Take Courage and Worship

Back in the beginning of chapter 13, we studied that famous parable about the different kinds of soils. You had the hard soil, in which the word of the Gospel was sown but immediately was snatched away in unbelief. Then you had the stony soil, in which the seed was sown but the soil was shallow, so the seed was burned by the elements. Then, there was the thorny ground - in which the seed was sown, but the cares of the world and the appeal of fortune choked out the seed of the Gospel. Finally, we saw the good soil - the fertile ground where the word of the Lord was sown, and it took root and produced fruit that remained.

Since the time we have finished Jesus’ Kingdom parables, Matthew has been recording for us some interactions that Jesus has had with the people around Him. And in those interactions, we really have seen some glimpses of the kinds of soils - or the kinds of hearts - that Jesus was referring to in that parable.

When Jesus returned to Nazareth at the end of chapter 13, we found that he was met by his own kindred and old neighbors with the kind of skepticism and offense that indicated pure rejection. This is a perfect picture of the seed sown on the hard path, where there wasn’t even an inkling of root taken - just rejection, just doubt, just animosity toward Jesus and his ministry.

We then saw another picture of rejection, where Herod saw Jesus as a threat to his rule and his fame. He thought he was John the Baptist reincarnated, which brought him great concern. This reminds us of that thorny ground, where the cares and temptations of life choke out the seed so that it cannot grow.

Then, last week, we saw a major interaction with the people who followed Jesus to that desolate place across the sea of Galilee. They listened to his teaching all day long, their people were healed by him. They were filled with the loaves and fish, and they were amazed.

John records the crowds reaction to this miracle, one which Matthew does not give us - but it is helpful for understanding the passage as we will read on today.

John 6:15 ESV

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.

These people were ready to make Jesus King! What better political leader could there be than one who can heal the sick and create seemingly endless amounts of food from nowhere!

This, of course, was not Jesus’ intention, nor was it part of the plan - and the people apparently had a wrong focus.

John 6:24–26 ESV

So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.

Jesus did what he often did - he read beyond their words and into their hearts. He could see their intentions like nobody else, and he knew that they weren’t seeking Him because of His Kingdom, but because of the food that he gave them.

They had been given dinner the night before, and Jesus is essentially saying, “you guys don’t want to follow me - you just want breakfast.”

Further indication is given of at least some of their intentions, for Jesus starts at this point to give his “bread of life” discourse - underlining truths about the difficulty of following Him, about how it is only the Spirit that gives life, and only those who are drawn by the Father are those who can follow the Son.

Hearing some of these things, many of the disciples - not the 12, but others who had began to follow Him - turned away.

John 6:66 ESV

After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

This, we could say, is an example of the stony ground. The seed took root - at least seemingly, but it was rooted in shallow soil. When hardship came, or things weren’t as they seemed, the little shoots were burned by the elements - the faith that appeared to be there quickly faded.

Then, of course, we have the disciples themselves. At least 11 of them prove to be the final kind of soil - the good, fertile soil. We see that in our passage today, and we also see it in John 6 as well.

John 6:67–69 ESV

So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

All that is background and surrounding context to our passage today, in which we find another one of the most famous miracles of Jesus - walking on water. A mriacle done just for the disciples. A miracle that would initially strike great fear into the hearts of the disciples, but would turn to reveal to them the kind of reverence and awe that Jesus deserved.

Matthew 14:22–33 ESV

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. 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 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, “O 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.”

Two miracles, a statement, a failure, and a confession show us who Jesus truly is and the attitude we ought to take toward him – to take courage and worship.

A Miracle - Vs. 22-25

The sections starts off with particularly strong statement. “Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat...”

Right after the feeding was over, immediately, Jesus made - literally - forced his disciples to leave. Why would he do that?

It is interesting, because before the feeding, the disciples were pleading with Jesus to dismiss the crowd. When Jesus told them to feed them instead, you would imaging the idea that maybe Jesus wasn’t done with the crowd yet. But now, immediately after dinner, he sent the disciples away, and sent the crowds away. Why would this be?

This leads us to believe that the miracle of the feeding was, again, not so much for the sake of the people, but for the sake of the disciples. And when we couple that with John’s comment, that after the feeding the people wanted to forcibly make Jesus the King, we realize that Jesus was indeed finished with the crowd.

That also could be the reason that Jesus sends the disciples away so quickly. Imagine - for hundreds of years, Israel had been waiting to be delivered - to have her redeemer-king come onto the scene. The messiah as king was an image that people longed for and looked for. Coupled with being ruled by Rome through puppet-kings like Herod, then the times were rife for political uprising.

If the disciples had caught wind of the people’s desire to make Jesus King, they may have been tempted to follow that logic! Is it time? they might have been thinking. Will he rise to the throne now? Was this the miracle it took to show everyone who he truly is, that he is the messiah and king?

And if the disciples had any hopes that it might, in fact, be time for the Kingdom to be set up in a political way - Jesus squashed that hope by sending them - rather - forcing them to go away immediately, and making the crowds leave also, without giving in to their desire to enthrone him.

Jesus’ kingdom would not be like this. it would not be the result of a populist movement because of a free meal. No, Jesus Kingdom would be in the hearts of men - starting with his disciples, as we will see in this passage. It will not be an uprising and a grand affair, but in faith and little moments of confession.

Jesus also sent them all away because he needed to pray - something we read that he did often in the other gospel records. We aren’t told what he was praying for, but given the misunderstandings of the crowd, and the obvious concern for his disciples, we could imagine he was praying for the message and intention of his mission to continue.

He was alone, up on a mountain, praying. He had been praying for hours at this point - and the disciples had also been doing something for hours - rowing. Battling the sea, the wind.

By the time Jesus and his disciples are reunited, it is the fourth watch of the night - which in Jewish accounting, are the three hours culminating with dawn. typically 3:00-6:00 AM.

We are told that, at this point, the boat was a “long way” from the land. The literal wording is “many stadia.”

A stadia was a unit of measurement about equivalent to 1/8th of a mile. The sea of Galilee is at most 7-8 miles wide, so if they were many 1/8ths of a mile into the sea, we can safely surmise that they were right in the middle of the sea, fighting the wind because it was against them.

A little note here, that the disciples were being adamantly obedient to Jesus - they could have easily turned the boat around and came to shore for the evening somewhere else, but they were determined to row west - into the wind - as Jesus commanded them to.

Also, it had probably been blown off course by the wind and waves - for the initial journey would not have been that long.

Verse 25 comes to us - as do many of Jesus natural miracles - as almost an understatement. No fanciful imagery, no fluff, no attempts to drum up excitement and fanfare over this - just a statement of sheer impossiblity. He came to them, walking on the sea.

Not in the sea, not through the sea, in the sea.

Many have tried to dismiss the miraculous nature of this, by saying that perhaps Jesus was on a sandbar or a hidden reef - but the middle of the sea of Galilee is deep! There are no such shallows there. Also, many of the disciples were those who had spent their entire boyhoods and young adult lives on this sea - they would have had no reason to be shocked, fearful, and amazed if there were a sandbar at that point.

The image of one walking on the water brings up a few Old Testament passages, giving a picture of God as one who treads upon water.

Job 9:8 ESV

who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea;

Psalm 77:19 ESV

Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen.

Isaiah 43:16 ESV

Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters,

Walking upon the water, again, was not a display for the crowds and multitudes. It really was a miraculous but practical response to this situation. The disciples were in the boat, separate from Jesus - so he came to them.

We have seen Jesus, before, calming the storm when he was asleep in the boat. That time, the disciples just had to wake him up! But this time, they were without him. Yet, he came to them. And he did it at such a time that nobody else could even see him! There was nothing boastful or showy about this miracle - it was simply the Lord coming to the aid of his disciples, after toiling all night in prayer.

A miracle that is, truly, the understatement of all understatements. He came to them, walking on the sea.

A Statement - Vs. 26-27

This is one of those passages where you just have to place yourself in the scene. Here are the disciples, rowing for hours against a headwind, seemingly being blown off course. They’re all men, and none of them very old men, so there is a possibility any tempers that they have are getting the best of them.

Its almost dawn, they’ve been rowing all night - they’re tired, arguing, frustrated, perhaps a little scared already just because of the storm - and then, out of the corner of the eye, one of them sees something.

What is that! It’s a Ghost! It’s a phantom! We’re doomed!

Whether or not they generally believed in ghosts is not the point of this passage, although there were common beliefs in cultures of that day that those who died in the waters would go on to haunt the waters - and maybe, even if they didn’t believe it, it came to their mind!

Also, they might have taken this as a sign that they, too, would soon be ghosts! Either way, they were sure that they were seeing a ghost - a “phantasm” is the word they used, where we get the word phantom.

Why were they so sure? Well, they knew what they were seeing was defying all possibility - they knew that human beings did not float on water, especially on their feet, and especially in a storm. This was some kind of phenomenon - an apparition, a ghost, a vision - something.

Then, and here is the word immediately again, Jesus speaks to them.

And think of that moment - they would have known his voice. They would have recognized his tone. Just him speaking would have eased their fears some - but what does he say?

Take heart - it is I; do not be afraid.

Not only does Jesus encourage them - take heart (or courage) and do not be afraid, he also gives them that central statement - it is I.

The words that Jesus uses there for “it is I” are special words. The literal translation of those words would be something like “I Am.”

We see him use those words in other places, specifically in John.

John 6:35 ESV

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

John 8:12 ESV

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 10:7 ESV

So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

John 11:25 ESV

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,

John 10:11 ESV

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

John 14:6 ESV

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 15:1 ESV

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.

In all of these statements, and in his statement there walking on the water, Jesus echoes the words that the Lord spoke to Moses. When Moses asked, “when they ask me who sent me, what do I say?”

Exodus 3:14 ESV

God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”

This was the true comfort for the disciples - not that the storm was not real, not that the rowing wasn’t intense and labourous, not that the moment itself wasn’t fraught with concern - but that in the midst of the storm, the I AM came to them.

In the previous storm, Jesus calmed the storm when the disciples cried out in fear. But in this case, the storm was not immediately calmed - the disciples were simply comforted.

Isn’t that just the way life is sometimes? Walking with the Lord, we do not receive a promisory note that all storms will be calmed - but we do receive promise that the Lord is with us, he protects us, he helps us in that storm.

A Failure - Vs. 28-31

Now, Matthew is the only one that includes this little account about Peter.

And I have to admit, I called this “a failure” but I don’t want us to get the idea that any of us would have been any different.

We are often hard on Peter. He is sort of a loudmouth. He cut off a guy’s ear in the garden. He denied Jesus 3 times before his crucifixion during his trial. He often made bold and rash statements, and was rebuked by Jesus on more than one occasion. He even fell asleep in a prayer meeting

But, haven’t we all fallen asleep in prayer meeting before?

Peter was, if nothing else, true to himself. Which isn’t always good - but we get a very real picture of a raw and real man whom Christ chose and redeemed.

And here, we see him as a man, with utter courage and real faith, wanting to come out to the Lord on the sea.

And it is not that he lost all faith - but he was certainly distracted by the winds and waves.

Jesus said, “O you of little faith. Why did you doubt?”

The word for “doubt” is really to have a split mind. Peter didn’t lose faith utterly, he just lost focus.

Notice, the locus of Peter’s faith was still on Jesus - who did he cry out to when he started sinking?

And notice, that Jesus didn’t let him sink to teach him a lesson - he didn’t let him gurgle in the water a bit for him to feel bad about his failure - no, Jesus did rebuke him gently for his doubting, but only after Jesus rescued him.

This, too, shows us something - we have little failures, partial failures, moments of having a divided mind, but the Lord does not allow us to fall utterly. That is the story of Peter’s whole life. Yes, Peter did fail and he did eventually deny the Lord out of fear - but we are also told that Jesus was in prayer for Peter, that his faith would not fail.

And it did not - he went on to be a leader in the church and a preacher of the Gospel for the rest of his days. And if you are in the Lord, you can have that confidence that little failures do not equate to utter failures.

1 Peter 1:3–5 ESV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Guarded by God’s Power.

That is the picture - the I AM - Jesus Christ, the God-Man himself, guarding his own, even in their failure and doubt. What a picture, what a Savior.

A Confession - Vs. 32-33

Well, Jesus walked peter to the Boat, and then the winds stopped. The storm was over - again, not before the lessons were learned, and not before Jesus told them to “take courage.”

And when the disciples took stock of everything they had seen, they had but one true and honest response.

They worshipped. And not only did they worship, they said “truly, you are God’s Son.”

Now, interestingly, in the last ship and storm encounter we had with Jesus and his disciples, Jesus calmed the storm and the disciples had this question?

Matthew 8:27 ESV

And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

But this time, they answered their own question. What manner of man is this? He is the Son of God!

Did they understand everything that title meant? Did they understand the fulness of Jesus words when he said “I Am, do not be afraid?” I’m not sure they did at that point - but by the time Matthew wrote this record down, they understood.

And that is the message that this book is proclaiming - The King is Here - and the King is God’s Son! The crowds wanted to take Jesus and set up a kingdom by force because he fed them, but Jesus’ Kingdom now was ruling and thriving in the hearts of these few disciples who worshipped Him.

And notice, Jesus did not rebuke them for worshiping Him. An angel cannot accept worship, and a man does not deserve worship, but Jesus Christ, the Son of God, received their worship rightfully and without a stitch of arrogance or pride.

The disciples understanding of who Jesus is was reaching a new pinnacle - a new high. Not only was he a great man, a wonderful Rabbi and Master, but he is the Son of God. Many were called “sons of God” in that they were righteous and upright people, but Jesus alone is uniquely God’s Son, as John would later recount.

John 1:18 ESV

No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

He is the Son of God. In a couple chapters, we will come to Peter’s own great confession at Cesarea Phillipi - where he will proclaim that Jesus is the Messiah - the Son of the Living God. This is a foretaste of that, but this is the message that we cannot miss.

The Lord Himself comes to us, rescues us, calms our fears, helps us out of the deep waters, gives us strength and hope - and we are to worship Him. To take heart - take courage - and worship him.

A Miracle - Vs. 34-36

Chapter 14 closes with another understated but amazing account, an account with a multitude of healings all coming by way of the afflicted person only touching the fringe of Jesus’ garment - just the tassles of his prayer-shawl.

This is included - I think - by Matthew as if to bolster the confession and worship that they had just given. Is this man the Son of God? Does he deserve worship?

Well, can anyone else walk through a town and heal everyone who touches his coat? Does anyone else have this kind of power?

Remember, the people of Nazareth said “where does he get this wisdom and these mighty works?” and they were offended by him and rejected him.

The disciples, though, show us again what fertile ground and fertile hearts look like. They were not always courageously faithful - they had to be consoled in their fears and doubts - but when it came down to it, they confessed that this was the son of God.

Dear one, what are you faced with in this moment, in this time, in which the Lord can give you comfort? Is he calling you to “take courage, do not be afraid?”

Do you grasp the fulness of the I AM coming to you, saving you, rescuing you, and comforting you? I pray that you would have a renewed sense of his presence and strength, and that you would, indeed, take courage and Worship Him.