Word of Salvation – Vol. 21 No. 43 – July 1975

 

Jesus Meets His Disciples On The Waves

 

Sermon by the Rev. P. J. Berghouse, Th Grad. on Matt.14:22-33

Scripture Reading: Ps.46; Ex.3:7-14

Psalter Hymnal (New): 427 (before Service); 327; 139:1,3 (law); 120 (offering);
            146 (sermon); 14:1 (doxology); 118:1,2,3,6 (confession)
            (84, 85, 126 as alternatives)

 

Beloved of the Lord Jesus Christ,

Jesus walked on the water in the middle of the night, and the disciples thought that they saw a ghost!

Just imagine if YOU had been in that boat — wouldn’t YOU have been scared???

Our children are often told that they must not read ghost stories just before bedtime.  For it is only too likely that you will wake up with a night mare – come out of bed with glassy eyes and cuddle up to mummy or daddy as close as you can!  For, on dad’s knees, THAT is the safe place.  Isn’t it?  THERE we feel that all these scary things, we dreamed about, cannot reach us, nor harm us.

But perhaps you say that you are not scared of ghosts at all.  That may be, but what would you do if in the middle of the night – you woke up with a startle, the wind howling outside, and suddenly you saw a man walking upside down ALONG THE CEILING. . . Would you SCREAM, or would you pull the blankets over your head???

Is it not true, that when really unbelievable things happen, we DO tend to be scared?

Yes, when we think of these 12 disciples in the boat, during the middle of the night, with a howling storm tossing up the waves against their little craft, after having rowed for anything between 6 and 10 hours, – yes, THEN we can sympathise with them!

Of course, it may well be that you feel that YOUR problems are quite different from those of the disciples. . . You are NOT in a boat, You have not been rowing all night, and you certainly do not see any ‘ghosts’ around.  Perhaps you are one of the few people left, who HAVE no problems at all.

THAT does NOT mean though that this passage has nothing to tell you.  There is far MORE here than comfort for those in trouble!  This passage makes us to SHARE in the GREATNESS of CHRIST!

On the other hand, there ARE many people to-day, who DO find life rather confusing, a kind of up-hill battle.  Or to compare it with our text: A rowing AGAINST the wind.  And, let us face it; it is not only the WIND that is ‘against’ us.  Ever since The Fall in Paradise ― there has been a very strong CURRENT running against anyone who wants to serve the Creator.  And that ‘current of Rebellion against God’ is at least as strong now, as it has ever been before.

One only has to think of the fact that there are many more people now, than at any previous time of history.  Children at school already find out that there are many, many other children, who do NOT know Jesus, let alone LOVE Him.  Many people even laugh and scorn anyone who wants to do things ‘the Jesus-Way’. . . . Indeed, MASSES of people want to do things just the opposite way.

The lives of the Christians and indeed the whole Body of Christ, are constantly under pressure.  The very forces of nature seem to be set on driving us off course.  Ever since Adam called his wife ‘Eve’ (in response to the promise that Satan’s seed shall NOT prevail against the Church) ― ever since that moment, the Church of Jesus Christ has been engaged in a head-on battle with the forces of darkness.

But our biggest trouble may well be that when Jesus appears on the scene, He is looked upon as a ‘GHOST’ an appearance of a man, who does some mighty strange things like walking on water….
            It is claimed that He was born of a virgin;
            and stranger still, He ROSE from the dead;
            and as if that was not enough,
                        He just arose into the sky as He ASCENDED into heaven!

Before we go any further, we should ask ourselves the question: “HOW do WE respond, when Jesus appears on the scene of OUR life?”  Are YOU terrified at the thought of all these so called miracles, all these hopelessly UNSCIENTIFIC things which are ascribed to Jesus?

Maybe you are NOT in a boat,
            maybe you have no problems at all.
                        YET, the question IS there:
            “HOW do you RESPOND to the presence of Jesus Christ?”

Let us see what this text teaches us about

JESUS WHO MEETS HIS DISCIPLES ON THE WAVES

We follow this passage in three stages:

I.  Jesus catches up with his disciples.

II.  Jesus rescues Peter.

III.  Jesus is acknowledged by His disciples.

FIRST: Jesus catches up with His disciples!

We read in verse 25 that “in the fourth watch of the night Jesus CAME UNTO THEM”.  This SEEMS to indicate that beforehand, Jesus was NOT with them.

And indeed, in verse 22 we read that the Lord had “CONSTRAINED the disciples to enter the boat and . . . go before Him!”

Jesus had sent the disciples out-on-their-own.  But did the Lord not know that a storm was brewing?  He DOES know ALL things.  Doesn’t He?

From time to time one can hear a Christian sigh:

“Oh I wish that Christ was here!”

Perhaps you yourself know of those times that Jesus seems so far; so unreal; so ‘not-present’.

The fact that someone has written a book with the title “The God who is there” is an indication that many people today find it hard ― in some way or another ― to EXPERIENCE even the reality of God; let alone His nearness.  The Church ― as the world wide Body of Christ ― is being battered by so much confusion, and so many stresses, that it almost becomes hard to imagine that the Lord IS in her midst.

Moreover, in the hearts of many believers echoes the prayer of the New Testament for the second COMING of the Lord.  Does THAT not indicate that the Lord is ‘MISSING’; that He just is NOT here with us at this moment????

The word “CONSTRAINED” in vs.22 seems to indicate a certain resistance on the part of the disciples.  Either they did not want Jesus to stay behind by Himself, or they did not feel like going away on their own.  But Jesus knew what was good for them.  Therefore He MADE them to go out by themselves, while He KNEW that the storm would overtake them and make the going very hard for them!

Whenever WE find the going hard ― when EVERYTHING seems to go against us, WE tend to ask: “Why does God ALLOW such and such a thing to happen?”

Sometimes we may be inclined to go as far as protesting that God is doing the wrong thing to us.  It would be interesting to know the thoughts of the disciples when they were well and truly caught up in the midst of that storm.  It would not really be surprising if they faced the temptation there and then to ‘Blame’ Jesus for not going WITH them.  Oh, how easy it is for humans, to think that Jesus is not with them – just because He is not sitting amongst us.  Or ― because He is not literally holding our hand.

The BIBLE however says that Jesus IS with us “always, even unto the end of the world”!

Our text foreshadows this promise.  In vs.23 we are told that Jesus went up into the mountain TO PRAY!

We are not told here WHAT was included in this prayer.  However, one only needs to read the recorded prayers of our Mediator, to find out that He always had His people in mind.  Please, DO read John 17 sometime during the next week.  There you see how fervently Jesus prays for all those who believe in Him.

Our text then, portrays Jesus praying on the mountain, WHILE His disciples were rowing their hardest, down on the lake.

Before Jesus catches up with them on the waves, He IS already WITH them in prayer.

When we see these two scenes in this perspective, we are moved with shame, as we realise our unbelief, and our shortsightedness, every time we think that the Lord is no longer with us just because we do not see Him ‘in the flesh’.

This shortsightedness appears to be even worse, when finally Jesus DOES come to us in all His majestic greatness.

In v.26 we are shown the ultimate dullness of human understanding: “When the disciples saw Him walking on the waves, they were TROUBLED…. and CRIED out for fear.”

It certainly looked like a nightmare!

A man…. walking on water!

We have clever people who can SKI on water.

Some even do it on their bare feet.  BUT, they MUST have a fast boat and reasonably calm water.  Jesus had neither!  He walked on the storm-tossed waves AGAINST the direction of the wind and the waves!  The disciples thought that they were ‘seeing things’.  And of course, for an ordinary human being this IS impossible!

IF you find Jesus’ performance rather hard to believe, please remember then, that He IS the Creator.  The Gospel of John introduces Jesus as the one through whom all things were made.

Why should WE then be so stubborn as to see this unusual happening as an obstacle for our surrender, rather than a manifestation of the Lord’s being ‘very God of very God’ (as one of the Creeds puts it)?

When Jesus is NOT recognised as GOD, then His meeting-the-disciples-on- the-waves, loses all its strength.

The fact that Jesus IS God is further emphasised in the words of v.27, where The Lord spoke to the disciples saying: “Take courage!  It is I.  Don’t be afraid.”

The words ‘IT IS I’ are a rather weak translation of the actual words used by our Lord. . . namely “I AM!”  Ah, how these words sounded familiar in the ears of the disciples!

These two words I AM laid open for them the self-revelation of God: In Exodus 3:14 God had used these same words to make Himself known to Moses and to the children of Israel.  God said, “I am that I am!” and now, Jesus used the same words.

These two words were used by Jesus when He said: I am. . . the Way, the Truth, the Light, ― the Vine, ― the Door, etc.

It is no wonder then, that these two words removed the fear from the hearts of the troubled disciples.

Not until THESE two words are spoken AND acknowledged, does Jesus catch up with His disciples.  Their lonely night-long battle against the hostile elements made them to appreciate these words more than anything else could have done.

Have YOU acknowledged GOD for what HE IS?

Do you KNOW Jesus as the One who comes in your life, and in the life of the Church ― and says: “I AM!” ???

One would expect that now all was well with the disciples.  And for just a moment it seems indeed that way…  PETER was SO overpowered by the Greatness of our Lord, that he literally ‘went overboard’ to meet Him.  Trust the enthusiastic Peter to want to copy his Master in EVERYTHING!

Peter, who had ‘cried out for fear’ with the others, who had been just as scared as all the rest, NOW asks the Lord-of-the-waves, to ‘bid him come’.  Whatever the meaning of the words, “Lord, if it’s You”, Peter does show that he does not want to do anything WITHOUT the bidding of the Lord.  He is conscious of his utter dependence on the authority AND the power of Jesus.  And yet. . . . and yet, this enthusiastic Peter, was still very much subjected to the temptations around him.  The Lord did not reject Peter’s daring boldness.  He did not say: “Now, Peter, hold your horses man; walking on the storm-tossed waves may be all right for the Son of God, but that does not give you mere man the right to try the same!”

No, Jesus did not say that.

Rather in His great Mercy, He bade Peter to come.

Just by the way, it is important to note that Jesus did NOT reprimand the OTHER disciples for not showing the same limitless enthusiasm.  Let this serve us as a timely reminder that our text is NOT given as an example of the great things WE should be doing.  The people in this passage ARE important: THEY show us the deep NEEDS, the stubbornness, the failures, and the utter weakness of even the strongest believers.

But the thrust of our text is the Greatness and the Mercy of the ‘I AM’.

As we said, the enthusiastic Peter soon failed AGAIN!  No sooner had he taken a few steps on the water, or his eyes wandered AWAY from the Master.  Just then, when he was enjoying the extraordinary strength of his faith, just then he showed to be still a HUMAN being – very much influenced by the forces of nature around him.  “When he saw the wind”, says verse 30, “he was afraid: and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying: “Lord, Save me!!”

Of course it would be quite understandable, if a person in Peter’s predicament had changed his mind completely as far as his faith in Jesus was concerned!  Many people are inclined to react sharply when things do not turn out the way they had expected it.  It is one thing to go to Jesus enthusiastically, with the impression that as soon as you believe in Him EVERYTHING will be well….
            No more tears!
            No more problems!

It is quite ANOTHER THING when sooner or later you discover that human nature still has many weaknesses.  HUMAN nature is then ready to ‘give up’ altogether.  And SATAN is quick to add: “See, I told you that it will only bring you into trouble, if you want to put your trust in Christ!

You THOUGHT that you could do ANYTHING with Him!. . . NOW look at the storm. . . You are SUNK man!
            Why don’t you give up,
            and FORGET that you ever met Jesus.”

But before you give in to Satan, before you let human nature take control, look how longsuffering Jesus was with Peter!  PETER who had SEEN Jesus feed the 5000; who then was filled with fear when he did not recognize Jesus on the waves, who then went ‘over-board’ with enthusiasm, who even then wavered when he took note of the storm, so that he became scared again.  In THIS Peter, the Holy Spirit worked to such an extent, that when Peter felt himself sinking, he did NOT throw everything overboard, but rather he cried to the Lord for Salvation!

You see… when YOU are ready to give up,
            REMEMBER then: that THE LORD can NOT BE BLAMED
            for YOUR disappointment.

On the contrary, While YOU can be blamed for allowing your attention to be drawn away from the Lord, so that you begin to waver and doubt, the LORD first grants His Gracious Spirit through which you can cry to HIM for Salvation; and THEN, He takes hold of you to save you from sinking!!  For Peter this meant a direct, saving, handclasp.  For OTHERS it may well mean that the Lord allows you to ‘struggle on’ for a while; UNTIL the Lord’s MESSAGE is understood.

This message varies in accordance with our personal needs.  For Peter, it was: “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Notice how Jesus places the blame where it belongs. . . . In the MIND and HEART of PETER.

For is ‘doubt’ not a lack of . . . ‘Sanctified Reasoning’?  Peter was not quite clear in his MIND as to whether or not Jesus was REALLY LORD of the waves to the extent that He could make them carry Peter’s weight.

In other words, Peter’s thinking was more influenced by the forces of nature, than it was controlled by his Faith in Jesus as Lord of Creation.

Brothers and sisters, Young people, Is this not one of the lessons of this passage, which we ALL need to learn? . . . “Jesus our Saviour, is ALSO the undisputed MASTER of Creation.
            He can walk on the waves…
            He can command the wind to be still…
            He directs the stars in the universe…
            He looks after the tiniest creatures in the fish pond…
            He DOES have the whole world in His Hand.”

Many people nowadays study all kinds of sciences – thinking that they can do so WITHOUT keeping in mind that Jesus is LORD of CREATION!  IS it any wonder that somehow they begin to get that. . . . “sinking feeling”?

They are no longer clear in THEIR MIND as to whether or not Jesus is really LORD, to the extent that He can control and therefore CLAIM all of creation as His own.

Oh, how DOUBT can creep in, and BELITTLE our faith!

As Jesus stretched out His hand,
            He saved Peter from sinking into the storm-tossed sea.
            THAT… was helpful!

As Jesus pointed out where Peter’s FAITH fell short, He raised him above the limitations of a ‘natural mind’.  THAT…. is SALVATION!  The natural mind does acknowledge neither God as Creator, nor Jesus as Mediator.

But this is LIFE ETERNAL, namely ―
            “to know GOD as the only true God,
             and Him whom He did send, even Jesus Christ.”

Thus Peter was truly ‘RESCUED’, when JESUS met him on the waves!

Finally, our text comes to a climax in verse 33: when it says:
            “And those who were in the boat worshipped Him, saying:
             ‘You certainly ARE God’s Son’.”

Jesus had sent His disciples ahead of Him.

Jesus had prayed for them, while they were in danger.  Jesus had shown clearly that HE is Lord of Creation.

Jesus had also shown MERCY in dealing with Peter’s need.

Indeed, Jesus the Saviour AND Lord, had truly MET His disciples “on the waves”.

In all these things, it is HIS GREATNESS in which we are made to share through our text.

It is no wonder then, that when the Lord stepped into the boat, the disciples WORSHIPPED Him!

This worship is further described in their saying:
            “You certainly ARE the Son of God.”

When Jesus had made Himself known to them, HE had used the words: “I AM”.

NOW they respond with the words: “YOU ARE!”
            “You are the SON OF GOD.”

These words contain a full confession!

First they acknowledged the fulfilment of the O.T. prophecies in the One who came to them on the waves.  Secondly they expressed their TRUST, that it is THIS Jesus, who met them on the waves; that it is THIS Jesus, whom GOD had sent to SAVE His people!  Who is their Lord.

They did not know – as yet – what place the Cross would have in this process of Salvation.

Nor did they know at that stage about the glorious resurrection from the dead.

YET they worshipped Him!

To-day, we have been allowed to share in Christ’s Greatness.

Not only did He walk on the waves of the lake,

He also triumphed over death – because HE is the Eternal “I AM”.

And HE IS WITH US.

In the Person of the Holy Spirit, HE is ‘within us’.

O, come then, let us acknowledge Him, both, as Saviour AND as Lord.

For He is truly GREAT.

Amen.