Matthew 14:22-36

Matthew is in the middle of telling us about a series of events in Jesus’s life that are living parables: they are stories that have meanings that go far beyond the specifics of the moment in which they occurred.

Matthew 14:22-33 Jesus walks on the water

Why do you think Jesus sent his disciples on ahead while he stayed back to pray?

Why is personal prayer important (in addition to our communal prayers)?  Does Jesus’s example here suggest to you that you might need more times of one-to-one prayer with God?

The Sea of Galilee is known for its sudden storms that sweep across the lake, often but not always from the west (from the Mediterranean Sea).

 Verse 25 tells us it is the fourth watch of the night, which is between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. (the Romans divided each 12 hours into 4 watches), so they have been rowing a long time, trying to get to shore.

What happened in this incident?

What does being able to walk on the water suggest about Jesus?

In Job 9:8, God is described as walking on water.  Jesus’s ability to walk on water is a sign of his divinity.

Why do you think Jesus came to them by walking on the water while they were struggling with wind and waves, rather than just meeting them at their planned destination?

Jesus says, “Take courage, it is I.  Do not be afraid” (Matt. 14:27).  What is he trying to tell them?

We all have times where we need to hear Jesus say, “Take courage, it is I.  Do not be afraid” (Matt. 14:27).  How might this statement be important to you?

Jesus literally says, “I am,” not “it is I”), invoking God’s I AM name for himself, which further supports the idea that Jesus is in part trying to show that he is God, the God of Israel.

What does Peter say to Jesus?

Why do you think Peter does this?  What does this passage tell you about Peter?

How do you think Jesus felt about Peter wanting to come to him on the water?

When Jesus says, “Come,” the first thing Peter needs to do is get out of the boat.  When Jesus tells us to do something, the first step is often the hardest part: Get out of the boat.  What is one area of your life, or one situation you are facing, where Jesus may be telling you, figuratively, that it is OK, or even necessary, to get out of the boat?

At first, Peter actually does walk on the water – presumably by the miraculous work of Jesus.  According to verse 30, when does Peter become afraid and start to sink?

When he focuses his attention on the strong wind.

So when Peter takes his eyes off of Jesus and focuses on the challenges around him, he starts to sink.  What does this say to us?

When Peter starts to sink, what does Jesus do?  What does that say to us?

Although his faith faltered, Peter did something that was more than anyone else had ever done.  When Jesus says to Peter, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matt. 14:31), what tone of voice do you think Jesus used?  Was it a stern reprimand or more encouraging?  (Or, to say it another way, did Jesus say this with a stony stare or with a twinkle in his eye?) 

When you step out in faith rather than standing back in fear, but then you falter, how do you think Jesus responds to you?

When Jesus got into the boat, what happened to the storm?  What does that tell us?

If this story is a living parable illustrating a bigger point for the early church and for us, what do you think that bigger point is?

In verse 33, how do the disciples react to what happened?  What do they say about Jesus?

They declare him to be the Son of God.

This is a significant moment, when the disciples declare Jesus to be the Son of God.  That phrase is used very rarely in Matthew.  Prior to this point, Satan said to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God . . .” (Matthew 4:3, 6) and a demon had called Jesus the Son of God (8:29).  But no human has called Jesus the Son of God – until now.  Later, during Jesus’s Passion, the high priest, the bad thief, and the chief priests all use the title “Son of God” in disbelief as they are rejecting him (Matt. 26:63; 27:40; 27:43).

But the term “Son of God” is used only 3 times in the Gospel of Matthew by people who believe in Jesus:

• Here, the disciples say it when they are terrified.  (In Mark 6:51, they do not reach this conclusion; they are just astounded.)

• When Jesus asks the disciples who they think he is (Matt. 16:16), Peter, having had some time to think about it, calls Jesus “the Son of the Living God” as well as the “Messiah.”

• Finally, after Jesus dies, the Gentile centurion at the foot of the cross says, “Truly, this was the Son of God!” (Matt. 27:54), which fits with the overall framework of Matthew’s Gospel where he is showing that the gospel is meant to be spread to all nations, i.e., to the Gentiles (Matt. 28:19).

The statement in Matthew that Jesus is the Son of God is as significant as the statement in Mark that Jesus is the Messiah (Mark 8:29).  And Matthew wastes no time showing us the implications of this truth.  As soon as Matthew has established that Jesus is the Son of God, scribes and Pharisees show up from Jerusalem and challenge Jesus (Matt. 15:1), setting up the conflict that will end in his crucifixion.

What does it mean to you to say that Jesus is the Son of God?  How important is that statement of faith to you?

Looking over this whole story,  what stands out to you as the most significant thing to apply to your own life right now?

Matthew 14:34-36 Many miracles

In verse 22, Jesus told the disciples to take the boat to the other side of the lake.  They were on the western side of the lake, the Jewish side, and the other side (the eastern side) was Gentile territory.  This is spelled out explicitly in Mark 6:45, where Jesus tells them to go across the lake to Bethsaida, which is a major city in Gentile territory.

However, after Jesus comes to them on the water, they land at Gennesaret, which is squarely on the western side of the lake, further west than Capernaum.  Depending where they began on the western side of the lake, they either made little progress toward Bethsaida or actually moved further away from Gentile territory.

Some scholars attribute the failure to reach Bethsaida to the wind that was against them, or suggest that Mark joined independent stories together.  However, another possibility is that this incident showed that the disciples were not ready for a move into Gentile territory yet.  Jesus makes a move into Gentile territory, but in the opposite direction, in Matthew 15:21.

What happens here?

Compare this to the reception Jesus received in his hometown (Matt. 13:54-58).  How are they different in terms of (a) the reaction of the people, and (b) the number of miracles worked?

Look at the role of the people in verse 35 who spread the word.  Why was that important?

How might we take a lesson from these people who spread the word?  If you were going to spread the word about Jesus (in our time), what would you want to tell people about him?

Like all Jews of his time, Jesus would have had a tassel sewn onto each corner of his outer garment, in keeping with Numbers 15:37-41 and Deuteronomy 22:12.  (Many translations say “fringe,” but “tassel” is more accurate.)  What does it tell you about people’s faith, that they would be satisfied just to touch the tassel at the end of his cloak?

To be touched by people who were sick risk ritual impurity.  Why doesn’t this stop Jesus?

Jesus patiently heals all who come to him.  What does this tell you about Jesus?

Take a step back and consider this:

Sometimes, people think they know something that God wants them to do, but it doesn’t happen.  This often holds people back from believing that God might do great things if they step out in faith.  But sometimes, God doesn’t do great things if we don’t get out of the boat.  We need to be attuned to the will of God to know what he is trying to do through us.  Jesus’s example of prayer may be one of many things we can do to better know the mind of God, so that we take action when he wants us to.

What can you do to better know the mind of God for your life, so that you get out of the boat and take a step of faith that God can use, when he wants you to?