Matthew 14:22-33
“Notice what you notice.” Being intrigued as I am with the geography, I glanced one verse beyond our reading and saw that they came to the land of Gennesaret (Matthew 14:34), which is on the west side of the Sea of Galilee, only a few miles down the coast from Capernaum. That region is just north of the first-century town of Magdala, likely the home of Mary Magdalene. Just connecting the dots…!
Gennesaret seems not to have been the disciples’ (and Jesus’) target destination. Matthew is silent as to where they were headed, while Mark has them going to Bethsaida and Luke puts their target as Capernaum. Presumably the wind on the Sea drove them in a direction such that they overshot both their Mark and Luke targets. More on Gennesaret in the next few days…
Matthew writes in verse 23, And after He had dismissed the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. My Study Bible notes that this prayer time is the only time Matthew mentions Jesus praying, other than Gethsemane. By contrast Mark and Luke seem to have him praying much more regularly!
My mind wanders and I often want to read between the lines. Jesus sends the disciples off in the boat and He goes the opposite direction, up to the mountain to pray. So did He have a pre-arranged plan, as in “I’ll meet you at Peter’s house”? Or did He send them off in the boat simply because they had arrived by boat and needed to get the boat back to its normal mooring? Then He would have walked the shore line to meet them. But while praying He heard from His father that the disciples were in trouble on the water and the only way He could reach them was by walking on the water. So if I read between the lines a bit, now I can understand why Jesus would be walking on the water in the middle of the night. Somehow, that’s satisfying!
Today’s last verse reads And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (v. 33). “Worship” is a concept that has long confused me. The best understanding I ever got for the concept was when I heard someone say that worship is simply agreeing with God as to Who He is. This verse confirms that suggestion. Re-read it. This time the disciples got it! But unfortunately they would lose it again – and again and again!! I’ve long heard the phrase, “There are no atheists in a foxhole.” And yes it seems that danger and deliverance bring us closer to Jesus. And that’s good, but we need to be close to Him without danger lurking nearby! “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.”
Slava Bohu!