5.17 - Did Jesus Really DO THAT? (Part 6)

Did Jesus really walk on water?
This is most likely the most well-known and widely-recognized of Jesus' miracles and a clear sign of Jesus' divinity. But how does Jesus' miracle and Peter's interaction affect our understanding of faith and commitment to God?

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Paul and Noah both preach and teach with the Cedar Park church of Christ in Cedar Park, TX. You can visit our site at: https://www.cedarparkchurchofchrist.org/

Transcript

 5.17 - Did Jesus Really DO THAT_ (Part 6)

5.17 - Did Jesus Really DO THAT_ (Part 6)

Paul: [00:00:00] Well, back again, back again in our podcast season five, did Jesus really, and here, did Jesus really do this or do you really do that? We were talking about a miracle Noah last week we were looking at spit and saliva. If you didn't see that there. In Mark's gospel, Mark's the only one that records that for us.

It's very unique about the miracle of Jesus. And so you got to go back to last week because we were talking about something Jesus clearly did, but why and what's going on there in that text. But here today is another miracle. There's going to be a different direction we're going to go. This of all the miracles, Noah, is probably the most Remembered or noticed or talked about even by those who don't necessarily see God the way we see God or understand miracles the way we as Christians Understand miracles, but it's found in Matthew chapter 14 So where are we going today about did Jesus really do this [00:01:00] in a miracle?

Noah: Yeah. So in Matthew chapter 14, we read, it's you know, it's very different from last week's spit related miracle, but it, there is still the theme of water, I guess you could say you said, it's probably the quintessential miracle of Jesus. It's when Jesus walked on the water. And like you said, people today even if they have no no affiliation with Christianity and even just a very superficial knowledge of the Bible.

That's a quality of deity that they'll, that is called out. Oh, they, they walk on water, you know? Mm-Hmm, . We even use that phrase sometimes, and so I think it's gonna be helpful to one, look at this and, and see this, it truly is the power of God. But two, why, why did Jesus choose to walk on water? It was a choice.

This was, this was not you know, a matter of necessity. He, there are any number of ways that he could have tackled the, the problem of [00:02:00] distance. Why did he walk on water? So I think it'd be good for us to go ahead and read in Matthew chapter 14, and then we can get into discussing this miracle. I'll go ahead and read from the ESV beginning in verse 22, immediately he, that's Jesus, made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side while he dismissed the crowds.

And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. But the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night, he came to them, walking on the sea.

But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, It is a ghost, and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, Take heart, it is I. Do not be afraid. And Peter answered him, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water. He said, [00:03:00] come. So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.

But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me. Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him saying to him, oh, you of little faith. Why did you doubt? And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased and those in the boat worshipped him, saying, Truly you are the Son of God.

Wow. 

Paul: Wow. I mean, that's a wow moment. 

Noah: Yeah. 

Paul: Jesus never does anything by accident. Man, I hope we get that. Right. I hope we get that. Jesus tells his disciples what to do, but Jesus waits for just the right time. Yeah. Wind, waves, storm. Watch of the night and Jesus is walking on the water. Let me just state the obvious here.

Jesus doesn't need a boat. We need boats. Jesus doesn't need a boat. He's walking through them on the water, but [00:04:00] they don't know who he is. They don't know this is Jesus. 

Noah: Yeah. 

Paul: And they're scared to death. Testimony time. I'm being honest. If I'm in the boat. I'm scared. 

Noah: Yeah. 

Paul: And I'm asking who, what is this? So they recognize his voice when he calls out that in, but initially they don't, they think it's something other than Jesus.

Noah: Yeah. Yeah. I, it is hard to picture ourselves in this context. It is so foreign to us in so many different ways. But I, My imagination fails me the feelings that I would be feeling already before seeing what might be a ghost walking across the water. As a seasoned fisherman in the middle of a storm, you know, I'm probably focused on a few different things and most of them have to do with me staying alive, you know, and the boat not turning over.

And then there's this thing coming [00:05:00] on the water. How comforting it must've been when Jesus's voice comes across the waves and they realize that it's him. 

Paul: Yeah. This is no ordinary man, man. When I say that, when people hear that, we say, well, yeah, agreed. Yeah, obvious. Jesus is no ordinary man. And they're going to make that declaration.

You are a son of God, but that's not the first time. And the only time they've made that declaration before we make that declaration, Jesus, you are the son of God. This is no ordinary man, but. I want to offer this in the beginning, just for thought. You know, do, do, do we really, do I really believe that with God, all things are possible?

If this is God walking on water, is my faith really such that I say nothing is too hard for God? And we say, yeah, but he is, God has decided to limit himself because and by, That's, that's a bold statement to make and just be absolutely certain, like, like we really know what God will and will not do today.[00:06:00]

Nothing's too hard for God. So just like we were asking about Jesus spitting on eyes and who was the, was it for the benefit of the blind man? Was it for the benefit of his disciples? Clearly his audience is disciples. Yeah. In a boat. On water, storms, winds, it's dark and Jesus is talking to them and he says, take courage.

It's me guys, guys, it's me. It's Jesus. And he says, do not be afraid. So clearly this miracle is for the benefit of the disciples, but we're reading it. It's for our benefit too. So how do we get benefit from this and exactly what's Peter learning here? 

Noah: Yeah. Well, I think Peter is. Is kind of the the object lesson.

He's the case study of this because you already said Jesus doesn't need a boat. Jesus has, I don't think is putting it too strongly. He has orchestrated this to happen this way. He is, like [00:07:00] you said, he's waited for a time. to do this. He's waited, he dismissed the crowds, he went and prayed, now he's coming to them.

This is a teaching opportunity and Peter gets to be the case, the real case study of the situation. And Peter gets, sometimes gets kind of a bad rap. From what we can tell in the gospels, he tends to be kind of a it seems to be pretty brash. He sticks his foot in his mouth. Sometimes we talked about last week very briefly just in passing how he he confesses Jesus is the Christ and then rebukes him because he says he has to die.

You know, that, that seems to kind of be how Peter. But I think in this, it's a very admirable thing. And, and I, I want to say that up front because I think sometimes we read this and we focus a lot. On the fact that Peter started to sink. Yes. And we don't necessarily spend enough time and do attention on the fact that he stepped out of a boat.[00:08:00]

I think that's one of the places where we need to start. He asks to step out of the boat. He says, Jesus, if it's you, or since it's you, call me out, call me out on the water. And Peter, or rather Jesus says, come on up to that moment. It's talk. Up to that moment, it's all just been words. Peter steps out, he got out of the boat, he got out of the boat.

That's the moment that I think I don't, I don't want to dismiss the other part of it because I think there's some important learning points in that as well. But man, just take a moment to appreciate the fact that Jesus asks them, do not be afraid. And Peter says, okay. I'm not afraid. Call me up, call me out on the water.

And then he steps out of the boat. 

Paul: Yeah. What a bold request. 

Noah: Peter 

Paul: makes a bold request. I think he meant it. He got out of the boat. But it's a momentary [00:09:00] bold take a risk. And when he does it, he begins to sink. And Jesus laughs. He does what he does and responds how he responds. It's, it's, this is just fascinating to me that the Jesus, Jesus is walking on the thing that the disciples perceived to be one of, if, if not the greatest problems are facing.

It's the water, it's the waves, it's their surrounding and Jesus is walking on it. Now once they hear and they say, Hey, Hey, and Peter says, if that's really you or command, then. But they're, they're seeing a demonstration of the fact that Jesus. What they perceive to be their problem, Jesus has power over what they perceive to be their problem.

They're dealing with fear. Peter dealt with fear, but he was willing to take a risk, but it says he starts to sink. And that's usually where we focus on. Why does Peter start to [00:10:00] sink? Well, He took his eyes off of Jesus. He's looking at his surroundings, what he sees, what he experiences. I'm, I'm, I'm going to go down too.

Right. It's a momentary. And he says, Lord, save me. 

Noah: Yeah. 

Paul: Look, Jesus can perceive a genuineness of faith, a willingness to take a risk. And Jesus says, I got this and I got you. 

Remember last week, the disciples need to grow in their understanding. That was a continual thing between Jesus and them and Jesus.

Cause he loved them and wanted to equip and prepare them for life. When he was gone, guys. This is really who I am. This is really the power and authority that's going to be given to you. You got to trust me. You got to believe in me and you can't stop believing. So he's clearly teaching in a miraculous way that he has power over all of their problems, everything in life that create would create for them.

Fear. Jesus says, I got [00:11:00] this and I got you. 

Noah: Yeah. And you use the word just a moment ago, trust. I think that's so important. Trust is what took Peter out of the boat. And the fact is that he still had trust. You know, we, we, when he starts to sink, where do his, where does his eyes, where do they turn? What are the first words out of his mouth?

Lord, save me, right? He knows. Where to turn when, when his faith is insufficient, when his his mental capacity, he is distracted. He is worried. He is anxious. He is frightened by the, by the circumstances around him and he starts to sink, he still turns back to Jesus. That's ultimately where he was putting his trust.

It's trust that took him out of the boat and it's trust that turned him back to Jesus. And said, Lord, save me. He did something that no one else has done other than Jesus. [00:12:00] He walked on water. We don't have record of anybody else doing that in scripture. I don't see anybody else doing that today. He did something that no one else has done.

And it's because he committed to Jesus. He said, tell me what to do. Call me out on the water. And then he trusted Jesus enough to actually do it. 

Paul: Yeah. You know, here's where I want us to go today. Thank you for those who are listening, but there's so many application points. Well, we could camp here for a long, long time and it would benefit, no, it would benefit the two of us.

It would benefit people that are listening, not because we're saying it or discussing it. It's because it's in the text. It's something that God has clearly revealed to us. to us because he knew we would need it. His disciples needed to learn. We need to learn. We need to grow. Look, if the disciples needed regular reminders and demonstrations of God's power, so do we.

Yeah, so do I. Peter got out of the boat. Look, I know a lot of people who are risk takers for Jesus, for the Lord, who would get out of the boat. I look up to those kinds of people, but look, we're still [00:13:00] frail. We're faulty. And if we take our eyes off of Jesus and we take our eyes off the Lord and promises, you know, we can be like Peter and start to sink.

And so I want to make this point. I mean, what do we know? What do we know about as Christians in the 21st century? 2024, what do we clearly know about the power of Jesus? It's the power of Jesus that has defeated both sin and death. Okay. So if that power that has already defeated both sin and death, then why would we get to a moment in our life where we think, well, well, clearly that power, if God did this, but he can't do this.

If, if God can control this, but he can't control this, we're like Peter. And so, you know, there's a song, Noah, that we sing, man I'm, I'm getting to learn it better. I say, learn it not from a, [00:14:00] a musical technical that's way above my pay grade, the message in the song. 

Noah: Yeah. Man, 

Paul: when some of, some of our folks here came and said, Hey, can we learn this song?

Can we sing this song? It's the song Oceans. Oh yeah. I'm just going to read a little bit of the song and, and some of you, when I start reading it, you're going to start singing it and that's wonderful, man. Sing it and sing it loud. But you call me out on the waters, the great unknown where feet may fail.

And there I find you in the mystery, in oceans deep, my faith will stand. And I will call upon your name and keep my eyes above the waves when oceans rise. My soul will rest in your embrace for I am yours and you are mine. I love this translate this verse, your grace abounds in deepest waters. Your sovereign hand will be my guide where feet may fail and fear surrounds me.

You've never failed. [00:15:00] Wow. And you won't start now. So I will call upon your name. I will keep my eyes above the waves when oceans rise. My soul will rest in your embrace for I am yours and you are mine. And I can, if you're already singing this, I'm singing it to myself too. But then I can hear female voices and other voices that come in with this lead part, spirit lead me.

Where my trust is without borders. Let me walk upon the waters, wherever you would call me. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wonder, and my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my Savior. 

Noah: Wow. That last line, my, my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my Savior, I think is something that is, is grounded here in Matthew chapter 14.

I mean, clearly the, the, So, the imagery of the song is, is playing on Matthew 14, it's, it's drawing from that event in, in Jesus ministry in Peter's life. But that last, that last line, faith being [00:16:00] made stronger in the presence of our Savior. When I said that Peter is a case study here in Matthew 14, I, I think that it's really important for us to recognize what we're witnessing is the forging of Peter's faith.

It's getting stronger. It's imperfect. It always will be imperfect. And I think sometimes that frustrates us or makes us uncomfortable that our faith, we know we're imperfect, but even our faith is imperfect. We have this ebb and flow. We have these moments where if we were to use the imagery of Matthew 14 or of that, of that song, where the water seems to be, it seems to be overwhelming us.

And there's no way we can stay above. Well, we can't if we're depending on ourselves, even if we are depending on the strength of our own faith. Yes. But what we see in Peter is his faith wasn't in his faith. [00:17:00] His faith was in Jesus. And in his presence, he was made stronger, not by his own capability. It's not like, it's not like, Oh, well, when I'm around Jesus, my waterwalking skills are really good.

No, I can only walk on water because he is making me do it because he is allowing me to do it. So it's not a moment. It's not like a, wow, he really improves me. No, he is the only reason that I am able to live this way. Do these things pursue these things, accomplish these things. It's by his power and his power alone.

My faith is made stronger because If I'm like Peter, I look to him and say, Lord, save me. 

Paul: Yeah. Faith made stronger, trust deeper. I mean, willing to take a risk to serve the Lord. And, and in doing that, it's, [00:18:00] I will call upon your name. I mean, think through that song, think through that, what we're, what we're saying, what we're acknowledging that we're going to call upon his name.

I mean, the point is we're focusing on him and when we focus on his name, we're focusing on his, his character and his promises and what he can do and wants to do rather than in our own strength, our own inadequacies. the circumstances and the situations around us. I mean, Peter looked at the waves, the wind, everything about, everything about him said to him from, from in the natural, Buddy, you're about to go down much bigger than you, but Jesus said, I got this.

I got this and I got you think about in 2024 the times when, when our faith, my faith needs to be stronger. My trust needs to, to, to deepen. And the songwriter says, I rest in your embrace God [00:19:00] for you have promised and I believe, 

Noah: yeah. 

Paul: And, and does have God have to work a miracle? And in order to accomplish great things for His benefit and glory through us?

I don't have all the answers to that, but it's a trust, it's a faith. And Peter says, Lord save me. And His disciples, you know, when you, when you look at the end of this account and one of the things, I think. The context is trying to help us with all of our answers to a lot of our questions is they got into the boat and Peter gets back into the boat after the Lord rescues him and Peter steps out and the wind then stops.

That's when the wind stops. It doesn't stop when Peter starts to sink in. It doesn't stop when Jesus reveals to his disciples, Hey guys, it's me. It's me. It stops when they get in the boat. And after Jesus has a teachable moment with Peter. And then what it tells us that they're doing in verse 33 of Matthew 14, they're worshiping Jesus saying, you are certainly God's son.

And again, Jesus, because he [00:20:00] cares and he's trying to equip the, he keeps doing things intentionally to grow their faith. And they keep saying clearly, Oh, you are the son of God. And then it won't be long. 

Noah: Yeah. 

Paul: They'll have a lesson admirable moment where their faith is not what they thought it was. 

Noah: Right.

Paul: That's us. That's me. 

Noah: Mm hmm. 

Paul: But it's trust. It's faith. Jesus says in every one or almost every one of the miracles, clearly here in Matthew 14, I keep saying this, but it's so important. Jesus says, I got this and I got you. 

Noah: Yeah. Yeah. When, when we trust in Jesus, we will find he never fails. 

Paul: And 

Noah: when we realize that it ought to drive us to worship.

to true worship. That's what happened here with his disciples. And it's what you would happen with his disciples today as well. 

Paul: So Jesus, did he really walk on water? Yes, but here's the why. Here's was the so what. How [00:21:00] it helped his disciples, how it can help us today. So glad that we had this moment today.

I just love the text. Love what God continues to do through people of faith. God's, God's always faithful. The question is, am I? So where are we going next? If we keep doing these podcasts and the Lord keeps letting us do this in season five, did Jesus really, Oh, this is going to be a good one. Where are we going next week?

Noah: So next week we're continuing to Jesus really do that, but we're going to go to John two. And we're gonna go to what is described in John as the first of Jesus's miracles which he performed at a wedding in Cana. And that was, he turned water into wine. And The, the question is, is sometimes discussed, what exactly happened here when did the water turn into wine, how did the water turn into wine, obviously by Jesus's power, but what, what all is going [00:22:00] on here and why, why did Jesus do this?

What was the purpose behind it? What's this interaction between him and his mom? There's lots of questions that surround this first of Jesus's miracles And I think it's worthwhile as we are I think Generally speaking winding down to Jesus really do that. We we have a couple more in Plan, but I think it's worthwhile as we are winding that down to go back to the first of Jesus's miracles and ask Okay, so Jesus did this and then What does it really mean?

What's he really doing here? Yeah. 

Paul: Well, looking forward to that next week. Thank you for all, again, who are listening, all who are participating in this podcast. We keep hearing from you. Thank you for that and your encouragement. If you got questions, if you need to know more, if we can help more in any area, that's what we want to do.

We're just grateful for this opportunity between now and next week, one day at a time. Remember, God's got you. He's got this. You got to submit, [00:23:00] surrender, and trust. In genuine faith, He will help us stand strong.