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Matthew 14:22-36
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
34 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him 36 and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.
Dear friends, in today’s session, we look at an additional detail not recorded in the other accounts of Jesus walking on water.
Yes, the exclusive detail here is Peter also walked on water.
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When we understand that this is the plan of God, Jesus’ words in Matthew 8 and Matthew 14 will make a lot of sense to us.
In the account of ‘Jesus Calms the Storm’, in Matthew 8:25-26
25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”
Then, 6 chapters later, in the account of ‘Jesus Walks on Water’ in Matthew 14:30-31
30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
If you reflect on this, the reply from Jesus is unexpected, and the same in these 2 accounts.
It is not just, “Don’t worry, I got you!”, but rather a light rebuke of having little faith.
Wow!
Had the disciples not given up everything to follow Jesus? Yet their faith was still too little.
Had Peter not been the only disciple that dared to asked Jesus, and had faith enough to step out of the boat, and walked on water? Yet his faith is too little.
The message to all us is clear when it comes to our faith and spiritual growth:
Do not settle!
Do not think that I have arrived, and am a giant of faith, because faith is always tested.
Jesus is telling us that if only we knew what more we could do with faith, we would not have stopped short there.
We could have calmed the storm.
We could have walked on water like him.
We can build up our faith to have the kind of faith that moves mountains.
We can calm the storms in our lives.
We can trample on evil, and walk easily on chaos.
Apostle Paul started off as the greatest accuser of the church. When the resurrected and ascended Jesus revealed himself to him, Paul became the greatest advocate of the church.
Paul describes this amazing wonder of moving in the Holy Spirit, in 1 Corinthians 2.
And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.[a] 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
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6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written:
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”[b]—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—
10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.[c] 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for,
“Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”[d]
But we have the mind of Christ.
Dear friends, what we witness here as miracles, the world would think of as the illusions and magic tricks, or perhaps some alien or highly advanced ability or technology that had enabled them to do so. The word of God reveals all these to us as moving in the spirit. Jesus came to offer us this new life. That if we believe that He is the son of God, and follow His teachings and examples, we can decide to lead a new life by living according to the spirit. The Holy Spirit can give us gifts, abilities and help us in our tasks for God. The Holy Spirit can reveal mysteries to us, as we have the mind of Christ.
This revelation gives new meaning to John 14:10-12
10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
Yes, Jesus had told us that we can do everything that we have seen him do on earth. And even more! Even more! Just imagine that!
In the early church, we see the disciples speaking, and the different peoples who heard could understand them as if they heard it in their own tongues. We see them filled with a new spirit and ability, as the people who heard them were surprised that fishermen had such understanding and communication skills. They could heal the sick and cast out demons, and even their items or shadows had power. Cases of resurrection, immunity to poison and teleportation had been recorded. So much more had been testified to, in the bible, in the past, and even right now in the present!
But more importantly, we should not be carried away with all these gifts, but rather they should points us back to the giver.
We should not be obsessed with just the doing, the performing of such acts, but rather pursue the spiritual growth and transformation of our character. These great feats will only remind us that we cannot do them on our own. That we are just a willing instrument of God.
Think about it, will God be impressed with what you have done, when he has enabled you to do it?
Rather, we believe that God will be more concerned about what you have become.
What does God want us to become?
Romans 8:28-30
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[i] have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
God wants us to be conformed to the image of his Son.
We should become more and more like Jesus.
Are you ready when you meet Jesus, and he asks you, “What have you become?”
Who is Jesus?
Will you follow him?