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Matthew 14:24-33
In Matthew 14:22 Jesus sent His disciples on ahead of Him to cross the sea while He dismissed the multitudes and then went up the mountain to pray alone (Matthew 14:22b-23). The Bible teaches us in Matthew 14:24-33 that as the disciples of Jesus were crossing the sea, the wind became “contrary” (NKJV) and was tossing the boat about the waves. In the “fourth watch” of the night (Matthew 14:25), which would be in the early hours of the morning, most likely before daybreak, Jesus came to His disciples as He was, “walking on the sea.”
It should not have taken the disciples of Jesus all night to cross this sea, but the wind was against them, “contrary” (Matthew 14:24), and in Matthew 14:30 the wind is described as being “boisterous.” The question could be asked, “If Jesus knew that His disciples were in trouble, then why did He not respond to their needs more quickly?” The Bible teaches us that Jesus’ disciples were in a troubling situation, but we have no information that they prayed or called out to God for help. We can be assured that the disciples of Jesus were not thinking of Him in their time of need because when He arrived, “walking on the sea” (Matthew 14:25), they were afraid and believed that they saw a ghost. The disciples of Jesus were obviously in disarray.
But Jesus arrives and changes the scene. He tells them in Matthew 14:27 to “be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”
Upon realizing that their Savior was with them, Peter asks Jesus by a show of faith if he could walk on the water to Him, and Jesus replies with one word, “Come.” As long as Peter kept his focus on Jesus, he was a living miracle. But when he saw the waves crashing around him, he became more focused on the waves and his focus changed from his Savior to the worries and fears that surrounded him, and he began to sink. But as he began to sink in his fears, Peter knew that his Savior was near to him, and he cried out to Him, “Lord, save me!” The reaction to the cry of Peter is recorded in Matthew 14:31, “And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” They got into the boat and all the disciples worshiped Jesus (Matthew 14:32-33).
This is a promise and example that our Savior Jesus is there with us, waiting for us to call out to Him to save us.
This example of the power of Jesus lets us know that sometimes we are allowed to fall farther than we would like before we come to the realization that we need to call out – to cry out to Jesus for help. The disciples of Jesus had to learn this lesson while Jesus was physically with them; so much more we need to learn – to realize and to understand that Jesus is with us always (Matthew 28:20), and He is waiting for us to call out to Him to save us.
Dear LORD,
When we get into trouble, we sometimes lose our focus on Jesus; that He is with us always and is ready to reach out His hand and save us from the troubles of this world. Please forgive us for losing focus on our Savior and thank You for always being ready to save us as we call out to You for help. In Jesus name I pray, amen.