Developing an Unsinkable Faith
Matthew 14:22-33
November 20, 2011
Here we are in the middle of Matthew’s gospel and at the same time
In the middle of one of the busiest days in all of Jesus’ ministry.
Not only has Jesus received word about the death of John the Baptist,
But He has also been bombarded by a crowd.
• He has healed their diseases…
• He has preached about the kingdom…
• He has fed all of them with two fish and five loaves…
• And now He is walking on water…
(Only to debate with the crowd on the other side)
It is a busy day.
What we also have begun to understand is that this day
Had far less to do with proving Himself to the crowds
And far more to do with teaching the twelve.
We learned this very clearly last week
As Jesus pulled the ultimate teaching lesson on His disciples.
John’s gospel even told us that Jesus was testing His disciples.
Jesus pushed them to the brink of their physical rationale
To reveal to them that ministry must be done according to His will
And in His strength.
On our own ministry is impossible.
• We will be too tired…
• We will be too busy…
• Our task will be too large…
• Our resources will be too small…
And more times than not our ministry will be less than spectacular.
And this was true of the disciples.
They simply wanted to send the crowd away (we’ve been there)
But then came the rebuke.
Matthew 14:16 “But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!”
In other words, “What do you think you are here for?”
Now, as we noted the circumstances
Seemed to make this command impossible.
Matthew 14:17 “They said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”
Based upon their own ability, the command of Jesus would never work.
But that is where Jesus stepped in.
He took the food, blessed it and gave it back to the disciples
To then give it to the crowd.
And the rest is history.
They never ran out, and there were 12 baskets left over.
So while it was an impressive miracle that the crowed should have recognized, Matthew makes it clear that the miracle was really for them.
It was a hands on problem meant to teach them that God provides the means for our ministry, and if He tells us to do it, we can.
This morning we get another hands on ministry learning session.
And to a large part it is the same lesson.
You see Mark tells us that the disciples
Didn’t learn a thing from the first one.
Mark 6:52 “for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.”
So: Take Two
Jesus is still out to teach them that where He guides them,
He can provide for them.
He is still out to grow their faith.
And of course you know that growing our faith is very important to Jesus.
And one of the ways He does that is through difficult circumstances.
James 1:2-4 “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
Romans 5:3-4 “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;”
Jesus loves to use difficult circumstances to grow our faith.
But even at that, “grow our faith” is a little bit of a misnomer.
What we should really talk about is learning to use our faith.
When we talk about being of “little faith”,
It doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with faith,
It means we don’t use it enough.
You see faith does not come from you.
Faith is a gift from God.
Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;”
The faith we have is supernatural.
It comes from God.
It is given to us.
And so we really aren’t trying to grow it,
We are really just trying to learn to use it.
So the faith we have is supernatural and unless it is tested
You and I never know how strong it actually is.
And so the Lord puts us in difficult circumstances
So that we can see how strong faith actually is.
Listen to what Peter said:
TURN TO: 1 Peter 1:3-9
Look at what Peter says about faith.
• It is what God uses it to protect us for salvation. (3-5)
• Its strength is proven through trials. (6-7)
• It results in the salvation of our souls (8-9)
And so it really isn’t about growing our faith,
But rather learning to use it.
And because of that difficult circumstances are necessary.
We saw the first last week when Jesus told the 12
To feed 5,000 men and their families with only 5 loaves and 2 fish.
But the disciples learned nothing from that,
So it is time for yet another problematic circumstance.
You and I know it as the day Jesus walked on water.
Now again this is not a new miracle to us.
It, like the feeding of the 5,000, suffers from our familiarity.
We are so familiar with it that we fail to be astonished any more by it.
But what Jesus did here is so amazing it is almost unreal.
He truly is the Lord of all creation.
Now this miracle is not mentioned by all four gospel writers.
Luke does not include it in his gospel.
(Largely due to the fact that he was not there, where as the others were.)
But in Matthew’s gospel we have the only account
Of Peter getting out of the boat.
That teaches us that Matthew is making a point through Peter’s stepping out of the boat, and so we will sort of focus in on that this morning.
But let’s look at this dilemma the disciples find themselves in
And learn a little bit about developing an unsinkable faith.
5 things.
#1 A SIMPLE COMMAND
Matthew 14:22-23
These verses really stress the authority of Jesus.
“Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side”
The disciples had wanted the ministry to be over sooner, but Jesus wasn’t ready.
Now He is ready and the disciples are told to leave.
“while He sent the crowds away.”
This is what the disciples were rebuked for wanting earlier,
But the teaching lesson had been given and now the crowds could leave.
Jesus wasn’t going to feed them forever.
(In fact John 6 reveals that this is what they wanted and He was unwilling to do that.)
This ministry event is over.
And it is breaking up fast.
John tells us why.
John 6:15 “So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.”
The crowd missed the point.
They wanted a leader that would fix the hunger problem once and for all,
But they had no interest in true faith. (Read John 6 and you will see that)
And so Jesus is leaving.
He sends the 12 away, dismisses the crowd, and He gets back to doing
What He intended to do before the crowd arrived.
(23) “After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.”
But here is what is interesting.
We know Jesus is omniscient, He knows what is coming.
He knows a storm is brewing.
WHAT DID HE DO?
He sent His disciples out into it, ALONE.
When you read verse 22, it doesn’t even appear He gave them an option.
“Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat…”
It is apparent He wanted them out there on the water before the storm hit
So they wouldn’t be able to delay the trip on account of it.
Understand that some of life’s trials certainly intended by the Lord.
Jesus certainly sent the disciples into a storm.
(and they had no clue)
To them, it was just a simple command.
A Simple Command
#2 A SCARY CIRCUMSTANCE
Matthew 14:24
And now we get the other side of the story.
While Jesus is praying the disciples are paddling.
“But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary.”
Mark and John give a little more insight.
Mark 6:47-48a “When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them…”
John 6:19a “Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles…”
I think at this point we have a pretty good idea
As to what Jesus was praying about.
We know He is a great and merciful high priest who intercedes for us.
I don’t think it is far-fetched at all to assume
Jesus was on the mountain praying for the disciples.
And by the looks of things, they needed it.
They were three or four miles out, and straining at the oars.
That is what we call a difficult circumstance,
And the Lord intentionally sent them in to it.
A Simple Command, A Scary Circumstance
#3 A SPOKEN COMFORT
Matthew 14:25-27
Now we catch another glimpse as to the struggle these men were facing.
Matthew didn’t record how far they had rowed…
Nor did he understand the concept of straining at the oars…
But this tax collector turned boat traveler knew one thing.
They had been there a long time.
(25) “And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea.”
“the fourth watch” was between 3:00am and 6:00am.
Now look back at verse 23.
“After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.”
So understand the time table.
• Jesus sent 12 away first.
• Then He sent away 5,000 families
• Then evening came (6:00pm)
So we are talking at least 9 hours on the water,
And at least half of that was spent fighting the waves on this storm.
The point is this went on forever, and they were exhausted.
Can you imagine the grumbling?
• Why did He send us out here?
• Why didn’t He come with us?
• Why doesn’t He do something?
This has been a long, dark, difficult night.
(25) “And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea.”
Now there is a thing of beauty!
“He came to them”
HOW DID HE COME?
FIRST: He came later than they wanted.
“in the fourth watch of the night”
But that is not uncommon.
Ask Martha about that:
John 11:21 “Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Ask Jairus about that:
Mark 5:35 “While He was still speaking, they came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?”
SECOND: He came in a way they could never have expected.
“walking on the sea”
The point is He has ways of deliverance
That never even enter the human logic.
Naaman thought bathing in the Jordan was a foolish idea…
Filling the wine barrels with water seemed strange…
Putting mud on a blind man’s eyes isn’t what you’d expect…
But Jesus isn’t required to deliver in ways that make sense to us.
His timing is never too late and His tactics are never impossible.
So He comes later than expected and different than they ever thought,
But the beauty is He came.
The initial result was terror.
(26) “When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear.”
The waves were scary, but at least the waves were familiar.
They had never seen anything like this, and now they were doubly afraid.
BUT HAVE WE NOT LEARNED THAT FEAR IS THE OPPOSITE OF FAITH?
(27) “But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Now there is command number two.
• First was the command to go.
• Now is the command “do not be afraid.”
THIS IS A FAITH LESSON.
Faith is hard to learn in a classroom.
Faith is hard to learn in a pew.
God seems to prefer hands on teaching times.
And even in the midst of this storm,
Jesus tells the disciples that they have nothing to fear.
That is the spoken comfort.
#4 A STERN CORRECTION
Matthew 14:28-31
Now this is part of the story that only Matthew shares with us.
(Not sure if Peter was happy about him doing that or not)
“Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”
I don’t mind telling you that this is a difficult statement to process.
It almost sounds like Peter is asking Jesus
To prove that He is real and not a ghost.
But if that is what he is asking,
He has picked a really foolish way to make Jesus prove it.
If he were trying to get Jesus to prove Himself he would have said something like, “If it is You, calm the storm like You did before.”
But Peter isn’t looking for proof here.
And this is the beauty of Peter.
• He sees what the Lord is doing.
• He understands that Jesus is asking for faith.
And so Peter is the first to try and offer it.
We may give Peter grief sometimes for the impulsive moments in his life and the failures he has.
But at least Peter failed at full speed.
You can say a lot of things about Peter, but faithless is not one of them.
Peter is here doing the unthinkable.
“Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”
In other words, it is better to be with You on the water
Than without You in the boat.
I’m sure the rest of the disciples saw it as,
“Peter’s just tired of having to row”
But Peter asks to come out.
He is trying to exercise the faith He senses that Jesus wants.
(29) “And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.”
Let’s just say, “Well-done Peter!”
And let me bring this illustration a little closer to home.
Many in this room have prayed prayers similar to Peter’s.
“Lord if you want me to, You can call me on a mission trip…”
That is very similar to what Peter was doing.
I’m not going to jump out on my own…
I’m not even asking permission to go…
I’m just saying that if You want to call me, I’ll go…
Many have prayed that way in regard to things like missions,
They have heard the Lord say, “Come”
And they have stepped out of the boat.
Well done.
Then comes the problem.
(30) “But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Obviously he didn’t see the wind.
He saw the effects of the wind, which was the waves.
And “he became frightened”
And all of a sudden, all he wanted was deliverance.
“Lord, put me back in the boat!”
Some have gone on mission and had similar moments.
They hit scary circumstances and say, “That’s it, send me home!”
This was Peter.
He tried, but he faltered.
(31) “Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Can you see Jesus’ eyes?
Can you hear the disappointment in His voice?
I can, because I have seen those eyes
And heard that voice in my own life before.
I can’t get down on Peter,
And certainly those still sitting in the boat having nothing to say.
But it doesn’t change the fact that the Lord rebuked Peter here.
And again the message: DO NOT DOUBT
Is it not obvious what Jesus has been trying to teach them
Over the course of the last two miracles?
• So you don’t have enough food, trust Me.
• So you’re in the midst of storm, trust Me.
• So the waves threaten to sink you, trust Me.
The disciples would never be able to minister in this world
Unless they learned to trust Jesus, and neither will you and I.
And sometimes the very purpose of the storms He sends us in to
Is so that we will learn not to fear, not to doubt, and not to let problems
Deter us from what He has commanded us to do.
With Him, we can do it.
With Him we can feed the multitude…
With Him we can survive the storm…
With Him we can face the waves…
We simply have to learn that we can.
And that is what the Lord was teaching the twelve.
He used a storm to teach them that they are safe in the midst of His will,
And there is no need to fear the circumstances so long as He is with us.
Let’s see if the disciples learned this.
#5 A SPIRITUAL CONVICTION
Matthew 14:32-33
So Jesus and Peter get into the boat and “the wind stopped”
Was this a miracle? Yes.
But the reason the wind stopped is because the lesson had been learned.
Jesus had made the point, and the storm was no longer needed.
In fact John’s gospel takes it even further.
John 6:21 “So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.”
Not only was the storm over, but apparently the boat ride was over too.
That storm was not meant to harm them.
That storm was meant to show them how to use their faith.
DID THEY LEARN ANYTHING?
(33) “And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly God’s Son!”
Matthew DOESN’T say “They thanked Him saying, “We would have died without You.”
Matthew says “they worshiped Him”
They didn’t learn anything from the feeding the 5,000,
But they did from this.
They learned that in Jesus, they had an ally
That made impossible circumstances possible.
In Jesus
They had an ally that could do all things through them.
They had an ally that if He was for them, who could be against them.
And so Jesus took a simple storm and used it to solidify the faith of His disciples, and I want you to know He does the same today.
He doesn’t just ALLOW storms, at times He SENDS you in to them,
So that you will see what He already knows.
That you are not as easily defeated as you think…
You are not as helpless as it appears…
You are not as weak as it seems…
He is with you.
He is on your side.
He has commanded you and you can trust Him.
Let me give you one more example of unsinkable faith.
TURN TO: ACTS 27:9-44
Believe God, cut the ropes, and develop an unsinkable faith.
