What Difference Does Jesus Make
All passages marked NIV: The Holy Bible: New International Version. 1996, c1984. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
All passages marked KJV: The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
Matthew 14:22-33
Introduction
Good Morning, I am happy to be able to preach this morning. I always look forward to these times where we can open God’s word together.
I always appreciate Ralph allowing to stand up a speak.
This morning, I want to talk a few moments about a very important question that we all must ask. This is the question; “What difference does Jesus make?”
When new people come to my unit, I am always happy to spend a couple of minutes introducing myself to them. Many times I will ask, what do you think the Chaplain does. The common answer I get, and I expect it, is the I am the person to come to when they have problems.
And I hope that they will come to me when they have problems, but I encourage them to come talk to me when they have successes as well, or just to come by and talk.
I wonder then, what do we think Jesus does? Who do we think he is? Is he someone that we come to only when there are problems, or do we check in with him everyday regardless of how life is treating us.
I believe that we all need to come to terms with the question; “What difference does Jesus make?”
I want you to turn the page of your Bible to Matthew 14:22-33, which is found on page___________ in the pew Bibles in front of you.
We find in this passage the miraculous story of Jesus walking on water.
Many times, we look at this passage simply to stand in awe of the miracle, but I want us to take the story a step further and see the difference that Jesus makes in this story.
Verse 22 begins the story:
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. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 During the fourth watch of the night 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. (Mt 14:22-26, NIV)
Here we find the disciples in a boat waiting to travel. Jesus sends the disciples on their way.
Jesus walks to the hillside to pray. The disciples never thought anything of this because the Bible makes it plain that this was a routine event for Jesus to step away for prayer.
During the time the disciples were on the water, a wind built up and the little boat was being pushed farther out in the sea.
When Jesus had completed His prayers, he went to them. He walked out on the water to be with his disciples.
The disciples were afraid at first.
(verse 27)
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. (Mt 14:27-29, NIV)
The difference that Jesus makes on the water is that
1. With Jesus there is Confidence.
Peter is confident in the ability to walk on water. So, Peter steps out of the boat and walks to Jesus. With Jesus we have confidence to do “all things through Christ who strengthens us.”
Many times we focus on one of two things: the miracle of Jesus walking on the water or Peter’s sinking. But, we have to give Peter some credit. He did walk out to meet Jesus. This took an incredible amount of courage and faith. This is the confidence that Peter had in Christ.
This confidence wasn’t empty confidence. This confidence was based on the experiences that Peter had seeing Christ do miracles day after day.
One of my favorite Bible passages is John 6. The followers began to leave Jesus after his explanation that he is the Bread of Life.
John 6:
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. (Jn. 6:66-68)
It was Peter who said, “To whom shall we go?” where else are we going to go? “You have the words of eternal life.”
The words of Peter reflect the confidence that Peter had in Christ and of Christ’s abilities.
And you can have similar confidence, based on Christ actions in your own life—His bringing you here to Fort Campbell, His call on your life, His hand of safety it is these things that we can have confidence in Jesus.
Confidence is one thing, however, stepping out of the boat is another matter.
Peter’s confidence was such that he did something with his confidence.
What are you doing with your faith? You may truly believe that Jesus can do great things through you, but you never take that next step. What difference are you going to make for Jesus? What kind of impact are you going to make in your world.
Take the confidence that you have this morning and use it for the glory of God. Open your eyes to the possibilities to share the love of Christ to the world.
As you begin to exercise this new confidence, you will soon find that;
2. With Jesus there is Rescue.
Look at verse 30:
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?” (Mt 14:30-31, NIV)
What we see here is that Peter looked at Jesus and had confidence in Him. When he depended on Himself, however, he needed to be rescued.
When I was younger, I worked as a lifeguard at the seminary pool. I went to many hours of training and we had to do several hour of swimming to keep our skills sharp. I never did anything exciting, but there was evening that I remember jumping in the pool.
There was a little child who was in over his head. He began to float away from the shallow end and away from his parents. Before they knew it, he had turned over his little raft and I was in the water with him. He was not too far away from the side of the pool, but I wanted to grab him to be sure.
Jesus had to reach out and rescue Peter because he took his eyes off of Him.
We get into trouble, as well, when we take our eyes off Christ and trust in our own ability. We are so accustomed to doing everything ourselves that we don’t want anyone or anything to interfere with that.
What in your life distracts you from following Christ today? Is it your own attitude? Is it the confidence in your own ability? Do you think that you are spiritual enough to face the day without Him?
When we fall, Jesus is there to rescue us.
You may look at where you are today and see a path of destruction behind you. Your relationships have failed, your falling behind in your work, and you haven’t been the Christian that you had once planned to be.
But read this passage again. Jesus was right there by his side, and when Peter cried out, Jesus was there.
But when Peter saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. (Mt 14: 30-31, NIV)
All you must do is to call on the Lord and He will immediately reach out His hand.
With Jesus there is confidence, there is rescue, and;
3. With Jesus there is Peace.
Look at verse 32:
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.” (Mt 14:32-33, NIV)
Jesus calmed down the wind. When he arrived in the boat, there was peace.
Peace is one of those words that we all know what it means, but we can only describe it by itself. Webster’s Dictionary defines peace as “a state of tranquility or quiet”
As our world becomes more an more run by machines, there is more and more noise that occurs. Every night, I hear the cars outside the gate, running up and down 41A. It seems there is always the sound of aircraft overhead. There are air conditioners running and there are cell phones. They all contribute to a noisy way of life.
Have you ever thought why cemeteries are so quiet and peaceful? It is an atmosphere and comfort. They are peaceful. There is no place for noisiness and busyness, only quiet. They are a place of reflection.
We don’t find that peacefulness in everyday life.
Many times when I am counseling, the soldier who is under stress will tell me that he or she is having trouble sleeping because of the thoughts the don’t stop running through their mind. Their mind is full of noise.
We need to live in peace. We need to have quiet hearts. Not one that are busy with all of the activities and worries of the day.
Jesus says:
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Mt 11:28, NIV)
He will give us this peace if we would simply ask.
Jesus desires for us to have peace in our lives. True personal peace that occurs when we are walking with Jesus day by day.
C.S. Lewis once said:
“God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.”
We must find this peace in Christ. Apart from Christ there is no peace.
In the busy lives of the people that are here this morning, there is no better answer to the stress than to find peace in Jesus. It doesn’t mean that you are weak. It means that you need to find peace that can only be found in Christ.
Commander do you have peace as you prepare your soldiers?
Spouse do you have peace as you spend each day preparing for another separation?
Soldier, do you have peace today that Christ will be walking with you “even through the valleys of life?”
Conclusion
As you ask the question; “What difference does Jesus make?” Ask yourself; “What difference can He make in your life? How will your life be different because you know Him?”
Jesus brings Confidence, Rescue, and Peace into our lives making a huge difference in our outlook on life and our expectations.
Jesus said:
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.(Jn. 10:10, KJV)
Are you living an abundant life? Life that is overflowing with confidence, rescue and peace?
Do you have an eternal life? A life that will last forever?
You can find both in Jesus Christ.
We do not experience this abundant and eternal life because of our sin. Sin is anything you think, say, or do that makes God unhappy. The Bible says that this sin is punished by death.
Jesus paid that punishment for us, in our place. All we must do is to accept that payment and place our faith in him.
You can do that this morning. You can place you faith in Jesus right were you sit. At the end of the service, I would like to talk to you more about your decision to follow Christ. I will be here at the front of the chapel and there are other Chaplain throughout this building. Don’t hesitate to make this decision and to talk to one of us before you leave today.
