October 23, 2022
Havasu Christian Church
Jesus walking on the water.
Matthew 14:22-33 Mark 6: 45-51, John 6: 16-21
INTRO: Sometimes, Robin gets mad at me…. I know what you’re all thinking… “She is probably mad at you all the time!” fortunately, this isn’t the case. I married the most patient person on the planet! I am a blessed man!!!!
But one thing really does make her mad. It’s when I break in on her when she’s telling a story… My intentions are honorable. I’m just adding a little “color commentary” I’m trying to ENHANCE her story, but she doesn’t see it that way. I’m trying to do better, but it still happens sometimes…
The reason this happens is that we have a difference of opinion about what parts of the story need to be told. What I think are important parts, she often leaves out.
When we look at this story in the Gospels, it is recorded in Matthew, Mark and John. I’m not sure why Luke left it out, because it’s a COOL story! But he did. Maybe he didn’t have a chance to talk to any of the eyewitnesses about it.
As we read each of the three accounts, we’ll see different parts of the story emphasized. Different parts of the story were more or less important to each of the writers. But the story, is absolutely TRUE!
Matthew 14:22–33 Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away.
23 After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. 24 But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary.
25 And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. 26 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 courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” 28 Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”
29 And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
32 When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly God’s Son!”
Mark 6:45–52 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away. 46 After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray.
47 When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land.
48 Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night He *came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them. 49 But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; 50 for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and *said to them, “Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.” 51 Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, 52 for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.
John 6:15–21 So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone. 16 Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, 17 and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. 19 Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles, they *saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened. 20 But He *said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.
This is a story full of fear!
(I) Fear of the crowd
a. Fear may be too strong a word here.
b. They wanted to force Jesus to be their King! John 6:15
i. They were at a point that they were going to kidnap Him!
ii. Jesus sends His disciples away to protect them.
1. Peter has an attitude: “You mess with Jesus, you mess with me!” Probably some of the others as well. James & John, “Sons of THUNDER!”
a. Jesus knows He can diffuse the situation if the disciples are gone.
c. Jesus Sends the crowd away, and goes into the mountains to pray.
i. He also gets away from those who would kidnap Him to make Him king.
(II) Fear of the storm
(John 6:18) (Matthew 14:24)
a. Storms on the Sea of Galilee were a very real threat! This was a RATIONAL fear!
i. Information about the boat:
From earlychurchhistory.org “The Jesus Boat,” so called by archaeologists, was found in 1986 on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee by two fishermen, the brothers Moshe and Yuval Lufan. A drought had reduced the level of the Sea and exposed some nails. The brothers examined the site and immediately contacted authorities.
Made of scraps of many different types of wood including cedar and oak, the Jesus Boat measures 27’ long, 7.5’ wide and 4.5’ deep. The planks are joined together by pegged mortise and tenon joints and nails. It has a flat bottom, room for four staggered rowers and a mast for sailing.
The Boat could carry a crew and ten passengers if used as a ferry boat or if used as a fishing boat, could hold about five crew members and a catch of 600 pounds up to a ton of fish. Carbon-14 dating on a piece of the wood from the Galilee boat gives 40 AD as its date, plus or minus 80 years.
ii. Information about the storm:
From Christiananswers.net Luke 8 describes the wind and raging waves during this storm. Matthew calls it a furious storm without warning.
Such storms result from differences in temperatures between the seacoast and the mountains beyond. The Sea of Galilee lies 680 feet below sea level. It is bounded by hills, especially on the east side where they reach 2000 feet high. These heights are a source of cool, dry air.
In contrast, directly around the sea, the climate is semi-tropical with warm, moist air. The large difference in height between surrounding land and the sea causes large temperature and pressure changes. This results in strong winds dropping to the sea, funneling through the hills.
The Sea of Galilee is small, and these winds may descend directly to the center of the lake with violent results. When the contrasting air masses meet, a storm can arise quickly and without warning. Small boats caught out on the sea are in immediate danger.
The Sea of Galilee is relatively shallow, just 200 feet at its greatest depth. A shallow lake is “whipped up” by wind more rapidly than deep water, where energy is more readily absorbed.
a. These men are also about 3 miles or so from shore a few hours after the storm hits.
i. This puts them almost in the center of the lake!
ii. These men are doing their best, but I suspect they felt that their best wouldn’t be good enough to save them!
Just when it seemed things couldn’t get any worse, they “see a ghost!”
(II) Fear of Jesus
(Matthew 12:26-27) (Mark 6:49-50) (John 6:19)
a. They look and see someone who absolutely SHOULD NOT be there!
b. That someone is doing something He should not be able to do!
c. That someone is coming closer to them!
d. The fear of the storm takes a back seat!
i. There is a human form, looming out of the darkness, walking ON the waves… That would freak you out in daylight on calm water!
(III) There is bravery as well as Fear
a. People like to pick on Peter…
i. Let’s face it, he did some pretty “pickable” things.
1. Not in chronological order, but here’s a few.
a. Hey, let’s build a house for Moses, Elijah…. Oh, yeah, one for you too Jesus!
b. Peter attacks a huge crowd of people with a single sword.
c. Peter, right after saying that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God” tells Jesus “You aren’t going to Jerusalem to be captured and killed!”
d. Of course, there’s the whole “I’ll never deny you” comment, and the rooster crowing later.
b. Peter may have been impulsive, may have had a tendency to put his sandaled foot in his mouth, but HE WAS BRAVE!
i. Nobody else said “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”
ii. There are at least 11 other guys in the boat! All you hear from them is “the sound of silence.”
iii. Peter, as far as Scripture tells us holds the 2nd place record for most distance traveled while walking on water.
1. Jesus obviously holds the record, by a Loooonnnnng distance.
2. But Peter comes in a distant second.
Matthew 14:28-30 Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
a. How far did he go? No way to tell.
3. Impulsive courage turns to fear.
a. “This isn’t how things work!”
b. “The wind is terrible! I can’t do this!”
c. “Oh no! I’m gonna die!!!
i. Peter begins to sink!
ii. I suspect the other disciples are murmuring various things. “I’m sure glad I didn’t go out there! See what happened!” “That Peter is ALWAYS getting into trouble!” Judas is thinking “I wonder if he has any cash in his pockets? It would be a shame for that to go to waste!”
d. “LORD, SAVE ME!!!”
i. Peter knows his help can only come from the One who is STILL walking on the water! Jesus!
ii. Jesus takes hold of him and takes him to the boat.
(IV) Once Jesus gets into the boat, fear is
banished!
a. Mark tells us “Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.
i. These guys have 12 baskets full of food in the boat that were leftovers from Jesus feeding over 5000 people with 5 little loaves of bread and two small fish.
2. They shouldn’t be too shocked that the storm stops the moment Jesus arrives in the boat!
i. They still don’t “get it!”
1. Jesus really IS the Son of God!
John tells us “So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.”
i. The boat is IMMEDIATELY at the destination they were headed for! WOW!
1. No need to fear now, we’re there!
b. Matthew tells us And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly God’s Son!”
i. Apparently, the combination of feeding all those people with the loaves and the fish, Jesus walking on the water, the storm stopping instantly and being moved to shore in a moment finally get through to some hard heads!
Conclusion: What should I take home with me to think about today?
* If Jesus needed to take time to pray, you just might need to take some time too!
Jesus could have said “I’m just too busy!” But He knew how important it was to spend time in Prayer. He needed to pray…. But more than that, He WANTED to spend that time!
* Getting rid of fear is not an instant thing, it takes time for faith to grow!
The Disciples were with Jesus, day in and day out… They saw all the amazing things He did. They still struggled!
Don’t give up!!!
* You can’t force Jesus to do anything!
The people couldn’t “kidnap a king!”
You can’t bend the Creator of the Universe to your will! Instead of wasting your time trying, how about praying “Thy will be done!”
* Don’t ever be afraid of Jesus!
It’s all about trust! The more I trust Jesus the less I will live in fear… of waves, of ghosts, of anything!
The Apostles after Jesus’ resurrection at least seemed to have no fear… they stood before the same men who condemned Jesus and said what needed to be said. “And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
Acts 4:18–20
* Be brave enough to at least step out of your Comfort Zone!
Maybe you’ll never be ready to step out of a boat in a storm, but take those small steps.
You’ll be surprised at what God will do through you!
* Don’t forget! Jesus is truly “the Son of God.” He is “God in a body!” He should be Lord of your life!
