INTRODUCTION
• There are times in life in which we face difficult challenges. How we face those challenges says a lot about us.
• Are we the type of person who can only act upon what they can see before them or are we the type of person who can allow our faith in Jesus to stretch us further that we ever thought possible?
• As we face various challenges in life we run though a whole range of emotions as we work though the issue.
• Sometimes it is if we are on a boat in rough seas and we are afraid to let go and let God lead us.
• When we are first confronted with an issue, sometimes we react or act in fear. We are not sure what is going to happen so we are fearful of the future.
• How many of us have been so paralyzed by fear that we literally could do nothing?
• Once we are able to get past that fear, excitement creeps into the picture. Have you ever felt the excitement of seeing the way things were going to work themselves out? We start to see the possibilities and we get excited.
• In the midst of our excitement sometimes a reality can set in and we can become fearful again. We see that we are going to have to act and action can be a scary thing.
• Then when it is all said and done we can give praise to God for the way the situation worked itself out.
• We are coming to another interesting passage today. As we look the passage in Matthew 14:23-33 and the parallel passages in John 6:15-21 and Mark 6:47-52 about Jesus walking on the water, we will see the disciples go through the whole range of emotion as they are confronted by what seemed to be a crisis for them.
• This takes place immediately after the feeding of the 5,000. In John’s account in John 6:15 we are told that Jesus immediately sent the disciples away because Jesus perceived that the people were going to take Him by force and make Him the king. The people were looking for a way to get out from under the thumb of the Roman Empire and the miracle performed by Jesus gave them hope that He was the man for the job.
• The disciples may not have been too eager to go because they may have wanted to be apart of Jesus being made the king.
• Jesus sent the disciples into the boat and told them to go to the other side. Then Jesus sent the crowds away and went up the mountain to go pray.
• Let us read Matthew 14:22-23.
• The disciples were out on the Sea of Galilee when things were getting tough. The disciples were having a hard time of it. READ VERSE 24.
• This trial was going to take the disciples through the full range of emotions as they dealt with their situation. One of the disciples was going to learn what could happen when they decided to get out of the boat.
SERMON
I. FEAR TO EXCITEMENT (24-28)
• READ VERSE 24-28
• The disciples were obedient to Jesus. They were fighting the wind and the waves as they were rowing across the Sea of Galilee. It was somewhere between 3-6 am and they had made it about 3 to 3.5 miles across the sea when the disciples saw something that made them fearful.
• Coming right was that they thought was a ghost! Look at verse 26. They were terrified and they cried out in fear that it was a ghost.
• The disciples were fearful. They may have been feeling a sense of hopelessness as they struggled to cross the sea. Hopelessness breeds fear.
• How many times have we faced a storm in life and became fearful?
• The disciples were fearful because they may have felt that Jesus had left them and they saw something on the water that scared them.
• When we belong to Jesus we do not have to live in fear.
• 1 JOHN 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
• READ ROMANS 8:35-39
• Through Jesus we will be able to conquer all the things listed in verse 35.
• The disciples were fearful until they heard the words of Jesus, “Take courage, it is I; DO not be afraid.”
• As soon as the disciples realized that Jesus was with them, the fear turned to excitement. Peter said to Jesus, “If it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
• Think about the statement by Peter. Peter did not doubt that it was Jesus; he was saying if it was the Lord’s will, he would come.
• When Peter saw that it was Jesus, he was ready to get out of the boat. When you think about it, Peter’s request did not make a lot of sense. I will get out of the boat and fall into the raging sea? I believe that Peter did not even notice the raging of the sea when his focus was fixed on Jesus.
• When Peter fixed his gaze upon Jesus, all the problems seemed to disappear.
• Have you ever felt that all was well when you took your eyes off the problems and put them upon Jesus? Peter did. Peter’s excitement led him to do the unthinkable.
II. EXCITEMENT TO OBEDIENCE (29)
• READ VERSE 29
• Peter’s excitement led him to get out of the boat. All Jesus said to Peter was “come”.
• Jesus did not explain to Peter just how he was going to defy gravity. He just said come. Jesus did not explain to Peter that it was going to be all right, He just said come.
• Peter did not ask any questions. When the Master said “come” Peter got out of the boat. I did not see the other eleven jumping at the chance to get out of the boat into the raging sea!
• Where was their focus? I bet it was not on Jesus.
• When we are facing difficult times, we have to be willing to fix our eyes upon Jesus and do what He is telling us to do to make it through the trial. Peter started out with his complete attention focused on Jesus. When we are focused on Jesus we can see light at the end of the tunnel.
• Ultimately what got Peter to get out of the boat and gave him the ability to walk on the water was his faith.
• Peter sometimes takes a bad rap over some of his struggles, but as I said before, we do not see the others jumping at the chance to get out of the boat and walk on the sea to Jesus!
• In Matthew 17:20 Jesus says concerning faith, “And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ’Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”
• With faith all things are possible. Peter’s faith and focus on Jesus got him out of the boat. Your faith and focus on Jesus will do the same for you.
• AS we look at what happened to Peter, it all started out well for him, and then something happened. His obedience turned back to fear.
III. OBEDIENCE TO FEAR (30-31)
• READ VERSE 30
• Peter seems fearless when he sees Jesus, then he starts to look around him, he sees the wind and the waves and he takes his focus off Jesus. It kind of reminds me of when the coyote was chasing the road runner and during the chase the coyote finds that he has run off the road off a cliff. He is fine until he looks around him.
• Sometimes as we are obedient to Jesus, we start to pull out of our problem, and then we take our focus off Jesus and put it back on the problem that we are facing. We start to sink out of fear. Once again we let our circumstances cloud our view of Jesus.
• We do not know how far Peter got before he started to sink.
• Now that Peter is no longer focused on Jesus, in desperation he calls out on the name of Jesus and Jesus reaches out and saves him.
• Peter had a conflict with faith and sight! His faith could not look past what he saw.
• One of the things that we learn here is that as our faith is tested by the trials of life, Jesus is ALWAYS near to us.
• Jesus gently rebukes Peter by asking Him why he doubted. This question seems a little silly given the situation. How many people have walked on water before this incident? NONE that I know of.
• Maybe you are going through a unique problem that requires a unique solution. Jesus will help you through it. Peter should have known that Jesus would not let him fail, but his faith needed more strength.
• Jesus got to the root of Peter’s problem. In the midst of following Jesus, Peter lost his single-minded focus on Jesus.
• Peter’s wavering faith was met b Jesus willingness to save him.
• If we have been obedient to Jesus when it is all said and done the last emotion that we go through is praise.
IV. FEAR TO PRAISE (32-33)
• Read verses 32-33
• When Jesus got into the boat, the storm quit. The wind stopped, the waves calmed.
• When Jesus got them through the tough time, they responded with praise.
• The disciples did not sit in the boat and marvel at the coincidence of the calming of the storm. They did not say how “LUCKY” they were that it quit. The praised Jesus for what He had done.
• How many times has Jesus delivered us from something only to have us rationalize the outcome, cutting Him out of the picture? I wonder how Jesus would have felt if they did not worship Him after He delivered them.
• I wonder how He feels when we do the same thing?
CONCLUSION
• From what the disciples saw from Jesus, they should not have ever doubted Him and what He could do, but they did.
• Whenever they stumbled, Jesus was there for them.
• Whenever we stumble, Jesus is there for us.
• What water is Jesus asking you to walk on? What are you struggling, scared of? Peter learned that if you are ever going to walk on water that you have to get out of the boat and keep your eyes fixed on Jesus!
• Will your faith let you step out of the boat?
