WATCHWORD:
22 Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people home. 23 After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone. 24 Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves. 25 About three o’clock in the morning, Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!”27 But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!”
28 Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.” 29 “Yes, come,” Jesus said. So, Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted. 31 Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?” 32 When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 Then the disciples worshiped him. “You really are the Son of God!” they exclaimed. Matthew 14:22-32
Meditation:
Get in the Boat!
Did you note the first phrase in the Matthew passage? “Immediately after this…”
Immediately after what? Those guys in the boat, His disciples, had, just that day, witnessed the feeding of the 5000! Not only that but over the previous weeks there had been the healing of lepers, and causing a young girl to return to health after being pronounced dead. Now they were terrified and thought Jesus was a ghost. Is it any wonder that Jesus marveled at their lack of faith.
Why did Jesus “insist” that they get back in the boat? Was it a set-up for a lesson they had to learn? That sentence continues with “…and cross to the other side of the lake.” Why cross? We aren’t told. Was this a lesson teaching them not to doubt the Master? Oh, ye of little faith.
Then the thick-headed lugs in the boat finally got it. “You really are the Son of God!” Oh, it is you! Then that feeding of the 5,000 wasn’t a trick! Wow. That piece of fish was really good. How did you do that? And the bread – so fresh! Can’t you just hear the thoughts going through their minds as they now try to process what they had seen and heard and tasted and experienced, and walking on water? Come on! Their doubts dissolved away in the face of the power of the Holy Spirit.
“Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land…” Is that you? Is that us? What about our faith? When adversity strikes, and we stray from the safety of the shore and find ourselves in crisis, pleading: “Save me Lord!” We are very much like those disciples. On the placid waters of a wonderful lake, meaning life is going smoothly, do we drift away from our faith? Do we take for granted that he doesn’t have a hand in how our life is going so well at that moment? Would we recognize God’s graces if they bit us on the…nose? Do we pause in the midst of the perfect day to say, “Thank you, Jesus?” Or do we look upon our faith, our Lord, as kind of a rainy-day fund, you know, in case of an emergency, give the Big Guy a call?
I don’t know where I read this, an essay that talked about the change that the disciples went through from the time they were first called to that point at Pentecost and the infilling of the Holy Spirit. They were different people. Most were young, rough fisherman, at the start. Nearly everyone was from Galilee, except for the betrayer, Judas. In the end they were all Saints, all executed, except John, for following Jesus.
You know the little cliché, we’re all in the same boat. Well, we are, as believers we are in the same boat. But we’re in the boat with our Lord and Savior. Nothing passes into our lives, all the ups and all the downs, that hasn’t already been processed through His hands. We trust that, we believe that, and we need to rest in that. If you are floundering around, in the midst of a storm, get in the boat! Amen.
Bulletin Board:
A Monday Funny —
A young monk arrives at the monastery. He is assigned to helping the other monks in copying the old laws of the church by hand. He notices, however, that all of the monks are copying from copies, not from the original manuscript. So, the new monk goes to the head monk to question this, pointing out that if someone made even a small error in the first copy, it would never be picked up! In fact, that error would be continued in all of the subsequent copies. The head monk, says, “You make a good point, my son.”
He goes down into the dark caves underneath the monastery where the original manuscripts are held in a locked vault. Hours go by and nobody sees the head monk. The young monk gets worried and goes down to look for him. He sees him banging his head against the wall and wailing.
“We missed the R! We missed the R! We missed the R!”
“Father!” cries the young monk. “What’s wrong?”
The head monk, with tears in his eyes, replies, “The word was celebrate!”
Prayer:
We are grateful that Jesus is the shelter from the storms of our lives. He walks before us against the dangers that we fear. In our darkness, he provides hope and brings the light of his spirit. Jesus the Christ comes and speaks comfort to our distress. He speaks salve to our grief. His words: “Take heart it is I, do not be afraid” brings calm and peace in our individual storms. You, Heavenly Father, have brought us to the beginning of this day, and we rejoice. Defend us, now, with your mighty power and grant that this day we fall into no sin, or danger. May all of our goings out and coming in will bring honor and glory to you. In all things, help us to follow Your will throughout this day. In the name of our Lord, we pray. Amen.
