How Would You Respond?

Scripture: Matthew 14:22-33

22 Immediately he made the disciples get into a boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. 25 And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”

28 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, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 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.”

Questions

  1. What story does this follow and why does Matthew highlight the immediacy of the disciples getting into the boat and leaving?
  2. Why does Jesus stay behind what does that say about him and about his disciples?
  3. Is there significance to Jesus’ walking on water or was it simply a convenience?
  4. What does it say about Peter that he would even think to leave the boat while there was a storm on the lake?

Background

Related Scriptures: Isaiah 43:1-7; Hebrews 12:1-6

This story immediately follows the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. Just as Jesus being able to provide food for everyone was a sign of his connection to God so is his command of the natural world.

Jesus walking on the water is not meant to simply be a convenience for him but was deliberately meant for the disciples to see so they could understand that nature responds to Jesus’ needs and desires.

Seeing an apparition during the storm might signal to the disciples they were about to die.

JOHN CHRYSOSTOM: For what purpose does he go up into the hills on the mountain? To teach us that solitude and seclusion are good, when we are to pray to God. With this in view, you see, we find him continually withdrawing into the wilderness. There he often spends the whole night in prayer. This teaches us earnestly to seek such quietness in our prayers as the time and place may afford. For the wilderness is the mother of silence; it is a calm and a harbor, delivering us from all turmoils[1]

Reflection

Jesus provided food for five thousand and then needed to rest and pray. It makes complete sense why Jesus would tell his disciples to go ahead of him and he would catch up in a few days after he was recuperated. But imagine being the disciples out at sea that night. Yes, several of them were used to being onboard a boat at night and probably had handled their fair share of storms. But I can also imagine that as they are navigating the difficulties of the storm, more than once someone thought about Jesus calming the sea (Matt. 8:23-27) wishing he was there to calm that one. I would imagine that if I was in that position I would feel a certain level of anxiety, being up all night, tossed by a storm, only then to see what I thought might be a ghost. The disciples were reasonable afraid of both the sea and the apparition. The sea had them stressed and the apparition played into the stress. I think the temptation in this scenario would be to think that God had abandoned them in some way. It would be a natural way of thinking to see the difficulty surrounding them and to feel alone.

It is thinking through the anxiety of the situation that leaves me in awe of Peter’s comment to Jesus. How does Peter have the strength to get out of the boat. This level of trust is amazing. I know that many focus on Peter beginning to sink, but that is not what I saw reading the story this week. This week I saw the disciples who had no means to provide for the crowd witness God’s gracious provision. They then turned around after the emotion of that day and faced the ferocity of the storm and again experienced God’s provision and protection. Then they saw Jesus call Peter out of the boat to protect him on the sea, even when it seemed like he would drown. That 24-hour period must have been wild for them, and I am sure it took a long time for them to completely process the events. For me as I process the stories of Matthew 14, I see God’s incredible provision time and again.

While we are not privy to the disciples’ reaction to Jesus feeding the 5,000 but we are given the response to the entire day’s events—worship. The response to the deliverance Jesus offers is worship because worship is the natural outcome of gratitude. I think one reason Matthew does not provide information about the disciples’ reaction to the feeding is because he wants us to tie these stories together. Matthew wants us to see the provision of everyday food and the control over creation are tied in God’s concern for us. And gratitude is the recognition that another person has done something for me that they did not need to do. The disciples marveled at Jesus and his power, yes. But they also saw that they experienced God’s provision in their lives. They did not earn the food Jesus provided and they did not earn the protection during the storm. They saw that God had reached out to bless them and provide for them in this world. Understanding this they responded appropriately in worship.

This is the heart of Thanksgiving. Everywhere we see thanksgiving we first see someone recognizing that provision comes from God. Thanksgiving comes from understanding that God has provided for us and so we respond in worship. Even our modern thanksgiving should be an expression of worship where we demonstrate gratitude to God for the provision we experience. This gratitude should spill over into a desire to share with others our own experience of provision.

But developing gratitude can be difficult. Gratitude requires that we see our circumstances, we have to recognize the blessings in our lives as blessings. For the disciples—especially Peter—it was easy to see their blessings that day, they saw where Jesus had provided for them. For us it can be more of a struggle. This is why we need to begin with intentionally looking at our lives to understand what blessings God has provided. Once we identify our blessings, no matter how small, we give ourselves reason to worship and rejoice in thanksgiving. And when we take the opportunity to give thanks to God, we give God the opportunity to develop our character. So as we think about the greatness of God and God’s authority over creation, let us allow those thoughts to take us into a posture of thanksgiving.

[1] Manlio Simonetti, ed., Matthew 14-28, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture 11.

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