uh this morning i invite you to turn to matthew chapter 14 as we continue our study in the book of matthew what i've been trying to do is show you the connections here and as last time uh we looked at the connection between the two sort of feasts that herod served up one with the head of john the baptist and then jesus feeding with his life um a life that sustains because of his death he fed the multitudes the 5,000 well what is the connection now between the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus walking on the water there's an important one so we're going to read at verse 13 and then read to the end of the chapter our text is verses 22 through 36 found on page 975 in your bibles let's give our attention this morning to the word of the lord beginning at verse 13 now when jesus heard this death of john the baptist he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself but when the crowds heard it they followed him on foot from the towns when he went ashore he saw a great crowd and had compassion on them and healed their sick now when it was evening the disciples came to him and said this is a desolate place and the day is now over send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves but jesus said they need not go away you give them something to eat and they said to him we have only five loaves here and two fish and he said bring them here to me then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass and taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven and said a blessing then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples and the disciples gave them to the crowds and they all ate and were satisfied and they took up 12 baskets full of the broken pieces left over and those who ate were about 5 000 men besides women and children notice the connection immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side while he dismissed the crowds and after he had dismissed the crowds he went up on upon the mountain by himself to pray when evening came he was there alone but the boat by this time was a long way from the land beaten by the waves for the wind was against it and in the fourth watch of the night he came to them walking on the sea but when the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified and said it is a ghost and they cried out in fear but immediately jesus spoke to them saying take heart it is i do not be afraid and peter answered him lord if it is you command me to come to you on the water he said come so peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to jesus but when he saw the wind he was afraid and beginning to sink he cried out Lord save me Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him saying to him oh you of little faith why did you doubt and when they got into the boat the wind ceased and those in the boat worshiped him saying truly you are the son of God and when they had crossed over they came to the land of Gennesaret and when the men of that place recognized him they sent to all that region and brought to him all who were sick and implored him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment as many as touched it were made well there will end this morning the reading of god's word well at this point in matthew as we have been uh studying there still remains confusion about who jesus is who is jesus is really an important question of this text who is this Jesus and Matthew is is is revealing this through the book and it's slow progression it's similar to profession of faith in many ways that you know the Lord is so patient with us and brings us at different times and in different places through much patience to profess faith and even after we've professed faith there still is a lot of immaturity in us and I think we see that here here in Matthew. Matthew is determined to make it clear who Jesus is, but the disciples are struggling with that. And he's using many of the themes of the Old Testament. Obviously, Matthew is the most Jewish book of the four Gospels. He's using all the themes of the Old Testament to show us who this Jesus truly is. You remember at the beginning of the chapter, there was confusion on this point there all this all runs together there was confusion on this point for Herod himself thought that Jesus was John the Baptist resurrected from the dead even Herod and the leaders they had no idea really who Jesus was but here's the problem you'd be amazed to think that after all this time of walking with him and seeing the things that they've seen i mean raising of the dead healing multitudes and multitudes of people of all their sicknesses they still have not grasped this we are sheep indeed but what would be the sort of implication of loosely attaching ourselves with jesus and not yet really knowing his identity well that's where we are today this is an important message in the gospels really challenging us to think about who we are following who we are aligned with we left off last time jesus had just fed the multitudes and you'll remember that something miraculous happened in the feeding of the multitudes with just a few loaves and a few fish he fed 5 000 people it was a miracle the bread and the fish think about it just kept coming and coming to all these people and 12 baskets of bread were taken up in excess now you remember what they had said to him we don't have anything to feed these people we don't have anything to feed these people just a few loaves and fish and jesus said you feed them you feed them the disciples themselves had not yet eaten but remember what jesus said he He took the physical need of food and the physical need of eating to teach them something about His own life for them. He had already fed them with His Word. And now that He was teaching them that He is the true bread that comes down from heaven, think of the great truth, to give life to the world. His body and His blood are life. we have to eat him and that caused people a lot of trouble didn't they didn't it and that's why faith is so important eat by faith well here here's the 12 baskets sitting in front of them Matthew wants to connect this immediately after this great event comes this next a very important event in the life of our lord one we know because this is this frequently happens in the gospels there are multiple sort of boat seat incidents of jesus's deliverance the text we read today from matthew chapter 14 is that immediately he made his disciples get in the boat and go before him to the other side while he dismissed the crowd there's no break here there's a total there's a direct connection here. Matthew wants us to see that whatever is about to happen, these events, these two events are connected and they have the same meaning and the same purpose in revealing something about Jesus. Revealing something about his identity. Now this is kind of deja vu, right? Back in chapter 8, remember we read the account and we preached this account. As they are in the boat, the evening came. A great storm came upon them. But at that time, remember, Jesus was with them. He was asleep in the bottom of the boat. And the great storm had come upon them. And again, they were terrified of the storm. Well, notice here it's a little different. Matthew wants us to connect these storms and think about the difference. Immediately he makes the disciples get in the boat, but he leaves them. And he goes up on a mountaintop by himself to pray. So the scene is purposeful. It's intentional in showing us and it wants us to capture that crucial difference. But this time he is alone. The disciples are alone on the boat, on the sea. Now, keep in mind, whatever we're studying here, the Lord has an intentional purpose to train his disciples for the future. This is really important. The imagery here is somewhat powerful to think about. Jesus goes up on a mountain. Out in the midst of the sea are the disciples. Mark is a little more dramatic when he says the wind was against them and the text uses a powerful word they were beaten by the waves for the wind was against them straining is the word it was a torment for them out on the sea now why why this sort of scene why why does the bible keep showing us the gospels keep showing us this kind of scene and the larger question I think for this text is why this time has Jesus departed from them you remember in the first storm as Jesus was in the boat sleeping Jesus didn't just need a nap he did this he did this knowing and he sent them into the storm knowing that gale force winds were coming upon them he led them right into it and that's why I've always said with these storm events, almost universally these things are preached, that Jesus will lead you out of the storms of this life. It's so cliche. Stop it. I'm tired of it. He leads you into the storms. And he makes you row for a while. It's hard. It's fascinating what the way that the Gospels describe this, this purposeful sort of connection, that Jesus is the one sending them into the storms, but this time, He's not there. Jesus knew and had determined the wind. He's in control of the wind. We had already seen that. They were amazed before when they said, remember when He calmed the storm, wow, even the winds and the sea obey Him. The winds are obedient to him. We know for Mark, he saw them struggling. He looks out and sees them. And here Matthew is capturing now that he is up on the mountain praying while they're in the midst of this. I want you to put this together. He's up on a mountain with omniscient eyes. Yes, he's able to look down and see his disciples rowing and struggling in the wind. The suggestion here is that Jesus had been, it's late into the night, up on the mountain about six or seven hours praying while the disciples are struggling in the boat. The same verse says, he went to them at the fourth watch of the night. So that's probably between 3 and 5 a.m. He sees them, he sees them, and he doesn't come. He doesn't come. It's always interesting when you study the Lazarus account. When Lazarus was sick, there's a little sort of ominous phrase there that they knew Jesus. When Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed there two more days. And so he said to Martha, I told you if you believed, you'd see the glory of God. But he stays behind. now the natural question that begins to sort of i think be raised at this should be raised at this moment is why did the lord allow this why did the lord permit this why did the lord send this i mean he could have rescued them right from the start but he didn't instead he leaves them alone in the darkness struggling in the wind and i think the larger question that you have to ask in the middle of this text first and foremost is this are they alone are they alone are they alone in his absence it's obvious jesus is teaching them something it's obvious jesus is training something in their training that is very important for them. But I mean, the imagery here is watching them strain and row and He doesn't go until 3 a.m. This kind of gets to every sort of frustration we've ever had of the sense that the Lord doesn't answer us or doesn't come to us. what imagery it's the constant questions of the psalmists raising the issue of storm in their distress they cried out and said the sea waves and bills roll over me i cried out to god help oh god how long deep calls unto deep at the roar of your waterfalls waves and breakers have swept over me my soul is in deep despair psalm 42 captures that beautifully the common experience of god's people is the psalm sort of 46 what we just sung out to the lord that i picked the mountains are carried up in to the midst of the sea the waters roar with their foaming and we never quite understand where the lord is or what he's doing and the picture that we have here is while we are on the earth struggling against sin and against difficulty and against death and opposition what kind of opposition he's on the holy mountain and he's on that holy mountain now continuing to intercede and pray the imagery is beautiful for we don't have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses but was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin therefore he's able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him since he's doing what he always lives to make intercession that's what he lives to do this is what he's doing for us there's a promise in the covenant of grace a promise that comes to us in the covenant of grace to his people i will never leave you nor forsake you how's that possible and i think that's where the focus of this passage we first have to say that Jesus is really teaching his disciples about faith. Faith. How faith connects us to him. The benefit of the gift of faith and the benefits that flow from him to head. And there we're beginning to see a tie to the previous section where he fed all these people from his own life. even when he was not physically present with them remember how the previous storm ended in matthew 8 it ended with a question and i think that's why the tie here is so important it ended with a question here's the question that matthew 8 ended with in the first storm and it was this what kind of man is this that even the wind and the sea obey him. What kind of man is this? Who are we with? Who are we following? What are we involved with? You have to remember the sea to them was a place of the abyss. These are fishermen. I've always loved to say like these are these are your these are your in our terms rednecks these are your rough ones these are deadliest catch kind of guys tax collectors and fishermen they don't get scared about much the sea was the worst place for them in their whole history of understanding it was a place of evil demons it was a place of the abyss it was a place of darkness and and and that's what you see come out here don't you care they said in the first one don't you care that we're perishing and he gets up out of the boat and with the word silences the whole thing which everyone should have said which they did who does that I don't have the ability to silence much of anything. Well, here they are again. State Shafu, right? Storm after storm. Now he's not here. But he was praying. It's like J.B. Phillips and some of these paraphrases are interesting. Don't resent trial as an intruder on his James translation, but welcome it as a friend. I can't help but hear the intercessory prayer of Jesus. Something like this must have been prayed. I do not pray that you take them out of the world. but that you keep them from the evil one. Here they are rowing in the darkness and in the sea and waves are crashing and Jesus is praying not to remove them. Jesus is praying not to take it away, but that they'd be kept. Now Matthew is building to something. What is the climax really of the whole book of Matthew? It's the end of the book. Go therefore. go baptize the nations and what was the promise in that for lo i am with you always to the close of the age there's never a moment i'm not with you how is that possible you know jesus prays for you he doesn't pray for everyone it's a remarkable thought he does not pray for the world he says in in john 17 i don't pray for them i pray for you he prays not a hair can fall from your head without his will there is nothing that is not under his control there is nothing happening that is not sovereignly determined there is nothing happening that has got away from him all of it is under his power and determination see we never understand this until we know him who is this who do we have to do with here you know what are we doing here today you know who did we really come up to today? Do you think about that? Who do you think you have to do with this Jesus? Who do you think he is? Oh, you can walk a long time and come to a lot of sermons and not know this. Verse 25. About the fourth watch of the night, Jesus comes to them. you'll notice there walking on the sea that's it i think we've read this so much when you think about that that's that's that's amazing he is walking on the water he is treading on the water the lord never tarries forever you know the whole message of scripture is he comes to deliver his people at the appointed time and he's coming again physically to judge the living and the dead and to deliver His people. That's just the message all over the Scriptures. But I don't think we want to miss what Matthew is really showing us here. Jesus is revealing Himself. Imagine seeing this. Three in the morning, God on the sea, the very place the disciples understood is darkness and evil. And these aren't just little waves. These waves are gale force wind waves beating on them. and he's walking on their fears. Steady. We read that when the disciples saw this, he's walking on the sea, they said, it's a ghost. Yeah, I would probably think the same thing. And they cried out in fear. Well, that's just making matters worse at this point, right? Matthew has one purpose here. He's putting it all together for us. Who fed Israel in the wilderness? Who cared for Israel in the wilderness? Who delivered them through the sea? Who was it? Who did that? This is a grand moment in Matthew's gospel. Matthew says, I want you to think about who came down that day. Who can walk on water? There have been pastors who've thought in the healing movement they could do it, and they drowned, by the way. Job 9.8 said, listen to this. God alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea. God alone does that. Job confesses there's only one who can do this. The God of heaven and earth. The very one through whom the sea was all made. Whose spirit hovered over the face of the waters in the beginning of the world. Who stretched out the whole curtain of his creation like a beautiful tapestry. Now here has come down, taking on a human nature. And he is walking on the own waters of his creation. Coming to them. It's a phantasma, they say. It's a ghost in the Greek. It's an apparition. And Jesus says, take courage, take heart. It is I. Do not be afraid. That translation's okay. It's not the best. The sense of the original is, take courage. I am. Do not be afraid. Well, you know where that came from, don't you? Do you have any history of Israel? God said to Moses, I am who I am. What's your name? I am. You shall tell the children of Israel, I am has sent you. I am. Be of good cheer. I have come to you. And I'm the good shepherd that lays down my life for the sheep. See the connection? Whatever fear, whatever comes upon us, he says the same to you. But do you know him? When Elijah was afraid in the cave, we read the glory of the Lord passed by him. When the Lord said to Moses in Exodus 33, I will make my goodness pass before you. Remember he said that? I will make my goodness pass before you. And I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. And I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. And the Lord said, here's a place. Stand here by me. Stand on the rock. And so it shall be when my glory passes by that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand as I pass by. Well, Mark even says he passed by them. It was the Lord himself who had come down the mountain. Just like it's Sinai. who had brought them through the sea, who had fed them in the wilderness to tell them, I am. I'm your keeper. I'm your intercessor. I'm the one who made all things and I am your deliverer. There is no other. And he proclaimed his goodness that day. You see that goodness, right? That followed that all these people came to him for healing care just to put their hands on him and touch his garment who is this well peter has a moment like usual lord if it's you command that i come to you on the water he says come so peter peter gets out of the boat and he starts walking on the water all the laws of creation if you will everything seems suspended in the powerful word of the Lord he's upheld over the waters he's treading on the waters but then he began to look at them and he got afraid and he began to sink. Well, there's a whole picture of the Christian life, isn't it? Lord, save me. What was the problem here? Well, Jesus says, why did you doubt? Oh, you of little faith, I want you to see the connection here now to the loaves they should have started to put it together in fact the account ends in mark when the wind ceased they were astonished for they did not yet understand about the loaves so so mark once mark drew the direct connection matthew does too in the structure here he wants us to say that the reason that they did not understand all this is they did not understand about the loaves. And then Mark says this, for their hearts were still hardened. Are your hearts hardened? Are mine? Is my heart? Then you're not going to see. You're going to look at everything else and you're going to sink. What didn't they learn about the loaves? What didn't they understand about the loaves? Did you learn something about the loaves last week when he starts distributing from a few fish and it just keeps coming, the bread, and it just keeps coming and it gets to 5,000 people and feeds them all and it says they all were satisfied. Did you learn anything about that? What did you learn? There is no other life that can sustain you. Only his. only our God can sustain us. Why are you doubting? That's kind of the perennial question, isn't it? Why are you doubting? What is causing you to doubt? What are you looking at that's causing you to doubt? Well, you can look at many different things. You can look at sin. You can look at any other manner of trial or hardship or affliction that causes you to doubt. What is it? Oh, you of little faith. Whatever his purpose is, notice here, when it comes upon us, he's teaching us about faith. See, that's the point. He's teaching us about faith and who he is. see you see when he's in front of them they see him really the whole message of scripture is if you see him you don't need faith but the lack of faith came notice this the lack of faith came at believing who upheld their lives in his absence that's why they're afraid their eyes were off him but he never was absent today we had three professions of faith you know i'm sure mark would say maya i'm sure um you know all of you would say today who've made the profession of faith micah the Lord's been pretty patient with us to bring us here I mean it's pretty remarkable how much weakness how much doubt profession of faith is not for people who are perfect understand people who get it all right Matthew tells us something was happening through the training of our Lord in the hearts of the disciples first incident what kind of man is this second incident truly here's what they say you are the son of God now we have to reckon with this who has come to us who has saved us and then to confess him for who he is so that when i'm in fear and the winds are beating and everything feels against us it is the very word of his promise and the gospel that is preached to us and the word and sacrament by which we are upheld we can't sink when our eyes of faith are on him deliverance is by his life this is the faith he's after that trust that rest that belief in who he is the climax of the matthew's gospel in this regard is peter's confession isn't it who do you think the son of man is this is the third sort of time it comes up who are you following through much hardship and testing and trial and storm peter finally gets it you are the christ listen to that you are the messiah the son of the living god and jesus says ah blessed are you blessed are you a lot of time to get here blessed are you you're finally believing this you're finally embracing this about who i am from the heart you stop doubting stop doubting the jehovah's witnesses came to my door yesterday did you know that's kind of timely it's really interesting it's really it's really amazing i see all these white shirt guys and ties rocking through my neighborhood and i'm like oh boy here we go here we go i'm in like a cutoff and they don't know it's a pastor i never tell them i'm a pastor you know it's kind of kind of interesting discussion i treat them very kindly i have a heart for them even though they're bringing terrible doctrine i asked them i said who is jesus and of course like the arians of old i actually these were older ones these were these were in their 60s i got it out of them i got it out of them finally they're not they're not they weren't playing the game of trying to deceptively hide it now though they were they were pretty straight with me and they said he is the first creation of god but he's not god my heart broke for them and I pleaded with them and I explained to them how it's impossible that you can be saved by a mere man he has to be truly divine truly God the greatest gift in your life one of the greatest gifts is the profession he gives you Lord you are the Christ you've come to us the son of the living God which means you're equal with God you're true and eternal God it's by your power and divinity in the humanity that you took on that we are saved you don't get that on your own to understand who jesus is i can't reason the jehovah's witnesses into believing this about jesus it's a gift of his electing grace when you don't understand this then who has delivered you you're looking everywhere else no wonder you're full of no perspective and no joy and distress and fear you've forgotten who's come to you or you do not know who's come to you but he's come to you and he's patient this is the confession of our lives you are the messiah the son of the living god i know who you are the demons knew it i know it and i believe you and he loves you loves his people he prays for you he's about ready to die for them and you and He comes in their deepest distress of life and He proclaims His goodness to them. And I say to you today to close, may that lead you to trust Him. May that lead you to believe Him in every storm. He is on His mountain today. He is on His mountain today interceding continually for you and He's coming again at the appointed time. His life still sustains you through the bread He gives you. You have nothing to fear. He's never absent from you. His divinity, he's always with us, as our Heidelberg says. And he's given us his spirit. Take courage, says Jesus. I am. Let's pray. Oh, Lord, thank you for revealing the glory of your Son. let us marvel at this revelation and see Lord and believe with faith and trust you and all the hardships of life to know that you're with us you deliver us grant us by your spirit faith to never look any other place than unto Jesus it's his life alone that sustains us by the power of the spirit thank you oh father for such a gift of this confession in Jesus name we pray Amen.