The reading is from Matthew chapter 14, verse 22 to 36.
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 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 them.
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,
O you of little faith, why did you doubt?
And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, Truly you are the Son of God.
And when they had crossed over, they came to the land at Gesenarat.
And when the men of that place recognised him,
they sent around all that region and brought to him all who were sick,
and implored him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment.
And as many touched it, were made well.
Join me in prayer then, just before we turn to God's word.
Lord, I pray you will feed us with your word this morning.
Keep us from distractions.
Keep us from carelessness in the hearing of your word.
Make your spirit work within us, Lord,
both to enliven us and to enlighten us.
In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen.
All right, well, I'm going to start with a once upon a time story.
Once upon a time, back in the day,
before satellite navigation in cars and in the phones,
which is probably cut out, most of the young people are ready,
we actually had to send directions to people
if they were coming to visit us in Newcastle
and didn't know the Newcastle district.
We actually sent them directions.
And the directions were always a mix.
A mix of some big landmarks
and some more specific street signs.
Landmarks, of course, being big,
are things that they can't miss.
So the sign on the M1 for the link road
and then the F1 motel and the sports fields at Wall's End,
roundabouts, the Ellamore Vale shops and so on and so forth.
So when they saw the big landmarks,
they knew they were still going in the right direction.
That then allowed them freedom to look for specific signposts
and so eventually they would get to our place.
Now, just park that illustration for a minute
and I'm going to follow up with a question now.
And hopefully the two combined will help us get back
into a study of Matthew's Gospel.
It's been 10 months and we've been in Matthew's Gospel
and we're sort of picking it up at not a natural break.
But hopefully these two things will get us back into it.
So here's the question.
When you come to read something like the Gospel,
like Matthew's Gospel or Mark or Luke or John,
how actually do you read it?
Now that might seem like a very Irish thing to say,
but what I'm meaning is how do you actually engage with it?
How do you approach it?
How do you study it?
What are you expecting to find in it?
Now, so many Christians,
and I have to say sadly so many Bible teachers,
seem to approach the Gospel such as Matthew
as just a series of stand-alone stories.
And those stand-alone stories really aren't connected any more
than sort of, well, to a little bit of a travel log of Jesus
through his three years of ministry,
almost like a trip diary.
Now, the problem with a focus like that
is that it often leaves people just digging into individual incidents,
trying to find application,
trying to find in the details of individual stories
something that we can sort of live by.
And oftentimes it's reduced to, you know,
don't be like this and do be like that,
often focused on the characters in the incidents.
And all the while doing that,
we become oblivious to a big picture
that's been a big portrait of Jesus
that's been developed brushstroke by brushstroke
through each of those incidents.
So, back to my illustration and bring them both together again.
As we move back into the study of Matthew's Gospel this morning
after a 10-month break,
I want to suggest to you that we really need to be
understanding that Matthew has very highly compiled this.
It's very carefully crafted and designed.
He's arranged the account of the life of ministry of Jesus
like a set of directions.
There are big landmark directions,
and then there's more detailed signpost directions.
And these two things combine
to ensure that we arrive at the right conclusion
about Jesus,
which is what the biography is all about.
And so, Matthew's account
of the life and ministry of Jesus
is, as I say, carefully organized and compiled.
It steps us through
critical pieces of information
from time to time,
highlighting big landmarks,
but then oftentimes just following through
with the smaller detailed signposts.
Now, here's the thing,
that each of these incidents are stand-alone.
That's true, they do stand-alone,
but they should never be taken alone.
Because the narrative is designed
as one movement,
one big picture,
building towards one great conclusion
about the Lord Jesus Christ.
So, yes, we read individual incidents,
we see them stand-alone,
but we must never just take them alone.
We must be asking all the time,
what is the big picture
that has been developed brushstroke
by brushstroke
through each of these incidents?
So, in summary then,
Matthew's account
is not
about the people
that Jesus met.
Matthew's account,
as is all the other biographers of Jesus,
is about the Jesus
that people met.
Now, there's a very different emphasis there,
isn't there?
So, we need to read the Gospels
looking for the Jesus
that people met
and what they learned about Jesus
from their actual individual encounters with him,
personal encounters with him.
Now,
does this really matter?
Well, I think it does.
It matters heaps.
It matters both
for our own understanding of
and response to Jesus,
but I think it also matters
for our ability
to introduce unbelievers
to the text of the Gospels.
We need to be able to help
unbelieving friends
who might want to read about Jesus
to know how to read about Jesus,
how to read these accounts
to maximize their understanding of Jesus,
how they're meant to be read.
So, with that introduction,
let's then refresh our big picture
of Matthew's account
of the life and ministry of Jesus.
So, you need to turn back with me now
to Matthew chapter 4.
And I have to confess,
I've done something really stupid
here yesterday.
I had a sheet with all the Bible verses
I'm going to reference on it,
but I didn't print that sheet.
I printed a parallel sheet
somehow or other.
I'm not quite sure how I did it,
but anyway,
the sheet you have this morning
doesn't have any Bible references on it.
So, Matthew chapter 4,
verses 12 through to 17,
and verse 23,
that's the start
of Matthew's account
of the formal part
of Jesus' ministry.
And at that start,
Jesus declares
that he was Messiah.
He was God's long-awaited,
long-promised king and saviour
who had come into this world
to establish God's kingdom,
that is,
God's rule
over the hearts and minds
of God's people.
And in verse 23,
he gives us his MO.
He said that he'll be doing it
through teaching
and preaching
and healing.
In other words,
he would teach about himself
and how he would
fulfil his mission
and he would demonstrate
his power
to fulfil his mission
by undoing
the effects of sin
through physical healing.
His mission
was about,
principally about,
undoing the effects of sin
and establishing God's kingdom
and he would demonstrate
this as it was developing
by undoing the effects of sin
through physical healing.
Now,
the interesting thing then
is that as we track
Jesus' ministry through,
what we find is
there's a growing opposition,
massive unbelief,
conflict developed,
especially from the Jewish
religious leaders
whom we would have assumed
would be the first
to recognise
and embrace Jesus.
but in fact,
they came to the conclusion
that Jesus
was an evil fraud
and they came to the conclusion
the only option
they had
was to get rid of him,
to murder him.
Things don't seem
to be developing
as the Lord Jesus
thought they might
or are they?
Well,
jump forward then
to Matthew chapter 13.
In response
to this growing opposition
and belief
and conflict,
Jesus teaches
his disciples
a series
of parables,
a series of stories
that have a sort of
deeper meaning into them.
And in those parables
in chapter 13,
I don't have time
to sort of dip into them now,
but essentially
Jesus is saying,
look,
in spite of what
now appears,
be assured
that my kingdom
is real,
has already been established,
it will be successful
exactly as God
intended it to be
and it will be
worldwide.
In other words,
Jesus is saying
to his disciples,
look,
the portrait
of me
and my mission
is still
being painted.
Jesus said,
look,
you can expect
that as people
encounter me,
some will
just turn up
their nose
and
in arrogant
rejection
walk away
from me.
But at the same time,
says Jesus,
some people
will understand.
Some people,
the lights
will go on
and they'll just
turn to Jesus
and it'll
produce great
faith.
Then through
the end of
chapter 13
into chapter 14,
I believe
Jesus presents
a series
of very
live,
what we might
call these days
immersive
experiences,
immersive teaching
experiences
of case studies
that prove
his point.
So immediately
after the
teaching and
parables,
he finds
himself being
rejected
in his
hometown
as Nazareth
and the
cause of
the rejection,
this Jesus,
he's way too
ordinary to
be Messiah.
Then,
he's rejected
by Herod
who sees an
identification
between John
the Baptist
and Jesus
and Herod
rejects him
because,
well,
this John
the Baptist
and this
Jesus guy,
they're way
too fussy
about sin
and righteousness
and I'm not
going to have
that.
But on
the other
hand,
Matthew
records then
a series
of three
miracles.
Actually,
much more,
it's clustered
as three
miracles,
much more
than three
in here.
Immersive
teaching
experiences
for thousands
of random
people and
his own
disciples.
And these
three miracles
add immensely
to the
big picture
portrait of
King Jesus
and they
result in
new understanding,
new faith,
and new
worship of
Jesus.
So,
let's jump
into the
text then
now.
What do
the teachers
about Jesus?
Well,
very simply,
the teachers
that Jesus
is the
powerful
Lord of
the universe.
So,
miracles are
signposts.
when you
say a
miracle,
it's
pointing to
something,
it's
pointing to
something
about
Jesus,
pointing to
a truth
about
Jesus.
And these
signposts
here that
we're looking
at this
morning,
they're so
large that
it's impossible
to miss
them.
It's
impossible to
misread
them.
Jesus
does,
as a matter
of course,
without fanfare,
things that
only God
could do.
it's
that simple.
He's not
limited by
the laws of
nature,
but in
fact has
power to
control the
laws of
nature.
And so we
start just
tracking through
the three
miracles together
very briefly.
We've got
this massive
hungry crowd.
The
disciples don't
know what to
do with
them.
And Jesus
calmly
suspends
the laws
of nature
so that
the finite
resource of
a few
loaves and
a couple
of fish
are extended
to feed
this massive
crowd
and still
have far,
far more
left over
than they
started with.
Only a few
hours later,
move into the
next miracle.
Jesus sent
the disciples
on ahead.
He was
going to
pray for
a while
and they
got caught
in what's
called a
contrary wind
on the
lake.
In other
words,
a wind
that was
swirling.
They could
neither go
forward,
neither could
they go
back.
They were
aiming to
go down.
Again,
Jesus suspends
the laws of
nature and
just comes
to his
disciples in
the darkest
part of the
night when
their need
was the
greatest.
he just
turned up
on the
water.
And not
only that,
but in
response to
Peter,
he suspends
the laws of
nature for
Peter.
He says,
come on,
you want to
come over
here?
Yeah,
come on,
out you
come,
jump out of
the boat,
hope you
come.
Peter walked
on water.
And finally,
when it's
all over,
Jesus,
they get
back in
the boat
and suddenly
that contrary
wind,
that storm
that ordinarily
would take
hours to
subside,
it's all
calm.
And they
safely arrived
at the
shore.
The signposts
are unmistakable.
King Jesus
is a king
like no
other king.
More than
that,
King Jesus
is God.
And in
the context
of conflict
and opposition,
then we
need to
say something
like,
King Jesus
is God
and therefore
he's not
to be messed
with.
Such is
his power
that who
in their
right mind
would think
they could
oppose or
reject or
get rid of
Jesus and
thwart his
purposes.
more
personally,
these
miracles
teach us
that Jesus
is a
compassionate
saviour.
He's a
sovereign
lord,
so big
out here,
but he's
also so
personal,
so compassionate,
so immediate
as a
saviour.
Verse 14,
14,
if you
look in
the text,
this doesn't
often come to
the surface
when we deal
with the
feeding of
the 5,000,
but before he
even thinks
about feeding
them,
verse 14,
when he went
ashore,
he saw a
great crowd.
What's his
thoughts when
he sees a
great crowd?
He had
compassion on
them and
healed their
sick.
When we
just ponder
that for a
minute,
here he is,
he's surrounded
by crowds and
yet another
crowd.
And Jesus
would have
known full
well that
this crowd
was really
interested in
him as a
sort of
celebrity,
but had
very little
understanding
of him as
king and
saviour.
And it
would have
been real
easy,
I think,
if it
had been
me,
just to
get a
bit annoyed.
That's a
sanitized
version.
But Jesus
had compassion
on them.
And he
healed them.
Now what
was he doing
in doing
that?
Well the
compassion
speaks for
itself.
But in
his generosity
and grace,
he took
this random
crowd and
he gave
them an
immersive
experience.
immersive
teaching
experience of
his character
and his
mission.
Now,
sickness and
disease right
throughout the
Bible is
obviously and
primarily the
symptom of
things not
being right in
God's world,
particularly the
symptom of the
consequences of
sin.
And healing
therefore was
the obvious
consequence of
the effects of
sin being
reversed and
people being
restored to
what they were
created to be
in God's
kingdom.
Healing, as I
said from
chapter 4,
verse 23,
is at the
heart, the
essence of
Christ's mission
as Messiah,
as God's
king and
savior.
fear.
Jump then to
verse 34, 36,
and I want you
to see these
two verses as
bookends of
the three
miracles.
Again, it's
even more
random.
They get to
Gennesaret and
then the all
points bulletin
goes out,
Jesus is here,
bring all your
sick people and
you don't even
have to speak to
him, just brush
against his
clothes.
And again,
Jesus graciously,
generously,
healed them.
As many as
touched his
clothes were
made well.
See, Jesus
has given a
signpost about
himself.
He's
highlighting the
primary focus of
his mission as
Messiah, as
God's king and
savior.
Bookending here
with healing.
But there's much
more Jesus is
teaching within
these miracles.
So go back to
the feeding of
the 5,000 again.
So it's called a
desolate place,
in other words,
a wilderness.
So I think very
likely that as
Jesus fed these
people, it would
have evoked
memories from the
Old Testament of
God feeding his
people with
manna,
in the time of
the Exodus.
You remember
back then, they
were in a
physical wilderness,
lost and
wandering.
Even worse, they
were in a
spiritual wilderness.
They were there in
the wilderness because
they had rejected
God and God
said, this wilderness
is going to be the
death of you.
They were there in
punishment because of
their sin.
And yet, at that
point of lostness for
his people, he fed
them.
He was literally
their life.
He was their
sustenance.
Even though his
people didn't
appreciate the life
and the sustenance
that he gave them.
I think Jesus is
saying to the
crowd, I want you
guys to remember
that story and
then remember what
was said back then
that there would be a
new and greater
Moses who would
come and do
that which Moses
could only
approximate, could
only start, could
never finish.
And I'm he.
And I've come to
effect a new
exodus, a new
deliverance from sin
and death into new
life.
I'm the one that
you need to look to
to satisfy your
spiritual hunger.
And in the same
way, going into the
miracle of the
walking in the
water, in the same
way, Jesus comes to
rescue and the
deliver his people
in the context
here is scary.
It's the darkest
part of the night,
somewhere between
3am and 6am.
And they're at the
end of their own
resources.
They've battled
all night against
this squall, this
storm, and they're
getting nowhere.
And they're real
danger of death.
And worse than
that, they're
in the common
understanding of the
day and throughout
the Old Testament,
water was
associated with the
chaos and turmoil
of sinful world.
In fact, sailors
believed that the
whitecaps actually
were evidence of
evil spirits in the
waves in the sea
waiting to grab hold
of sailors and drag
them down into the
abyss of death.
death.
These guys were
terrified.
Experienced sailors,
they were on their
home patch of the
Sea of Galilee, but
they were terrified.
And again, throughout
the Old Testament, the
idea repeatedly is that
the Lord comes to
rescue his people.
And the picture of the
sea and the turmoil of
the sea is often
used as a picture of
God's compassion and
commitment to his
people in this world
of sin.
And Jesus, verse 27,
comes to them in their
point of need,
delivers them from
almost certain death
into perfect safety on
land.
That's the movement.
And in one short
sentence, verse 27, he
teaches them so much in
the midst of that
immersive experience of
fear and terror.
Verse 27, he says,
three things.
Take heart or be of
good cheer.
It is I, or that can
be taken literally as I
am.
Do not be afraid.
Now, that little phrase
take heart, be of good
cheer.
Jesus uses that three
times.
It's used three times in
the Bible, each time by
Jesus.
In Mark chapter 9, verse
2, and these were the
references I should have
on your page, but Mark
chapter 9, verse 2, Jesus
says to the guy who is
paralyzed, brought before
him, be of good cheer.
Why?
Your sins are forgiven.
In John chapter 16, verse
33, on the eve of his
crucifixion, Jesus says to
his disciples who were in
torment and totally
traumatized and confused,
Jesus says to them, be of
good cheer.
I have overcome the world.
In Acts 23, verse 11, in a
vision to Paul, when Paul's
life was under great threat,
the Lord Jesus, I believe,
appeared to him and said, be of
good cheer as you have
witness to me in Jerusalem, so
you will witness to me in
Rome.
Now, in each of those cases,
the context is Jesus undoing
the effects of sin and building
his kingdom.
Sin would not have, sin or
sinful people would not have the
last word in God's world.
God's saving purpose in Jesus
would.
Then the next phrase is, it is
I.
Jesus identifies himself, it is
I, or, as I say in the Greek, it
could be I am.
And I'm going to run with that for
a moment.
You're probably already guessing
why.
Jesus says to his disciples in the
terror of having exhausted their
own resources and facing almost
certain death.
I am.
Do not be afraid.
You remember the first context
of that?
Moses was saying, Lord, what the
heck are you doing?
You're sending me to rescue your
people from Israel.
That is a humanly possible task.
People won't even listen to me.
It's so ridiculous.
What will I say to them?
Just say, I am sent you.
In other words, I am the power that
makes the humanly impossible possible.
Actual.
So I think what Jesus is trying to
say to his disciples here is, the
same God who rescued his people from
Egypt from a picture of bondage and
sin, humanly impossible, same God
who did that, is before you now to
rescue you in your point of need.
To rescue and deliver you from fear
of death into the good life of
security.
But it doesn't stop there even more.
When Peter is there before the Lord
and suddenly becomes aware of his own
circumstances, his trust in the Lord
falters and he starts to go down.
When he starts to see a situation in
terms of his own ability and resources
starts to sink, once again, Jesus
graciously reached out, reassured Peter
by grabbing him tightly and encouraging
him to trust more.
It's almost as if Jesus is just having a
little bit of fun with the silliness
of what Peter's done.
That is, that Peter, having experienced the
power of Jesus to suspend the laws of
nature so he could actually walk in the
water, then couldn't trust Jesus to keep
him safe while he was doing it.
I think maybe that's really what Jesus
is saying to Peter.
Come on, Peter.
I can do this.
Trust me to do that.
Jesus wanted Peter to learn that his
understanding of and confidence in Jesus
was too small.
Twice in one day, in one day,
Peter had witnessed the power of Jesus
over the laws of nature.
Unlimited power.
And twice in one day, he had witnessed the
compassion of Jesus to save, to heal, to
deliver his people into safety.
Yet he faltered.
See, Peter couldn't apply the theory or
what his eyes saw in one situation to his
own circumstance.
That's essentially what it comes back to.
Yeah, I can see it out there and that's
wonderful out there.
Wow, how great is the Lord.
I'm sinking.
Where do I go from here?
And I think we're like Peter.
This is really all about Jesus.
But just allow me one comment here.
I think like Peter, our problem is so often
not that we're outrageous in our expectation
of Christ, but that we're just not confident
enough.
Far too untrusting.
We look at our circumstances and we just
think, wow, they're too awful for Jesus to
protect us and deliver us from.
And so, my friends, the only fitting response
to King Jesus is total worship.
You look at verse 33.
And those in the boat worshipped him saying,
truly, you are the son of God.
Now, my friends, the focus of this miracle is not,
I believe, that Jesus walked on water.
That's significant.
Nor is the focus, and especially not the focus,
is that Peter walks on water.
That's incredible as well.
Nor is the focus of the miracle that Jesus calms the storm.
The ultimate focus of the miracle is that all this immersive teaching experience,
all the learning, all the new understanding of Jesus,
overflows into worship.
Because that's the only appropriate response to understanding Jesus as they've experienced him in these moments.
They've seen him as a sovereign Lord with limitless power.
They've experienced him personally as a compassionate Savior and King.
There can be no other option.
Jesus has shown himself to be God.
And ought to be worshipped.
And we can see how that develops, can't we?
Because initially, we have terror.
But terror is replaced with confidence and trust and security.
And what's the difference?
The actions of Jesus.
And so, terror being replaced with confidence and trust and relief and thankfulness,
that is an expression of worship.
As Peter learned from the hand of Jesus,
that having enabled him to walk on the water,
that he would be able to keep him safe while he was walking on the water,
that new aha moment would overflow in worship.
As Peter developed a greater confidence and a greater trusting and dependence on the Lord Jesus.
And likewise, when we get to Gennesaret,
I don't know whether you've ever thought or not, but I've pondered it a fair bit this week.
Why did Jesus allow the crowd, as it were, to set the agenda for them?
Why didn't he chastise them for bringing these hordes?
We're not told they sought Jesus' permission.
They just saw, well, there's Jesus.
Come on, guys, bring your sick.
They'll get healed.
It seems a bit arrogant.
It seems a bit presumptive, doesn't it?
Is that the right word?
Whatever.
Fill it in the right word if that's not the right word.
It just feels a bit off.
And yet Jesus doesn't chip them for that.
Why?
I think I've come to the conclusion.
This might be right, might be wrong, but this is what I think.
I think their actions were an expression of worship.
They clearly didn't understand everything about Jesus,
but they understood enough to know that they wanted their actions to be commensurate with what they did believe about Jesus.
And so they brought their sick to be healed, trusting him to be the one who would heal them.
That is an act of worship, an expression of worship.
And all of this together, then, is real-time evidence that Jesus' kingdom is being built in the hearts and minds of countless thousands of people.
Random people, special disciples.
Makes no difference.
For people who encounter Jesus, the Jesus they meet changes their lives forever.
And draws from them worship.
I just want to finish with just a very brief challenge then.
Everybody worships something.
The definition of worship in that sense is that everybody ascribes ultimate value to something or someone.
That's what it is to be human.
We worship.
So, the question then becomes, what shapes and drives your worship?
Worship.
If you're a Christian, then we're told in Romans chapter 12 that worship is a whole of person, whole of life, response of thankfulness, confidence, and trust in Jesus.
There is no other adequate response if we approach Jesus as Savior and Lord.
So, I say to you again as a Christian, what shapes and drives your worship?
If you're not a believer here this morning, and chances are we've got quite a few who aren't yet believers here this morning.
There's no point in saying that you understand who Jesus is.
That you appreciate what Jesus came into the world to do.
That makes no sense if, having said that, you then continue to be king in your own life.
Or you continue to give your worship and allow it to be shaped by someone or something other than Christ.
See, true understanding will be expressed in coming to Jesus.
Recognizing your great need.
Recognizing your sinfulness.
Recognizing that he alone is the one who can save you and deliver you.
Recognizing his compassion and his desire to do that.
And then living your life under his control.
Back to those who are Christians this morning.
Well, the evidence of growing faith and confidence in Christ is better worship.
Now, we need to be really careful today when we say we're looking for better worship.
I would say to you this morning, better worship is not about new hyped up experiences.
They may have a part.
But that's not essentially what better worship is.
Better worship will be the result of studying God's word.
And seeing the power and loving concern of Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
That will overflow in better worship.
As you express greater love for.
Greater commitment to.
Greater service of the Lord Jesus.
Pray with me again, please.
Very simple prayer.
Lord, help us to hear your words.
Keep us from hiding from them.
Keep us from excusing ourselves before them.
Burn them deep into our hearts and minds.
And bring us to you for forgiveness as we need forgiveness.
And new worship as we desire to reflect our thankfulness to you.
In Jesus' name.
Thank you.