The Authority of the King pt. 5

Opening:

Good-morning again, Connection Church! I am so glad that you have decided to come out and worship Christ with us together. It is a beautiful thing to gather together on the Lord’s day to worship. And that is why we are here. We are here to worship Jesus. Though we may benefit from this gathering, as we greatly do, the purpose is worship God. We worship God together here by singing praises to God, by learning of truths, by the giving of our offerings, by the reading and preaching of God’s Word, by gathering around the Lord’s table, and we will continue tonight by baptizing someone in obedience to Christ’s command in Scripture. It is a beautiful day and I am so grateful to be here with you all.

Introduction of the Text:

At this time we are transitioning into our time of worship where we will read the word of God and hear preaching. I would ask that you open with me to Matthew 14:13-36. If you do not have a Bible, we have Bibles on the table by the door, if you do not own a Bible, please keep that as our gift to you. We have been working verse by verse through the book of Matthew and we are now come to some of the most interesting and amazing miracles of Christ. Matthew has been walking through the life of Christ. The apostle has taught us many incredible things about Christ, but one thing Matthew has brought us back to again and again is the authority of Christ. Matthew is emphasizing the fact that Jesus is the King of kings. That He is the fulfilment of Old Testament prophesy. Matthew is teaching us that Jesus is God. And as King over all, Jesus has authority over all. This is why Matthew has taken us back again and again to the authority of Christ. Matthew has shown us that Jesus has authority over sickness and disease. He has shown us Jesus’ authority over nature in calming the storm. He has shown us Jesus’ authority over demons. He has shown us that Jesus has authority over sin and death, proving Christ to be God. Now again Matthew emphasizes the incredible authority of Christ.

Reading of the Text:

With this in mind, I would ask the congregation to stand with me for the reading of God’s Word.

Matthew 14:13-36

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. 15 Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Water

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. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 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.”

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.”

Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret

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.

The Word of God, let’s pray.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for who you are. You are God, the maker of all. The fact that we can come together and worship you is amazing. Lord, may we always be in complete awe at the fact that you call us your own. You have saved us. You have made us yours. You have adopted us. We love you Lord and we thank you for all the wondrous gifts and blessings you have given us. May we worship you with all of our hearts and lives.

Lord, I ask for the lost in this place and in this community. Draw them to yourself. Lord, I ultimately do not know the state of those here. They may be lost. If they are, may they come to faith in you today. May they cry out to you and find salvation in faith in you alone. Lord, I cannot save them. I cannot convince them of anything. But Lord, you can save them. You can draw them unto yourself. Please do so today. And help us to be a light in this community. May people hear the gospel from our lips, and may we not shy away from declaring the truth of the gospel to them. Please let us see people saved in Lead, SD because of this, your church.

Lord, I ask for those who are saved here. Continue to grow them. Draw them into deeper and deeper waters of holiness. May they more and more fall in love with you and your word. Make us a holy people. Convict us of our sins and help us to mortify our sins. Make us a people who are passionate about you and your word.

Lord, I ask finally for myself. Please help me to faithfully preach your word. I cannot do this without you. Help me to be faithful in life and in pulpit. May I never take for granted this terrifying position you called me to. May I tremble before you in this pulpit. Help me to speak the truth of your word boldly. And please keep my mouth from speaking any lies or anything untrue of you or your word.

In Jesus name, amen.

Transition:

As we open this text, we see that Jesus feeds the five thousand.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand.

Explanation:

The text opens with the phrase, “When Jesus heard this…” What did Jesus hear? Well, remember that in the last passage, Herod has heard of the fame of Jesus he thought that Jesus was John the baptist come back to life. Jesus was in Herod’s territory. So Jesus, after hearing of Herod’s inquiries into Him, got into one of the disciple’s boats and sailed to a desolate place. Now the people were still wanting to follow Jesus and see Him and His signs and wonders. So they followed on shore. So great was the following that when Jesus landed on shore, there was a great crowd. Jesus, instead of sending them away, had compassion on them and healed the sick among them. As the day drew on, the disciples came and urged Jesus to send the crowd away so that they may go and buy food. Jesus tells the disciples to feed this crowd.

There were five thousand men here. This does not mean that the crowd was only men, but it was how they counted in those days. So in all likelihood there were twice that number, but it is more than likely that number was more than doubled when you counted the women and children. The disciples obviously cannot provide food for this amount of people. They tell Jesus that they have five loaves and two fish. The gospel account of John tells us that this small amount of food was brought to them by a young boy. The disciples have no way of knowing what Jesus will do. They tell Jesus that they only have five loaves and two fish. This meal would not satisfy but a few people. There are likely over ten thousand people in this crowd. Jesus then tell them to bring the meager meal to Him.

He ordered the crowd to sit down on the grass and blessed the meal. He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples. The disciples gave out this meal to the crowds. But something strange happened. They did not run out of food after the third person. They continued to give out food until all had eaten and were satisfied. Then the disciples brought back twelve full baskets. Jesus had miraculously multiplied the bread and fish.

Argumentation:

This was not just an act of providing food for the people. Jesus, in compassion created more food. Many have tried to deny the miraculous nature of what Jesus did here, but make no mistake, Jesus performed an amazing miracle here. Matthew Henry said on this passage, “Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? Yes, he can, when he pleases, a plentiful table.” Jesus turned this meager meal into enough food to feed a massive crowd. J.C. Ryle says it this way, “To satisfy the hunger of more than five thousand people with so small a portion of food as five loaves and two fishes, would be manifestly impossible without a supernatural multiplication of the food. It was a thing that no magician, impostor, or false prophet would ever have attempted.”

Yet perhaps the most amazing thing is not the miracle itself, but what this testifies to us about who Christ is. Who is this man who may create more food at will? Who is this who may simply bring things into existence? This is Christ the Lord, and this is what He may do. Jesus is the one who created all. John 1:1-3 says “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” Or hear Paul’s statement in his letter to the Colossians in Colossians 1:15-20 “15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”

Jesus is the one who made all. He brought all things into existence from nothing. Here, He is showing this vast power and authority over creation again in making more bread and fish. Again, the J.C. Ryle says “Yet this is the mighty work which our Lord actually performed, and by performing it gave a conclusive proof that He was God. He called that into being which did not before exist. He provided visible, tangible, material food for ten thousand people, out of a supply which in itself would not have satisfied fifty. Surely we must be blind if we do not see in this the hand of Him “who provideth food for all flesh,” and made the world and all that therein is. To create is the peculiar prerogative of God.”

Christ is here proving Himself to be God. He is the one who made all things. He is the one who multiplied the bread and the fish to feed over ten thousand people. As amazing as the miracle is, we must see the more amazing thing in this story. We must see Jesus. This is God, Himself. Christ is God in the flesh. God came to earth. God provided food for these people. God walked among men. I pray we may actually grasp some of the amazing nature of the fact that God became a man. We too often gloss over it and pass it by. Oh how I wish for you, my beloved, to grasp this.

Transition:

But Jesus is not done showing His authority over creation. In the next part of the story we see Jesus walks on the Water.

Jesus Walks on the Water.

Explanation:

Look with me again at verses 22-32. 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. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 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.”

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.”

Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and start sailing to the other side of the sea of Galilee. John tells us that the crowds were wanting to take Jesus by force and make Him king. This was not to be, so Jesus while He was dismissing the crowd had the disciples start sailing. Jesus then went away by himself to pray. When evening had come, the boat was a long way from shore, and a storm had arisen over the sea of Galilee, as is so common there. The text says that the wind and waves were beating against the boat. Then in the fourth watch of the night, right before dawn, Jesus came to them. They had been struggling all night and Jesus comes to them. But Jesus does not just appear on the boat. No, He comes to them, walking on the sea.

Matthew says this such a matter of fact way. Jesus came to them walking on the sea. The disciples react appropriately. They are terrified! This is the appropriate response. They started to panic and scream that it is a ghost come to them. Now, the disciples have gotten a bad wrap for this account that they don’t deserve. So many preachers have ridiculed the disciples for being superstitious wimps for thinking some kind of ghost or spirit is approaching them. But I don’t think so. I think the disciples had a better understanding of physics and reality than those preachers do. You see, the disciples knew a few key facts about their situation. First, they were far from shore. They were out in the middle of sea of Galilee, and they knew it. They were highly experienced sailors and fishermen. Second, the disciples knew that they saw someone walking on top of the waves in the middle of this gale. Someone was approaching, but was not swimming. That someone was walking on the water. Third, and most importantly, they knew that humans can’t walk on water. They were smarter than some of these preachers because they understood that only the divine and supernatural can walk on top of water. People sink in.

This is a very accurate observation. But Jesus does not leave them in their state of fear, He calls out to them and tells them “Take heart! It is I, do not be afraid!” Then, Peter does as Peter tends to do. He takes a bold step to be with his beloved Lord. He says, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” This is incredible. Jesus says “Come.” So Peter gets out, and rather than sink, he walks to Jesus on the water! We now have two men out walking on the water in the middle of the storm. This is an incredible miracle. Jesus is defying the laws of nature and is now enabling Peter to do so! But Peter meets with less success than Christ does. He begins to see the wind and waves and gets scared, and he begins to sink. He cries out to Christ for salvation and Jesus immediately grasps him and saves him. Jesus asks Peter, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Then another miracle happens. When they get into the boat, the wind and waves cease. Jesus calms the storm again, as He did previously.

Argumentation:

This is an incredible story. There is a reason that so many sermons are preached on this passage. It is such a dramatic passage, isn’t it? It is so intriguing and paints such a vivid picture in the mind. We can almost smell the salty water splashing. We can see the disciples striving so hard to keep the boat in check. We can picture in our minds, Christ just coming into view of them in the cloudy moonlight. We can picture Peter stepping out of the boat. We can imagine being Peter. We can almost feel what the water under our feet would be like. Smooth but firm. Then we can imagine Peter sinking into the water.

This is why preachers love this passage so much. And so often this passage is preached in a passionate way. The sea must be your problems. They are tossing you to and fro. The wind of this life is blowing you down. But then you see Jesus. Jesus is coming to you. He walks above the turmoil of your problems and the stress of your life. He strides across the very things that are trying to such you down. The voice of the preacher begins to raise ever so slightly as he continues telling you this story about you. You call out to Jesus, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you.” Jesus so sweetly tells you to come. You get out of the boat, and as you look at Jesus, you find you can stride over your problems. You walk on top of the storm of this life. You look at Jesus and the problems of your life are melting away.

But now comes the point where the preacher really hooks you. He says that suddenly a wave comes between you and Jesus. And your line of sight is broken. You begin to look around and you see the stress of the bills piling up. You see the doctor’s diagnosis. You see the workload you have. And the problems of this life begin to overwhelm you. Suddenly you are sinking. You’re no longer striding across life’s problems. You are sinking. You cry out to Jesus, but your mouth is filled with water from life’s problems and you choke. Then the preacher hits the pulpit and yells, Had you only kept your eyes on Jesus then all your problems would be solved! Jesus is here to help you. He is all about you. He wants to pick you up out of life’s problems. People cheer.

But there is a problem with this. It ignores the main point of this story. The sea is not your financial crisis. The sea in this passage actually has nothing to do with you. You aren’t Peter. You weren’t there. The sea of Galilee is a real sea. The disciples were on it. Jesus walked across a real body of water. The point of this story is not about you. You are not the center of this account. This story is about Jesus. Our response is not to look at this and say, “wow, look at how Jesus can help with my problems.” The point of this story is for us to look at Christ. We are to respond, “Who is this, that can walk on water?!” He is God. He is the one Scripture speaks of when it says

8  who alone stretched out the heavens

and trampled the waves of the sea;

Job 9:8. Jesus in this passage sees this fulfilled. He trampled the waves of the sea.

Or

19  Your way was through the sea,

your path through the great waters;

yet your footprints were unseen.

Psalm 77:19. Jesus’ way was through the sea. He treat on the waters. He footprints were unseen.

Or

16  Thus says the LORD,

who makes a way in the sea,

a path in the mighty waters,

Isaiah 43:16. Jesus made a way in this sea.

If you read this and think that it’s about you, you have missed the point. The Bible isn’t about you. It’s about Christ. We are to read this and sit in awe of God, who walked on water. This is not about how Jesus is your little gene in a bottle who can help you overcome your problems. No! This is about Christ, who can defy the laws of nature. Who can tread on the waves, and cause others to do so. This is to leave us in awe and worship.

Transition:

And we see in the closing verses Jesus encounters two responses.

Jesus Encounters Two Responses.

Explanation:

Verse 33-36 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

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.

The disciples were in shock. They were in awe. They were in worship of who Christ is.

Worship of Who Christ is.

They had just seen Jesus multiply the bread and the fish. They had just seen Jesus walk to them, on the water. They had witnessed the creator of all things, show a miniscule sliver of His power and majesty. And they responded accordingly. They worshipped Christ.

Then, they land on the shore. They come to Gennesaret on the other side of the sea of Galilee. The people recognize Jesus and are in wonder at Christ’s works.

Wonder at Christ’s Works.

The people bring their sick to Him and He heals them. They respond in a wonderful way to Jesus. They marvel at His works. They think He is amazing. They love Him as the crowds who ate His bread loved Him. I’m sure many of them wanted Jesus to become king. They were in wonder and the mighty of works of Jesus. But they lacked something that the disciples had.

Argumentation:

Wonder at Christ’s works is a great thing. It is a good response. But it is not the right one. The disciple’s worshipped Christ. They saw who He was, and they worshipped. The people loved what Jesus did, but they did not worship. They loved Jesus’ making of food. They loved Jesus’ healings. However, they did not worship Him. They wanted to make Him king of the nation, but they did not worship Him as God.

We see this much today as well. Many love Jesus. They love the peace they feel when they think of Him. They love what Jesus can do for them. But they do not worship Him. Their faith is about them. What can Jesus do for me? What has Jesus done for me? But it is not about who Jesus is. They love the gifts over the giver. This a idolatry. They idolize the gifts of Christ over Christ Himself. This is wrong. But this is so much of what we hear in the modern evangelical church. This is heresy. We worship God, not because of what He can do for us, but because of who He is. To worship Christ simply because of what He can do for you, is to equate God to a divine prostitute. “I will worship you so that you will give me what I want.” Is this not what we do with worship? We want the emotional experience. We want to feel good during worship. We want music that will give us that feeling of emotional release. We care not if God is honored in it. We only want that release of emotion. This is prostitution and it is evil.

We worship God for who He is. And yes we are eternally grateful for what He has done. But the wondrous works of God are to point us to Him, not to point us to ourselves.

Application:

So for you, beloved, will you worship Christ, or only wonder at His works?

Will you Worship Christ, or only Wonder at His Works?

This is the question. You must ask this. We do wonder at the marvelous works of our great God. But we do not stop there. We do not twist them to be about us. We instead, look at the works of Christ, and marvel at who He is. Will you worship Christ, or only wonder at His works?

Prayer:

Take some time to pray and ask God if you are guilty of idolizing what He has given over worshipping Him. Ask God if you need to repent of worshipping your own feelings over His glory. Then repent of that.

Communion:

Matthew 26:26-28

26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”

27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Closing Hymn:

Closing Benediction:

1 John 1:20-21 20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.