"Seeing God" - A Sermon on Matthew 14 by Gracia Grindal
Dear Hearers of the Word of God, Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
IN JESUS GOD MAKES THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE
Three things—1) the context for our lesson today 2) Jesus is God 3) the nature of faith 4) with a surprise
As we ponder the lesson for today, it is important to remember what has just happened to Jesus. He had preached the parables of the sower and the four kinds of soil from the kind that rejects the seed, to the soil that is rocky and can’t sustain growth, to the kind with weeds where some can grow, to the good soil. Matthew illustrates the truth of the parable in what happens next. Jesus goes to his hometown, Nazareth, to speak in the synagogue. He is rejected because they cannot believe a hometown boy could speak and do such mighty works. Then Jesus heard that Herod had beheaded John the Baptist, his cousin and pastor. Herod who was angry with John for his preaching against his marriage, had thrown him in jail, but did not dare to kill him until he swears an oath to his new wife’s daughter that she can have whatever she wants and she requests the head of the prophet on a platter which he reluctantly has to do. Jesus, obviously grieved by the news, went by boat to a deserted place to pray, but the crowds thronged along the shore after him. Out of compassion, he healed their sick, and then as it was late and they were far from any town, he told the disciples to feed the five thousand and then the miracle he performed with the five loaves and two fish. He must have been exhausted with grief and his uninterrupted care for those flocking around him. He dismisses the crowd and set his disciples on their way, on a boat, so he could go up the mountain to pray. Finally he was alone. As he prayed the boat struggled against the winds and waves. You can see a version of this in the third window to your left, on the bottom side. Jesus on the water walking toward the boat being watched by his astonished disciples in the boat.
That is the context.
Now who is Jesus? THE INVISIBLE GOD MADE VISIBLE I AM
Jesus is walking on the water! At first the disciples are terrified, they wonder what it is. Is it a ghost? What manner of ghost might it be. they cry out in fear. Jesus hears their cry, their prayer, really and says, Take heart; it is I; do not be afraid. It is I. Here we need to stop for a little Greek lesson. When Jesus says It is I, in Greek he is saying ego emi what Jahweh says to Moses from the burning bush—I AM—Take heart, I am God, fear not! I AM
This is an amazing thing for these quaking disciples to hear. That their master is God. They knew he had power to do miracles, and that when he taught he taught as no one they had ever heard, but being a holy man or prophet is one thing, being God is quite another. Every appearance in scriptures of a divine messenger or angel includes this “fear not.” Zecharias hears it, Mary hears it, Joseph hears it, the shepherds hear it, Fear not! Why? Because the appearance of these messengers from another realm scares the living daylights out of them, as it would any of us here, should we be blessed enough to receive such a visitor. I AM! Shivver me timbers! We don’t stand in the presence of the holy very much these days. But if we did and if we were given the faith to see it, we would fall to our knees and know of our unworthiness to stand before the Lord. Now think about God—who is all holy. Holiness is like a fire scripture says, that consumes everything around it. If God is holy, I can’t be near him without a mediator. Jesus is that go between. but he is still God. Most meetings with Jesus begin with the person falling to his or her knees, crying out, Lord have mercy on me, a sinner. Here is where all worship begins. When we realize that God is God and all holy and we are not. You know it well. Think back to a time when you had such a moment—standing in a great cathedral, before a great mountain, heard a great piece of music, gave birth to your child, kept watch as a beloved parent dies, you can name such a moment when you knew you were in the presence of something beyond you and it caused you some kind of worship and awe, even if the moment was heartbreakingly sad. One could argue that people nowadays don’t have these moments, that people have no respect for things beyond themselves in this narcissistic age, and that may be, but I would imagine everyone here has had such a moment. The Christian faith is all about such surprises because we believe that God has come to us in Jesus. He wants to be with us to show us that other kingdom. He is holy and God. He is so perfect, we might say, He can walk on water!
Three—this holiness causes faith. Faith is the belief in what is invisible. Peter is our guide in this story. He is stunned to hear his Master’s voice and cries out, If it is you, command me to come to you on the water. He seems overwhelmed with the desire to be with and serve his Lord. When Jesus says, calmly, Come. Peter steps out on the water and begins to walk toward Jesus. As long as his eyes are on the Lord, things are fine, but then he sees the wind roiling the waves around fiercely and fears for his life. Anxiety chokes out his faith and he begins to sink. Save me Lord, he cries and Jesus reaches out to take his hand and saves him. Only after Peter is safe, does Jesus upbraid him. O ye of little faith, why did you doubt?
They climb into the boat and the wind ceases. The disciples having witnessed this theophany as it is called, the appearance of a God, worship him and say, Truly you are the son of God.
Back to Peter. What does this story have to say for us? Lets try some ways to think about it. In the past 60 so years we have had it pretty good, here, on the whole. We have been relatively prosperous and peaceful. We have seemed to be in charge of our futures and our own lives. The invisible powers around us have not seemed very present, and we may have suffered the illusion that we were quite self-sufficient, thank you, but just listening to the news of this last week we can feel anxious and almost overcome by fear and distress. Wars in the Mideast, brutal murderous armies crucifying, raping and beheading our Christian brothers and sisters in Africa and the Near East, Russia on the brink of invading Ukraine, passenger planes disappearing from the skies, our southern border being overwhelmed by immigrants as young as five, the ebola virus seeming to be on the loose and infecting travelers from all parts of the world as people traveling flee certain death. Our culture is deeply divided, almost like in a cold civil war, and instead of talking things through we hurl names and labels at each other to win the argument. Winds and waves it seems that threaten to undo us. What are we to do? How can we live confidently and faithfully serving our Lord and neighbor in such a time?
Like Peter, Jesus is calling us to get out of the boat and come to him, follow him. Peter shows us that we are okay as long as we are looking to Jesus and not the anxieties roiling around us. To look away from Jesus is to lose faith in Jesus who is Lord both of the wind and the waves. Looking at jesus we can stand in the roiling waves and serve him.
O ye of little faith Jesus scolds. What is faith? The book of Hebrews says it is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Faith has to do with what cannot be seen, a sense for another reality, another realm, the kingdom of heaven. The disciples in the boat and Peter have just caught a glimpse of that. The Christian is always walking with head cocked, looking into the invisible world of faith—because he or she believes that something else is going on in this world that we cannot see, but believe is true. Jesus came to show as that world, but not even the disciples got that when he was here. They had to have moments like this when the other world broke in on them miraculously and then for a bit they would believe. It was only after the resurrection that they fully got it.
Christians have a sense for the truth of the invisible in their lives. Sometimes people have thought they were crazy for this. Lately, some have been appalled to hear of the medical missionaries who have contracted the Ebola virus, some of whom have died, but some now who may survive after treatment in Georgia. If this is the only world there is, then they are as Paul says in I Corinthians 15, fools to be pitied, even if they are doing good deeds. But these men and women believe in the new reality that Jesus showed the disciples when he came to them out of the darkness saying Take courage, I AM, fear not. With confidence in the Lord’s command, they can step out into the stormy sea for Jesus’ sake.
And the really crazy thing about them is that they are giving up their lives so that others might glimpse that other reality and come to the knowledge of salvation so they too can experience the abundant life Jesus promises us. Africa today is afire with the gospel, which is one reason the conflicts are so great in Nigeria, for example. The Gospel is on the move there.
We started with the people of Jesus’ hometown rejecting him, Herod beheading John the Baptist, out of lust for Salome, Jesus using the doubts of the disbelieving disciples to feed the five thousand, and finally appearing to the disciples as God. A tough few days for our Lord—rejection, grief, constant care for the sick, feeding the hungry, dealing with Peter’s little faith. Like the sower in his parable he watched the seed in the ground and how it grew.
Faith believes in what is not seen. It grows hidden in the soil, and then suddenly we see it bloom.
Here is the surprise. Finally, they land on the other shore, in Genneserat, where the gospel had not been preached before. People gathered the sick to bring to Jesus, they came from all parts to hear and be saved. This was truly good soil: the seeds grew 60 and 100 fold. A miracle!
Jesus God’s Son, the visible proof of the invisible, among us giving us faith and sending us out into the world with his gospel no matter how rough the waves! He will go with us wherever he calls us to serve. And we can go with confidence because he is the living God. What joy!
Pray my dear friends that you will be given the faith to glimpse this other reality and hear our Lord’s I AM as he comes to you out of the darkness to lead you into the light! It can happen anytime! Even here!
Gracia Grindal
Luther Seminary and member of LQ Board of Directors
PS: the preacher is indebted to the work of Frederick Dale Bruners' Matthew: A Commentary, The Churchbook Matthew (Eerdmans, 2007), pages 13-28, for the idea that Matthew 14 shows us the way the word is like the seeds falling on different soils.
IN JESUS GOD MAKES THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE
Three things—1) the context for our lesson today 2) Jesus is God 3) the nature of faith 4) with a surprise
As we ponder the lesson for today, it is important to remember what has just happened to Jesus. He had preached the parables of the sower and the four kinds of soil from the kind that rejects the seed, to the soil that is rocky and can’t sustain growth, to the kind with weeds where some can grow, to the good soil. Matthew illustrates the truth of the parable in what happens next. Jesus goes to his hometown, Nazareth, to speak in the synagogue. He is rejected because they cannot believe a hometown boy could speak and do such mighty works. Then Jesus heard that Herod had beheaded John the Baptist, his cousin and pastor. Herod who was angry with John for his preaching against his marriage, had thrown him in jail, but did not dare to kill him until he swears an oath to his new wife’s daughter that she can have whatever she wants and she requests the head of the prophet on a platter which he reluctantly has to do. Jesus, obviously grieved by the news, went by boat to a deserted place to pray, but the crowds thronged along the shore after him. Out of compassion, he healed their sick, and then as it was late and they were far from any town, he told the disciples to feed the five thousand and then the miracle he performed with the five loaves and two fish. He must have been exhausted with grief and his uninterrupted care for those flocking around him. He dismisses the crowd and set his disciples on their way, on a boat, so he could go up the mountain to pray. Finally he was alone. As he prayed the boat struggled against the winds and waves. You can see a version of this in the third window to your left, on the bottom side. Jesus on the water walking toward the boat being watched by his astonished disciples in the boat.
That is the context.
Now who is Jesus? THE INVISIBLE GOD MADE VISIBLE I AM
Jesus is walking on the water! At first the disciples are terrified, they wonder what it is. Is it a ghost? What manner of ghost might it be. they cry out in fear. Jesus hears their cry, their prayer, really and says, Take heart; it is I; do not be afraid. It is I. Here we need to stop for a little Greek lesson. When Jesus says It is I, in Greek he is saying ego emi what Jahweh says to Moses from the burning bush—I AM—Take heart, I am God, fear not! I AM
This is an amazing thing for these quaking disciples to hear. That their master is God. They knew he had power to do miracles, and that when he taught he taught as no one they had ever heard, but being a holy man or prophet is one thing, being God is quite another. Every appearance in scriptures of a divine messenger or angel includes this “fear not.” Zecharias hears it, Mary hears it, Joseph hears it, the shepherds hear it, Fear not! Why? Because the appearance of these messengers from another realm scares the living daylights out of them, as it would any of us here, should we be blessed enough to receive such a visitor. I AM! Shivver me timbers! We don’t stand in the presence of the holy very much these days. But if we did and if we were given the faith to see it, we would fall to our knees and know of our unworthiness to stand before the Lord. Now think about God—who is all holy. Holiness is like a fire scripture says, that consumes everything around it. If God is holy, I can’t be near him without a mediator. Jesus is that go between. but he is still God. Most meetings with Jesus begin with the person falling to his or her knees, crying out, Lord have mercy on me, a sinner. Here is where all worship begins. When we realize that God is God and all holy and we are not. You know it well. Think back to a time when you had such a moment—standing in a great cathedral, before a great mountain, heard a great piece of music, gave birth to your child, kept watch as a beloved parent dies, you can name such a moment when you knew you were in the presence of something beyond you and it caused you some kind of worship and awe, even if the moment was heartbreakingly sad. One could argue that people nowadays don’t have these moments, that people have no respect for things beyond themselves in this narcissistic age, and that may be, but I would imagine everyone here has had such a moment. The Christian faith is all about such surprises because we believe that God has come to us in Jesus. He wants to be with us to show us that other kingdom. He is holy and God. He is so perfect, we might say, He can walk on water!
Three—this holiness causes faith. Faith is the belief in what is invisible. Peter is our guide in this story. He is stunned to hear his Master’s voice and cries out, If it is you, command me to come to you on the water. He seems overwhelmed with the desire to be with and serve his Lord. When Jesus says, calmly, Come. Peter steps out on the water and begins to walk toward Jesus. As long as his eyes are on the Lord, things are fine, but then he sees the wind roiling the waves around fiercely and fears for his life. Anxiety chokes out his faith and he begins to sink. Save me Lord, he cries and Jesus reaches out to take his hand and saves him. Only after Peter is safe, does Jesus upbraid him. O ye of little faith, why did you doubt?
They climb into the boat and the wind ceases. The disciples having witnessed this theophany as it is called, the appearance of a God, worship him and say, Truly you are the son of God.
Back to Peter. What does this story have to say for us? Lets try some ways to think about it. In the past 60 so years we have had it pretty good, here, on the whole. We have been relatively prosperous and peaceful. We have seemed to be in charge of our futures and our own lives. The invisible powers around us have not seemed very present, and we may have suffered the illusion that we were quite self-sufficient, thank you, but just listening to the news of this last week we can feel anxious and almost overcome by fear and distress. Wars in the Mideast, brutal murderous armies crucifying, raping and beheading our Christian brothers and sisters in Africa and the Near East, Russia on the brink of invading Ukraine, passenger planes disappearing from the skies, our southern border being overwhelmed by immigrants as young as five, the ebola virus seeming to be on the loose and infecting travelers from all parts of the world as people traveling flee certain death. Our culture is deeply divided, almost like in a cold civil war, and instead of talking things through we hurl names and labels at each other to win the argument. Winds and waves it seems that threaten to undo us. What are we to do? How can we live confidently and faithfully serving our Lord and neighbor in such a time?
Like Peter, Jesus is calling us to get out of the boat and come to him, follow him. Peter shows us that we are okay as long as we are looking to Jesus and not the anxieties roiling around us. To look away from Jesus is to lose faith in Jesus who is Lord both of the wind and the waves. Looking at jesus we can stand in the roiling waves and serve him.
O ye of little faith Jesus scolds. What is faith? The book of Hebrews says it is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Faith has to do with what cannot be seen, a sense for another reality, another realm, the kingdom of heaven. The disciples in the boat and Peter have just caught a glimpse of that. The Christian is always walking with head cocked, looking into the invisible world of faith—because he or she believes that something else is going on in this world that we cannot see, but believe is true. Jesus came to show as that world, but not even the disciples got that when he was here. They had to have moments like this when the other world broke in on them miraculously and then for a bit they would believe. It was only after the resurrection that they fully got it.
Christians have a sense for the truth of the invisible in their lives. Sometimes people have thought they were crazy for this. Lately, some have been appalled to hear of the medical missionaries who have contracted the Ebola virus, some of whom have died, but some now who may survive after treatment in Georgia. If this is the only world there is, then they are as Paul says in I Corinthians 15, fools to be pitied, even if they are doing good deeds. But these men and women believe in the new reality that Jesus showed the disciples when he came to them out of the darkness saying Take courage, I AM, fear not. With confidence in the Lord’s command, they can step out into the stormy sea for Jesus’ sake.
And the really crazy thing about them is that they are giving up their lives so that others might glimpse that other reality and come to the knowledge of salvation so they too can experience the abundant life Jesus promises us. Africa today is afire with the gospel, which is one reason the conflicts are so great in Nigeria, for example. The Gospel is on the move there.
We started with the people of Jesus’ hometown rejecting him, Herod beheading John the Baptist, out of lust for Salome, Jesus using the doubts of the disbelieving disciples to feed the five thousand, and finally appearing to the disciples as God. A tough few days for our Lord—rejection, grief, constant care for the sick, feeding the hungry, dealing with Peter’s little faith. Like the sower in his parable he watched the seed in the ground and how it grew.
Faith believes in what is not seen. It grows hidden in the soil, and then suddenly we see it bloom.
Here is the surprise. Finally, they land on the other shore, in Genneserat, where the gospel had not been preached before. People gathered the sick to bring to Jesus, they came from all parts to hear and be saved. This was truly good soil: the seeds grew 60 and 100 fold. A miracle!
Jesus God’s Son, the visible proof of the invisible, among us giving us faith and sending us out into the world with his gospel no matter how rough the waves! He will go with us wherever he calls us to serve. And we can go with confidence because he is the living God. What joy!
Pray my dear friends that you will be given the faith to glimpse this other reality and hear our Lord’s I AM as he comes to you out of the darkness to lead you into the light! It can happen anytime! Even here!
Gracia Grindal
Luther Seminary and member of LQ Board of Directors
PS: the preacher is indebted to the work of Frederick Dale Bruners' Matthew: A Commentary, The Churchbook Matthew (Eerdmans, 2007), pages 13-28, for the idea that Matthew 14 shows us the way the word is like the seeds falling on different soils.