Right after He miraculously fed thousands with a few loaves and fishes, Jesus performed another miracle. He walked on water. And today on Truth for Life Alastair Begg examines this passage to find out what this sign revealed about Jesus what his disciples' reaction revealed about them, and how God uses trials in the lives of believers.
Well, I don't know if you keep a journal. I keep a journal. I don't know why I do. After all these years, no one could possibly read it. And even if they read it, it would be of very little interest, I'm sure.
But I was thinking as I came to these particular verses, That if any one of these disciples had been a journal person, then for sure this day would have gone in the journal. And whether it was Andrew or Philip themselves writing the journal or one of the others, they would presumably have included many of these details. Perhaps someone saying, you know, Philip was asked by Jesus about this, but I do remember that Andrew was the one who introduced us to the little boy. Nobody who was present would be able to forget the occasion. That's not the same as saying that everybody enjoyed the occasion or that everybody understood the occasion.
In fact, the reaction of the crowd was such that That Jesus decided to leave almost immediately. In fact, in Mark's reference, there is a very abrupt end to the story of the feeding, and Jesus moves away very quickly. He dispatches his disciples. He dismisses the crowd. And he then goes up into the mountain to pray.
There's a wonderful picture there of Jesus that we might almost miss. Insofar as he is the one who finally brings closure to it all. He says to the disciples, you can go on now. I'll wait here and finish things up. And when I finish things up, then I will go and talk with my father.
And of course that's exactly what happens. And as a result of that, the scene is then set for another miracle. And what we have here is just that. It is a powerful, visible demonstration Of the sovereignty of Jesus over the entire world that He has created. The writer to the Hebrews in his immediate picture that he gives of Jesus in the opening chapter refers to him as the one who upholds the universe by the word of his power.
And the reason he's able to write that is because the record of the life and ministry of Jesus testifies to the very same thing.
Now we're not going to spend long on this, but I want to try and guide us through it. In verse 16, the journey begins. When evening came, he said His disciples went down to the sea. And John tells us. That it was dark.
Sometimes darkness in the Bible has a peculiar significance.
Sometimes it says it was night. And we're left wondering, I wonder if the darkness has more to say to us than simply the physical darkness or the absence of the light of the moon or whatever it might be. But in the darkness they set out. And the record is straightforward there. They have.
begun to cross the sea, they're moving across the sea in the darkness. And the sea becomes rough. Verse 18, the sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing against them.
Now that was nothing new to them. That wasn't something that they had never experienced before. And so it is that on that sea with which they were familiar, they are making their attempt at reaching their destination. And after rowing, we're told for about three or four miles. Around three o'clock in the morning, Mark again tells us about the fourth watch of the night.
The fourth watch of the night is approximately three o'clock in the morning.
So pitch dark on a boat, on a familiar sea, with the wind hitting them straight on in the face. They R. ready for just about anything. And it's in that context. that Jesus appears.
Jesus comes walking on the sea. coming near to the boat. And they were frightened. Mark actually says that they were freaked out. The word that he uses in Greek translates freaked out fairly well.
And as a result of being freaked out, they let out a corporate loud cry. It was as if the whole boat went, wait a minute. Whoa. A shriek of terror. You see, it was a popular belief, and it's not an unpopular belief even in our day.
that spirits of the night brought disaster. That's the kind of philosophical milieu in which they were living. It's spooky at night. But that notion, that popular belief, in the minds of these individuals was enough for them to respond as they did.
Now, you realize that the Gospel of John The Gos all the Gospels actually are written out of eyewitness accounts. And so Peter, let's say, had been describing what had happened on that occasion. And as a result of the description that he gave, John had written it down in this way. Peter may have said, while we were in the boat, we saw this strange figure coming towards us across the water. We thought he was an apparition.
A phantasma in Greek. Which fits, doesn't it? We thought that. And it was about to pass by when we cried out, I say, okay, fair enough. After all, Who can walk on water?
Who can walk on water? Moses, they knew part of the Red Sea. But when he parted the Red Sea, it says that the people went through on dry land. This is something very, very different.
Now when you read these things, and I know you do read them. We should read them with a spirit not of scepticism, but with a spirit of agnosticism. We should be asking questions, we should be saying, now there's things about this that I don't fully understand. There's things about this that I've never really thought about at all. And here's one.
Are we surprised, then, by their reaction? After all, as we've just said, they've had the most amazing experience in the earlier part of the day. Wouldn't you think that now that you would be almost Teflon? that they would be almost fearless. We were with Jesus.
Jesus did this amazing thing. It was fantastic. Let's go sailing.
So what? It's dark. Yaba-da-da-doo. We're fine, you know? No.
Here's what Mark tells us. Although they'd been in the middle of a miracle, they didn't get it. They didn't get it. Read it in Mark if you turn to it. This is what he says.
The disciples did not understand about the loaves. Their hearts were hardened. They were following him. But they didn't know who he was. The journey begins.
Jesus appears. Thirdly, Jesus spoke to them. He said to them, It is I. Do not be afraid.
Now, that is a phrase in Greek that you will remember: ego aimi.
Now, the significance of that phrase may actually be very much involved in this, and it may not. Because what it actually ties to is the declaration of God Himself way back in the book of Exodus. And I think if there's any reason to believe that this ego I me here, this it is I here, has significance beyond simply self-disclosure, just Jesus saying, Hey guys, it's me. If it means anything beyond that, It's because of the conjunction between what's going on here in this day and the fact that Moses and Manna and the Exodus and the wilderness are all swirling around in this experience. And of course at the burning bush.
Moses said to God, If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, What is his name, what shall I say to them? God said to Moses, I am. Who I am. Tell him I am. They're freaked out.
An apparition. Walking on the water. Jesus says It is I.
Now Again, it's helpful. to recognize that these men knew the Hebrew scriptures. Therefore they were helped in a way that some of us may not be helped. to the extent that we're not as familiar as they would have been. But what these individuals knew Was that only God commands the elements, right?
They knew only God can control things. Look down at your text if it's still there. Verse twenty-one. Their fears are addressed. addressed by the presence of Christ.
His command to them is one of the most familiar commands, incidentally. We have to be encouraged by this. It's one of the most familiar commands in the whole of the Bible. Do you realize how many times in the Bible we're told not to be afraid? You know fear is actually like like the first cousin of unbelief.
The sign Again, our control verse 2031 These signs have been recorded in order That you might believe. That you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, and that by believing you might have life in His name, but if you don't believe, you'll live with fear. Because fear is actually the first causing of unbelief. And in her heart of hearts, at this point in the middle of the sea, They were actually unbelieving. and fearful.
What cancels unbelief? Belief. What cancels fear? The one in whom We believe. And so It's a happy ending in verse 21.
Then they were glad. They gladly took him into the boat. And immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. Everybody wants to. had to debate whether this is the third miracle.
Where the first miracle is the feeding of the five thousand, and the second miracle is that he walks on the water, and the third miracle is he goes whoa, and the boat goes flying up into the harbor and that's the end. You want a third miracle? That's fine. It's not a problem for Jesus just to bring the same power that allows him to walk on water into the boat so that they don't have to row anymore and they just get there. I don't think it adds anything to it, nor is anything lost by not considering it.
I'm perfectly happy. I I'm up for as many miracles as we would like to have. But they were glad to take him into the boat. and immediately the boat. had reached The destination.
What a day. What a day. Again, when it comes to journal time, You get home And you sit down, I imagine them there. Just reflecting on it. He's saying you know.
It was when Jesus said to us, Have them sit down. That was the first time the bell rang for me. Because looking back on it now, all those people seated on the grass. all sort of orderly and in their position. Isn't that just the picture that we have?
of Moses making the distribution Of the manna in the wilderness to the people who have been seated ready to receive. Yes, says one, and you know what? When you think about the Red Sea thing, Okay. You know, Moses was able to take the people through the Red Sea. And Jesus He's just brought us through the sea.
We were in a real mess out there earlier this evening. But look what he's done.
Well, that's really it. A couple of closing observations. Number one, a warning. A warning to us all. Proximity to Jesus.
is no guarantee of real faith. Real faith. is to be found. In genuine Repentant, believing. Trust.
And this chapter Ends with People turning their backs on Jesus. A chapter that you might imagine would be filled with a great throng of folks all being converted and joining in. But now it says that many of the disciples turned back, they no longer walked with him. And Jesus said, Do you want to go as well? And then we have Peter's amazing answer.
Hey.
So That's the warning. Secondly, maybe a second word of warning or a beware, if you like. Beware of coming to passages like this. and applying allegory to try and understand them. This particular section of the Bible Anytime Jesus is getting on a boat or the boat is in the water or anything like this, you don't have to search very far, and you will have people explaining to you.
That, what this is, the way to understand this is that the boat is a picture of the church.
So you sometimes see, for example, boats, especially out in Israel or sometimes in Europe, and that boat there is a symbol. And so the way the passage is then taught is the this is the church. What you see here is to teach us that we are a small handful of people. We are tossed about on the rough seas of secularism and we are living in the realm of uncertainty. We're pulling away at the oars.
It's a dreadful task to be a Christian in these days. We're trying desperately to get to heaven. We're making a dreadful hash of it and so on. And furthermore, it is horribly dark. And um That's the way.
That's the way it's taught. I want to suggest to you that People ought not to do that. Because although some of those things are true, You can teach that from anywhere you want, but you can't teach it from this passage. Because what is this passage about? What is the sign about?
What is the miracle about? The sign is pointing to Jesus. and to belief in Jesus. and to a transformed life as a result of that belief. That said, in the warning against the allegory, We don't want to miss.
The fact that that it is also true That just as Jesus calmed their fears by making his presence known, So he does. in coming to us. to provide for us. to protect us. To accompany us.
to empower us. Days of darkness, the hymn writer says, still come o'er us. and sorrow's paths We often tread. Fact. Fight.
There's no question. that the pilgrimage of the Christian life is filled with all kinds of Challenges that would be similar to hitting it on the high seas, as it were. And we need to remind ourselves that trials come to prove us and to reprove us. It is in the trials that we learn things. Because God puts his people, puts his people in situations.
in order that he might test them. in order that he might stretch them. That is sometimes merely in the routine of everyday life.
Sometimes it's in the whirlwind. Or Illness? Bereavement. Loss of job. Collapsing relationship.
Whatever it might be. And at that point, anybody would say, Well, I just feel myself out to be in the midst of the sea. I don't think there's a destination to which I'm heading, and there's no one possibly able to help me unless there is somebody who plants his footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm, unless there is someone who can actually step down into this predicament. And of course the Bible says there is. It's a reminder too.
Dead. The work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the follower of Jesus is not to make us comfortable. But is to conform us to the image. of Jesus. And if we decide that the only way that we can adjudicate on our spiritual pilgrimage.
is to be found in the level of comfort that we know. or the sense of satisfaction that we enjoy. then we will be in deep trouble routinely. Because so much of life is uncomfortable. and so many aspects.
Do not fully satisfy us. That's the point. of the earlier miracle. We will never find rest. Until we find rest.
in Jesus.
Now without warning of the allegory, I want to tell you finally That um And this does sound a little allegorical, but uh That's okay. When when I was a boy in Glasgow, on the River Clyde. A day out with my grandfather was very simple. We would ride public transport to destinations that we arbitrarily chose. But the particularly good day was when we crossed the River Clyde twice.
Going out, we crossed it on the Carr Ferry, which was a huge monstrosity of a thing. And coming back, we crossed it on the Wee Ferry, which was just for a small number of people. And when we cross the Clyde, which leads out into the ocean. Every so often, There would be a tiny boat. that would be pointed out to me.
By my grandfather. And He said, You know what that boat is? I said, No, I don't know what it is. He said, Well, that boat there. Is um being m moved Captained by a man who is the pilot.
So he said, when these huge ocean liners come in, They can't navigate up the cloud. Because they don't have the capacity to do so. They need somebody to get on board. In order to take that gigantic thing to its destination.
Okay, I got it. And he says, here's the song. Do you want a pilot? Signal then to Jesus. Do you want a pilot?
Then bid him Come on board. And he will safely guide Across the ocean wide, Until at last you reach The heavenly harbour. Jesus is I am the bread of life. I am the one. who controls the tides.
I am Lord, I am Saviour, I am King. Will you not trust me? And the final song goes like this. With Christ in the vessel, we can smile at the storm. as we go sailing home.
The reason I know that is because it rains so much in Scotland. And my father thought it was always good to cheer us all up by a song. He could sing no better than myself, but it didn't stop him at all. And if you can imagine as a seven, eight, nine-year-old, ten-year-old boy sitting in the back of the car with the windscreen washers just going like this, and he's just beating down on the car and he's saying, Look, aren't those waves magnificent? I'm like, No, they're horrible.
I hate this. I hate every part of it. Then he says, Come on now, let us sing. With Christ in the vessel, we can smile at the storm as we go sailing home.
Well It didn't do much for me then. But it's a good reminder now. Because with Christ in the vessel. We can smile at the storm, Smile in our tears, Smile through our tears. but still smiled.
Uh You're listening to Truth for Life with Alastair Begg. On behalf of Alastair and all of us here at Truth for Life, we want to wish a very blessed Thanksgiving to everyone who is celebrating here in the United States today. Our officers are closed today and Friday, so our team can be home celebrating with their loved ones. We'll be back in the office on Monday, december first. You know, at Truth for Life we are thankful for the privilege of studying God's Word with you each day.
Our prayer is that as you listen, God's Spirit will be at work, through the teaching of His Word, to draw you closer to Jesus.
So, as you enjoy time with family and friends in the weeks ahead, we hope you'll take advantage of these opportunities to tell others about Jesus. And to help you with that, we put together a selection of books, devotionals, and study Bibles that make terrific gifts for anyone on your list. One book we're really excited about is Alister's brand new book titled The Man on the Middle Cross Are You Going to Heaven? This is a brief booklet that tells the stories of three people whose lives were forever changed by meeting Jesus, and it invites readers to ponder this important question what would happen to you if you were to die to night. Alastair wrote this booklet as a simple way to share the gospel, and we'd love for you to give copies to as many people as possible in the weeks to come.
That's why it's priced at just one dollar. That's cheaper than a Christmas card, which most people look at and throw away.
so why not give some one a small booklet in lieu of a card? You might also distribute copies as part of your church's box project.
Now, even though our offices are closed, you can still shop from our book selection or give a donation at truthforlife.org/slash gifts. Thanks for listening today. Tomorrow, we'll learn how your questions often reveal. Your heart. The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life.
Where the Learning is for Living.
