August 10 2008 Lectionary Reading Matthew 14.22-36

Reading: “Jesus reached out His hand and caught him....”

Matthew 14.31 (NIV)

Just off the Appian Way, the old main road into ancient Rome,

the visitor comes to some great outcrops of rock;

in these great outcrops great caves can be seen............

they are not natural, instead, they were hollowed out of the rock over centuries. In fact there was a network of man-made caves running under the city of Rome called the catacombs - rooms, halls, passageways, tombs, hiding places. As you can imagine, this underground city must have been quite a place, apparently thousands of people lived in the passageways and rooms underground.............. some scratched graffiti, their names, well known proverbs, in the rock.........

In the very early years of the church, many Christians hid here, they used these caves too. And over the years some carved out more elaborate chambers in the rock to use as places of worship, with painted

frescoes on the walls.

Near one of these underground chambers, scratched in the stone there is a crudely done drawing of Matthew’s gospel, chapter 14.

A Christian believer has drawn

a few shaky lines for waves.......

and Jesus walking on the water.......

the picture is done in a very crude way.....

Why was it drawn ? In praise of Jesus ? or out of heartfelt thanksgiving to the Lord for rescue from a difficult situation ? We cannot tell............

We turn, ourselves to Matthew 14 this morning......

Christ in the midst of sinners in His redeeming poower.

You will remember what we heard from Matthew’s gospel last week .........

A huge crowd had gathered to hear Jesus,

the tax collectors, prostitutes, sinners, beggars from the street, and outcasts from the highways and byways, spoken about in the gospel.

Here, could be found the eager to hear, the sceptical,

and the indifferent.......

Here is the reality of the kingdom of God.

Here is Jesus among them, blessing and breaking the loaves and the fish, in the creative power of God giving everyone something to eat !

For the Lord had compassion for them all: all of them shared bread and the fish together. And, says the gospel, all ate and were filled.......... the gospel tells us that Jesus had compassion on this great crowd of men and women, who were like sheep without a shepherd........... the letter to the Romans declares,

that that same compassion and love of God for all is shown above all at the Cross where, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us all.

Christ in prayer

Now, as we read on in Matthew 14, we read that Jesus sent the crowd home, and then told the disciples to get into the boat and go back across to Galilee. The disciples get into the boat and begin to head out across the sea of Galilee.

But Jesus Himself goes to pray in the mountains high above the lake.

Let us pause here just for a moment to think about this:

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus teaches us that when we pray to our Father in heaven in the secret place, the Father who sees us and hears our prayer responds in His loving grace.

Well, here, the Lord Jesus, has set aside this time, this hour, these hours in the night, to come into the Father’s presence....... to pray.

Here the gospel allows us to glimpse the wellspring of Jesus’ life as a human being, this precious communion with the Father in heaven............

Here in prayer Jesus enters deep into that inexpressible fellowship with the Father through the Spirit, which is now the Father’s gift to all of us.

Here is Jesus in prayer. What does Jesus pray for through those hours ?

We know that in Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, seeking God’s will in the hour and power of darkness ahead. What does Jesus pray for through these hours ?

Surely, for the crowd those men and women,

those in the crowd He has seen and spoken to;

He brings them all in prayer before the living God;

He prays, for those burdened by sin. He prays for those who are so indifferent to the good news of the kingdom. He prays in joy for those who have heard, those who have listened eagerly to message of God’s grace and forgiveness. And He prays for His disciples.

Christ, praying for the crowd, just as He has fed all of them, we can be certain, He prays for all of them, the sceptical, the sorrowful of heart, the faithful, the joyful - all of them. Now, as the letter to the Romans reveals to us, He still continues to pray, in the presence of God, praying for us, interceding for us. He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him because He always lives to intercede for us. Hebrews 7.25.

Christ’s redeeming power

Meanwhile, the disciples are now out far away from the shore, the wind freshens and the waves begin to pick up - and suddenly, they are in trouble.

The boat is far out on the lake, buffeted by the wind, rocked by the waves. The spray comes over the bulkheads and into the boat.

The disciples, instead of choosing their own course across the lake are

now being driven, by the strong winds........ and are in danger of capsize.

At around three o clock in the morning, the Gospel tells us, Jesus appears along the shore and then makes his way across the water towards them. The disciples are terrified. Jesus, however, calls to them to take courage, not to be afraid.

Professor William Barclay once said how realistic a picture of life this is........

In life, says Professor Barclay, the wind is often contrary. We are like a boat in stormy winds, buffeted, driven here and there. We are up against it. Life becomes a desperate struggle with ourselves, with our circumstances, with our temptations, with our sorrows, with decisions we have made. But, at such a time, says Professor Barclay no one need struggle alone, for here, Jesus comes to us across the storms of life with hand stretched out to save, and with his calm, clear voice:

He tells us, Take courage, Do not be afraid.

Take courage, Do not be afraid.

Take courage, Do not be afraid. Why ?

Well, first, In Mark 4 and Luke 8, , we are told that in another storm, Jesus first calmed the waves and then spoke to the disciples.

But here in Matthew 14, Matthew tells us that on this occasion the Lord called on Peter and the disciples to trust him while the storm was at its height, and the waves were still battering and the wind driving hard. Jesus asks them to trust Him in the midst of the storm, the crashing waves and howling winds.

To take courage, and not be afraid. Why ?

Because it is in the midst of the events that sweep over us,

the things that threaten us,

in the critical moment itself,

that we come to know that Jesus Christ is Lord of All, lord of life and death, Lord of the present and of the future.

Jesus Christ who, when in the moment of crisis we do not know what to do,

comes to us in His gracious love and redeeming power.

That’s why we are to ‘Take courage, and not be afraid.’

You see, as the Lord comes towards the boat, he tells Peter to come.

So, Peter steps out of the boat, and immediately he sinks into the water,

in terror, Peter calls out Lord, save me !

Immediately, we read in verse 31, Jesus reached out His hand and caught him.............

The facts before us here in Matthew are that Peter’s faith fails, and he sinks like a stone, but that Immediately, Jesus reached out His hand and caught him.............

And once again, the heart of the Gospel is here: the Gospel, is about our dependence, our utter dependence on Jesus Christ. When we were still powerless, says Romans, Christ died for the ungodly. Jesus Christ is from start to finish the author and finisher of our faith !

Wider still, just as the hand of Jesus reaches out and grasps Peter, this is the way of the living God who has reached into this world in Jesus His Son, and has taken hold of this world, and its sin........ and through Jesus Christ and His Cross has redeemed us.

Take courage. Do not be afraid. Why ?

Because we can place all our confidence in Jesus, in Jesus Christ.

We belong to Him. Jesus declares: we read it in John 6.39

I will lose none of all that the Father has given me, but I will raise them up at the last day. He has redeemed us, through His cross, and He holds us in His keeping.

Who is it that overcomes the world ? asks the apostle John

the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God !.

Let us place all our confidence in Jesus, in Jesus Christ.

Let us look to Jesus Christ, for we belong to Him.

Just as, when Peter stepped out on to the waters of the sea of Galilee

he was afraid and began to sink…

He called out Lord, save me………

and immediately, the gospel tells us, Jesus reached out his hand and caught him…..

Let us place all our confidence in Jesus, in Jesus Christ.

Not in ourselves, but in Him………

In the words of John Campbell Shairp……….

Let me no more my comfort draw

from my frail hold of Thee

In this alone rejoice with awe

Thy mighty grasp of me.

AMEN