Covered in Dust and Walking on Water
by Larry LaDouceur
The Sermon is called, “Covered in Dust and Walking on Water.” Please turn to the Book of Matthew and we’ll read in the word of God that Jesus and the Apostle Peter both walked on water very early one morning.
Matthew 14:25 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.
The fourth watch, somewhere between three and six in the morning, the disciples see a man walking on the lake and they were fearful. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. When we add what John wrote in his Gospel we get the bigger picture.
John 6:16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. (English Standard Version)
It’s now dark, the disciples are together in a boat crossing the Sea of Galilee. The wind was blowing strongly enough that the lake became rough. They have rowed three to four mile’s, its now approximately three in the morning and they see a man walking on the lake.
Matthew 14:27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
Jesus knows the disciples distraught condition, immediately identifies Himself and tells them not to be afraid. Then Peter makes a surprising request and Jesus responds;
Matthew 14:28″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. 30But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” (New International Version)
Walking on Water – My first impression to this group of verses is WOW! Jesus chastises Peter for his lack of faith, not for trying to do something impossible. Peter had the confidence to say, “Lord, ifs it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” Certainly Peter had some confidence builders before he walked on the water;
Jesus turned water to wine at a wedding at Cana in Galilee.
Peter knew the woman at the wells testimony and that many Samaritans believed in Jesus because of her witness and the two days Jesus stayed over to be with them.
Healing of the invalid at Bethesda (Beth•sa•i•da)
Jesus had just finished feeding five thousand men, plus women and children with two small fish and five small barley loaves.
Another confidence builder for Peter had to be the Rabbi (teacher), apprentice (student) relationship he had with Jesus.
Mark 9:5 And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
Mark 11:21And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”
We can more completely comprehend the relationship between Jesus and Peter if we examine a much fuller meaning of what a Rabbi would have meant to Peter. Especially since that Rabbi was Jesus.
From records found in Jewish sources, we can form a reasonably accurate image of what Jesus was doing during His childhood. He was studying and committing to memory Scripture. Memorization of the written Torah was a large part of a Jewish education. The first five books of the Hebrew Scripture, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
Professor and Rabbi Shmuel Safrai, who was professor emeritus of Jewish History of the Mishnaic and Talmudic Period at the Hebrew University, writes this: “The Scriptures were known almost by heart by everyone. From quite early in the Second Temple period, one could hardly find a little boy in the street who didn’t know the Scriptures.”
Please read with me the commands God gave the nation of Israel;
Deuteronomy 6:
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
6These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.
7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (NIV)
Jesus grew up among Jewish people, who knew Scripture by memory, and were instructed as we just read in Deuteronomy to enthusiastically discuss its application.
Special Note by David Curtis - "Capernaum was a small village of about 2,500 people. We might think of it as just some small hick town. This would be wrong. It was, in its day, a Harvard or Yale. If you take the Mishnah - the record of Jewish thinking from A.D. 0 - 100 - there are more quotes from Rabbis of Capernaum than all the rest of the Rabbis of the world put together. The Synagogue school found in Capernaum is four times larger than any other Synagogue school found until the 1500’s. This is the world where Jesus ministered. A world highly educated in the Word of God." (Jesus the Rabbi – by David Curtis)
The term rabbi in the time of Jesus meant: “great one; or my master,” and was clearly was used as a term of respect for one’s teacher. Calling Jesus “Rabbi” by the people of His day is a measure of their great respect for Him as a person and as a teacher and teacher of Scripture.
Many people in Jesus’ day referred to Him as Rabbi.
His disciples;
John 4:31 (NASB) In the meanwhile the disciples were requesting Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”
The Pharisee’s called Him Rabbi:
John 3:1-2 (NASB) Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; 2 this man came to Him by night, and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
A Sadducee’s called Him Rabbi:
Luke 20:27-28 (NASB) Now there came to Him some of the Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection), 28 and they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife, and he is childless, his brother should take the wife and raise upoffspring to his brother.
A lawyer called Him Rabbi:
Matthew 22:35-36 (NASB) And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
The crowds called Him Rabbi:
John 6:25 (NASB) And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You get here?”
Note the diversity of those who addressed Jesus as Rabbi: a lawyer, the Disciples, Pharisees, Sadducees, and ordinary people. Clearly, there was a wide range of Jesus’ contemporaries who saw Him as a rabbi.
“There is a Jewish Rabbinic technique, which is commonly used to this day, where they would start a debate or dialogue with a question. And the response from the group or individual comes in the form of a question. The question that comes is first of all an answer to the first question, and it also extends it to a deeper level. Jesus used this technique…
Luke 2:46-47 (NASB) And it came about that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them, and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.
Jesus was asking questions, and they were amazed at His questions. We see many times in Jesus’ teaching ministry that He will respond to a question with a question. And in
His question is the answer.
Luke 20:1-2 (NASB) And it came about on one of the days while He was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes with the elders confronted Him, 2 and they spoke, saying to Him, “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?”
To this Jesus responds in the typical Rabbinic fashion with a question:
Luke 20:3-4 (NASB) And He answered and said to them, “I shall also ask you a question, and you tell Me: 4 “Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?”
He is asking the question, did John get his authority, his semikhah , from God or man? Now remember His question answers theirs. Their question was where did you get semikhah? And His question to them was, where did John get semikhah? What did He just tell them? I got semikhah from John. When did John declare God’s authority being in Jesus?
John 1:29-30 (NASB) The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 “This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’
Who is the second one to declare God’s authority on Jesus? God
Mark 1:10-11 (NASB)
And immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; 11 and a voice came out of the heavens: “Thou art My beloved Son, in Thee I am well-pleased.”
Jesus is the only Rabbi in history who got his authority directly from God Himself.”
Okay, let me bring Peter back into the picture. Peter has acknowledged his Rabbi is Jesus and he has an obligation to study and learn as much as he can from his Rabbi. Peters goal would be to learn from Jesus and emulate Him as much as is within his power.
Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
EXPLAIN -
“Jesus knew each rabbi said something different. Each rabbi had their own way of interpreting or living out the Torah. Each one had their own added commandments and regulations. In fact, a rabbi’s own particular interpretation of the Torah was called that rabbi’s “Yolk.” When you studied with a rabbi, you would take their yolk or their interpretation of the Torah upon you. But Jesus said, “My yolk is easy. I’m not about endless rules and regulations!”
Rabbis would have discussions with their students, they would take a particular command, like keeping the Sabbath, and might ask, “What does it mean to honor the Sabbath?” And a student might answer, “I think it means to sit around and do very little and get bored.” This student is, of course, wrong. So the rabbi would say very passionately, “No! That’s not what it means. You have abolished Torah!” But if a student answered, “It means that we spend a day so that we are reminded that we are no longer slaves and to remind ourselves that our worth does not come from making bricks but from the one who made us. We spend the day reflecting on God” At this point the rabbi would say “Yes, you have fulfilled Torah!”
May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi…
There is a phrase in the Mishna that says, “May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi.” The idea was that if you followed behind your rabbi on the dusty roads, you would get covered in his dust. Meaning, you were following him so closely to be so much like him that you are glorified to be covered with the dust he left behind. That is how close a disciple wanted to be to his rabbi, Yeshua.
Peter literally followed his Rabbi Jesus so closely that he was covered in the His dust. Our goal should be to study God’s word so closely that we are figuratively covered in His dust. When we work toward that goal we will accomplish precious deeds for our Lord and Savior.
Peter was covered in dust and walked on water - Matthew 14:28″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. 30But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” (New International Version)
Are we like Peter walking close enough to Jesus to be covered in His dust and doing things you never imagined? Peter walked on water; I can’t even begin to imagine what blessing’s Jesus has in store for those willing to walk in His dust.
John 12:26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
Lets Pray!
