Amen and if you would please take your Bibles
and open up to Matthew chapter 14. Matthew 14
looking this morning at verses 22 through 33
as we continue in our sermon series through some
of the miracles of Jesus. Now, I'll be up front
with you. We're looking at Jesus walking on the
water, which is an incredible miracle. We could
have stayed in John six to see this from last
Sunday, but I want us to look in Matthew 14.
Because there, not only do we see Jesus walking
on the water, but we see Peter on the water.
This shows us something about Peter. This shows
us something about the disciples. And honestly,
this shows us something about ourselves. So would
you give attention to the reading of God's holy
word from Matthew 14 beginning in verse 22? Immediately
he made the disciples get into the boat and go
before him to the other side While he dismissed
the crowns and after he had dismissed the crowns
He went up on the mountain by himself to pray
when evening came He was there alone But the
boat by this time was a long way from the land
beaten by the waves for the wind was against
them and in the fourth watch of the night He
came to them walking on the sea But when the
disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were
terrified and they 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. But when he saw the
wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink. He
cried out, Lord, save me. Jesus immediately reached
out his hand. and took hold of him saying to
him, oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt?
And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
And those in the boat worshiped him saying, truly,
you are the son of God. This is God's word. Let's
pray. Father, we do thank you for this word.
We thank you that once again we get to see Jesus
do the amazing Do the thing that others would
say is impossible Lord help us to look upon this
story is truth And would you build up our faith
as we study it this we ask in Christ's name amen
It was a sunny day on Long Island sounds just
off of New York when a woman named Louisa Stead,
along with her husband and their daughter Lily,
decided to go for a picnic. Beautiful day. What's
better than a picnic on a beautiful day by the
water? But as they were eating, they heard a
scream, the scream of a young boy. And Mr. Stead
hopped to his feet, and he ran to the water.
He ran to where he heard the boy screaming. and
he jumped into the water to save the boy. But
sadly, Mrs. Stead and Lily watched as not just
the boy, but Mr. Stead drowned in the water.
Understandably, they were heartbroken. They were
devastated. Additionally, as they dealt with
their heartache over losing husband or father,
they didn't have any money. their source of income
was gone, and so they thought, what shall we
do? They were left poor. But they continued to
look to Jesus for help. They continued to trust
God for help. And trusting in Jesus, Mrs. Stead
wrote a hymn that I think that you all know.
"'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus." That's the
story behind the hymn. And shortly after this
incident, Louisa and her daughter Lily moved
to South Africa, where continuing to rely upon
Christ, they became missionaries. Friends, I
don't need to tell you this, but we live in a
world of tragedy. We live in a world of pain.
We live in a world of suffering and challenges
and affliction. And as Christians, we invite
even more of that upon ourselves. In a way, as
Christians, we sign up for suffering, that's
actually the story of Scripture, isn't it, of
redemption, but having to go through the storm
first in order to be saved. That's the story
of Noah. That's the story of Abraham. That's
the story of Moses. That's the story of Ruth.
That's the story of David. That's the story of
these disciples even. It's the story of believers,
and while it's unpopular to think, yes, I'll
sign up for struggle, God helps us through those
things, doesn't he? As he increases our faith
in Christ. Look in verse 22. Why are the disciples
in the boat, on the water in the first place?
I'll read it again. Immediately. He made the
disciples get into the boat and go before him
to the other side. You may be using a different
translation, but all the translations I looked
at said something to that effect. Jesus made
them get into the boat. Jesus told them to get
in the boat and go to the other side. Last Sunday,
we looked at the disciples along with Jesus as
Jesus feeds the multitudes, right? And then shortly
thereafter, the people are trying to make Jesus
king by force. And so what does Jesus do? He
sends the disciples. He wants no part of that.
He sends the disciples out to go to the other
side, to cross the Sea of Galilee. What does
Jesus do? Well, Jesus goes up on the mountain
to pray. Look in verse 24 They're out on the
water the boat is a long way from the land and
the storm is brewing and then in verse 25 it
says in the fourth watch of the night the timing
of this thing is very important because if you
again if you look in verse 23 you see that it
was evening when the disciples got into the boat,
but when Jesus comes to them It's in the wee
hours of the morning. The fourth watch of the
night, the way that the night was arranged to
be understood was in four watches of three hours
apiece. And if it's the fourth watch, or since
it's the fourth watch, it's between 3 and 6 a
.m. when Jesus walks on the water. The reason
that is important is because Jesus sent the disciples
out when it was early evening. Do you understand
what this means? It means that the disciples
are on the water all night long. They are rowing
hard against the waves and the wind all night
long, making little progress. The Sea of Galilee,
depending on where you depart from and where
you're going to, it's about four to five miles
across, going... two, three, four miles in about
nine hours is not good progress. They are getting
nowhere fast, but they're doing all they can.
Mark 6 says that they were straining their oars.
They're rowing as hard as they possibly can.
Years ago, I was out on Lake Joe Cassie, lovely
place, love being there with some friends, rented
some paddle boards, beautiful day out paddling.
But as you know, if you've been on Lake Jocasse,
sometimes the conditions can change rather quickly.
So out in the middle of the water, the sky turned
dark, and the wind picked up, and we thought,
we got to get back to shore. And so we turned
around. But paddling into the wind, it felt like
it took hours to get back to shore. That's literally
what is happening here. The disciples are paddling,
rowing for hours. Maybe even nine of them, ten
of them. And they are frightened, they are exhausted,
and surely they're asking, where in the world
is Jesus? Well, we know where he was and we know
what he was doing. The text says that he was
on the mountain and he was praying. There's really
two responses to this miracle. It's either disbelief
or belief. Some people think this is ridiculous.
How could Jesus actually walk on the water? But
Christians believe this to be true, that this
is factual, right? It's in three of the four
gospels. So you can either love it and believe
it or not. But would you like to hear my favorite
part of this story? My favorite part is the extremely
ordinary and extraordinary prayer life. Jesus.
Jesus shows us time and time again how he just
desired to be with his Heavenly Father in prayer.
I imagine that as the disciples rode as hard
as they possibly could, Jesus prayed as hard
as he possibly could, probably praying for them
as well, and it makes you wonder, were they praying
while they were rowing? Again, Mark 6 says that
they are making painful progress, slow progress,
and yet the text tells us that Jesus saw them.
And so if their prayer was for him to come and
help, that's exactly what he does. Look in verse
25. In the fourth watch of the night he came
to them, and now you see it, walking on the sea.
Job chapter 9 verse 8 says that God tramples
the waves of the sea and that's exactly what
Jesus does here. But please remember Jesus is
not walking on a calm water. Jesus is walking
on a water that is crashing with the wind howling
all around him and so the disciples they see
him from afar. They see something coming towards
them and they're terrified. And so you see their
reaction. They exclaim, there in 26, it is a
ghost. Now, a ghost is a fine translation, but
we could probably just use the transliteration
from the Greek, a phantasma, from which we get
our word phantasm. They are seeing a spirit coming
towards them. And here I'm wondering, you know,
Jesus has been casting out spirits. Are they
thinking this is a spirit, one of those spirits
coming towards us? But it's not. It's Jesus down
from the mountain. Jesus, who sent them out onto
the water, now comes to save them. But why? Have
you ever thought about that? Why would Jesus
send them out on the water just to come save
them? thinking three thoughts about this this
week. One, in doing this, Jesus demonstrates
his power over the laws of creation. John chapter
one tells us that Jesus was in the beginning
and that he created all things and so he shows
that these things, the laws of creation, are
in subjection to him. Just like when Jesus calmed
the storm in Matthew chapter eight, an entirely
different story. Here Jesus does something like
this again, the waves respond to Jesus. But second
thought, and it relates to the first, that as
Jesus treads the water underfoot, he shows his
deity. Look in verse 27. Immediately Jesus spoke
to them saying, take heart, it is I. Do not be
afraid. When he says, it is I, this is very important.
If you read it in the Greek, it would say, ego,
a me, which means I am. Do you remember the I
am statements of Jesus in the book of John? I
am the door. I am the good shepherd. I am the
resurrection of life and the life, right? And
so what is Jesus doing but saying that he is
from the great I am? We looked last. Sunday in
John 6 and we said that it's essentially a retelling
of the Exodus story. What happens before the
Exodus? Moses meets with God and God reveals
his covenant name. I am who I am. Yahweh. Jesus
in saying this, I am, ensures that the disciples
know that he is the promised son of God. Third
thought for the reason for all of this is Jesus
is testing their faith Jesus is strengthening
their faith again. He says take heart Jesus comes
to save but first they have to go through the
storm We're gonna talk about Peter in just a
minute in this text, but it's worth studying
the life of Peter To see this testing of faith
because Peter went through so much Peter persevered
through so much suffering. You can see it in
his time with Jesus. You see it in Peter's time
in the book of Acts, that Peter encounters opposition
and challenges and afflictions. Consider these
words from Peter. First Peter chapter one, six
and seven, it says this. In this you rejoice,
though now for a little while, if necessary.
You have been grieved by various trials so that
the tested genuineness of your faith more precious
than gold that perishes though it's tested by
fire may be found to result in praise and glory
and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Why do we go through challenges? Why do we go
through suffering and afflictions to strengthen
our faith? and so that we will rightly know who
Jesus is and sing his praises. I like how J .C.
Ryle puts it when he says, by affliction, God
teaches us many precious lessons, which without
it we should never learn. He says, by affliction,
he shows us our emptiness and weakness, draws
us to the throne of grace, purifies our affections,
weans us from the world and makes us long for
heaven. In the resurrected morning, we shall
all say, it was good for me that I was afflicted.
We shall thank God for every storm. That's a
very mature thought, isn't it? To thank God for
the storms of life. That's very opposite of the
mindset of people today. We don't want anything
to do with it. But Jesus showed us what it's
like to follow him, to take up our cross and
follow him. The Christian life is difficult.
It's challenging. We go through so much, but
God sees us through these things according to
his purposes. I was talking with one of you this
week, one of you going through severe affliction,
and you said that you hoped that your struggles
would help other people who might go through
a similar thing. Again, a very mature thought.
A thought of somebody who's being sanctified
to be more and more like Christ who suffered
in our place. Now, these are mature thoughts.
Sometimes when I arrive at Peter within the text,
I wonder, what is he thinking? Is he thinking
maturely? Is he thinking with wisdom? Look in
verse... 28, to be honest with you, I'm not sure,
but he does exhibit faith. Peter answered him,
Lord, if it's you, command me to come to you
on the water. And so that's what Jesus does.
He says, come. And so Peter steps out of the
boat, steps onto the water. And remember, the
storm is still happening. It's not calm. The
wind is howling. If I'm in the boat, And I'm
watching Peter take steps on the water. I might
be saying to Jesus, me next. But then Peter makes
a mistake. Peter takes his eyes off of Jesus.
Peter focuses on the dangerous situation at hand.
When he's focused on Jesus, he's successful.
He's okay. But then doubt overcomes him. And
we can be like that too, can't we? When we trust
Jesus, we're okay, we're good. Everything's gonna
be fine, but when we focus on the problem, that's
where the trouble lies. And so now, as I see
Peter start to sink, if I'm one of the disciples
in the boat, I'm saying, no, Jesus, I'm good.
And so Peter cries out, Lord, save me. And as
he does, we might be thinking that we have heard
this before, if you know the Psalms well. You've
heard this before. Psalm 69 begins in this way.
Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to
my neck. I sink in deep mire where there is no
foothold. I've come in the deep waters and the
flood sweeps over me. Save me. So Peter cries
out and Jesus reaches out his hand. And here's
the beauty of the passage, that as Peter takes
his eyes off of Jesus, Jesus never takes his
eyes off of Peter, right? Friends, I read a commentator
who said this week, God does not wait for you
to have perfect faith to save you. He does not
wait for you to have perfect faith to save you,
no. He is the one who works faith into your heart.
He is the one who regenerates you. Jesus is the
one who saves you. And upon being saved, upon
having that saving faith, then the sanctification
kicks off, where Jesus grows us more and more
to trust Him and to be like Him as we have the
indwelling Spirit. Friends, this text shows us
that we may struggle with doubt. But for the
times that we do doubt Jesus is here to catch
us Isn't it true God designs troubles for the
purpose of our growing our trust in him remember
Jesus is the one who sent his disciples out onto
the water and then he rescues them and So you
see Jesus and Peter they climb back in the boat
and the wind ceases yet again Jesus calms a storm
And as the disciples see all of this, they do
the only thing that I think they can possibly
do. They worship Him. And they say, truly, this
is the Son of God. I believe, if I'm correct
on this, this is the first time that disciples
ever say, this is the Son of God. God the Father
says it at Jesus's baptism. This is my beloved
Son in whom I'm well pleased. The demons say
this is the Son of God, but this is the first
time the disciples say, Jesus, we know this to
be true. You are the Son of God. And so friends,
you see the purpose behind the miracle. Jesus
is not showing off. He is doing this so he would
be trusted and worshiped. Friends, God uses every
trial that we go through. So that we might be
like the disciples To better trust him to better
worship him to better prepare for the storms
ahead Is there a storm that you could possibly
face that God does not control? Think about that.
Is there a storm you could face that God does
not control? Is there a storm he cannot handle?
Of course not Jesus treads over these problems
with ease and he comes to you, and he comforts
you, and he saves you, and Jesus says to you,
Christian, trust me. Trust me no matter what
comes your way. Trust me, and I will take care
of you. Let's pray.