Matthew 15:21-28 Great Faith!

Matthew 15:21-28  Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!  My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”  Jesus did not answer a word.  So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”  He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”  The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.  He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”  “Yes it is, Lord,” she said.  “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”  Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith!  Your request is granted.”  And her daughter was healed at that moment.

Matthew reveals a story that all Jews at that time would understand and appreciate.  To them, Jesus was correct not to acknowledge this Canaanite woman’s request.  He was right to ignore her especially in the midst of other Jews.  The Canaanites, scourge of the Jewish nation, did not deserve to be recognized or spoken to, just as the Samaritan woman at the well should have been ignored by Jesus.  The pleasures and temptations of Canaan tantalized the Jewish people from the time they entered the Promised Land.  The Lord God wanted the Canaanites cleansed from the land when the Israelites inhabited the country, but the Jews did not do so.  Because of the evil practices of this people, the Jews fell right into an evil and adulterous lifestyle.  The Canaanites’ way of living was adopted by the Jewish people.  In fact, the Bible records that they did even more evil than the people of that land.  They rejected all the commands of the Lord their God and made two calves from metal.  They set up an Asherah pole and worshiped Baal and all the forces of heaven.  They even sacrificed their own sons and daughters in the fire.  They consulted fortune-tellers and practiced sorcery and sold themselves to evil, arousing the Lord’s anger.  (2 King 17:16-17)  The people of Israel were totally corrupted by the pagan way of living in the land.  Finally, God removes his people from the kingdom of Israel by the force of the Assyrian army and replaces the people of Israel with populations from other lands.  All of these people brought in their own religions to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, Samaria.  The king of Assyria transported groups of people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and resettled them in the towns of Samaria, replacing the people of Israel.  They took possession of Samaria and lived in its towns.  (2 King 17:24)  Because these new inhabitants of Israel were not thriving in their new land, the Assyrian king sent a prophet of the Lord to them from the exiled Israelites.  He sent this prophet to teach these people from many lands how to worship Jehovah the God of Israel.  Of course these new people who had their own gods assimilated this new religion of Jehovah into their already pagan practices.  This is the reason the Jews of Jesus’ time rejected the Canaanites and the Samaritans.  They had unclean hands, impurities in their view of the Creator of all things.  The Canaanites served other gods and the Samaritans served a corrupted view of God.  When Jesus failed to recognize the Canaanite woman immediately, his hesitancy probably was based on what He knew about people in her corrupt society.

The Canaanite woman was aware of the Jewish religion, for she addressed Jesus as the Son of David.  She knew of the prophets of old and of their miracles.  She might even have known of the story of Elijah raising a widow’s son from the dead.  This miracle happened in her area of Sidon.  Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?”  Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”  The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived.  Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house.  He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!”  (1 King 17: 20-23)  Whatever her knowledge about the Jewish religion, she knew there was power in it, and her knowledge of Jesus’ ministry had brought her to Jesus with an incessant call for help from him.  She was so annoying that the disciples were displeased with her constant cry for Jesus to help her.  His disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”  They were not concerned about her need, but only that she was a woman from an adverse society.  Jesus, knowing full well of the history of the pagan Canaanites, ignores her and then addresses her directly: I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.  He was sent only to God’s chosen ones whom God delivered out of slavery.  He knew the pagan practices of the Cannanites had caused a Jewish diaspora, creating in many places slavery again for them.  So, Jesus was now sent to the community of Jews to set them finally free from the hands of the evil one.  This would come through the cross.  Consequently, with this purpose in mind, Jesus says, It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.  The Children of God are to eat the manna from heaven, not the dogs.  Those He rescued from Egypt are to eat the manna, not those who are captivated by their evil practices as were the Egyptians.  God’s blessing is for the children of God, not the pagans who serve other gods that are no gods.  She contradicts the Son of God, Yes it is, Lord.  Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.  She relates what is actually true in real life.  Dogs do eat the food that falls from a table.  Jesus assents to her demand then, for He knows she is speaking the truth about life.  He accepts her earnestness, her willingness even to contradict him, a man she knew as a man of power, a Son of David, well respected by those who were surrounding him that day.  Woman, you have great faith!  Your request is granted.  This woman from the wrong ethnic group, with little status among these Jewish people went away with her plea answered.  Her request, reminds us of Jesus’ answer to John’s disciple on whether He was the Messiah or not.  Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.  Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.  (Luke 7:22-23)  In her case, good news was proclaimed to an outcast, poor in spirit because she was not a Jew.  Her daughter was healed at that moment.

Faith is central to today’s story, required for those who struggle with the God of creation.  They need the faith of Jacob when he wrestled with God.  This Canaanite woman had other beliefs taught to her when she was young.  Now she had met a circumstance that she could not change on her own.  My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.  Her love for her daughter brought her to this Jewish Messiah.  She understood what the Jews thought of her background, her ethnicity.  She knew those around Jesus would abhor her boldness, her tenacity in asking him to heal her daughter.  She understood well that as a pagan woman, she had no right to approach Jesus the Son of David.  She definitely was out of place in this group.  But she was willing to wrestle with God for his blessings.  She contradicted Jesus’ statement of feeding only Jews, desiring only one thing, her daughter’s healing.  Are we willing to wrestle with God for a huge need in our lives?  Are we willing to ask and ask again when we feel out of place, out of order, unwilling to accept the first answer we hear from God?  Faith is an incessant demand on God.  God is not intimidated by our failure to accept everything we feel God has given us in life.  Jacob wrestled with God.  I will not let you go unless you bless me.”  The man asked him, “What is your name?”  “Jacob,” he answered.  Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”  Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”  But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?”  Then he blessed him there.  So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”  (Genesis 32:26-30)  This Canaanite woman wrestled with Jesus.  She would not accept his first statement.  She had the boldness to discount Jesus’ words, to say that He was wrong.  In the Jacob story, we see Jacob returning to the place where he was born.  He was fearful Esau his brother would kill him, for he had taken Esau’s birthright by deceiving their father.  His fear was so great that he made elaborate plans on how to meet Esau and his four hundred men that were coming to greet him.  He sent his less favored wife ahead of him with gifts for Esau.  If Esau’s anger was still raw, he knew Esau would reject the gifts and punish the people he sent ahead of him.  Under this stress he wrestled with God, asking God to bless him, knowing he was a deceiver, an outcast.  God gives Jacob a new name because of his temerity of wrestling with him for a blessing: Prince of God, he who wrestles with God.  Jacob believed in the God of creation.  He believed God could change the circumstances of the moment.  Otherwise, he had GREAT FAITH.  The Canaanite woman believed Jesus could change her circumstance, that He could deliver her daughter from the demon.  She was unwilling to accept Jesus’ first answer.  As Jacob, whose sons become the foundation of the Jewish community, she was willing to face Jesus and ask him a favor that no Canaanite should be granted.  Jesus recognizes her faith, and grants her request.  Jacob was received graciously by Esau.  God intervened in that troubled relationship.  God intervened in the pagan woman’s family, restoring her daughter to health.  What intervention do you need, breakfast companions?  Yes, it is also good, as Paul said, to be content in whatever state you find yourself.  But this story reveals that as children of God, we have the right to wrestle with him for what we consider important in our lives.  Do we have great faith?  Or, do we see the waves in our lives and experience great fear?  We are in the boat of life.  It might seem as if Jesus is asleep, unconcerned about what is happening to us.  But we are not dogs: we are children of the Most High.  Let us ask for his help in faith, willing to seek what is needed in our lives, for the manna of the Lord is ours.      

Matthew 15:10-20 A Great Light!

Matthew 15:10-20  Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand.  What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”  Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”  He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots.  Leave them; they are blind guides.  If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”  Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”  “Are you still so dull?”  Jesus asked them.  “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body?  But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them.  For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.  These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

The Pharisees, Sadducees, and teachers of the Law were greatly honored in the Jewish society.  They were deferred to when they were in a crowd.  They were given the seats of honor at every celebration and gathering.  They were not only religious in nature and teaching, they were also considered secularly powerful.  They were the ones who came before Pilot with the accusations against Jesus, finally achieving their purpose by having Jesus crucified on a rugged cross.  They won because they were able to humiliate Jesus, placing him with the charlatans and criminals of their world.  They had gained the voice of the people, having them proclaim, “Crucify him!  Crucify him!  For Jesus to ignore the religious elite, to contradict them before his apostles or others, was dangerous, for He was not only confronting the religious power in the Jewish society, but also the secular power.  When Jesus said, What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them, the crowd and the religious leaders knew He was contesting a part of their way of life.  Of course, this tradition of the elders was part of the lifestyle of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law.  When they asked the question, "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders?  They don’t wash their hands before they eat!” they were trying to classify Jesus and his disciples as worldly frauds, people unworthy to instruct anyone about anything—spiritual or even secular as Jesus did with Caesar’s coin.  Jesus challenges their assertions about him and his followers as not being upright by denouncing the leaders’ refusal to hold up the law of honoring father and mother.  Jesus was claiming if anyone is not following God rightly, it would be the religious leaders, for they were allowing the violation of God’s law.  But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it.  (Matthew 15:5-6)  Jesus’ frontal attack on the religious elite was so strong that He called them blind, and He called anyone who was foolish enough to follow their leadership blind.  Of course, the Pharisees and teachers of the law were offended, for their position of deference and favoritism by the people was being challenged.  But Jesus tells the disciples that these leaders were so out of line with God that the Father0

. would pull them up by their roots.  Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots.  These insidious leaders will fail to do away with God’s plan for humanity.  He will deal with them, for they contain within themselves murderous thoughts and devious intentions for Jesus the Messiah.  As Jesus said about them and about people in general, out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.  Nonetheless, the religious elite will finally achieve their end of murdering Jesus by having individuals give false testimony about Jesus, slandering him before Pilot and others.    

God evaluates the heart, not our appearance.  But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.  The Lord does not look at the things people look at.  People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”  (1 Samuel 16:7)  People assess others by many things other than what comes from the heart.  We determine who people are by their clothing, their material possessions, their cleanliness, their caste, their class, their attractiveness, their education, their religion, their ethnicity, their skin color, and so on.  We associate mostly with people who look and act like us, who consider our lifestyle and values as sound, appropriate.  We discriminate mostly on the basis of our surrounding cultural standards.  This is just who we are!  We are closeted and captivated by our societal mores and values.  But out of every nation God calls people with a variety of ideas on how we should look or act—our societal norms.  God is not concerned about the pretensions of people, their lifestyles, or even what they consider good or bad.  God looks at the content of the heart, what is stewing in the heart.  Eventually the mouth will expose the contents of the heart.  Jesus says, The things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them.  The expounded words of a man will defile him or expose him by revealing his vile soul.  The disciples were breaking a societal norm, an expectation of all good Jewish people: the washing of hands before eating.  But Jesus said there are more important things in life than just following acceptable standards.  Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin.  But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.  You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.  You blind guides!  You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.  (Matthew 23:23-24)  The more important matters of the law were matters of the heart: justice, mercy and faithfulness.  Those words touch us much more than hand washing.  From the innermost part of our beings should come an environment of goodness, uprightness, and justice: the characteristics of God, his basic nature.  The law portrays God’s holiness, his righteousness, his perfection.  The law compels us to use our strength, our minds, our intentions to be as God in our lifestyles and in our choices.  The law will not pass away, for God would have to disown himself, his likeness, his perfection.  God cannot look upon unholiness without judgement; consequently, to be acceptable to God, his likeness, his nature of holiness has to be embedded in our lives.  The law has to be fulfilled in our lives if we are to receive the gift of eternal life in his presence.  Jesus castigates the religious elite because they think their outward efforts to please God, their following of the law and the customs of the Jewish society, will be enough to satisfy the God who examines the heart not the appearance or lifestyle of a human.  God will judge the intentions of the heart, not just how people appear outwardly before men.  His word of truth, how men really are, is sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.  Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.  (Hebrews 4:12-13)  We are naked before God’s consuming fire of judgement.  Nothing put on, no pretensions, no customs, or religious fervor can hide us from God’s truth about us.  We fall at his feet and cry for mercy.  We must be covered in the blood of Jesus. 

Of course, Jesus is the merciful one.  He has explained the Father’s will for us, his salvation plan.  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  (John 3:16-17)  The law condemns us, for the very nature of the law is that we must commit our total energy and will to follow its incessant demands.  The law runs contrary to the natural tendencies of people’s rebellious nature to authority.  We do not want to follow the will of others, for we have but one life to live; therefore, we desire to live our lives as we wish.  God’s will is not necessarily our will.  Paul said that something is instilled in him to the point that he rebells against the authority of God in his life.  So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.  For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.  What a wretched man I am!  Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?  (Romans 7:21-24)  Of course, who will rescue him from his rebellious nature, who will fulfill the perfect law in him, who will adopt him into the family of a righteous God?  Only Jesus the Christ who died for him can accomplish this.  Perfection will come to Paul through the blood of Jesus Christ.  Rebellion to authority is strong in human beings.  We rebelled in the Garden and that hardness to God’s will is strong within us.  We need a perfect plan to elevate us beyond our human nature.  Jesus came from the heavens to us to fulfill that perfect plan.  His will for our will, his life for our lives, his blood for our judgment.  He fulfills the plan of God completely.  He satisfies the wrath of God on sin.  The Pharisees and the teachers of the law could not see this plan clearly.  They thought their efforts to please God would be enough for a righteous, perfect God.  But even if their intensions were perfect, even if they could fulfill the law completely as they saw it, their nature would still be human rather than godlike.  Adam would rest deep inside of them.  They needed a new life; they needed Christ and his righteousness to reside in them.  This they could not see, for they were blind, sadly leading other blind people unable to see the works of God in Christ.  We who sit around this breakfast table have seen a Great Light.  Just as Jesus told the people the light had come to them when He quoted the prophet, Isaiah, The people living in darkness have seen a great light.  (Matthew 4:16)  We rest comfortably in the Light, for it is Christ the Light of the World.     

Matthew 15:1-9 Laws or Traditions?

Matthew 15:1-9  Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders?  They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”  Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?  For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’  But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it.  Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.  You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  They worship me in vain.’”    

In the above text, Jesus castigates the Pharisees for putting the oral law above the written law.  The oral law of how people and society should function was part of the Jewish community for centuries before Jesus asked the question of the Pharisees: Why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?  The oral law was not to supersede or constrain the laws given by Moses, but they could clarify the written law as practiced in society.  The washing of hands was a very important part of the procedure in worshipping God.  Make a bronze basin, with its bronze stand, for washing.  Place it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it.  Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with water from it.  Whenever they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die.  Also, when they approach the altar to minister by presenting a food offering to the Lord, they shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die.  This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come.  (Exodus 30:18-21)  The Jewish people were not to touch anything that had died or menstrual blood or they were considered unclean.  If they had done so they had to go through a purification process.  They were not to eat anything that was thought to be unclean such as pork.  These were written laws.  The oral traditions were thought to clarify the application of the written law in real life.  In today’s verses, Jesus was upset by the Pharisees considering their oral traditions above the written law.  When the Pharisees questioned Jesus’ disciples for not washing before eating, Jesus deflects the Pharisees’ focus to how they advocated treating parents.  He is unhappy with them because they are breaking the written law: ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.'  To allow religious fervor to supersede God’s commandments was bad, for the mind of God is in Moses’ laws but not necessarily in the oral traditions that are in the minds of men.  Washing of hands before eating is proper and good, but traditions cannot be considered equal to the written law.  Honoring your mother or father is God’s will.  To adjust this law to fit your own needs, even if spiritual, is a sinful act.  Jesus also understood that the Pharisees themselves violated their own traditions when they did not wash their hands every time they put something in their mouths.  So He called them hypocrites, willing to heap heavy requirements on the people.  Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:  “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.  So you must be careful to do everything they tell you.  But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.  They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.  (Matthew 23:1-4)  Because the religious leaders are given the responsibility to lead people to God, they should be considered very important in the Jewish community.  They should be heeded, especially if they are teaching the written law, but they were not practicing what they preached.  The religious leaders were not willing to follow the written law or the oral law.  Do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.  Jesus rightly calls them hypocrites.

The Pharisees were allowing people to escape their responsibility to their fathers and mothers by saying their resources are given to God; therefore, they are free from their obligation to their parents.  But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it.  The Pharisees were very rigid about washing hands before eating, but they were too willing to nullify the written law by making excuses for people not taking care of their parents.  Jesus is disgusted with them for their intentions of serving God wholeheartedly were weak, feckless.  These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  They worship me in vain.  The priests and the people they led were not honest with God, but full of pretensions and lacking sincerity.  This reflects how wicked the heart is within a rebellious people who have wandered far from the heart of God.  The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were far from God’s heart.  Jesus calls them vile. “You snakes!  You brood of vipers!  How will you escape being condemned to hell?  (Matthew 23:33)  A religious pretense, a failure to serve God with honest integrity is without God’s blessings.  This hypocrisy has been condemned in the  Old Testament as well as the New.  The Children of Israel were finally dispersed to other lands because they were not honest before their God.  They worshipped the world represented by different idols and then supposedly the Creator of all things: Jehovah. God does not tolerate this compromising lifestyle.  The priests were serving God through traditions that were getting in the way of serving with an intense love and devotion.  Jesus criticizes their lifestyle and their pretensions of serving him.  By saying the people did not have to put God’s commandment about parents above their own view of life, these leaders provoked God to anger.  As with the Jews of old, they were in danger of dispersion because of their wayward lifestyle and attitude toward God’s righteousness.  No man’s ideas, wisdom, or knowledge should be put before God’s commandments.  James talks about this lack of spiritual honesty.  My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?  For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes.  If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives?  (James 2:1-4)  Notice, James says discrimination is guided by evil motives, or motives that are contrary to the Royal Law of loving your neighbor as yourself.  Anything that is contrary to God’s love for humanity is not acceptable to him.  This aberrant attitude of placing the oral traditions of your society above God’s law of loving others as yourself will be judged harshly.  But as with the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and teachers of the law, the fleshly person is not exceptionally fearful of God’s judgment or he or she would change.  The flesh is hardwired to discriminate on the basis of wealth, class or caste.  Obviously, humans need an intervention of grace and mercy from God for their souls.  We need Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God.  To move away from the duplicity in our hearts, we need a new start, a new life, a refreshing of the Spirit of God in our lives. 

Jesus told the religious leaders that if they really loved God, if they really desired to serve him, they would be obedient to the covenant God laid down through the law.  If they truly loved God’s words, they would not subvert them to their own fleshly needs and desires.  Jesus knew their hearts.  He knew they were out for themselves, to do their will before the will of God.  Because of that, He called them a brood of poisonous snakes.  Their way of living, their words would lead to death and not eternal life.  As Christians we must understand what Jesus is saying to the Pharisees and teachers of the law.  A self-willed life will lead to judgment and death.  A self-absorbed life is yeast that will contaminate our children, our relatives, our friends.  Such hypocrisy is lethal to all we touch.  If we love God, we will show it by our deeds.  The first cardinal law of loving God with all our heart, soul, spirit and strength must have the subsequent cardinal law with it: loving our neighbors as ourselves.  The second validates the first.  We cannot claim the first if we fail to love others as we love ourselves.  Jesus is telling the Pharisees, people cannot serve God rightly if they do not take care of their parents.  They cannot say they love God with their whole being unless they prove it by their actions.  Words are not love, they are but statements.  Love demands action.  As James writes, I will show you my faith by my good deeds.  (James 2:18 NLT)  If we fail to love others we are but vacuous words, thrown to the wind.  But if we put our words into action, we are expressing God on earth.  We are fleshing him out to the world, so that the world can see the unseen God.  We represent God.  We are his ambassadors here on earth.  If we are distorted in our way of living: self-absorbed, self-serving, if we discriminate wickedly, we will lead people to death, not life.  For God through Christ gave his all for us.  Jesus, the Bright and Morning Star of heaven, was poured out for the world.  Do not nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition or the WAY YOU WANT TO LIVE YOUR OWN LIFE.  You were bought with a price.  Surrender your hearts to him today. 

Matthew 14:32-36 Come!

Matthew 14:32-36  And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.  Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”  When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret.  And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country.  People brought all their sick to him and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

Peter did quite well walking on water until the wind came up.  Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.  But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”  (Matthew 14:29-30)  Because the disciples were terrified by this figure that was walking toward them on top of the water, thinking it might be a ghost, Jesus calls out to them, Take courage!  It is I.  Don’t be afraid.  To verify the words of Jesus, Peter asks him to call for him to walk on the water.  Jesus replies, Come.  (See verses 28-29)  In this narrative, we see Peter accomplishing a task: he walks on water.  However, the wind distracts him from walking to Jesus.  When he realized how much the wind was kicking up the waves, he began to sink.  Jesus tells Peter he has little faith.  The terror of the wind hindered Peter in his efforts to reach Jesus.  He lacked confidence that God could handle the wind in this situation.  He knew strong winds capsize boats of all sizes, and they surely could bring down a man walking on just two feet.  Knowing the danger of the wind over water and what it can do with boats, Peter’s faith diminishes.  He sinks into the water.  Jesus did not let him go under, nor did he teach him how to walk on water.  He came to Peter, helped him into the boat.  Jesus also gets into the boat.  Quite interesting is that Jesus did not take Peter’s hand and continue walking on the water to the shore.  No, that is not what Jesus does with Peter.  He climbs into the boat with Peter, into the safety of this watercraft.  Then the wind ceases, with no further distraction for Peter.   Jesus could have given Peter instructions on how to strengthen his faith or how to walk on water.  But he doesn’t.  Walking on water would not be passed down from generation to generation.  The next time we see Peter going to Jesus from a boat, we see him jumping into the water to meet Jesus.  Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!”  As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water.  The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.  (John 21:7-8)  This activity of walking on top of the water stopped the day Peter sank because of little faith.  A lack of faith is a human condition; if not so, we would all fly around or all be healed or all have continuous supernatural events in our lives.  Faith can cause things to supersede reality, but faith is more than just generating new things.  Faith is a strong belief that God is real and that He intends to make us his children.  Earthly miracles are wonderful, hoped for, believed for; but the eternal miracle of humans being made into the image of the eternal Jesus Christ stretches the credulity of the human mind, something beyond our imaginations.  Jesus said that greater things than what He did, we would do.  Why should we not all walk on water who believe that Jesus has said to us, “Come”?  Why do Christians need floating devices to stay above the water?  Notice, Peter and Jesus climbed into the boat and THEN THE WIND CALMED DOWN.  In our lives we need Jesus in the boat with us.  We do not exist on earth as supernatural beings, not subject to the laws of nature.  We are but finite flesh, destined to die; but IN CHRIST, WITH HIM IN OUR BOAT, we are eternal beings, kept safe by his presence through the works of the Holy Spirit.  Our faith is for an eternal purpose, not to walk on water, but to get to the shore on the other side to do the will of the Father God. 

The disciples were not amazed that Peter could walk on water; they were amazed that the wind that brought so much fear in their lives was controlled by the Lord.  Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”  When the wind was calmed by Jesus, and when they no longer feared for their lives, they worshiped Jesus as God.  How often this happens in people’s lives.  When the storm is over, when the possibility of reaching the other side of the lake safely becomes a reality, then worshipping begins.  But often, this kind of spirit lasts only for a short while.  The disciples had seen Jesus do many miracles, but they would soon fall back into their daily routines and into the vicissitudes of life.  After they had seen Jesus feed thousands of people with little bread, they argued over not having enough bread on their journey across the lake.  Their faith was transitory and often weak.  They ran away from Jesus when He was captured, forgetting He was the one who said, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  (Matthew 11:28)  He was not the Son of God to them then.  He was just a man who had fallen into the hands of the mighty elite of the community.  When Jesus was beaten by the Roman soldiers, He was but a hopeless prisoner in the hands of Caesar’s power, no Son of God envisioned then.  When He was on the cross dying, He was but a man spilling his blood on the ground.  To them in their weak faith, the Son of God was not the Master of the wind at these times, but merely a frail man riding on a colt to Jerusalem.  Peter’s faith was transitory; we do not know how long he stayed on top of the water.  But he eventually sank into the water to the point he feared for his life.  These disciples in the boat experienced many things that were miraculous.  They saw healing(s) even that day.  People brought all their sick to him and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.  They saw many wonderful things that only God could do, but when the wind kicked up in their lives, they are found camped out with the unbelievers.  After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.”  Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”  (Matthew 26:73-74)  Their faith as Jesus said was very weak.  But he told them as He tells us, with our little faith, Don’t be afraid.  It is I.  Come.   We do not walk on water.  We do not fly around, but we know the One who can do all things, and our faith rests in him.  

Children around this breakfast table, hear the voice of the Lord.  He is speaking to you, his children, and He says, “Come.”  Habakkuk describes a Chrisrian’s walk with God very accurately.  Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.  The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.  (Habakkuk 3:17-19)  When the wind kicks up in our lives, when the waves are high and turbulent and our boat seems about to flounder, when the crops fail to provide food, when there are no cattle in the stalls or on the hills, Habakkuk proclaims, the Sovereign Lord is MY STRENGTH.  He enables me to tread on the heights.  He allows me to walk on water regardless of the adversity.  We hear Job say, Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.  (Job 13:15 KJV)  Peter obeyed the voice of the Lord.  He walked toward Jesus even though it was a scary venture.  We need to walk toward God even when the storm is raging.  A supernatural deliverance?  No, probably not, but it is a hand outstretched to lift your body and place you in the boat of life secure and safe with your Captain in control.  If Jesus is in the boat, we are secure.  In the confines of this life, He will feed us with manna, nourish us daily so that we might survive the attacks of this secular world, an unbelieving world that demands a sign from God.  This cry for a sign was present with the Pharisees, who demanded that Jesus perform a sign for them so that they might know that He had been sent by God.  But Jesus calls them adulterous, sinful, for they were commanding the God of the universe to come under their authority and produce a miraculous sign for their benefit.  Jesus would not do that, only God is the authority.  God does miracles in his timing, not theirs.  Habakkuk and Job are telling us, we who live by faith do not need a sign.  We will believe in the I AM regardless of what is happening in our lives, for God is real and his love and mercy extend to us with plentifulness.  He controls the universe, the wind, and everything else.  We walk on water in heavenly places.  We know the God of the universe.  We trust that He will make us his own children.  No wind or adverse circumstance will change that faith in our lives. Together we proclaim: Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  (Proverbs 3:5 KJV)