Grace
Matthew 14:22-33
God puts us into storms so that we can worship Him with more amazement.
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#Worship
Published October 1st, 2022
Main point summary
Walking on Water
notes
Main point summary
Jesus put them in the storm, came giving courage in the storm (causing Jesus' mercy to be displayed in Peter's little faith), and then stopped the storm, and that's why the disciples exalted Him as God's Son.
Walking on Water
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Matthew 14:22-33
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l Immediately he m made the disciples get into the boat
And right away (as soon as the people had finished eating) Jesus obliged the disciples to enter their fishing boat
and go before him to the other side,
and go to the other side of the lake of Galilee on their own, with the idea that he would follow.
progression
while he dismissed the crowds.
They were to start their journey even before the crowds were dismissed, so that as they were dismissed, the disciples were already on their way.
temporal
And after he had dismissed the crowds,
And after having done that
n he went up on the mountain by himself
he climbed up the mountain and perched himself on top
to pray.
in order to pray.
actionpurpose
When o evening came,
That was the state of things until the evening, at which time,
he was there alone,
he was still in the same situation, on top of the mountain by himself,
but the boat by this time was a long way 1 from the land, 2
but on the other hand the boat had made some head way across the water, and was quite a ways from land,
beaten by the waves,
and was getting swashed and smashed by waves left and right
for the wind was against them.
because the wind had risen up since they left and was greatly hindering their progress.
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And l in the fourth watch of the night
Now quite a few hours even later than that, very early in the morning in fact
he came to them,
Jesus approached the disciples in the boat in the middle of the sea
walking on the sea.
by means of a miraculous walk across the sea itself, in the middle of the storm!
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But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea,
Yet, even though Jesus was the answer to every distress the disciples might have, because they saw him walking miraculously on the ocean,
p they were terrified,
they were therefore surprisingly freaked out
and said,
concluding an undiscerned interpretation, expressed by the cry,
“It is a ghost!”
IT IS A GHOST!
ideaexplanation
and they cried out in fear.
and they proceeded to cry out in fear.
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inference
situationresponse
But immediately Jesus spoke to them,
Now as a result of this reaction Jesus spoke comforting words to them,
saying,
by saying,
q “Take heart;
Be courageous
it is I.
because I AM
q Do not be afraid.”
therefore do not freak out!
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And Peter answered him,
And because of these words Peter responded,
“Lord, if it is you,
Master, if your really the one standing there on the water
command me to come to you on the water.”
then order me out to you (I will not go unless by your command!).
conditional
He said,
And so Jesus said,
“Come.”
"I command you, come out to me on the water."
So Peter got out of the boat
All this resulted in Peter doing it. One leg after another he put his legs outside the boat.
and r walked on the water
and continuing, he ended up taking some steps toward Jesus on the water
and came to Jesus.
getting closer and closer to Jesus all the time.
But when he saw the wind, 1
But, though he had already taken a number of steps, something surprising happened when he noticed how strong the wind was. it wasn't that it wasn't there before, but because he NOTICED it
he was afraid,
so he got scared,
and beginning to sink
resulting in a slow and steady diminishing of his above the water-ness.
he cried out,
and thus freaked out again, crying,
s “Lord, save me.”
"Master, get me out of here!"
Jesus immediately reached out his hand
Jesus mercifully and quickly, by reaching out his hand, as he always does,
and took hold of him,
grabbed him solidly,
saying to him,
and said directly to him, as he was pulling him out of the water,
t “O you of little faith,
"O you who are just barely able to have faith,
why did you u doubt?”
why, after you had already begun to walk, did you doubt then?"
And when they got into the boat,
And as they walked over and got back into the boat,
s the wind ceased.
at that very moment all the storm that had caused them all the trouble all night settled down.
And v those in the boat w worshiped him,
And that's why those who were in the boat got down prostrate to exalt Him as God of very God's
saying,
saying outloud,
x “Truly you are y the Son of God.”
"You are indeed God's one and only Son!"
Their terror was really predicated in this case not on their being caught in the middle of the storm, but on their seeing Jesus in a way that they didn't expect to see him and concluding that he was something else.
What's being communicated here is not that he would be walking by them, as in other gospels, but that he was coming to them. That is why the situation response fits. he was simply coming. Since HE was coming, they should not have reacted so counterintuitively.
Commandments are blessings when we want him to command us to do things like this. It's like, "Lord, could you command me to make love to my wife, or fly, or do any other of the coolest things I could ever do!"
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Disclaimer: The opinions and conclusions expressed on this page are those of the author and may or may not accord with the positions of Biblearc or Bethlehem College & Seminary.