“Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Matthew 14:13-36 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. ¹⁴ When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick.

¹⁵ When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and the hour is already late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶ But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them somethingto eat!” ¹⁷ They said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” ¹⁸ And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” ¹⁹ Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds, ²⁰ and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets. ²¹ There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.

²² Immediately He ^[f]made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. ²³ After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. ²⁴ But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary. ²⁵ And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. ²⁶ When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. ²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

²⁸ Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” ²⁹ And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”³¹ Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” ³² When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. ³³ And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly God’s Son!”

³⁴ When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. ³⁵ And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding district and brought to Him all who were sick; ³⁶ and they implored Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were cured.

In John 14:12-14 Jesus says:  “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”  In today’s text, there is an account of Jesus and Peter walking on water. It says:   When it was evening, He (Jesus) was there alone. But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. 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 courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 

Certainly Jesus will not call most of us to walk on water, but we can have confidence to walk through the storms of our lives. It is important that we hear what Jesus says. First He says: “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”  First and foremost we need to place our confidence, our trust, our courage in who Jesus is. Colossians 1:16 says:  By Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created through Him and for Him.  John 1:2-3 says:  He was with God in the beginning. ThroughHim all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made.  Philippians 2:10-11 says:  At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.   In Matthew 28:18, Jesus says:  “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”   Jesus created all things and He has authority over all things. Both the natural and physical things of the earth and the spiritual things of heaven and hell are subject to Him and His authority. We should take courage and not be afraid, He says: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)

When we look at what follows, it says:  Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. The next thing Jesus said was: “Come!”  If we try to do great things, like Jesus, outside of His will or without His permission we can expect that we will fail. 1 John 5:14-15 says:  Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. In John 15:5 Jesus says:  “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”   If we do not abide in Jesus and His will we can do nothing of His works. We should not walk out in our own power, nor should we presume on His permission. Before we step out we should say, like Peter, Lord, if it is You, command me to come.

Finally, in the account it says: Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”   Here again we need to hear and understand what Jesus says: There is a difference between having little faith and having even a little doubt. In Matthew 17:20, Jesus says: “Truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”   Nothing will be impossible if we have even a tiny amount of faith because again, Jesus is the object of our faith. Our confidence, our trust our not being afraid is rooted in seeing and knowing who He is. It only takes a small amout of faith because He is a great big God. He has all authority. When we doubt though, as compared to relying on even a little faith, we begin, like Peter, to look at the circumstances and the situations around us instead of looking at Jesus. When we doubt, even a little, we begin to believe more in those things, the things we do not want. Doubt causes us to be afraid because we begin to believe more in the wind and the waves, we believe more in the things which are going on around us or against us than we do in the Lord who has authority over them. Little faith can move mountains. A little doubt can cause us to quake in their presence; or sink in the midst of the storm.

No matter what we face, Jesus says:  “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”  If we ask and it is His will, He will call us to “Come!” With just a little faith nothing will be impossible. We can do what Jesus did and what He does. He will do it for us and through us. If we begin to doubt, then like Peter we need to cry out: Lord, save me!  Immediately we will see His face and feel His hand and we will be saved.  The account ends saying:  Those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly God’s Son!”

Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son, I worship You today. I put my trust, my confidence, my courage and my faith in You. I believe that with even a little faith, nothing will be impossible because You are a great big God. You have all authority in heaven and on earth. I ask today Lord Jesus, if it is You call me to come and I will walk where You walk. I know that You are with me always.   Amen.