22 Jesus quickly made his disciples get into a boat and cross to the other side ahead of him while he sent the people away. 23 After sending the people away, he went up a mountain to pray by himself. When evening came, he was there alone.
24 The boat, now hundreds of yards from shore, was being thrown around by the waves because it was going against the wind.
25 Between three and six o’clock in the morning, he came to them. He was walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. They said, “It’s a ghost!” and began to scream because they were afraid.
27 Immediately, Jesus said, “Calm down! It’s me. Don’t be afraid!”
28 Peter answered, “Lord, if it is you, order me to come to you on the water.”
29 Jesus said, “Come!” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. 30 But when he noticed how strong the wind was, he became afraid and started to sink. He shouted, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately, Jesus reached out, caught hold of him, and said, “You have so little faith! Why did you doubt?”
32 When they got into the boat, the wind stopped blowing. 33 The men in the boat bowed down in front of Jesus and said, “You are truly the Son of God.”
34 They crossed the sea and landed at Gennesaret. 35 The men there recognized Jesus and sent messengers all around the countryside. The people brought him everyone who was sick. 36 They begged him to let them touch just the edge of his clothes. Everyone who touched his clothes was made well.
Read Matthew 14:22-36 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
When we read about the big events where faith is demonstrated, they can easily overshadow some of the side truths that we can learn from some of the more subtle stories that aren’t as glamorous.
One such place is immediately following Peter’s miraculous, faith walk on the water towards Jesus in the storm. Sure, Peter did have some doubt, and that made for a little tension and suspense, but all was well and the boat made it to shore with both Peter and Jesus alive and well – and on board.
But too often we stop reading there and we miss what happened next. We are tempted to think that because this big event is over, there is nothing special to pay attention to until the next big event. But if we let this temptation win, we miss a big truth that can be learned in the last verses of our passage – after the boat has landed at the shore:
“They crossed the sea and landed at Gennesaret. The men there recognized Jesus and sent messengers all around the countryside. The people brought him everyone who was sick. They begged him to let them touch just the edge of his clothes. Everyone who touched his clothes was made well.” (v. 34-36)
There are two big things we can take and learn from this simple, transition-like set of verses.
The first thing that it is very important for us is to be able to recognize Jesus. If the men on the shore had not recognized that it was Jesus who had just landed, then none of those who were in that region would have known to come and be healed.
The second thing that is very important for us is to act on the smallest amount of faith that we have. We are tempted to think that there was only one person in the gospels who was made well by touching Jesus’ clothing, but in this short transition, we learn that dozens or maybe even hundreds of people were healed by simply touching Jesus’ robe. The people didn’t need any more faith than this. They believed that just by touching something that was Jesus’ would be enough to make them well.
And this brings us to a key truth: When we call ourselves Christ-followers or Christians, we are people who are dedicated and bought by Jesus, which makes us His. If these people believed that by simply touching cloth that was Jesus’ would heal them, what would happen if we truly believed that by being Jesus’, we can make a significant and miraculous impact on those who are hurting around us.
When we truly recognize Jesus and act on the small amount of faith like those living in Gennesaret, our world will be transformed.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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