Walk On Water Sermon

Matthew 14:22 thru 33 ..Walk on Water …sermon 10/2013

22 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. 23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone. 24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. 27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. 28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? 32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. 33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

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Now Jesus had just feed the multitude of people over 10,000 you remember….5000 men not counting women and children….so Jesus now was getting away from the crowd.

Why would He want to get away from that crowd?

In the book of John it tells us in. Chapter 6:15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.

They who?....it was the multitude that Jesus just feed. They had seen enough miracles they were convince that He was the intended king of Israel….they were acting more like a mob…verse 22 says that Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship….Jesus rushed them into that ship..

He is the king of kings but they were looking for a human king to serve them and save them from the Roman Empire....they wouldn't looking for the Saviour of the world.

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You see, the Jews always look for a sign….and they had seen plenty through Jesus….healing of the sick...raising the dead and now they saw Him feed over 10,000 people with 5 loaves of bread, 2 small fish….why did they believe it...they saw it all...they had eaten the fish and bread and were filled along with the other thousands of people.

They knew the Old Testament and maybe saw a sign comparing Jesus to Moses …because Moses had not only provided for the Israelites, he had also led them out of bondage in Egypt. Maybe this multitude of people saw that Jesus could lead them out of the bondage from the Roman Empire.

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But in any case…..Jesus rushed His disciples into a ship and was sending them ahead of Him going across the Sea of Galilee and the Bible says that Jesus went on a mountain to pray….that mountain was on the other side also I believe because the people said in John 6:25 And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? …..they didn’t see Jesus walking on the water…that was a private miracle for His disciples and the NT.

It was like Jesus told His disciples….go ahead and I will catch up with ya but, I believe He was praying on that mountain on the other side and watching the disciples as they were going through the storm….He supernaturally crossed over to the other side of the Sea Of Galilee ahead of the disciples and had gone on that mountain to pray.

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I also believe sometimes Jesus watches us from a distance until we call His name or cry out for help…I believe Jesus wants us to depend on Him for everything in our life.

***By the way the sea of Galilee or Lake Tiberias..is 8 miles wide and 13 miles long in the northern part of Israel ...it’s really a fresh water lake….lot of things went on in Jesus day around that lake.

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Verse 25 of Mt 14 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.

Get this picture….it was the fourth watch the Bible says so, it was around 3am in the morning...the watches were divided up in 4’s so the fourth watch was from 3 in the morning until daybreak.