Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Walking On Water

Walking on Water


The scripture story we will be meditating on today is Jesus walking on water. If we want to grow spiritually, we have to meditate on the Bible. We have to read the Gospels and ask ourselves "what does this mean to me today and how does this relate to me?" Let's see what we can benefit from the story of Jesus walking on water.

Here is the story in its fullness (Matthew 14:22-33):

22 Then he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking 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 for fear. 27 But immediately he spoke to them, saying, "Take heart, it is I; have no fear." 28 And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water." 29 He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus; 30 but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "O man of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

Let us now break the story apart and meditate on it.

22 Then he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,

Jesus told His disciples to get into a boat to go to the other side of the waters. His disciples got into the boat and went on the other side with no questions asked. Do we do the same? How many times do we question what God wants us to do? Even when we are so clear on what He wants us to do, we doubt it. We don't doubt it because we aren't sure whether it's from God or not, but we doubt it because it is too hard for us to do. God allows us to have crosses to carry. When we have these crosses, instead of rejoicing in the suffering that Christ allows us to share with Him, we make excuses not to do them. Let us be obedient and "get in our boat" as it is fitting to the Lord.

Jesus went up the mountain by himself to pray by Himself. This is a beautiful example for us. Do we find time to give to God? How often do you pray? How often do you think you should pray? Praying is the number one thing to do if you want to grow spiritually. It is life changing. We need to pray every night to our Father. Let us not only pray memorized prayers, but we are called to speak to the Father as a child speaks to a parent.

24 but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them.

"For the wind was against them." Ahh, yes. Do you feel troubled at the moment? Is there something in life right now that is worrying you? Anything that is keeping you up at night? Indeed we all suffer! Suffering is a part of life whether we like it or not. It helps us grow and become stronger.

Notice how the verse says "But the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land." What is so significant about this? Who was the one who is on the land? It is Jesus. Do you feel like you are really far from God? As if God does not care about you or your problems? "Why is God making me suffer like this?!" We ask questions like this when we are suffering. We all feel anxiety at times. We all feel like God is far away from us at times. We all feel like we are being "beaten by the waves".

25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.

What a beautiful verse. He came to them! Jesus was on top of the mountain praying the whole time. He could see the boat that the disciples were in. He saw that they were suffering, but He did not come to the rescue right away. He waited. He does the same to us. We all have our own boats. We go through ups and downs in life. When we suffer, God does not always come to the rescue the way we want Him to. He allows the suffering to happen. Does he like punishing His children? By no means! He allows it to happen because a greater good comes out of it. There are other reasons why He allows it to happen but man cannot know this for sure. Who can know the mind of God? Nevertheless, let us put our trust in God, for He alone will deliver us. Whether in this life or the next. Are you suffering at this point? Is your boat being beaten by the waves? Be patient. Let this story be an example for you. Put your trust in the Lord and you will be saved from your anxieties. Offer your sufferings up to the Lord and share in His suffering that He suffered for you. If anyone thinks their suffering is too impossible to overcome, let them look at the Cross of Christ! Let us humble ourselves, for humility leads to exaltation.

Jesus came to His disciples walking on the water. In the story that we are meditating on, what is causing the Disciples to suffer? Surely it is the waters. What does Christ do? He comes and walks on the water which means the water is under His feet. What a powerful and beautiful image. Jesus walks on top of the very thing that is causing His disciples to suffer. Christ defeats their sufferings for nothing is impossible for God. So too for us. He will come to us and walk all over our anxieties. It is a matter of putting our trust in Him.

26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear.

How many times does Christ come to us for rescue and we simply do not recognize Him? He comes to us and extends His arm out to us and we simply do not recognize Him. He teaches us the true way and we simple ignore it. We think that God will never put this much burden on us and expect us to follow His ways. We ask questions like "you mean I have to be nice to her? She hates me!" Do you think Jesus prayed to the Father in vein when He prayed for those who were crucifying Him saying "Father forgive them for they not know what they do"? Let us forgive all those who have wronged us. Let us live in love. Love transforms cultures. I am guilty of falling short of this, most of us are. Let us not make God what we want Him to be, but let us allow God to make us who He wants us to be! Let us recognize Him when he stretches out His arms and tries to help us. The biggest thing that gets in our way of recognizing Him is pride. Let us be humble and follow His ways rather than ours and we will recognize Him as Lord instead of a stranger. The way you get to know a friend is by spending time with him. Do you spend time with the Lord by reading His word and talking to Him?

27 But immediately he spoke to them, saying, "Take heart, it is I; have no fear."

The words "it is I", in Greek are "ego emi" which means "I AM" which is the name of God in the Old Testament (Yahweh). Christ walking on water and saying "I AM" is a way of telling His Disciples that He is God. When God comes to the rescue, we should indeed have no fear.

28 And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water." 29 He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus;

Peter still had doubts that it is Jesus. We can look at Peter and think that He is stupid for still doubting after Jesus is walking on the water in front of Him. But don't we also do the same thing? After all the times that God has helped us through a problem (whether we know it or not), we still doubt when we fall into another problem. Will we ever learn? Let us not judge Peter's actions, but let us look at our own. For we are the same today as His disciples were back then. Always looking for more evidence.

What does the Lord tell Peter? "Come". Beautiful. Christ also tells us to come to Him. We need to hear His voice by being still. It is written in the Psalms "Be still and know that I am God." It is also written "If today you hear His Word, harden not your hearts." Let us open our ears to the Lord and harden not our hearts. Let us come to Christ when we are called to come. It is never too late to come to Him. No matter what you have done, God will forgive you and erase your past and give you a brand new start.

Peter does come. He comes and walks on water. I can relate to Peter. Ever since I came to the Lord, I too feel like I've been walking on water. It is a joyful feeling to have. Peter walked on the very same waters that he was afraid of.

30 but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me."

Peter was fine when he had his eyes set on the Lord. He was walking on the water with no problems, walking towards Christ. When did he begin to sink? When he saw the win, and was afraid. In other words, when he took his eyes off of Jesus. As long as we keep our eyes on Jesus, we will do great things. When we take our eyes off Jesus, we too will fall. Let me put this in an example. Let us say that someone has an addiction to alcohol. This person can try and overcome this addiction by keeping his eyes on Jesus. If he prays and reads the Word of God and meditates on it, he will grow spiritually, rather than trying to satisfy his flesh. But let's say that the storm is the alcohol. Right when this person takes his eyes off of Jesus and thinks about alcohol, he will be tempted. Temptation is the first step to sin. He will surely fall if he doesn't focus his eyes (better yet his life) on God.

But we all fall! Does that mean it's too late? By no means. Look at Peter's words, "Lord, save me." Let us do the same when we fall and call on the Lord to save us. A saint is not someone who is perfect, but a saint is someone who gets right back up every time he falls.

31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "O man of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

Jesus will do the same for us when we call out "Lord, save me!" He will reach out His hand and catch us. If Christ will help Peter who had such little faith, how much more will He help those with strong faith? Let us not doubt, but trust in Him.

The wind ceased. The storm is over now. For with God, all things are possible. We need to worship God too. Not only when He does great things for us, but always. God will always do great things for us; it is up to us to recognize Him when He comes.

Grace and peace be with you!

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1 comment:

Katie said...

This is great! Thank you so much.