Take a Step of Faith
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Recap
Recap
John the baptists death reaches Jesus
Jesus goes to get away from everything to spend time with his Father
encounters the crowd that followed him
Test’s his disciples faith in believing in Him to provide
Jesus uses what they have to feed 20,000 people to the point of satisfaction
Now what?
Orders and Dismissal
Orders and Dismissal
22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them.
Made - to constrain, Compel, make necessary their departure
It must have seemed odd to have your master, rabbi, tell you to make a 5 mile journey across the Sea of Galilee with out him just so He could dismiss the crowd. Sea of Galilee is 7 miles wide and 12 miles long. Roughly half the size of flat head lake. That’s quite the journey to suggest given they assumed that Jesus was going to have to walk around to meet them on the other side. Either that or he’d take another boat across.
There seem to be three reasons why Jesus ordered the disciples to make this trip without him.
He did this because He wanted to be alone to pray;
because He wanted to escape the crowd and get some rest; and
because He wanted the crowd to disperse so as to avoid a messianic uproar (John 6:15).
15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
One last thing to consider about this passage has to do with the effect that this “Messianic Uproar” could have had on the disciples if Jesus hadn’t sent them away. Think about it, they’ve been following him for a while now, some would say for 2 years at this point. They’ve been hearing him speak of His kingdom. He even sent them out to tell all Israel about His kingdom. It’s quite possible that if He hadn’t sent the disciples away, they might have been caught up in the excitement of the crowd and pushed him to speed up the Father’s time line.
He sent the disciples away with orders to go to the other side of the sea and he dismissed the crowds so that he could go up on the mountain by himself to pray.
Jesus was jealous for time spent alone with His Father. In the midst of His great ministry to others, He did not — He could not — neglect prayer. (TRAPP)
The disciples now find themselves a long way from land all the while, Jesus had been praying for them.
Long Way From Land - This phrasing in the Greek language isn’t near as vague as the english version. It literally points to somewhat of a measure of distance. (Polys Stadion) many stadion which a stadion is 607 feet. The sea was 5 miles across from start to finish. Some translations say that they were in the midst of the sea. Either way, they were way out there and they had been rowing hard for a while fighting the waves and wind that were coming against them.
Floating with Stephen - fighting the wind blowing us up stream. had to get out and walk the raft down stream.
It’s not that the disciples were afraid for their lives this time, but they had been long at it, trying to get across the sea and were probably a bit tired and overwhelmed.
How often do you find yourself rowing through life, getting beat up by the waves and winds of life and you feel all alone, like it all depends on you?
Totally Unexpected
Totally Unexpected
25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.
The night time in the Jewish culture was divided into 4 3 hour time frames or “watches”. The first watch started at 6pm and the last one ended at 6am. So, this time frame was between 3-6am approximately.
So, it’s pitch black, probably in the darkest hours of the night and Jesus decides to “come to them, walking on the sea”. That’s pretty unconventional isn’t it. Now, for a moment, lets try and grasp what’s on display for these disciples, who according to the book of Mark, were completely exhausted.
In the account in Matthew 8 where Jesus calmed the seas he demonstrated his authority over nature itself, why shouldn’t he, He created it! Here he does the same thing but with a bit more flare. He’s literally walking on top of what had been giving the disciples so much trouble for most of the night.
Water is the most powerful physical force on earth other than the power of God. Water formed the Grand Canyon in a matter of days if you believe the bible. Water and wind had been wearing the disciples out for hours and here comes Jesus literally walking on top of the waves.
26 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. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
Their response to seeing Jesus makes sense in a way. Why else would someone be on top of the waters? Some of these guys were formerly professional fishermen. If you saw someone walking above the water in the middle of a sea you’d probably think it was a ghost too. that is, if you hadn’t read this story 100 times.
After hearing them describe what they thought they saw and seeing their fear, what did Jesus do? He immediately spoke words of comfort and security to them.
Take Heart - or Be of Good Cheer - quite literally, the opposite of what we would think he would say. Get down, take cover, put your life jacket on! Take down the sails and pull out the oars & let’s fight this thing? Nope, he says, be of good cheer. That’s right up there with “count it all joy my brothers”. It’s the last thing that we would instinctively do if we focus on our situation and our circumstances with everything being up to us. The only reason that we can “be of good cheer” is because
Because it is Jesus walking toward us, the maker of heaven and earth, the one who has all things under his feet, literally has authority over the waves that are smashing up against us, desiring to drive us away from our destination. “IT IS I” “It is I AM”, the eternally existing one! Ephesians 1:22-23
22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
3. When God is present, and he’s omnipresent, We need not be afraid. “Do not be afraid”.
Peter’s Desire
Peter’s Desire
28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Peter - If it’s you?
Jesus - Come!
Peter’s step of faith. We want to belittle Peter for looking at the wind or the effects of the wind and starting to sink but he stepped out didn’t he! He had faith even if it was little faith.
“Peter walked on the water but feared the wind: such is human nature, often achieving great things, and at fault in little things.” (Bruce)
How many times do we find ourselves in the same situation but say something other than “Lord, save me!” We might say, “What’s up Lord?” Where are you Lord? What are you doing Lord?
Peter in the midst of his wavering faith simply cries out for Jesus to save him!
Jesus response is Immediate! He reaches out and takes hole of him and describes Peter
“O you of little faith, why do you doubt?”
You of little faith, actually looks more like, “O Peter”, “O Little Faith”
This little faith led to the doubt and distraction that made Peter sink under the wind and the waves.
(GUZIK )Peter here shows us the weakness of little faith.
Little faith is often found in places where we might expect great faith.
Little faith is far too eager for signs.
Little faith is apt to have too high an opinion of its own power.
Little faith is too much affected by it surroundings.
Little faith is too quick to exaggerate the peril.
iv. Yet Peter also shows us some of the strengths of little faith.
Little faith is true faith.
Little faith will obey the word of Jesus.
Little faith struggles to come to Jesus.
Little faith will accomplish great things for a time.
Little faith will pray when it is in trouble.
Little faith is safe, because Jesus is near.
“You do believe, and if you believe, why doubt? If faith, why little faith? If you doubt, why believe? And if you believe, why doubt?” (Spurgeon)
His description is accurate and his question is penetrating.
Jesus only asked this question once Peter was rescued. Yet at that point it was an entirely reasonable question to ask. Why did Peter doubt?
i. “Doubt is literally ‘be divided in two’; true faith is single-mindedly focused on Jesus.” (France)
ii. “If you believe a thing you want evidence, and before you doubt a thing you ought to have evidence too. To believe without evidence is to be credulous, and to doubt without evidence is to be foolish. We should have ground for our doubts as well as a basis for our faith.” (Spurgeon)
34 And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent around to all that region and brought to him all who were sick 36 and implored him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.
This all sounds very casual but according John 6:21 the “crossing over” was nothing short of miraculous.
21 Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.
We end our time tonight with the reminder that Jesus wasn’t like the religious leaders of the day.
“The stricter groups, such as the Pharisees and the Essenes, counted it an abomination to rub shoulders in a crowd — one never knew what ceremonial uncleanness one might contract.” (Carson)
Jesus was right there amongst the people, ready and willing to heal them even if it meant getting so close to them that they could touch him much less the fringe of his garment. Jesus moved toward the people with compassion as they moved toward him in Faith.
I don’t know exactly what you are going through right now. I don’t know how long you’ve been rowing in the boat of your life, against the waves and wind all around you. I don’t know how many times you’ve stepped out in faith or which times you sank a bit before Jesus rescued you. I just now that through everything that happens in our lives, we can know that He is right there with us and all he is desiring us to do is to set all our our worries aside, trust him, keep our eyes on him, have no fear and walk through life in his power based on his authority so the world around us can witness Him doing the impossible in and through us as those of great faith. Any doubts we have right now, Jesus can handle. But he doesn’t want us to stay there.
14 But I trust in you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hand;
rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!
16 Make your face shine on your servant;
save me in your steadfast love!
What is Jesus asking you to trust Him with right now. Trust HIM, not what you see and think you know! TRUST HIM! Walk IN BIG FAITH! Be of Good Cheer and do not Worry! Our God is in Control!
Let’s Pray
