Little children fear the dark. It is not the blackness so much as the
unknown, what cannot be easily seen. A
stuffed animal in the light of day is a cuddly toy, but in the dark, is a
silhouette of undetermined malice. And
let’s not even get started on clowns.
That makeup hides who-knows-what behind it. But as unsettling as finding a clown in your
room in the daytime might be, discovering one there at night might have you
wondering where the next pair of clean underwear is waiting. Perhaps the business truisms of transparency
and visibility that offer benefit because they de-mystify and make things clear
or easy-to-understand have an echo in life.
In life, a good dose of light seems to drive any monsters away (or at
least the monsters that may still reside in our imagination). Real monsters follow suit. Thieves typically prefer the dark for their
deeds. So do those among us who would
harm us; molesters, rapists, and killers.
In the light they may be caught.
If their victims shine a light on what they did, and who they are, they
will surely get caught. So for evil to
prosper, it prefers the dark, to the light of day.
It would seem the supernatural bent on scaring us follows
suit as well. Witches practice rites at
night. Ghosts, or demonic manifestations
of those known to be long dead, love to emerge at night. Perhaps these traditions are handed down
because the night makes it easier to scare us – whereas the full illumination
of daylight would reveal trickery and raise the comfort level of those
encountering these phenomena. True
supernatural manifestations do not actually require nighttime. The devil is just as comfortable attempting
to deceive in daylight as he is at night.
But the night does add an atmosphere of fear to it, that daylight
somehow seems to miss. When King Saul
sought the witch to bring him a manifestation of the dead prophet Samuel, he
went to her at night. The demonic
representation of Samuel, perhaps one of the earliest Biblical ghosts, appeared
in the fire of that night, to bring Saul a message of his own doom. Not exactly a happy ending. And a story every Jewish believer would have
become familiar with over the years.
Ironically perhaps one of the only events of “after death”
that Pharisees and Sadducees could agree upon was - that ghost was not
Samuel. Both would agree it was a
demonic manifestation attempting to impersonate Samuel, as neither side would
believe God would allow His prophet to be called forth by any witch. And demons were scattered all through Israel
in the time of Christ. The Sanhedrin
should have been the religious leadership body capable of casting demons out;
and keeping Israel fairly clean of them.
But this was not the case. The
Sanhedrin seemed unable to stop the plague of demon possession. So it would be nearly impossible for a
believing Jew to throw out the idea of ghosts, and still know that demons were
scattered all through the lands of Israel despite an ultra-conservative
Sanhedrin leadership. And when night
time arrived, anything supernatural is going to be immediately assumed to be
part of team evil. Even the angels who
came to sing of Jesus’ birth had to say fear not, before they could praise the
Lord in front the shepherds (watching their fields by night).
So Matthew begins to record his own tale of ghosts that
scared him nearly half to death. It
begins after an incredible day of miracles, from healing, to feeding a crowd of
5000 men, plus women and children.
Matthew picks up in his gospel in chapter fourteen picking up in verse
22 saying … “And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a
ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes
away. [verse 23] And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a
mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.” This would not be a tale of willing
participants. Matthew uses the word
“constrained” as he remembers how insistent Jesus was on the disciples getting
in to this boat and heading to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. It made no sense, again. The Sea of Galilee is not exactly a small
lake you can throw a stone across. It is
rather large. Sailing across it takes a
while with a good tail wind. And it is
much easier to sail than to try to hike around the edge of the Sea on
foot. How was Jesus going to catch up
with them? Was He saying goodbye? Was this it?
Apart from just loving to be around Jesus (who wouldn’t),
Matthew and his colleagues had real concerns for the safety of Jesus in this
crowd, in this region, and his ability to rejoin them any time soon. The disciples had no orders for what to do
when they reached the other side. What
then? Were they supposed to wait? To minister?
To setup a fishing camp? What? This is why Jesus nearly had to force them to
obey what He wanted. Once they did,
Jesus sent the multitude away, and went up a mountain to pray. He was there alone. Meanwhile Matthew records picking up in verse
24 saying … “But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves:
for the wind was contrary.” Picture a
microburst. Picture a water spout. Picture the terror of being on the middle of
the Sea of Galilee with only a few accomplished fishermen, the rest were
tradesmen of other crafts so pretty much useless in a Sea fairing crisis. The storm that comes is fierce, perhaps
fierce enough to interrupt the prayers of Jesus. There was no Coast Guard, no rescue ships,
nobody to save you. If your boat filled
up with water – you drowned. This was
not a casual bit of rain, it was a life and death struggle to survive, and it
was being done at night, when it is far more difficult to see in highly reduced
light (no moon, no stars, only thick clouds).
Matthew continues in verse 25 saying … “And in the fourth
watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. [verse 26] And
when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It
is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.”
First thing to remember is the disciples had NO idea this was Jesus
heading their way. All they saw was a
human form, that was a source of light, which would really stand out in the
darkness all around them. It was moving
at incredible speeds. Jesus was not
moving at a snail’s pace, or taking the time it would take a normal person to
walk the distance the disciples had already sailed before the storm kicked
up. That would take hours. This was happening in minutes. This form was moving across the waters at a
great speed, and for every step it took, the waves were smoothing out like
butter in front of it. Only a ghost
could do this, or a demon, bent on possessing one or all of them in that
boat. And they were terrified to a
man. Every one of them began screaming
like a cackle of little girls. Again
this all happening in seconds and minutes.
Matthew continues in verse 27 saying … “But straightway
Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.” Now let’s take a second look at this from the
perspective of Jesus. He is alone atop a
mountain in deep prayer with His Father.
This was not something new and unusual, this was a habit for Him. It usually happened at night, because He did
not want to deny His time with us during the day. So when we were all tired and heading to bed,
Jesus could not wait to get to talk to His Father. He would climb the nearest hilltop to be as
close as He could get, and begin His prayers.
So it was this night. But
something interrupts Him. He can sense
that the devil has begun a special attack on His crew out on the water,
intending to kill them all while Jesus is busy in prayer. The devil figures Jesus is too far away to
help them, so they are doomed men. But
the devil is wrong. Jesus stops praying
and does something the devil does not count on.
He moves across land and sea as if on a hover board. Each step He takes spans many feet in
distance below Him. And a journey that
might have taken hours is now ending in only minutes, the storm losing strength
as He nears the boat.
But Jesus finds His crew in terror, screaming at the top of
their lungs at His approach. He
immediately slows His pace so that their fears do not rise any further. He is close enough to speak out to them, but
not close enough to enter their boat yet.
The storm persists at the boat.
And Jesus announces who He is. He
is lit up, so plainly visible to their eyes.
But all they see is a ghost they believe is a demon attempting to
impersonate Him. They need more proof it
is really Him. Matthew continues in
verse 28 saying … “And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me
come unto thee on the water. [verse 29] And he said, Come. And when Peter was
come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.” Peter has an idea. No demon or ghost will ever help them out,
but Jesus would, so he asks to join Jesus on the water.
And it works. Matthew
continues in verse 30 saying … “But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was
afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. [verse 31] And
immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him,
O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” Matthew is more generous than other gospels
on this story. Matthew attributes
Peter’s doubt to the ferocity of the storm, but in truth there was more to it
than that. Other gospels record Peter
turning around to look back at the others still in the boat, and immediately he
sank. Nonetheless Peter cries out to
save him, as should we, ideally as do we – and the response of Jesus is, to
immediately stretch out His hand, catch Peter, and save Him. You will note, Jesus did not delay. He did not chide Peter about being dumb, and
tell Peter that he needs to do better, before Jesus is going to invest the time
in saving him. Peter does not need to
complete the Lord’s prayer first. Or
read up first. Or start attending
Wednesday prayer meetings first. There
were no pre-requirements. There was
Peter crying out to be saved, and Jesus saving him without delay. That is how it still works with us, no matter
what your church, family, or friends might tell you.
How we respond to the love of God, as we learn to love Him,
is a response to that incredible love.
It is not a pre-requisite to getting it.
Jesus simply reminds Peter that to focus on Him, would have kept that
faith strong. Asking Peter how he lost
his faith, is a gentle way of showing Peter the error of looking away from
Jesus, either to a storm, or to others.
The same holds true for us.
Looking at the crisis we face does nothing to make it better for us, but
looking to Jesus will. Looking to others
in the church will do nothing to increase our faith, but looking to Jesus
will. Nature disappoints. Humans disappoint. But Jesus does not. This lesson was not just meant for men who
were still recovering from a deep terror they felt only moments before, it is
for you and for me.
Matthew continues the epilogue in verse 32 saying … “And
when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. [verse 33] Then they that
were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son
of God.” As if His identity could ever
be in question again. The disciples
recognized Jesus as the Son of God. But
a few more subtleties for us to examine here.
First, as Jesus enters the boat, the entire storm is dissipated to nothing. Game over Satan. Satan, demons, and “ghosts” may be literally
out to kill you; they were trying to kill Jesus’ first followers. But Jesus wins those battles every time; we
need only look to Him. Nature obeys the
will of Jesus, Jesus is not captivated by the will of Nature. In addition, time and physics also bend to
the will of Jesus. His movement across
and land and sea to reach His disciples did not end there. Upon entering the boat, other gospels stated,
the boat was “immediately” at the destination they were originally sailing
for. The hover effect continued, or time
and space were folded, either way distance is no object for Jesus, then or now.
The disciples perhaps once feared the night, but no
more. They learned, as should we, that
dark is not something Jesus cannot see through.
He can rescue us from the dark we embrace, save us the moment we call
out to Him, and be with us when time and physics say it is impossible to reach
the destinations He may have in mind. From
this moment on, I would bet the disciples longed to see a human form lit up at
night, not fearing any ghost or demon, but instead hoping it would be Jesus
once again. When fear disappears, faith
and hope can emerge. No more shrieks of
terror, instead shouts of joy and hosanna to fill that night air. Were it me, I believe I would have collapsed
at the feet of Jesus unable to move, like a two-year-old content to curl up
under daddy’s chair. I have great
respect for the disciple’s ability to continue on in their journey with Jesus. And continue on they did; the miracles were
about to reveal even greater truth to them only moments away …
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