Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Jesus Walks on the Water

22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.

23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.

When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them.

25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.

26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear.

27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”

29 He said, “Come.”

So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.

30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

This story of Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee comes immediately after Jesus’ famous feeding of the 5,000.

Where Jesus is teaching the crowds and healing their sick well into the late afternoon, and as evening approaches Jesus’ disciples ask him to send the crowds away into the the villages to buy food for themselves.

And, instead, Jesus tell his disciples to feed them, and proceeds to miraculously feed more than 5,000 people by multiplying only five loaves and two fish.

Dismisses the crowds

Now, one detail of that story which we left out is recorded for us in the Gospel of John.

In John chapter 6, starting in verse 14, it says,

14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

So when we read here in Matthew, there in verse 22, that Jesus immediately

If you’ll recall, two weeks ago, we looked at Matthew’s account of Jesus feeding more than 5,000 men, not including women and children, by miraculously multiplying only five loaves and two fish.

We were also told by the Gospel writers that before feeding the crowd the disciples had asked Jesus to send the crowds away into the villages to buy food for themselves.

This week we pickup after Jesus feeds more than 5,000 men, not including women and children, by miraculously multiplying only five loaves and two fish.

We were also told by the Gospel writers that before feeding the crowd the disciples had asked Jesus to send the crowds away into the villages to buy food for themselves.

Well, this week we pickup in verse 22, after Jesus had fed the crowd, and we’re told that he finally dismisses the crowds.

made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.

we should realize why Jesus dismisses the crowds so quickly.

John tells us that Jesus’ miracle has created unrest amongst the crowd.

Not in a sense of an attack against Jesus but in that they intended to take him by force and make him king.

Now, on the outset, this seems like a somewhat positive response from the crowd.

They finally seem to be getting it right?

I mean Jesus’ whole identity is wrapped up in being the long expected king of Israel, the one who would be David’s son and David’s Lord.

The king of the messianic kingdom that they were all looking forward to.

But Jesus wouldn’t have anything to do with it.

Why not?

Well, you see, there’s something wrong with their motives, they want to make him king for all the wrong reasons.

The crowd sought to make him their king not because of who Jesus was, but because they wanted what Jesus could do for them, in this case they saw Jesus simply as a means to an endless buffet.

This was why Jesus would go on to say in (which we looked at two weeks ago),

“Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.

27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.

For on him God the Father has set his seal.”

The motives of this crowd were all wrong, and rather than glorifying Jesus they’re about to drive his ministry it into the ditch.

They wanted to make Jesus king because of what he could do for them.

So Jesus immediately makes his disciples get into the boat and dismisses the crowds.

Which makes you wonder if the disciples had gotten caught up in the excitement too.

And this is always a danger that we face, even as faithful Christians today, to turn Jesus into our own cosmic vending machine, but Jesus’ ministry wasn’t designed to serve our every desire.

He isn’t some kind of on-demand miracle worker, or genie in a lamp.

He is our King and our Lord and we are servants and citizens of his kingdom.

Praying by himself

We’re also told in verse 23 that,

after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.

but Matthew doesn’t dwell on this point, rather Jesus’ retreat into the hills seems to serve the purpose of explaining how Jesus comes to be so far away from his disciples when they find themselves in distress (Matthew Commentary, R.T. France, p. 569).

Disciples headed to Capernaum

So Jesus has sent his disciples back across the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum (which John tells us in 6:16), but when evening had come, and Jesus was praying alone we read there in verse 24 that,

the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them.

Now, their journey to Capernaum would have typically been short (only a few miles), but the prevailing winds out of the west had come up quickly and kept them from making any progress.

And Matthew tells us that by this time the boat was a long way from the land, being beaten by the waves.

What’s significant here, is that they normally would have just followed the shoreline to Capernaum, but Matthew tells us that they were a long way from the land.

John, in his Gospel, actually tells us that they had rowed about 3-4 miles, and I suspect some of those miles were in the wrong direction.

Some of you have heard this story before, but one of the years Albert and I hiked to Makushin Volcano we used kayaks to get over to Broad Bay to start the hike.

The day we left, it was nearly flat calm which made the 5 mile paddle pretty easy.

And a few days later, on our return trip, the weather was still pretty good, but when we reached Devilfish Point we were greeted with a stiff wind coming out of Captain’s Bay.

It probably wasn’t anymore than 20 MPH but 2’ swells were enough to break over the sides of our kayaks and make us feel like we were going to get dunked.

And for a moment I thought it was a good idea to veer left and land further down the beach to avoid fighting the wind and waves but Albert didn’t follow, so I attempted to turn back to catch him but there was no use.

I couldn’t make any headway no matter how hard I tried.

So I was forced to let Albert continue on his own around the corner.

Now, Albert isn’t too fond of kayaks and being as tall as he is the kayak was a tight fight anyway, so I was worried that if he tipped, whether he could get out of the kayak or not.

Thankfully, we both made it to shore safely but I remember the futility I felt when attempting to paddle against the wind.

So I can only imagine the storm the disciples had encountered on the Sea of Galilee.

A whole boat full of grown men, many of them fishermen at that, rowing against the wind, only to be pushed out toward the middle of the lake.

And on top of that, they had been doing this for hours.

In verse 25 we read that it wasn’t until the fourth watch of the night that Jesus comes to them, which is essentially military time for between 3 and 6 a.m..

Rome had four night watches, or shifts, between sunset and sunrise.

The first was from sunset to 9 p.m., the second from 9 to midnight, the third from midnight to 3 a.m. and the fourth from 3 to 6 a.m.. So, if we assume the disciples started their journey somewhere near 9 p.m. at the latest, and Jesus didn’t come to them until 3 a.m. at the earliest, that means they were had been rowing for at least 6 hours, if not more.

No doubt, they were exhausted.

In fact, in Mark’s Gospel, he says that Jesus saw them making headway painfully ().

This was military time for 3-6 a.m.

Jesus coming to them

But then we read there in verse 25 that Jesus

the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version.

(2016).

(Mt 14:24).

Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

he came to them, walking on the sea.

came to them, walking on the sea.

in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.

The disciples are in distress, and so what does Jesus do?

He comes to them, walking on the sea.

The disciples are in distress, and so what does Jesus do?

He comes to them, walking on the sea.

Now as Christians I suspect we’re prone to read over this text without much surprise.

We’ve heard the story before, we believe it, and we move on, but I think it’s important for us to realize just how incredible this would have been to the disciples.

What Jesus is doing is flat out impossible, so when they see what looks like a man walking on the water behind them they’re terrified!

In verse 26 we read,

The disciples are in distress, and so what does Jesus do?

He comes to them, walking on the sea.

26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear.

If they weren’t already in distress over the storm, now they have a ghost following them out on the water!