Come - Matthew 14:22-33 - Eleventh Week after Pentecost

 Matthew 14:22-33 NIV

²² Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³ After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, ²⁴ and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

²⁵ Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

²⁹ “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

³² And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³ Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Come!

So now we have Jesus’ display of His authority. He instructs the disciples to get into the boat and move along to the other side of Galilee. I find it humorous that the text says that Jesus “MADE” them get into the boat. Did He have enough of all this distraction from His original need to pray?

 Jesus is once again sending His disciples out, just as He does all along. Why? For the same reason you and I are sent. We need to get used to proclaiming the Gospel to all the world. Tell all the people what we witness. Tell the world of the Kingdom of Heaven that has come to this place and this time, in Jesus the Messiah. Yes, we have work to do.

Jesus will take care of the crowd and dismiss them. He has shown His compassion for the people, and now it’s time for Him to get on His prayer with the Father, as He originally was intending to do. But the people came first, for Jesus.

Prayer is important. Prayer is important for us, and it was, and has always been, important for Jesus. After, before, and during, the business and the will of God, take time to pray. Take time to pray. Prayer is your source of strength with God. The Father seeks to hear from you, and to speak with you. There is peace in prayer, along with direction in prayer. It’s vital to pray in the solitude of your space, in the here and now. In prayer we apply our lives to the God of love, and seek the guidance only He can offer. Yep, prayer is a big deal. Get used to it, and do it! See Jesus as not only your example, but hear Jesus’ prayer for you, and all creation.

You never know, when your boat will be tossed and flipped on its side. So, you need to pray.

Jesus doesn’t have a boat to get in. So, instead, He just walks across the water! And it was sometime between 3 and 6 am! I can’t help but to think of the extreme action of Jesus coming to His disciples. And to think He comes to us. Jesus is always coming! He comes from heaven to earth. He comes to us in the Bread and Wine of Communion. He comes to us, and shows us our sins, and forgives us during Confession. Jesus comes to US in worship.

Many people get this all turned upside-down, when they attend church on Sunday. It seems some think that we go to church, to come to Jesus. NO! We go to church because that’s one place that Jesus always comes to us! We don’t go there to entertain one another with coffee in hand; to watch the bands play, and the preacher inspire us with his or her own clever words. NOPE! That’s not how church works! God comes to us! And in Jesus, He has always come to us.

Some think it odd that Jesus walks on water. But go figure, this is God here, God who made the universe! He made the water after all, so get beyond your own self-supreme logical thinking, and be humble in the presence of the Creator! This is the same Guy who is victorious over sin, death, chaos and evil!

After all, He is coming to the disciples, AFTER feeding a whole bunch of folks, over 5000, probably closer to 10,000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. Talk about God the Creator!

But you know what? I can understand the disciple’s reaction of terror at seeing Jesus’ walking on the water. I too, seem to live in the here and now. I too live in the simple understanding, that I can only fathom what I am capable of as a human. I easily forget that Jesus IS God! So, if I saw Jesus’ walking on water, I too, would tend to forget it, and be in terror before Jesus as God! That’s’ way beyond anything I can imagine, and to think that God is approaching me, would cause me to be in terror!

The neat part of all this fear, is that Jesus helps the disciples, and me and you too, overcome fear, by giving us faith. Faith is the gift of God to His people, so that, we can live in a loving relationship with God, now and forever.

And Jesus speaks out. Loud and clear! Don’t be afraid! Take courage! This is the gift of faith that transcends any fear we may have. That’s some love, right there! Just like Moses must have felt at the burning bush; we are in the presence of the Great I AM!

It seems, sometimes, for me too, that when I see Jesus, either in my mind, in the Word, or in someone else, I question what I am seeing. I think this touch of doubt is evident in Peter’s questioning if he is really seeing Jesus’ walking on the water. “If it is you…” Give me a sign of confirmation, convince me, or do something to alleviate my doubt. Give me a command that I cannot question the authority that you possess. Make Your presence clear to me.

As I drop back a bit from this questioning in my soul, I see my lack of faith in the presence of God. Well, of course this is Jesus! Look and see, listen and hear, and believe. It’s like Jesus spins me around to see His face, to hear His voice and comes to me to declare just who He is. But, I, like Peter, still want a bit more! “Command me to come to You on the water.”

It’s not enough that Jesus is coming, to me, in the water. The water of a stormy sea, or even the water of chaos at the creation, or the waters of my baptism, that bury me in my sin, to raise me to a new life, to be a new creation in God. Once again, God comes to me, to you, to the disciples in the storm, and to Peter. God always comes to us. My coming to God is only some sinful satisfaction, that I build up as proof to me, that this IS Jesus. Yet, I must face the sinfulness of my doubt as real, and approach Jesus as He walks to me in the storms of my sin, and in the storms of this world in which I live.

And then… and then… as Jesus comes to me on the stormy waters, as Jesus gave up His prayer time to come to the crowd of people hungering for miracles, healing and salvation… Jesus bids us to “Come.” Come to Him to seek salvation, at the very point of our doubts and fears of the storms of this world, and this life, and seek Him.

In this response to “Come” to Jesus, is the very walk, the journey of faith which God freely gives to us. It may be a fearful time, we may shy away from our own failure to carry out what God has called us to do, we may sink in the storms of sin, death and temptation; but none-the-less, Jesus commands us to “Come.”

So, yea, like Peter, step out into the storm, on the water, and “Come” to Jesus. This isn’t about what you can do, but about what God does for, and to you, in Jesus. Jesus always “Comes” to us and bids us, no, commands us, to “Come” to Him. In Jesus alone is where all trust, hope and salvation reside.

And in the midst of the storm, the fear and the troubles of this life, we learn, that we absolutely NEED Jesus to save us. At this very moment, we have moved beyond ourselves, and given our lives TO Jesus, TO save us. And at this moment we RECEIVE the gift of faith, knowing that our walk to Jesus is a call to walk with Him through the salvation that only He can offer.

As Jesus takes our hands, He gives us faith. He replaces our doubt with trust in Him. So, “Come” take the hand of Jesus; even in the midst of the storm. As you come to Jesus, He HAS “Come” to you, to save you, and to take you to live with Him in His Kingdom of Heaven, forever.

And for sure, when you climb into the boat with Jesus; or rather as Jesus “Comes” to you and climbs into the boat of your life, the storm calms down for a bit. Why? Because Jesus willingly, and lovingly came to you on the stormy waters, to love you to death.

And this is the point in which we return to our reason for going to church each and every Sunday. We go, not to be entertained, with coffee in hand, to sing songs, and be satisfied with some warm fuzzy feeling. No! We go to worship, because, we know, without a doubt, that Jesus “Comes” to us, even in the midst of our sinful lives, to show us our sin, to forgive us, and to come to us with His offer of the Heavenly Kingdom, in and through Him. We go to church, because Jesus bids us to “Come.”

And in worship, in the boat, we worship and are convinced, that “Truly You are the Son of God!”

Father, I come to you in prayer. I can’t even fathom how great You are. You created the universe and all that exists. You are way beyond my understanding, yet you still want me to come to You, to pray to You, to listen to Your Word. I am so humbled by all of this, and I give You all the thanks, glory, and praise.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for coming to me, a lost and condemned creature. You come to me, and forgive me, and give me the faith I need to see You, and receive salvation, FROM You!

Yes, Lord, You “Come.” You “Come” to give us faith, hope and love. You “Come” and we call on Your name. Your beauty is awesome!

Sometimes, when I pray, I feel that I’m in the midst of a storm in life. I see my need and seek Jesus to “Come.” In this time of prayer, and especially, in this passage of Scripture; I witness the love of God through Jesus. Jesus walks right through the storms of life to give me the faith I need to find the calm IN Him, and all that He has done.

God has known, from the start, how to deal with chaotic water. God knows all along that chaos has an answer. Even before the creation of the world, God has solved the issue of chaos and brought order, and salvation, and a plan, to be One with His children.

As Jesus calls us to “Come,” may we use the faith that He freely provides to place all of our hope into His hands, SO THAT, we may live in the joy of being His creation, and His children, throughout all time, with Him, into eternity.

So, as Jesus calls me to “Come” to Him, I too ask, “Come Lord Jesus, Come.” “Come” into my life… today… tomorrow… and forever. --- Amen

 

I leave you with this YouTube Music Video that reminded me of this week’s studies…

“Draw Me Close to You”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ci6I_pQKPlI&list=RDCi6I_pQKPlI&start_radio=1