Matthew 14: 22-36 - Just Get in the Boat, OK?
Jesus was tired, bone tired. The crowds seemed to have worn Him out and He needed to be alone. What to do with the bumbling disciples? Make them get into a boat and go on ahead of Him to another town. Maybe He figured that they might have disturbed His prayer time up on the mountain – or did He? It was nighttime and the Sea of Galilee was fickle and unreliable and could turn ugly in an instant.
"He made them get into the boat . . ." Hmmm. Did He know something? Fast forward a few hours and now it's the middle of the night. He's on the mountain praying; they're in the boat in the midst of a fierce storm. No cell phones, text messages or air raid sirens. He knew they were in trouble and decides to check it out for Himself and goes out into the sea and walks on the water. Huh? Is this crazy or what?
Mark 6 says He intended to walk past them – just checking on them but not intervening. Some friend you are, Jesus! But I digress. Here He is, walking on the water – no jet skis, rowboat, paddle boat - just His feet. They are magic feet. And it scared the bejesus out of the disciples. How can they see Him, anyway? Was He glowing?
Peter thinks it looks like fun and after he determines it isn't a ghost he challenges Jesus to give him these magical walk-on-water powers, too. Peter walks, sinks, is rescued and then Jesus makes the entire storm stop! Is He a weatherman, too? Now He's got the attention of the Twelve. I guess the feeding of the five thousand didn't register. Or else they were slowly moving from ignorant to belief in tiny baby steps. I can't judge them too much. I've never had a friend feed an army out of thin air or make a raging storm stop.
The disciples recognized Jesus for who He was. The people on land also recognized Jesus and spread the word. Crowds came to be touched by Him. They saw Him as healer as well as provider and it compelled them to worship Him.
The Jesus Pages is my journey through the New Testament in one year. I invite you to come along, read the Bible passage and leave comments. (If it's nasty or unrelated, I reserve the right to delete it.)
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