The Kingdom Movement

A Literary & Pastoral Study Guide to the Gospel of Matthew

The Inspiration of Matthew,

by Caravaggio

 

On the King's Errand

Devotional Reflections on Matthew's Gospel

 

Doing What Comes Supernaturally:  Mt.14:22 – 33

 

14:22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he sent the crowds away. 23 After he had sent the crowds away, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray; and when it was evening, he was there alone. 24 But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 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 courage, it is I; do not be afraid.’ 28 Peter said to him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ 29 And he said, ‘Come!’ And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ 31 Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and took hold of him, and said to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ 32 When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 And those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘You are certainly God’s Son!’

 

          This incredibly packed day in the life of Jesus isn’t over yet.  In the late afternoon, after Jesus and his disciples fed the crowd, Jesus quickly closed up shop.  For some urgent reason not described by Matthew, Jesus sent the disciples into the boat and off to the other side.  John’s Gospel explains that the crowd perceived in this miracle Jesus’ messianic identity and power, and wanted to make him king by force (Jn.6:14 – 15).  But that was neither Jesus’ timing nor his method.  He separated the disciples from the crowd’s speculations, and dispersed the crowd.  Then he went up on a lonely mountaintop to have uninterrupted conversation with his Father.  I used to assume that Jesus did this to physically rest, and that may have played a part.  Perhaps he also wanted to finally grieve the death of John the Baptist.  However, nowadays I think he prayed alone primarily to wrestle again with the temptation to seize power that had just been presented to him.  Satan had tempted him in the wilderness to make bread and seize power (Mt.4:1 – 11).  This time Jesus had made bread by his Father’s will and not by Satan’s provocation, but the temptation to lead a mob was probably close behind because of that earlier association and the present possibility. 

God’s mission has a way of leading us back to the same struggles.  It’s not that God Himself tempts us (James 1:13).  Rather, God’s desire to love and engage people through us forces us to develop integrity and compassion that take us far beyond what our own self-centeredness would settle for.  We cannot allow our service to others to become a drug that they are dependent on us to deliver, even though we might feel useful and helpful and important doing it.  We simply cannot twist an opportunity to advance God’s global mission into the building of a community in which we feel nice and safe.  And so on.  We are never called to lead a small mob or to be the charismatic center of a sect.  Thus, God calls us grow spiritually not when we’re physically alone, but when we are spiritually alone in the midst of a gaggle of people.  I think Jesus went to pray by himself to renew his commitment to listen only to the voice of his Father.  There, Jesus renewed his strength and focus.

I’m sure Jesus also prayed for the crowd, and for his disciples.  The disciples were having a hard time of it.  Straining against the oars, they were fighting the wind and waves.  The last time they crossed this Sea, they had a sleeping Jesus in the boat to calm that wind and those waves.  This time, they struggled alone.  Matthew recalls that they were ‘battered.’  Far from land, tired, soaked, and seasick, how did they feel now?  Since they were so quick to be terrified and see ghosts, they were probably wondering about their own watery death.

I think their struggle to reach the other side of the Sea represents their struggle to engage with Jesus in this mission that was getting bigger and bigger, and becoming more and more challenging to them.  More parts of their lives were feeling out of control.  Why cross this Sea anyway? Who was so important on the other side that they had to get there overnight?  Forces were now clearly at work against them:  Herod and other political adversaries, animosity from other Jewish leaders, their own distrust of a Jesus who sent people away at a time when they seemed ripe for being whipped up into a military junta, their desire to not serve people but dominate them instead, their anti-Gentile prejudice, the sheer number of people that they would need to serve, etc.  The wind and waves on the Sea represented all those things.  They were feeling battered.  Why was Jesus calling them to do the impossible?  What’s the point of trying to reach the masses in this way? 

God’s mission was leading them back into the same struggles, too.  The disciples were being called out.  Confused as they were by being shooed by Jesus into the boat after the bread miracle, they knew at this point they were clearly not going to be in control of this man.  They could not just turn Jesus into a puppet of their own making.  Jesus was touching their fundamental fears and preconceptions with the aim of plunging a sword into them, yet freeing their true selves for a radical life.  He was dealing with their emotional limits, their mental pictures, and the way they even knew about themselves.  In the context of God’s mission in Jesus to the world, they were being utterly transformed.  They were beginning to walk on water…sort of.

Jesus shows them that they were starting to do what only comes supernaturally.  Not naturally.  Supernaturally.  It is supernatural to just be patient with a big, hungry mob of people when you’re the wait staff of twelve.  It is supernatural to feed people Jesus and have them really internalize him.  It is supernatural to care about actual people the way Jesus does.  It is supernatural to point people to Jesus when ego-stroking would be so much easier.  Heck, sometimes it’s supernatural to get up out of bed and want to love people in Jesus’ name.

Ever since my junior year of college in October of 1992, when a girlfriend and I mutually decided to stop dating, one of my most frequent prayers has been, ‘Lord Jesus, save me from my own self-centeredness.  Can you help me rise above this?’  I was 20 years old then, and it’s been a long, slow journey.  There were quite painful times where I felt like Jesus was asking me to put my self-interest aside.  But it’s been worth it.  When I was 32 years old, I was at a friend’s house, taking a look at their basement.  I was walking down the stairs.  At the bottom of the stairs there was a rolled up carpet.  I stepped on it and it rolled, and my right ankle twisted with it.  Now because it was the bottom of the stairs, all of my weight was coming down on my right ankle.  Normally I would have just fallen to my side or onto my hands so that my ankle wouldn’t have to take all of my weight.  But I had my daughter Zoe in my arms.  She was 16 months old at the time.  It is amazing how some things happen in slow motion.  There were some thoughts going through my head in a split second.  I thought, ‘I can’t let her go.  I have to just come down on my ankle.’  So that’s what happened.  It was the worst sprained ankle I’ve ever had.  I tore a ligament.  It took 10 months just to get to the point where there was no longer any pain.  I saw my doctor and he said that I should not run or play basketball anymore.  That was really a bummer for me.  Obviously I’m disappointed that this happened.  But as I’ve thought about it, I’ve become really thankful.  Given that it did happen, I’m really glad that Zoe wasn’t hurt.  But I’m the most surprised that my first thought was not for myself.  It was for my daughter.  That is something to praise God about!  My first instinct in a moment of crisis was to think about someone else – that is Jesus’ work in my life.  That’s what it means to do what comes supernaturally.

Jesus accepted Simon Peter’s request to walk on water.  What a perfect illustration of what was happening to them!  Of course, he didn’t do it perfectly.  But he did take a few steps!  Indeed, the disciples were learning to do something that only comes supernaturally:  really putting yourself second, and really putting Jesus first.  Start it now.  Continue in it.  It could mean a lot in the life of someone else.  And we too, might just worship him saying, ‘You are certainly God’s Son!’