Matthew 14:22-33
This morning's message provoked many thoughts in me. I'd like to post two of them.
First, the conclusion of the story ends with the concluding thoughts of the disciples. Their conclusion about Jesus based on watching Jesus walk on water and based on His enabling Peter to walk on water. The stated or recorded conclusion - Truly, You are the Son of God.
We often arrive at conclusions after seeing God work in a trial, don't we? I have been thinking about the conclusions I have arrived at based on watching God work in a trial. I think a lot of my conclusion, or the depth of my conclusion is related to how personally invested I was in the trial.
In this trial, this storm at sea, I think the other disciples would have concluded "Jesus helps people in storms" or "Jesus can help people walk on water". Peter's conclusion would have been different. I think Peter's conclusion would have been "Jesus helped me in a storm" or "Jesus helped me walk on water". There's a vast difference in those statements. The disciples' conclusion would have been based on observation. Peter's conclusion would have been based on stepping out in the storm.
Secondly, when Pastor Dale spoke of Jesus and Peter getting into the boat, I was challenged to consider how I viewed that action. Did Jesus carry Peter? Did Jesus drag Peter? Did Jesus again enable Peter to walk on the water? I found that I had my own opinion. As I ponder this, I think that the way we view Jesus and Peter getting into the boat may be directly related to how we view God. We are only told And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught Him. I came home and looked up the verb tense of the word caught. Then I realized I'm probably not going to be able to figure it out. I don't know how Jesus helped Peter get back to the boat. But, I do know this, the manner in which Jesus helped Peter is the manner in which Peter needed at that moment. Our God is Jehovah - the becoming One; the One who becomes what we need. For each of us, He gets us "back to the boat" differently, but always, just as we need Him to.
What did you get from this morning's message?
