Matthew 14
Turning to Matthew 14, we get another very blessed lesson taught. Peter walks on the water in this chapter, and we will inquire what led to it. Herod had beheaded John the Baptist, “and his disciples came and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus.” What a right and suited action!
Have you been burying some dear one? And did you too go and tell Jesus, pouring out your sorrow into His sympathizing ear? These disciples did. I think I can see two roads that day, and the two companies who were on them. On one road come up the sad disciples of John, who had lost their master; on the other, the disciples of Jesus return, flushed with success, from their first missionary tour (see Mark 6:30, 3130And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught. 31And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. (Mark 6:30‑31)). The two companies meet in the Lord’s presence. The Lord says to them, “Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest awhile.” How morally lovely is this call! Alike to successful laborers, and to disheartened disciples, is it made. By each alike it was needed, but a desert with Jesus can be no desert.
Then comes the feeding of the multitudes, and the way in which the Lord sends the multitudes away — a very different sending away from what it would have been if the disciples had had their way. They would have sent them away to buy bread for themselves — sent away hungry thousands to be witnesses, as it were, against Christ. He sent those many thousands away happy, satisfied, so many witnesses to the tenderness of His heart, and the divine glory of His person. While the Lord does this, He constrains His disciples to take ship and go to the other side.
I can see the Lord’s beautiful wisdom in sending His disciples away at that moment, out of the way of an element for evil, for John 6:14-1514Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world. 15When 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. (John 6:14‑15), tells us that the multitudes would have taken Him by force to make Him a king, and the disciples too were intent on the kingdom. They would have heartily entered into the thought of the multitude to exalt their Master on an earthly throne (see Matt. 20:20-2320Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. 21And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. 22But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. 23And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father. (Matthew 20:20‑23); Acts 1:66When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? (Acts 1:6)). But the Lord could take no kingdom, nor could He reign, while sin was here, not put away from God’s sight. The disciples’ constant thought was the earthly kingdom. Not so the Lord’s! He knew He must die, and accomplish atonement, ere the day of the kingdom. So now He sends His disciples away out of temptation. The Lord is always so wise, we may well trust Him — trust His love and His wisdom in all His ways with us.
He Himself went then up into a mountain to pray. That really is where He is now, as it were on the mount, in intercession, for Scripture says, “He ever liveth to make intercession for us” (Heb. 7:2525Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)). The disciples, dismissed at eventide, were by this time on their way to Capernaum, “tossed with waves” and “toiling in rowing,” as Mark 6:4848And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them. (Mark 6:48) informs us. The Lord came to them “in the fourth watch of the night.” The distance they had to go was only about ten miles, but they had been nine hours doing “five-and-twenty or thirty furlongs” — a little over three miles. We make little progress if we have not the Lord with us.
The Lake of Tiberias is well known for its sudden and violent storms, and they were caught in one. The gravity of the situation, and the difficulty of the disciples in making headway is easily apparent, when we picture their position, with a knowledge of their surroundings. Sudden and furious hurricanes are common on inland lakes. I remember crossing Lake Como one brilliant summer afternoon, when the surface was like glass. Within an hour a storm burst, which raised so furious a commotion on the waters that no small boat could live therein, and we had to wait till quite late in the evening and get to our destination by steamer.
Travelers in Palestine furnish a similar report; and Dr Thomson, in his well-known work, gives a graphic account of his experiences at the Lake of Tiberias. He thus writes: “The sun had scarcely set when the wind began to rush down towards the lake, and it continued all night long with constantly increasing violence, so that, when we reached the shore next morning, the face of the lake was like a huge boiling cauldron.... To understand the causes of these sudden and violent tempests, we must remember that the lake lies low — six hundred feet lower than the ocean; that the vast and naked plateaux of the Jaulan rise to a great height, spreading backward to the wilds of the Hauran, and upward to snowy Hermon; that the watercourses have cut out profound ravines and wild gorges, converging to the head of this lake, and that these act like gigantic funnels to draw down the cold winds from the mountains. On the occasion referred to, we subsequently pitched our tents at the shore, and remained for three days and nights exposed to this tremendous wind. We had to double pin all the tent ropes, and frequently had to hang with our whole weight upon them to keep the quivering tabernacle from being carried up bodily into the air. No wonder the disciples toiled and rowed hard all that night” (The Land and the Book, p. 874).
But in all their difficulties and dangers the Lord had His eye upon His own. He was above in intercession, and in the fourth watch He comes to them. He never forgets His own in their difficulties. “Touched with a feeling of our infirmities,” He is “able to succor” (Heb. 2:1818For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted. (Hebrews 2:18)), able to sympathize (Heb. 4:1515For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)), and “able also to save to the uttermost” (Heb. 7:2525Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)). He does all three in this scene. That He is able to “succor,” is evidenced in divine power as He is seen “walking on the sea” to their rescue; His sympathy finds vent in His “Be of good cheer; it is I, be not afraid;” while His power to save, is touchingly seen in His action towards Peter, as he cries in distress, “Lord, save me!” Such is Jesus, our Jesus, as He now sits in glory, and these earthly incidents give us blessed glimpses of what He is.
In the first part of this chapter (Matt. 14) you have the sympathy of His heart, and then, as He feeds the multitude, the power of His hand, displayed. Now, as they are toiling, storm-tossed and miserable, what music is in the voice that comes to them above the raging of the wind and waves, saying, “It is I, be not afraid.” And as they heard the tones of His voice, Peter, ever energetic, fearless, and full of affection, says, “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.” Look at the energy and the love of that man’s heart. It is very refreshing. You have the Master going over the stormy deep, and then, in answer to the word “Come,” you see the disciple imitating his Master, and Peter, upheld by divine power, “walked upon the waters to go to Jesus.” Only faith and love will act thus. It is an action the Lord admires.
This is a particularly fine scene in Peter’s life, but nevertheless his action here has often been questioned. To the spiritual judgment there can be nothing but commendation of his pathway as he leaves the ship. Whatever motives might have been in his heart, they certainly seem all to his credit. Evidently he wanted to be near the Lord, and that was right. Caution and self-consideration would have kept him in the ship with his brethren. Affection and faith led him to leave all that nature leans on. Men with less zeal and less energy would have saved themselves possible failure and discomfiture, and said, “We will just wait where we are till He comes on board.” Peter, assured that it was his beloved Master — for his “If it be thou,” I take it, implies no doubt — and charmed to see Him thus superior to the fickle element on which He trod so firmly, counting also on His love liking to have him near Him, says in his heart,” I’ll go and meet Him, if He will let me.” Heedless of all his words conveyed, and true to his natural character of unrestrained impulsiveness — for Peter was no hypocrite — he says, “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.” Getting for his answer the single word “Come,” he at once obeys. Not to have done so would have been disobedience. And “when he was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.” He was entirely right. He had a divine warrant for his action in the word “Come,” and divine power he knew could not be wanting, since he was now in the presence of Him, who must be God to walk the waters so majestically as He did.
And yet you will argue that he broke down. Quite true; but why? Because he foolishly left the ship? No, for it says, “He walked on the water, to go to Jesus.” For the moment he was like his Master. Why then did he sink? Because he took his eye off Jesus. As long as he kept his eye on Him, all went well; the moment “he saw the wind boisterous,” down he went. The wind was as high, and the billows as rough, ere he abandoned the ship. The moment, therefore, he left the deck, it was a question of Christ sustaining him or drowning. Had he kept his eye where he first fixed it, as he stepped overboard, — namely, on the person of the Lord, — all would have gone well; but the moment he let the circumstances of his surroundings intervene between him and the Lord’s blessed face, he began to sink. It must always be so. So long as I have God between me and my circumstances, all is well; the moment I let the circumstances come in between my heart and God, all is wrong, and “beginning to sink” may well describe the situation.
Faith can walk on the roughest waters when the eye is on the Lord. “Looking off unto Jesus” must ever be the motto of the soul, and the momentary habit of the heart, if this blessed pathway of superiority to circumstances is to be rightly trodden. Peter’s failure carries its lessons for us doubtless, but I believe the Lord greatly estimated the love that led him to do as he did, so that I think the point of the passage to note, is not so much that he broke down at last, but that he was really immensely like his Lord till he broke down. “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me,” said another servant in a later day.
But to return: “When he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and, beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me!” Why did he sink? Was the water a bit more unstable when boisterous than when calm? Certainly not. You could not walk on the stillest mill-pond a bit better than on the stormiest wave that ever surged, without divine power. The power of Christ can sustain you and me in the most difficult circumstances, and nothing but the power and grace of Christ can sustain us in the most easy circumstances. Then, as Peter cries out, the Lord “caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” Peter had faith, though it was little. Have you and I, dear reader, as much as he?
The exquisite grace of Christ in this passage is incomparable. Peter quite failed to get to his Lord, but the Lord did not fail to reach him in plenty of time. His very failure had brought him to his Saviour’s feet, and in the moment of his deep distress he finds himself in his blessed Saviour’s arms. His appeal, “Lord, save me,” was heard, and answered at once; and cannot many of us bear witness, in just the same way, to the tender pity and compassionate love of that same precious Jesus, when in our exigencies and distresses we have cast ourselves upon Him? Ten thousand witnesses, repeated myriad-fold, reply, “Yes, yes, indeed! for He is Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever.”
As soon as the Lord got into the ship the wind ceased, and John 6:2121Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went. (John 6:21) adds, “Immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.” How beautiful! How calm everything is as soon as you get into the presence of the Lord! And now they worship Him, saying, “Of a truth thou art the Son of God.” Peter had learned Him as Messiah in John 1; he had learned Him as Son of Man, and Lord over the fish of the sea, in Luke 5; and now, as he sees more of the moral glories of His person, he gets another most precious lesson, that this One who is the Messiah, and the Son of Man, is also the Son of God.
Let me ask you, my friend, have you ever been bowed in worship before the person of the Lord Jesus? Have you ever cried out to Him, “Lord, save me! “? And, if He has saved you, have you ever gone down on your knees and worshipped Him, saying, “Lord, of a truth thou art the Son of God!”?
May the Holy Spirit lead out your heart and mine to worship the Lord Jesus, as Son of God, in a fuller, deeper way; and if you, my reader, have never really worshipped Him yet, may He lead you to bow down before Him today, and praise Him, and worship Him for all that He is, and all that He has done, and thus glorify Him, for He says, “Whoso offereth praise, glorifieth me” (Psa. 50:2323Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God. (Psalm 50:23)).