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DIVIDED FAITH
August 10, 2008
Job 9:1-8
Matthew 14:22-33
Today’s pericope, Jesus walking on the water, is one of the most famous in the Bible. Our reading came from the Gospel of Matthew. The story also appears in the Gospels of Mark and John, and it takes all three to gain a full understanding of what really happened that morning. Many of the early Church Fathers believed Mark received the information for his Gospel directly from Peter, so you can think of it as Peter’s Gospel. There was a lot of competition between Peter and John for primacy among the Apostles, and you can see this in what they each choose to emphasize during the three years of ministry. It’s nice to have Matthew between them, to provide some balance and perspective.
This pericope comes directly on the heels of the miracle of Jesus feeding the five thousand men and their families. In those days they only counted the men, which means the actual size of the crowd was probably somewhere between twelve and fifteen thousand. When Jesus feeds them all with five loaves of bread and two fishes, and has twelve baskets of leftovers, it is truly a miracle.
As soon as the crowd has been fed Jesus puts the Apostles in a boat and sends them out on the sea. John portrays this as an almost casual decision, When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum (John 6:16). The language in Matthew and Mark is much more dynamic, Jesus ordered them into the boat and sent them away. Perhaps John is already starting to downplay the story, since Peter is going to receive so much attention. And yet, at the same time, John is the only one who explains why Jesus was so concerned about breaking up the gathering.
The crowd has just been fed with a miracle, and they have made the decision to forcefully install Jesus as the King of Israel (John 6:15). They have begun chanting his name, and they are ready to riot and revolt. These people are ready to become Jesus’ army and march on the capital in his name. This revolution will almost certainly fail, the citizens will be killed, and Jesus will be crucified – which is where he’s headed anyway. But, this must be done according to God’s timing, not man’s. And, Jesus must be innocent when he is crucified, not guilty of insurrection.
Jesus can’t end up on the cross too soon. There is almost a year of ministry left to perform. People still need to be healed so they will spread their story, the Pharisees still need to be confronted, and the Apostles have so many questions they still need to ask. So, Jesus puts the Apostles in a boat and physically separates them from himself and the mob, and then he disbands the crowd and sends them home. This is when Judas Iscariot loses faith in the movement, and decides to force God’s hand by betraying Jesus (John 6:70-71). Maybe Jesus won’t send his ready made army away if the establishment is breathing down his neck.
At this point all three Gospels agree that Jesus went straight to prayer, and he stayed there for six to eight hours. They don’t tell us specifically what he prayed for or about, but my guess is that it concerned temptation. We don’t know how much Jesus knew about what would happen to him. There were times when he clearly knew the future; he was able to foresee the destruction of the Holy Temple (Matthew 24:2). And yet, even he did not know when his Second Coming would be (Matthew 24:36). So, not all things were revealed to him. We know that although Jesus never gave in to sinful temptation, he could be tempted (Matthew 4:1, Hebrews 2:18, 4:15). Now, if you knew that a bloody beating and crucifixion were waiting for you, and you knew that the poor people desperately wanted you to be their king, how tempting would it be to call in an army of angels and just skip the cross (Matthew 4:6)? I think Jesus spent six hours in prayer to keep himself from abandoning God’s perfect plan for the redemption and salvation of humanity.
The scene now shifts back to the Apostles. It’s somewhere between three and six am, the darkest and coldest part of the night. The Apostles are straining at the oars as their tiny boat is ‘buffeted’ by an assailing wind. This is the only place where that Greek word (basanizo) is translated as buffeted, everywhere else it is translated as ‘tormented’ or ‘tortured’ and refers to a demonic attack against a person. I don’t think Matthew was trying to say that this was a demonic attack, or that Satan was trying to drown the Apostles. He is trying to tell us that even before Jesus appears it is clear this is an unnatural situation.
Jesus comes walking on the water, and the Apostles first impression is that he is a ghost. We might find that a little laughable, why would they believe in ghosts? The Apostles were well aware of the story of King Saul seeking out the witch of En Dor, so she could raise the ghost of the prophet Samuel for him (1 Samuel 28:11-20). While that story ends poorly for Saul, it left the Israelites with the understanding that in certain circumstances the dead could return.
At this point the Gospel of Mark adds some very interesting information. Mark says that as Jesus came walking on the water he intended to pass them by (Mark 6:48). That doesn’t seem like the compassionate Jesus we know. He deliberately put them in the boat and sent them out on the sea. Now they fear for their lives, and Jesus is just going to walk past as if he doesn’t see them? That doesn’t seem right. There are three possible explanations for this disturbing phrase.
- First, this is a Theophany, a physical manifestation of the presence of Holy God. We know that no one can see God and live (Exodus 33:20). It was common in the Old Testament, when God was present with his people, for him to ‘pass by them’ so they would not see him and die (Exodus 33:22). Mark might be trying to say that Jesus was displaying the power of God Almighty, and he intended to pass by them so they would not see him and die.
- A second option is what we call the Messianic Secret. In the Gospel of Mark, when Jesus performs a miracle he follows by telling the observers not to tell anyone what they have just seen (Mark 1:43, 5:43, 7:36, 8:26). Jesus, because he can’t afford to arrive at the cross too early, is very careful to suppress stories of his miracles – which would attract the attention of the authorities. Walking on water is clearly a miracle, so Mark may describe Jesus as intending to pass by in order to maintain the Messianic Secret.
- The final option, and this is the one I like the best, concerns the difference between ‘passing through’ and ‘passing by’. In ancient Hebrew anytime God ‘passed through’ the people he was angry and they were in physical danger (Amos 5:16-17). However, anytime God ‘passed by’ the people he was forgiving, and intended to rescue them from disaster or peril (1 Kings 19:11, Micah 2:8). It’s possible that Mark is binding this Theophany to the Old Testament, and his wording is designed to tell us that Jesus’ intention is to rescue the Apostles.
The reason I like that option so well is because of what happens next. When the Apostles cry out to the ghost, Jesus calms their fears with a reassuring answer. The NIV translates his response as “It is I.” But, a more accurate translation is, “I AM!” If you will remember from Moses and the burning bush, that is the name God uses of himself when he is preparing a great and mighty rescue. I believe Jesus fully intended, from the very beginning, to rescue the Apostles.
Now we reach the part where Jesus calls Peter out of the boat, to walk to him on the water. This is a pretty amazing part of the story, and yet it doesn’t appear in either Mark or John, only in Matthew. I don’t think John put it in his Gospel, because he was jealous of the attention Peter received for this. And, he might have been a little embarrassed. You notice John never even tries to get out of the boat. I don’t think Mark put it in his Gospel because he didn’t want to embarrass his mentor Peter by detailing his failure to keep the faith. Thank heavens for Matthew, who just wants us to know what happened next.
Peter gets out of the boat and begins walking on the water to Jesus. He’s doing great until his focus is broken by the wind. I find it interesting that it wasn’t walking on water that distracted him, it was the invisible wind. The wind catches his attention, scares him, and Peter begins to sink. Why is it that so often we get disillusioned and suffer a faith crisis immediately after a triumph?
God leads the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. He parts the Reed Sea and allows them to walk on dry ground between walls of water. He then slams the water on top of Pharaoh’s army and drowns them all (Exodus 14:13-28). Then, in the middle of the desert, God gives them food, water, and clothing to wear. Is there any more visible sign of Gods power, and his willingness to protect his own? And yet, one week later these same people are disillusioned and disappointed, and begin begging Moses, “We want to go back to Egypt!” (Numbers 14:3-4).
The prophet Elijah goes nose to nose with four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal. They meet on Mount Carmel to determine once and for all whose god is really God. Elijah gives them every advantage. Then, in an amazing display of power, wrath, and salvation God sends fire down from the sky. Elijah is vindicated and the prophets of Baal are assassinated (1 Kings 18:1-40). After three years of drought, at Elijah’s hand, God sends the rain – a visible sing of salvation (1 Kings 18:41-46). And yet, when scrawny Queen Jezebel threatens Elijah, he runs off and hides and begs God to let him die (1 Kings 19:1-4).
The Apostles have just watched as Jesus fed twelve to fifteen thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fishes. This is a miracle display of salvation. Jesus is now walking on the water, clearly a miracle and a sign of salvation. Peter hears the wind and loses his faith. Why does faith become so fragile when we have just seen proof that it should be invincible? Doesn’t that happen to each one of us?
Peter’s becomes distracted and takes his focus off of Jesus, then he begins to sink. The word the Bible uses is distazo, which means attempting to serve two masters simultaneously. Peter can serve Jesus, or the wind, but not both. Jesus immediately rescues Peter, but there seems to be some disappointment. “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” Jesus climbs into the boat with Apostles, and immediately the wind stops. This is significant for two reasons. First, we noted at the beginning that this was an unnatural wind, different than anything they had experienced before. Secondly, the Bible the Apostles read and studied was very clear on this subject, only God controls the wind (Job 9:8, Psalm 77:19). It becomes obvious to the Apostles that this is something different. This is supernatural. This is God in action. God is working in their world in a completely unique way.
What is it that rattles your faith and causes you to sink? Is it the outspoken atheists within a portion (and only a small portion) of the scientific community who claim they have ‘proven’ that we are evolved and not made in the image of God? Does that make you sink? Is it the constant bickering within the Christian community about whose interpretation of the Bible is correct, and who ‘really’ believes in the right way? Does that make you sink? Is it hypocrisy within the Church, Pastors and Sunday school teachers who say one thing and do another? Does that make you sink? Is it the prosperity of the wicked, people who defy God and seem to live a glorious life with no apparent consequences? Does that make you sink? Is it your own physical or emotional health? Does illness wear you down, and wear you out, until all you can hear and see are the wind and the waves? Does that make you sink?
The problem is distazo, trying to serve two masters simultaneously. We can focus on that buffeting, howling wind. Or, we can focus on Jesus. But, we must make a conscious choice, it won’t just happen by accident. Faith is making the decision to see only Jesus, to listen only to Jesus, to respond only to Jesus. The wind is going to be there, beating against us. We can focus on the wind, or we can look at the miracles happening all around us. We can marvel at the parted sea, or we can whine about going back to Egypt. We can praise God for the returning rain, or we can run and hide from the queen. We can marvel in the feeding of the five thousand, or we can listen to the wind. The choice is entirely ours.
Josef Kurzinger, Papias von Hierapolis und die Evangelien des Neuen Testaments (Regensburg: Verlag Friederick Pustet, 1983), 107.
Notice that Mark is the only one to describe John and James as the “Sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17), at the same time John refers to himself as ‘the one whom Jesus loved’ (John 13:23), and he details the coming death of only one Apostle – Peter (John 21:17-19).
Kenneth L. Barker & John R. Kohlenberger III, Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary, Volume 2: New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 1529.