How many of you have some form of picture in your life? This could be something that you carry in a purse or wallet. It could be something that is hanging on a wall in your home. Yeah. We keep pictures because they help us to hold things in our minds. Maybe it is something from a special time or event. Maybe it is something from a special place. Maybe it is something of a special person. Whatever it is, pictures are an important part of our lives.
Beginning today, and going through the next three weeks we will be looking at a series of pictures that Matthew gives us. These pictures are pictures of Jesus. They are pictures that allow us to understand who he is. They are pictures that help us to keep our eyes and our hearts and our minds focused and fixed on him. They are pictures that give us guidance in our lives.
Last week we saw Jesus feed a crowd that numbered somewhere between ten and twelve thousand people. And so we see that Jesus immediately made the disciples get into the boat and leave while he dismissed the crowds. He goes by himself and prays and evening comes.
The disciples find themselves in a boat. They are a long way from land. And a storm comes. Have you ever been on a boat in a storm? Mindy and I went on a cruise for our honeymoon. We were on this a really big boat. But we were in the midst of a storm. I kid you not, we could look out the window and see the horizon moving up and down.
Finding yourself in a boat can be difficult enough for some people. Finding yourself in a boat during a storm is much, much worse. So here are the disciples, in a much smaller boat than a cruise ship. They are out in the middle of the water, with no radar, no land in sight and there is a big storm going on.
Now remember, some of these guys are fishermen. They did this for a living. Boats would be nothing new. And yet, here they are. Matthew does not tell us that they were afraid of the storm. I sure would have been. No, what scares the disciples is that in the fourth watch of the night; sometime between three and six in the morning. They see Jesus walking on the sea.
They were terrified. I mean, can you blame them? Wouldn’t you be? It is the middle of the night, and here is Jesus walking on the water. You just don’t see this kind of thing happening. They cry out in fear that it is a ghost.
Now, allow a little aside here. This is one of the great things about the scriptures. They don’t give us an unrealistic rosy picture of the disciples. This is not exactly a flattering picture of them or their actions right now. But it is certainly human. I think that is great that the people are real.
OK. Back to the story. Jesus says, “Take heart; it is I. do not be afraid.” And Peter says, “If it’s you tell me to come to you.” He does. And Peter, gets out of the boat. He gets out of the boat. I mean this is absolutely beyond reason. Not only does he get out, but he walks on the water too. He walks to Jesus. But then he notices the wind and he begins to sink.
“Lord save me.” He cries out. And Jesus grabs him and pulls him out. “O you of little faith, why did you Doubt?” Jesus rebukes him. They get into the boat and the wind stops. The disciples worship Jesus and say, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
What a picture this is. And in this picture we see that there are a couple of things that Matthew wants us to see. First, is that Jesus is God. The second is that this God is very patient, loving and gracious.
OK. First, is that Jesus is God. Now in the ancient world, water was seen as a force that was chaos. It can symbolize sin. It is always in motion and it cannot be controlled. If you remember the pictures from the tsunami in Japan or of all the flooding that happened in the Midwest, or even the flooding after Katrina, you can understand the power of water.
So, if there is one who is able to have control of the water it is God. Something else that is important to understand here. Our God indeed has power over the water. That is something that is clearly seen in the lesson from Job. God sets the boundaries and says, “Thus far you shall go and no further.” This power that God has over the water is somewhat unique. Not all gods in the ancient world could do that. There is one story where some gods unleash a flood and go and cower in the corner out of fear.
Not the God of the Bible. Not Yahweh. He does not cower in the face of the mighty power of the water and the waves. No. He establishes the boundaries. He controls the water. So when we see Jesus walking on the water here, what we need to understand is that this is not just another miracle. This is not just some fancy trick that he can do. This is Jesus showing his power over the water, the wind and the waves. This is Jesus doing something that only God can bring about.
Then when Jesus calls out to the disciples and he says, “Take heart; it is I.” He is using a form of the name “I am.” This is God’s name. This is Yahweh. So you can say that not only is Jesus showing that he is God here, but he is identifying himself in the same way. Wow. What a powerful and literally awesome picture. Jesus is God; truly, one hundred percent. He is God in the flesh. He is God with us. He is our Immanuel.
Peter finds himself on the water too. He makes it out to Jesus. But then becomes distracted and begins to sink. Now this is where we see the second part of Matthew’s picture. We have it down that Jesus is God. He makes a pretty good case on that one. But now we see that this God is patient, loving and gracious.
We see this in Jesus’ response to Peter. It is true that he rebukes him. But he doesn’t give up on him. You see it is important to be aware of how we hear these words. As Lutherans, we are very good at feeling guilty about things. It can be easy for us to hear these words as words of disappointment or condemnation. But what if these words are words that are spoken in the same way that you might talk to a child who is learning to walk or ride a bike?
What if in these words we hear love and compassion and not just shame? After all Peter is learning. There is enough faith there for him to get out of the boat. But what we see is that there is still a lot for Peter to learn. As we jump ahead we will find that there are many more times where Peter doesn’t seem to get it or understand just right, and yet Jesus doesn’t give up on him. Jesus doesn’t insult him, yell at him, or put him down. He doesn’t look the other way and ignore it. He does rebuke Peter. But he does so with love, patience and compassion.
This is a very important picture that helps us to understand who our God is. You see this God is not only the one who has power over the water and the wind and the waves. But he is also the one who has power over sin and death and the devil. He is the perfect one who gave his life to pay the price for the sins of the world. He is the one who walked victoriously out of the grip of death on Easter morning. He is the one who defeats Satan and all the forces of evil. This is a God of very great power.
But he is also a God of very great compassion. And we see both his power and his compassion in our lives too. We see his power as we are reminded that our sins are forgiven. We are able to take them to him, confess them to him and know that he really truly forgives them. Even the things we struggle with, and find ourselves doing again and again, are not too much for him to forgive.
We see his power as we remember our baptism and the promise that holds for us in knowing that since we were united with him in a death like his that we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
We see his power as we receive his body and blood in, with and under the bread and wine of Holy Communion. These are given and shed for you, for the forgiveness of your sins. And wherever there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.
We see his compassion, when we consider our own lives and how easy it is for us to get caught up in the things of this world and what we want for ourselves. While we may not find ourselves walking on water, we can just as easily take our eyes off of him and begin to depend on what we want and our own resources. That can be a very scary time. But when we do find ourselves in the midst of that we call out to him. And in his compassion, he uses his great power to save us, and restore us.
Peter eventually got it. He did have a few pretty big blunders along the way, but he didn’t stay one of little faith forever. The life that God is calling us to live, the life that he gives us in Jesus is better than anything else. Yet it is not easy. After all, what do you expect when that very call says, if anyone would come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me? As we make this journey together we can love and encourage one another as we grow and mature in who we are as God’s people. There is no better way to live.
I pray that this is a great blessing to you now and always. Amen.
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