Matthew 14:22-36
July 25, 2021
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
34 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him 36 and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.
Read the whole passage: Matthew 14:22-36
- Not so long ago we covered Mark’s telling of this same event from Mark 6. How is Matthew’s telling of the story different than Mark’s? How is it the same?
Read Matthew 14:22-24
- How do you personally benefit from time spent alone with God? What is difficult about finding/making that time? How do you avoid distractions when you are spending that time?
Read Matthew 14:25-27
- Jesus tells the disciples to “take courage.” Where in your life do you need to take courage? What in your life is fearful for you right now? Where do you go when you need to find courage?
Read Matthew 14:28-31
This passage is classic Peter, a brash combination of fearlessness and failure. What other passages can you think of where Peter was fearless? What passages can you think of where Peter failed? Do you personally identify more with Peter’s fearlessness or his failure? How so?
In verse 30 Jesus refers to Peter as ‘you of little faith.’ And yet Peter had stepped out of the boat in response to Jesus’ invitation. When in the life have you been challenged to step out of your comfortable ‘boat’ in order to respond to something that Jesus was prompting you to do? How did that go? How did things work out?
Read Matthew 14:32-36
Track this progression:
Matthew 4: the Tempter says “If you are the son of God…”
Matthew 8: the demons address Jesus as Son of God
Matthew 14: Jesus’ disciples figure out that Jesus is the Son of God.
Matthew 16: Peter declares, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Matthew 26: The High Priest challenges Jesus, “Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”
Matthew 27: Religious leaders mocked his claim to be Son of God.
Matthew 27: The Roman centurion concludes, “Surely, He was the Son of God.”
Clearly the phrase “Son of God” is important in Matthew’s gospel.
What do you understand that phrase to mean?
What strikes you in the various ways people in Matthew’s gospel engaged the idea that Jesus was the Son of God?