MAY 13 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#15 “O you of little faith, why do you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31)

 MAY 13  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#15 “O you of little faith, why do you doubt?”  (Matthew 14:31)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Lord Jesus, today there is nothing but Praise in my heart for You and the moving of Your Spirit that we have seen this week through Your Church. Lord we know that Your Church is not made of bricks and mortar but of flesh and blood and hearts that have been given to helping others ——— so Lord let us be more like You each day of our life and remember that how we treat others is a direct reflection on how we feel about You, thank You Lord for letting our vessels pour out Your Love on those around us that they too may drink of THE LIVING WATER!     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus used the Example of His Daily Life as the Greatest Witness to the Power of God that the world has ever seen! In this event of another boat filled with His disciples and in another great storm where the wind and the waves of the world were “contrary”, Jesus walking on the stormy seas towards His followers demonstrates that the Creator God is in control of all circumstances and even if we encounter multiple bad storms in our life that God is in control of His Creation and the souls that He has placed in the world — and God is very much in control of our personal circumstances — but to see God working in the “storm” we must focus on God and not the storm!!! In other words, if we are to see God working in our “problems [storms]” we must focus on the “solution [God]” and not the “problems [storms]!!! 

 {{Part 1 Jesus and Peter walks on the water}} 

When the context surrounding this event in which Jesus asked “Why do you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31) is looked at from a “spiritual” perspective and the reader takes into consideration that this is the second event in which the disciples were out to sea during a storm, we can then make a comparison between the two events which appear at first reading to be the same event. Jesus always has a Reason and this event, though similar, has some distinct differences that Jesus uses to move us forward in our understanding of God and His will for our lives so let us look at not only what is similar with these two “boating-in-a-storm experiences” but what is different about them so that we can understand what Kingdom Lesson Jesus intends for His followers. The first “boating-in-a-storm” event is introduced with “Now when [Jesus] got into a boat, His disciples followed Him…suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea…but Jesus was asleep…His disciples awoke Him, saying Lord, save us! We are perishing! …Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm.” (Matthew 8:23-26)  Before the first BOAT-IN-A-STORM ride Jesus had just Taught the parable of the two builders, cleansed a leper, healed both the Centurion’s servant and Peter’s mother-in-law, and had made this statement about “faith” ——— “Go your way, and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” (Matthew 7:24 - 8:22) These were the events leading up to the first BOAT-IN-A-STORM trip so let’s compare those with this second BOAT-IN-A-STORM experience. The second boating experience starts with “Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.” (Matthew 14:22) The event preceding the statement of “immediately Jesus made His disciples” was the feeding of the five thousand where instead of Jesus Himself alone doing acts of healing, His disciples had been active and were personally involved in the miracle feeding of the multitudes as Jesus had commanded His disciples “You give them something to eat” and commanded His disciples: “[You] Bring [the multitudes] here to Me” then Jesus broke and blessed the bread and made His disciples “serve” the “multitudes”. So the first difference is that the events leading up to the first boating storm experience was Jesus performing miracles and His disciples were observing but the events leading up to the second boating storm experience had His disciples actively involved in the public ministry of Jesus and doing “kingdom work”. The second difference is that in the first event Jesus got into the boat and His disciples had followed Him into the boat but in the second event, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat without Him and had commanded them to “go before Him to the other side”. (Matthew 14:22) The third difference that stands out is that in the first event Jesus is with them in the boat when the storm arises and His disciples were fearful of losing their lives so they awoke Jesus WHO WAS SLEEPING IN THE BACK OF THE BOAT but in the second event His disciples are alone in the “middle of the sea, tossed by the waves…”  and  “in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.”(Matthew 14:25) In the first event His disciples were panicked and thought they were “perishing” but in this event His disciples are only “troubled” and in this second “storm” His disciples began to “fear” when they thought they were seeing a ghost, “…they were troubled, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ and they cried out in fear.” (Matthew 14:26) In the first event Jesus woke up and rebuked His disciples and the waves. Then after controlling the elements Jesus went back to sleep, but in this second event when the disciples cry out Jesus does not rebuke them but instead He reassures them, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid” (Matthew 14:27) The second event marks a milestone in faith for His disciples because even though the waves are “contrary” Peter “answered Him and said, ‘Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.’”(Matthew 14:28) and we read the one-word command Jesus gives to all of His followers — “Come”   (Matthew 14:29)   It is at this point where Peter fixes his eyes firmly on Jesus and steps out of the boat on “Faith” and Peter actually starts walking on water himself! What a Lesson to learn here because when Peter “had come down out of the boat, [and] walked on the water to go to Jesus” Peter clearly demonstrated that Peter had within himself all the “Power of Jesus” when his “Faith” was focused entirely on Jesus (Matthew 14:29) because it was only when Peter came out of the “Spirit of God [FAITH IN GOD]  within him” and became aware of the “physical world [storm] around him” that he began to sink — “But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord save me!’” (Matthew 14:30) I am sure that Peter’s faith was bolstered when “…immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him…” (Matthew 14:31) “and when [Peter and Jesus] got into the boat the wind ceased.” (Matthew 14:32) If we keep our focus on Jesus, we would learn as His disciples did, that “Truly [Jesus is] the Son of God” (Matthew 14 :33) and if we will reach out to Him and declare our need of a Savior, the Savior will draw us into His Salvation and Shelter us from the “storm” ——— or do you believe that you will get “lucky” and never encounter any “storms” in your life, nor is there any need of a “Savior” in our perfect lives?