Matthew 14:22-33
When you read this account of Jesus, you do not see the meekness
in Jesus but the authority of a leader, of one who is in charge. Matthew gives this account of what happened
after Jesus had fed the five thousand men and their families; “Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before
him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had
dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.” That is a leader, He is in charge, His disciples are men
under authority, and even this crowd is looking not so much for the Messiah as
they are looking for someone who will be their king, someone who will provide
for them, they are dismissed by Jesus.
What
happens to many of us, who go by the name of Christian, after a great
accomplishment, do we follow the example of Jesus and dismiss the crowds so we
can give thanks to the Father, or do we enjoy the crowd and forget it is Christ
in us? It is the Spirit of God who is
giving the victory. A leader always
acknowledges, always gives credit to the person who has accomplished the
task. That is what Jesus did, Jesus went
to the Father for everything, and that is what you and I must do if we are to
see God use us to minister to the crowds.
Often, we are told that being a
follower of Christ may put you in the boat with others and when the storm comes
it may seem God is not to be found. But
Jesus has a plan for you and I just as He did for His disciples, and Jesus was
aware the boat had gone a long way and it was being beaten by the waves, and the
wind was against them. Matthew tells us
it was the fourth watch of the night, and Jesus came walking on the water. “But when the
disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a
ghost!” and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them,
saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
And Peter
answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He
said, “Come.”
So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.” (Matthew 14:26-29)
If
that was the end of the account, we would learn when Jesus tells us to “Come” He means come, pay no
attention to those in the boat who are still hanging on to the life jackets, or
take no notice of the impossible obstacles all around you, just go! And that’s what Peter did, he was almost to
Jesus; he had his eyes fixed on Jesus from the moment he stepped out of the
boat into a raging sea. And remember
Chanel One, the deceptive channel, that channel was broadcasting this message
into Peter’s thoughts and remember the voice sounds like Peter’s voice, and it
is saying something like this; look at the wind, and we all know you cannot see
the wind, but you can hear it, and you can see the results of the wind. So Peter stopped trusting for just a moment,
and he looked at the sea and he believed the message of Channel One, man cannot
walk on water, and in that moment Peter began to sink into the sea. But Peter did what I’ve done many times, he
cried out “Lord, save me” and “Jesus immediately
reached out his hand and took hold of him saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Many never get out of the boat, but Jesus gets into the boat
and we are amazed that he can love someone like us, but He does. And when He is in our boat and our eyes are
fixed on Him, the storm ceases, and it is at this point we should do as they
did that early morning. “And
those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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