By TIMOTHY L. MELTON
Cherokee Pentecostal Holiness Church Pastor
Transcribed by Myra D. Colgate
Read: Matthew 14:22-33; Mark 6:35-52
How many basketfuls of the boy’s lunch leftovers remained? What a miracle that was in the middle of that region with no large cities nearby! There were at least 5,000 men, their wives, and children, but only men were counted, not their wives and children who were also fed. Think about this; consider it within your family group too. What would have been their thoughts? What does each person in your family think about this account of the miracle of Jesus?
I believe the twelve leftover baskets were given to the disciples to carry with them since they were asked to gather all the fragments, leave them there by boat, and go on over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Each was sitting with one basket full of the remnants of the miracle which God had wrought that day. Each man would have been exhausted and still having to row, with there being a contrary wind against them in that rowboat, and left with plenty of time to ponder over all that happened. They had to have been very tired by the end of that day. It had been full of His preaching and teaching, and the feeding of the whole crowd in that wilderness area and of answering any questions the multitudes would have had, as Jesus preached.
Jesus sent them off in the boat alone and sent the people home. He then went up the mountain to pray. He was high enough to look down and could see the disciples struggling, heading into the contrary wind, each afraid they might not survive the building storm. Jesus had decided to walk over on the water near them in the boat but would have walked on clear over to the other side, until they saw Him, walking on the water, and thought He might have been a spirit walking. Jesus was walking on the water they thought might be sinking them! The doubters had screamed out in fear.
Only Peter decided to seize the opportunity and asked Jesus if he could come out of the boat and walk to Jesus on the water too. That “little” faith was honored by Jesus. As stated in Mark’s Gospel that He had intended to go on walking past until Peter asked if he could join Him. However, there was the distraction of the sign of the boisterous wind on the water that Peter began to pay attention to and had begun sinking until Peter called out to Jesus for his rescue. In the middle of the sea, Peter heard Jesus’ voice and calmed down enough so he decided to walk out to Jesus, showing everyone, he had trusted Jesus enough to do that much, but when distracted, he let go of his confidence. His confidence was still in Jesus, but not in himself. Then as they both arrived safely at the side of the boat they were invited into the boat and climbed into it and the winds immediately ceased.
As Jesus and Peter were immediately surrounded closely by all of them, they each worshipped Jesus and began to say, “Truly this is the Son of God, as even the winds obey Him” Matthew 14:33.
Even though Peter had begun to sink into the water, God had planned. He never has lost anyone He loves and will reach out with His hand for them. He never has lost anyone He loves and will reach out with His hand for them. Peter knew and believed that! Jesus needs us to have our growing faith in Him and He can and will do all things. He has set His parameter for Himself to do just as Peter believed. Jesus’s “eventually” is only because of His decision to limit what God can do by our own set of believed restrictions. His power was demonstrated as He and Peter climbed back in the boat and the wind immediately stopped. Peter first stepping out of the boat was all Peter’s idea. All we can ask of think is limited by our own imagination or dreams!
Their reaction to Jesus’ sudden appearance in the middle of the Sea of Galilee was because they were not expecting Him to show up in that way in the middle of the storm. Remember to set some parameters for He is willing to do all that one’s own imagination can have in the middle of one’s life. Don’t get stuck in the middle of the circumstance. He is God! The disciples did not even understand the significance of the miracle of the loaves and fish (possibly as many as 20,000 people). Their hearts had been too hard to consider that and take it all in all at the same time. No one else had even tried to walk on that water.
