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Jesus had been teaching for
many hours, and the feeding of the 5000 had been completed.
John chapter 6 records: 'After the people saw the sign Jesus
performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into
the world.” Jesus, knowing that they intended to
come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. '
Jesus discerned the thoughts
of the people; Here was their opportunity, all they could see was daily food without work and this appealed to their
selfish nature.
At the instruction of Jesus, his
disciples entered their ship and determined to go to the other side of the sea,
as Jesus sent the people away, He ascended higher up on the mountain to pray
and be alone with His Father God.
Matthew chapter 14 states: "But their ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for
the wind was contrary." Rowing very hard, they were only able
to go about 3 or 4 miles and the disciples were not able to control their ship
because of the storm. Their greatest fear was that they might perish.
Mark 6 tells us it was sometime
between 3:00 and 6:00 in the early morning Jesus was alone standing on the land watching. He could see the disciples rowing
frantically as the winds and waves tossed their boat and - - Immediately Jesus went to them walking on the
water. (Wow - - That must have been an
amazing sight, and scary too.)
And when the
disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a
ghost; and they cried out in fear. But right away, Jesus spoke to them,
saying, "Be of good cheer; it is I; do not be
afraid."
Can you really blame
the disciples for being afraid? How
would you have reacted if you had been there?
I think I know the answer and so do you.
Peter hoping that
maybe this was really Jesus and not a spirit, answered Jesus by saying, "If it is really you, then ask me to come to you on
the water." And Jesus said, "Come." Taking a bold step of faith, Peter stepped
out and began to walk on the water toward Jesus, but suddenly fear took over
and he looked down at the troubled sea and began to sink. His next move was a good one, because Peter
cried out "Lord Save me."
Immediately Jesus
reached out and caught the sinking man, and lifted him up, saying to him; "Oh you of
little Faith, why did you doubt?"
As the
two of them entered the boat the wind and waves ceased and all who were in the
ship fell at Jesus feet and worshiped him saying: "Truly you are the Son of God."
The disciples took some deep
consideration to confess that Jesus was the Messiah, but never the less, Jesus
accepted their worship, and if he were merely mortal and not God, it would have
been wrong to allow them to deify him.
Today each of us need to
understand that Jesus is waiting to hear what we have decided about him. Are you ready to say; "Jesus you are the
Son of God, and I will worship you?"
1 comment:
I loved reading the story. Reminded me of a song I learned as a child:
Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear;
Things I would ask Him to tell me if He were here;
Scenes by the wayside, tales of the sea,
Stories of Jesus, tell them to me.
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