"Get Out Of The Boat"

“Get Out Of The Boat”

Matthew 14:22-33

INTRODUCTION: We continue in our series on ‘Great Events In The Life And Ministry Of Jesus’.

The last few weeks, we have seen Jesus do a great many things. We have seen Him perform miracles … cleanse the Temple … heal the sick … forgive sins … change lives. One thing for sure … no one is ever the same when they have an encounter with Jesus … AMEN?

Do you ever wonder where Jesus is when you really need Him? How do you find Jesus?

STORY – A little boy wanted $100 very badly, and prayed for 2 weeks, but nothing happened. Then, he decided to write a letter to the Lord requesting the $100. When the Post Office received the letter addressed to “The Lord, USA”, they decided to send it to President Bush. The President was so impressed, touched, and amused, that he instructed his secretary to send the little boy a $20 bill. President Bush thought that this would appear to be a lot of money to a little boy. The little boy was delighted with the $20, and sat down to write a “Thank You” note to the Lord, which read: “Dear Lord, thank you so very much for sending me the money. However, I noticed that for some reason you had to send it through Washington D.C., and, as usual, those jerks deducted $80. Love, Tommy.”

I think maybe Tommy went the wrong route to find Jesus!

At this point in His ministry, Jesus was gradually preparing the Disciples for when He would leave them in a few months. In Mt. 8:23-24, Jesus was WITH them in the storm. NOW … the Disciples are in a boat in a storm WITHOUT Jesus – 14:22.

Jesus is weaning His Disciples. He will soon go away, and send the Holy Spirit to indwell them permanently. When the storms come in OUR life, we don’t have a PHYSICAL Jesus to go to. BUT … He offers us the same peace & victory that He offered His Disciples in our text today.

Jesus is sending His Disciples into a storm … ALONE. In a few months He will be crucified … they will see Him no more … UNTIL … “absent form the body, present with the Lord”.

We are in the same boat. We have to face the storms of life without Jesus. “Where is Jesus? Has anybody seen Jesus?” So, what did He do? Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to indwell US. John 14:16-17 - "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever; [17] that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”

Let’s take a look at how Jesus was preparing His Disciples/us for the time He would be absent from us in His BODY.

14:22 – “constrained” – The word in the Greek means ‘compel, persuade’ … they didn’t want to go! Jesus had just fed 5000+ (14:15-21). Jesus was the “Man of the Hour” … and THEY were with Jesus! They didn’t want to leave and miss out on all the fanfare that was going on.

John tells us what happened right after the miracle of the feeding of the 5000+ (Matthew doesn’t mention this. Turn to John 6:14-16.

There came a group of men who wanted to make Jesus their KING. Think of the armies that He could feed with this miracle. He could heal the wounded … raise the dead soldiers to fight again. What a King Jesus would make!

Jesus didn’t want the Disciples in on that discussion … they might take to the idea. Jesus went to a mountain to pray … and sent the Disciples off in a boat across the Sea of Galilee. The Disciples obeyed … though reluctantly … BUT … they went.

Do WE obey only the commands we LIKE? The EASY ones? AND THEN … ignore, or deliberately disobey the rest?

o EASY – “Forsake not the assembly …” … HARD – “Love your enemy, pray for them, forgive them.”

o EASY – “Make a joyful noise …” … HARD – “Deny yourself, and follow Me.”

They may not have LIKED it …. BUT … they OBEYED the command of Jesus.

14:23 – Jesus went to a mountain to pray for His Disciples. Jesus isn’t here in Priscilla Baptist Church, in BODY, in 2003. Thank God for that! If He was, He could only be in 1 place at a time. AND … to be honest, I would rather He bin in Washington D.C. … or Iraq.

What is Jesus doing, in Heaven, at the Throne of God, where He is right now? He’s PRAYING … for you … and for me. Hebrews 7:25 – “He ever liveth to make intercession for us.”. What is Jesus doing for Ray Scott right now? He’s praying for me … interceding for me … and for you.