The Gospel according to Matthew
1-2. The ancestry and birth of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.
3-4. Jesus’ ministry begins; John’s baptism, Satan’s temptations, first disciples called.
5-7. A summary of Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, crowds were astounded.
8-9. An account of Jesus’ healings; the authority of Jesus is questioned and defended.
10-12. Jesus sends apostles on a short-term mission; then continues his own ministry.
13. Jesus ministers through parables for the crowds and explanations for the disciples.
14-17. Tension mounts as opposition grows while Jesus’ reputation spreads.
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Jesus is going through some troubling times. He began in a flash of popularity, but as you can see, when a presidential or vice-presidential candidate is announced, his or her fame encourages opposing figures to sift through the past to see if they can dig up some dirt to undermine the rising star. As you are well aware, the incident doesn’t even have to be true; it can be twisted to make the person seem different than they really are. And the question of who Jesus really is seems to bother everyone from the ruler, Herod, down the Scribes and Pharisees, then to the disciples, and even some people in the crowds.
It is most important for Jesus to reveal his true self to the disciples for they must carry on the work of announcing the arrival of God’s reign on earth which will bring God’s wrath and God’s grace. In the previous chapter (13), Jesus switched his preaching to parables in order to amuse the crowds while teaching the disciples deeper spiritual truths. His only activity was to preach in the synagogue in his hometown, and there he was rejected because they thought they knew him; only the carpenter’s son, son of Mary, brother to many siblings in their community. In responding, Jesus referred to himself as a prophet, noting that “prophets are not without honor except in their own country and in their own house.” Then Jesus ran into the crowds again, and having compassion on them, he healed and taught them.
14: 22-24. Immediately he made the disciples get into a boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them.
The first line here is nearly the same as in Mark, one of the main sources whose outline Matthew is following. Even the use of “immediately,” which is a Marcan characteristic, is copied. Matthew does omit the phrase, “to Bethsaida” having only “to the other side.” This raises the question of where Jesus was preaching and then fed the crowd. The text does not help because the last we read, Jesus was in his hometown, probably meaning Nazareth, which is not on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Matthew next tells us about John’s death, after which Jesus retreats to a quiet place. This appears to be somewhere along the western shore of the sea, because, after ministering to the crowds, Jesus immediately instructs the disciples to leave by boat. Perhaps their destination was across a bay heading north because straight across the sea would take them back to the eastern shore, and that was Herod’s territory.
Luke does not have the story at all, so no help there. John does have the story, and it is close to the Marcan account. Neither Mark nor John have the bit about Peter trying to walk on the water, only Matthew reports that episode. Finally, John records that they were trying to row to Capernaum. Capernaum and Bethsaida are both on the north shore. At any rate, they were not making any headway against the wind and waves, and in fact were blown out to sea.
14: 25-27. And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Matthew, as well as Mark and John, agree that the disciples were terrified when they saw someone coming toward them, and Matthew and Mark add that they thought he was a ghost. This highlights again the central question here: Who is Jesus? The answer will move the disciples a step closer to a full realization of who Jesus is. Perhaps we all move that way, step by step to a better understanding and a closer relationship with Jesus.
Jesus is certainly in character here. First, he speaks comforting words to defuse their fear. Then Jesus utters a phrase that looks like what we would say: “It’s me.” However, there is at least a hint here of things past and things to come. The Greek phrase, ‘Ego eimi’, takes on a growing identification of Jesus with God himself. Remember that, in Exodus, God introduces himself to Moses in Hebrew as ‘Ehyah asher Ehyah’, either “I Am that I Am’ or ‘I will be what I will be’. In Greek, ‘I am’ is ego eimi. Finally, Jesus calms their fears with “Do not be afraid.”
14: 28-33. Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Remember that Matthew is a disciple, and he was an eyewitness to this event; unlike Mark and Luke. Matthew knew this part of the story, and perhaps even consulted with Peter about it to refresh his memory.
Before we jump to the phrase that we all know, “You of little faith,” consider this. All of the disciples were terrified. None of the other disciples spoke directly to Jesus. None of the other disciples made a move to get out of the boat and join Jesus, which, by the way, is the role of a disciple, to follow the master. Finally, none of the disciples stepped out with even a little faith to walk on the water to Jesus. Give those things to Peter, at least. Also, think about this when you see someone in your congregation step out and try something new that may have come to them from the Lord. At least they are responding. What are you doing?
Yes, Peter did get distracted by the conditions of life. Don’t we all? Notice that Peter did not have a team of disciples around him stepping out together on this new venture; he was by himself. Peter kept the presence of mind to figure one thing out; he knew that he was sinking and he knew that he had a Savior nearby.
The conclusion of this story is another step on the disciples’ journey of discovering who Jesus is, what Jesus is capable of doing, and what their relationship with him should look like. Back in the boat, all of them worshiped Jesus for the first time. And, they recited part of the creed: “You are the Son of God.”
14: 34-36. When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. After the people of that place recognized him, they sent word to that whole surrounding region, and people brought all who were sick to him and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.
Mark had them heading toward Bethsaida, John had them heading toward Capernaum; but Matthew tells us that they fetched up on the shore at the village of Gennesaret. This village is on the western shore, not as far north as Capernaum or Bethsaida. So, assuming that they rowed out from the area between Tiberias and Magdala, they did not make it very far in miles, but they did go a long way in their understanding of Jesus.
By contrast, the crowds are the same. They see Jesus only as a healer, though they are not sure how he does it. Their guess about touching the fringes of his cloak seems like magic, and it is what is called ‘contagious’ magic. Anthropologists define this as the belief that when something comes into contact with something else, then they remain in contact, so that touching or using one thing draws the power of the other thing. The other major kind of magic is ‘sympathetic’ magic, the belief that if one follows the same steps in performing some ritual, then the same results will occur.
Earlier, Jesus did not correct the woman with a hemorrhage when she believed this, and apparently he does not do so here either. Remember that, to the woman he said, “Your faith has made you whole.” Jesus did not say, “Touching my cloak made you whole.”