The timing of the Lord is always perfect. When we pull ourselves away from the storm to focus on Him, it is then that we see His genius. The Lord Jesus could have prevented the storm, but the disciples would not have been positioned through the storm to see the Lord as they did. The Lord Jesus desired to develop in His disciples a godly courage that is fed by trust, concluding that without Him they could do nothing.
The command, "Do not be afraid," was uttered because the anxiety level for the disciples was flooding their existence. Faith has the potential to grow in the context of the greatest amount of anxiety. Fear is a debilitating disposition compounded by the uncertainty of darkness and the lack of any control in our circumstances. It is in these contexts that our minds make the largest leaps and we find ourselves entertaining the most bizarre of possibilities. But, we must be led to these moments in order for us to see the bigness of our God. We discover in these moments that we are granted best to see God with our hearts. This does not happen without the confrontation of our fears.
In v.28-30 of today's passage we read, "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!'"
The Lord Jesus came walking to the disciples through the very thing they feared the most, the storm. Back in 2019 my middle son went into cardiac failure three times in one night. This was without a doubt one of my greatest fears. I was not prepared for what happened. But, eight days later, my son walked out of the hospital in his own power. The number eight is the number for new beginnings and boy has that come to fruition. I have seen especially great growth in the whole family in reference to our walk with the Lord Jesus. This is what happens when God confronts our greatest fears and we lay hold of the faith that He grants.
Initially, the disciples did not recognize the Lord, underscoring how intense that storm was that night. It was not until they heard the voice of the Lord Jesus that they recognized Him. To that point, they were fearful because they depended solely on what they saw with their eyes. When the Lord Jesus spoke they recognized His voice. In His teaching He had said to them, "My sheep hear my voice and they follow me." The key is to learn to hear His voice which will always correspond with His word, the Bible. When we spend much time in His word with Him, we will grow in our ability to hear His voice with our hearts.
One would think that the safest place during that storm was in the boat, but Peter had a different outlook on it. He decided the safest place for him was with the Lord Jesus. So, he left the safety of the boat. Peter walked on water as long as he kept his eyes on the Lord. But when he looked away he started to sink which prompted him to pray, "Lord save me!" Peter prayed when his circumstances were most dangerous. It is never too late to cry out to God, in fact prayer is the most important thing we do in a day. Peter's prayer reminds me of Jonah. From all appearances, it looked pretty hopeless for Jonah from the depths of the belly of the great fish. Choking on seaweed, one would think that praying time was over for Jonah. But, Jonah decided that it was never too late to pray. And, so he prayed and the Lord did the miraculous. Most often God does not respond in concert with our prayers but when He does, He does so because we asked Him. He requires that we ask so that our hearts will be engaged.
In v.31 of today's passage we read, "And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, 'O you of little faith, why did you doubt?'"
There is that word again, "immediately." That night on that dark sea, the disciples after having concluded that the Lord Jesus was a ghost, eventually saw Him walking on the water. Their doubt was necessary because through their failure they learned their doubt was the shadow cast by their faith. And, their faith was bolstered because the Lord not only won the day, He won a little more of His disciples hearts. This is how the Lord Jesus works in our lives, as He trains our hearts to see Him more deeply and more devotedly. He has to allow us to be taken over by our fear for some measure of time before He can demonstrate that He is Lord even over our fears.
In v.32-33 of today's passage we read, "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.'"
When the Lord Jesus got into the boat the disciples eyes were opened in a new way. They concluded yet again that the Lord Jesus is God. Trusting in Him is never a mistake because He uses every ounce of our pain to develop our heart's ability to see Him. And, the nice thing about our trials is they don't last forever. For the disciples the storm stopped, even the waves stopped according to the other gospels. More importantly, after the trial was over, the disciples were once again with the Lord. This is the key to life, not that He is with us but that we recognize that He is with us. This makes all the difference for us as we learn to abide in Him daily.
The only cure for our brokenness is our ability to worship this God who lacks nothing and who has promised to supply all our needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus. It is on this basis of His promises in the context of our trials that this process happens. We must be in the habit of trusting Him and watching Him as He works in our lives on a daily basis. And, as a result, we will discover that He is granting us the ability to trust Him in an increasing way with our hearts.
