Flounder Founder

Matthew 14:22 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. 23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. 24 But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. 25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid." 28 And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." 29 So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!" 31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, "Truly You are the Son of God." 34 When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick, 36 and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well.

There are some things Jesus can do that we can’t do.

The question is: Why / when would we try to do things only Jesus can do?

Here we see Jesus separated from His disciples by His own choice. Immediately following the ‘feeding of the five thousand,’ Jesus put the guys into a boat, and He headed to a lonely hilltop to spend some time in prayer.

Why did Jesus send the guys away on their own, immediately after allowing them to directly participate in the one miracle so great it is written about in all four of the gospels? Wouldn’t this have been a great time to hang with them and celebrate and re-iterate one of the greatest public miracles of all time? (Who did what, when? Did you see how the people reacted? It was great! Wow!)

But Jesus would not allow them to receive acclaim. The people were so amazed it is only natural to expect them to heap praise upon everyone involved, up to and including desiring to make Jesus their king. But why?

Meeting physical needs was never the point of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus immediately sent the people away, and then He sent the disciples into a storm on a boat all by themselves. But He always kept His eye upon them. He knew just where they were, and what was in their hearts.

The boys may have shipped out with buoyant hearts, filled with the joy of feeding the people – but now they are weary and in fear of the storm, and apart from Jesus. It has now occurred to them they are nothing - absolutely nothing - apart from Christ. They are floundering apart from the Founder of the church, even after doing – being a part of – a great and miraculous work, and they know it.

Here comes a ghostly figure striding confidently across the water in the darkness and the storm, completely unconcerned about the environment that has the disciples floundering. This One, not those ones, is the Founder of the church. His name is Jesus.

-Pastor Bill