Matthew, Chapter 14

Matt. 14:22-33

Matt. 14:22 "And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. 23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone. 24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. 27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. 28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? 32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. 33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God."

Should we expect that when the Lord tells us to do something and we go about doing it as he commanded us that we will sometimes have opposition and great difficulties? Some have thought that when we are doing the Lord's bidding that we will have "smooth sailing." The disciples had been constrained by the Lord to enter a ship and go before him unto the shore on the other side of the sea. They were doing what he told them to do. Yet the sea and wind were boisterous and contrary unto them. Furthermore, when they saw the Lord coming, they did not recognize him, but thought him to be a Spirit and cried out for fear. They were greatly troubled. Yet they were doing what the Lord told them to do. Just because we are obeying the Lord does not mean that we will not be afraid, nor that we will not be troubled, nor that we will not have opposition and difficulty.

Like the apostles, we may feel like we are toiling greatly and making no progress. We are doing the Lord's bidding and yet the wind is contrary to us. We are attempting to make it to the other side as the Lord said and yet we are making no progress. In John's account they had not gotten very far from the shore they left: John 6:19 "So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid."
The disciples did not give up on their task, they were still toiling and rowing in the fourth or last watch of the night. It was then that the Lord appeared on the scene and comforted their fears as he walked on the water to come to them saying, "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid."

"And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" Peter knew that he could not walk on the water unless the Lord bid him and uphold him. So the Lord bid him come. At first, Peter walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid and began to sink. Just like Peter, as long as we are completely relying upon the Lord, we can do his bidding, no matter how impossible it may seem. We get in trouble when we consider the elements and our own natural ability. Our natural ability is insufficient to hold us up on top of the water. Only the Lord can hold us up. Fear comes when we rely upon ourselves to overcome the difficulties before us.

We see the Lord's compassion when Peter cried out, saying, "Lord, save me." The Lord immediately reached forth his hand and caught Peter. Sometime timely salvation is instant as in this case. Notice, when the need was instant the Lord was there instantly. Furthermore, the Lord gently chided Peter saying, "O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" Why do we sometimes have such doubts ourselves? It is because of our little faith. When we fully trust in the Lord, there is no need to doubt even when the wind is boisterous and contrary unto us. The Lord is with us, even when we do not realize it, and will make himself known to us in His time.

When the Lord appeared unto the disciples, he made himself known to them, he comforted them, and he showed his power over the sea in that he walked on water. He entered into the ship and immediately the wind became calm: Mk. 6:51 "And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered." Thus, he showed his power over both the wind and the sea. Additionally, though the disciples had made little progress through their efforts to get to the other side, when the Lord entered the ship they immediately were on the other side: John 6:21 "Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went."

In conclusion, we need to trust in the Lord's ability and not our own ability. We need to trust that the Lord is with us and that he will deliver us. We need to understand that he has power over all opposition and all difficulty that we encounter. Understanding this, we need to worship him for his greatness and his compassion toward us.

Matt. 14:34-36

Matt. 14:34 "And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased; 36 And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole."

The fame of Jesus had spread and when it became known that he was in the land of Gennesaret, the men of that place sent out and brought unto him all that were diseased. There was a recognition that Jesus had the power to heal. They also recognized that he was a High Priest like none that the country of Israel had ever experienced before. He actually had the power to heal and to cleanse. The hem of the garment we covered in our study of Matt. 9:18-26. We notice that every one that touched the hem of his garment was made perfectly whole. All of the elect are made to touch the hem of the garment of the High Priest in the covenant of redemption set forth in Rom. 8:29, 30. They touch his cleansing in the justification taught in the covenant of redemption and they touch his healing in the calling and glorification taught in the covenant of redemption.