In high school, my baseball coach and I didn’t get along to good. I had been pitching since I was eight, and as far as my mechanics were concerned, I was a model player. But this particular coach had the idea that only he had the correct way of pitching. That’s where I disagreed and told him that I wasn’t going to change eight years of mechanics for him. Now that sounds arrogant, but you have to understand, I didn’t just come up with my mechanics, I had been trained at that point, once a week for eight years. These mechanics were not only engrained in me, but they proved themselves in my performance.
Both years on that team, I had the most strikeouts, least walks, lowest ERA. But what was funny about it, I had less wins than the other starting pitcher. The reason for this is because I was given the hardest teams. One particular team we faced was another Christian school that was a division higher than us. It was called Brookside Christian and was also from Stockton. Once a year we would play a game against them as a sort of rivalry. Our school had never won. Since we had a league game also that week, the coach didn’t want to use his pitcher in a game that he figured we’d lose. So I had the pleasure.
It was one of my better outings. In fact it was such a good outing that we lost by one point due to an outfield error. The fact that I was able to hold this team, which usually had a field day with us, gave me a new respect among my teammates, but not my coach. For the rest of my time on that team, I was only given the hardest teams to pitch against. And since we did very little hitting practice, our team would loose more than not. And yet for my personal records, I continued to outperform the other pitchers on our team. Every time I was called upon to pitch, I did my best and my stats reflected it.
That’s why, in my senior year, when we had our awards party, everyone was taken aback when I wasn’t awarded with pitcher of the year. The reason I was given later, was that, even though I was number one in all other areas, I didn’t have as many wins. What was funny was, I wasn’t surprised, I was a little hurt, but I understood that though I wasn’t officially recognized for my achievements that year, I had done everything that was required of me.
And it’s this idea of fulfilling what we are called to do that brings us back into the Gospel of Matthew, where we’ll be picking it back up in chapter 14, starting in verse 13. And as we open up to Matthew 14:13, let’s recap where we are so far.
We’ve finished three sections of Matthew. The first section can be understood as answering the question, “Who is Jesus?” To which the answer is, the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy and the God of the universe come down to his creation. Sections two and three can be summarized in the question, “Who are Jesus’ disciples?” The answer is, those who put their trust in Jesus as their Savior; this is revealed in them being good soil for the message of the Kingdom to take root and flourish.
Then last week, we looked at the conclusion of section three, which serves as both bookending in John the Baptist’s life, and a transition to section four. This transition moves from who the disciple is, a person who is good soil and in which the Kingdom message flourishes, to what that disciple should be doing.
But unlike the previous two sections, this teaching takes several chapters to unpacked, and Matthew does this by connecting moments in Jesus’ life to his greater teaching. This section asks and answers the question of all of us who call ourselves a disciple of Jesus, "what are we to be doing for the kingdom.”
So let’s read, starting in verse 13 of Matthew chapter 14.
“13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
“15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.’
“16 Jesus replied, ‘They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.’
“17 ‘We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,’ they answered.
“18 ‘Bring them here to me,’ he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
“22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
“25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. ‘It’s a ghost,’ they said, and cried out in fear.
“27 But Jesus immediately said to them: ‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.’
“28 ‘Lord, if it’s you,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to you on the water.’
“29 ‘Come,’ he said.
“Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’
“31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’
“32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’
“34 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him 36 and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.”
Here we have three situations that run into each other. Taken individually they all teach specific things, but taken as a whole, they point us to understanding an overarching idea that will continue for several chapters. Let’s break down each of these moments and see if we can see the overarching idea.
The first situation sees Jesus trying to take time away from the ministry after he hears of John the Baptist’s death. Through the Holy Spirit, Matthew has already helped us understand that Jesus is fully God come down, and he is fully human born of a human woman. This duel nature is why we call Jesus fully God, fully man. Both the divine nature and the human nature are found in Jesus. And so, when Jesus’ cousin John is killed, it affects him, as did Lazarus’ death which is recorded in John’s Gospel.
But Jesus’ reprieve wouldn’t last. The people followed him; a crowd somewhere between five to fifteen plus thousand. It’s here we get several glimpses into the overarching theme of this section.
First, in verse 14, we’re told that Jesus had compassion on the crowd. So often I’ve heard people make flippant comments about how God doesn’t seem to care for their situation. That he allows us to go through such hard times, when he could easily just fix it for us. Last week we saw how God allowed John to go through being beheaded, and now we see the response of God in Jesus, going away to, in some way, process it. Yet when Jesus sees the people in their need, God has compassion on them and starts doing work in their lives. Taking both situations together, we can see that tough things need to happen for God’s work to be carried out, but that doesn’t negate God’s desire to help his children. What’s best for us as individuals and what’s best for the greater work of God throughout the centuries has to be worked out. And only God understands how to work those things out.
So the question isn’t, is God compassionate, the question is, what would God have me do in my situation. This brings us to the next glimpse is Jesus’ interaction with the disciples. The disciples ask Jesus to send the crowd away, but Jesus’ response speaks volumes in verse 16, “You give them something to eat.” If we’re paying attention throughout Matthew, we would understand that Jesus has already commissioned his disciples to be workers in the proclamation of the Kingdom. Back in chapter 10, Jesus spoke these words to his disciples, “As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give (v.7-8).” The disciples are to be actively working for the Kingdom, and now Jesus is giving them a specific task, feed the people. Yet, their view of the limited resources they had kept them from fulfilling Jesus’ command to feed the crowd. So Jesus does it. Jesus feeds the people; all are satisfied and their is an abundance of food left over.
Then we get and interesting transition. Once the baskets come back and the abundance is known, Matthew tells us in verse 22 that, “Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.” Jesus seems to have intended all along to dismiss the crowd when it was time, but the moment needed to be utilized to give the disciples both an opportunity to participate, and a teaching to correct their inability. Once that moment had come and gone, Jesus gets the disciples into the boat, sending them and the crowd off.
Now we’re not given a specific time, but it could be anywhere from six to twelve hours of time that passes. The disciples are in the boat getting rocked by wind and waves on the sea, and Jesus is finishing up his reprieve that started out the first situation.
It’s here that we’re told that around dawn, as the disciples are battling these waves, they see what they first believe to be a ghost walking on the water. But it’s not a ghost it’s Jesus and he calls for them to take courage. It’s here that we get the famous moment of Peter calling out in verse 28, “Lord, if it’s you…tell me to come to you on the water.” Jesus replies with one word, “Come.”
This is the moment. We just saw the faith of the disciples falter when Jesus called them to feed the people, but now there is a moment for faith to be exercised in a way that would seem to be greater than the previous situation. Peter gets out of the boat in the midst of the wind and waves and proceeds to move towards Jesus, walking, like his master on the waves. Yet we’re told, “But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’” Jesus saves Peter and brings him back into the boat, but again we see a failing of faith. Two situations in which the disciples show that they are lacking.
What’s great in both these circumstances is that Jesus doesn’t reject the disciples because of their lack of faith. He calls them out on it, like what he said to Peter in verse 31, “You of little faith…why did you doubt?” But Jesus never rejects the disciples. They are growing in their faith and Jesus continually moves them forward.
They didn’t feed the 5,000, but one did attempt to walk on the water. That’s progress.
But it’s in our last situation where we see others who are coming to Jesus in faith for healing. Here they believe that Jesus has such power that by just touching his robe they could be healed. This isn’t the first time such this idea has been believed. In fact, back in chapter 9 we talked about the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. Could it be that this story got around, to which people now understood just how powerful Jesus is?
In any case, we see that the overarching theme here, and that will continue to see, is that Jesus’ disciples are called to exercise the faith they say they have. If you are the good soil, if you have understood the worth of the kingdom, then you are to exercise the faith that you say you have in Jesus. That means you got to put his words into practice.
Too often in our Christian lives we can fall into a mindset of, “let go and let God,” or “Jesus take the wheel.” Now there are times when we have to give up things and allow God to work in them. Those are things that we cannot control; things that are God’s realm to work out.
But as disciples, Jesus constantly gives us opportunities to take the wheel. Here we saw Jesus challenge the disciples to feed the people. It was Jesus who gave the disciples the opportunity to engage in Kingdom work. Sometimes, God gives us the wheel and says you try. We do it under his power and authority, but it’s him saying, join me in this. This has been a consistent teaching since the end of chapter 7. Put into practice Jesus’ words. In chapter 10, Jesus sent the disciples out to be a part of Kingdom work.
And though they faltered here, it led to Peter taking the initiative and calling out to Jesus that he too would walk on the waves with his Master. Sure Peter faltered there too, but he stepped out. Sometimes we need to just step out.
Jesus has called us to be active in his Kingdom work, let’s not let it pass by.
This week I want to challenge you to think of something that God has been speaking to you about. That thing that you have told God, “I can’t do that.” This week call out to God, saying, “If you call me I’’ll go.” Jesus called the disciples to feed the five thousand and they didn’t, but when Jesus called Peter to the waves he went.
Don’t worry about faltering, or failing, Jesus is still there. And if we follow where he calls, he will pull us from the waves. Sometimes that means we get to continue on the waves back to the boat for another time to do Kingdom work, sometimes that means we get pulled into the Kingdom, but either way, our Master is there.
Let us be people who are not just saying that we believe, but that we respond to the calling of God in our lives. Amen.
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