Getting Job-ed
Meanwhile, the boat was already some distance from land, battered by the waves, because the wind was against them. Jesus came toward them walking on the sea very early in the morning. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost!” they said, and they cried out in fear. Immediately Jesus spoke to them. “Have courage! I AM. Do not be afraid.” “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter answered him, “command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” And climbing out of the boat, Peter started walking on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand, caught hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those in the boat worshiped him and said, “Truly you are the Son of God.” Matthew 14:24-33 CSB/Greek Interlinear
How are the seas looking like in your life these days? I rarely actually read the news, I just look at the headlines actually. But it’s incredible how fast something can be in the headline narrative in how lethal a situation can sound and then it’s like overnight (or sometimes hourly really), the gears can switch and it’s on to the next fearful and dreadful topic- hardly hearing of the last topic that was basically a huge asteroid that was on collision course to destroy the earth (I feel like that topic comes and goes also haha!).
Do Not Fear
Many times in the Bible we are commanded not to fear (Isaiah 41:10 is one to commit to memory, click on the verse and it’ll route you to Bible Gateway). But let’s look at the opening section above. The disciples are out in a boat and getting knocked around by waves, they see something that looks like a ghost walking on water, and, rightfully so, they were terrified. What is interesting is how Jesus responds to them.
There is a distinction in the Greek here on what Jesus says. Most English translations say something in the realm of “have courage, it is I, don’t be afraid.” However, in the Greek, the same word that is translated to “it is I” is Ego Eimi or “I AM.” That is the same Greek word used in John 8:58 that Jesus uses to equivalent Himself to the Old Testament “I AM” or YAHWEH (click ‘here‘ to be rerouted to the article describing Jesus as the Ego Eimi). This seems like semantics, but it’s huge actually. That weight that goes behind saying I AM would be saying something like this: “Take courage. I AM, I am in complete control of the waves. Do not be afraid.”
Petros
So that brings us to Peter. Jesus just refers to Himself as I AM and Peter is ready to walk on the water to Him. Jesus tells him to come and Peter steps out. Peter takes a look around and sees the strength of the wind and becomes afraid (against the command of Jesus) and sinks. I heard a pastor one time state the irony of Peter is that his name (Petros) means ‘rock’ and here Peter is sinking like a rock. Jesus reaches out and saves him saying, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
This brings us to today. We have Jesus saying, “I AM in control, nothing happens outside of my Sovereign reign, why are you afraid? Why are you doubting?” What are we afraid of? Jesus reigns! I absolutely love the line of Hope Darst’s song Peace Be Still: I don’t want to be afraid, ’cause these waves are only waves (2020).” News flash if you haven’t read Revelation (and noted in other parts of Scripture), Jesus wins! We know that because when Jesus makes a claim of “I AM” (I will be who I will be- unchanging, never-ending, eternal, etc.), He will see to it (Piper, 2020) that His purposes will come about in the end. We have nothing to be afraid of when we have faith in the I AM.
Bibliography
Darst, Hope. Peace Be Still. Fair Trade Services, 2020.
Piper, John. Providence. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020.
