What I learnt from Matthew 14
Welcome to another entry here at deposition of our faith. Thank you for joining us!
This is Week 23.
(Although you can start from anywhere, we encourage you to read up on previous posts as well as some articles lead into the next one).
Scripture Reading: Matthew 14
In a Bible study session last week, I read Matthew 14. Upon meditation, I learnt a lot of lessons from the chapter and I thought I should share those lessons here.
I shall be writing the passages in sectioned chunks, along with what I learnt from each section just beneath each concluded section.
So let’s begin!
Matthew 14:1–12 narrates the circumstances that eventually led up to the execution of John the Baptist. I did not include the passage here because it is a bit lengthy and it was mainly expository.
However, from chapter 13, I began to learn:
Verse 13–14
When Jesus heard of it (John the Baptist’s death), he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.
Jesus demonstrates his life of sacrificial living. He probably departed into the wilderness to mourn. Maybe to be alone with his thoughts. Maybe to pray and fast. But, the multitude gathered unto him, many beaten and battered, many in pains under affliction. He healed their sick. He had compassion on them and healed their sick. That is Jesus Christ, the embodiment of God. God prioritises us more than anything. He wishes above all things that we prosper and be in health.
Jesus is an example to us all, that we should live a life of sacrifice, and not convenience.
Proverbs 3:27 says, “Don’t withhold good from someone who deserves it, when it is in your power to do so.”
John 15:12 says, “This is my commandment: love each other just as I have loved you.”
Verse 15–19
And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. He said, Bring them hither to me.
This scripture literally jumped on me even though we’ve all heard and retold it so many times.
We often overlook it, but here, Jesus demonstrates who He is as the way to life, not a way.
When the disciples told him to tell the multitudes to go on their way and buy bread for themselves, he said nobody should go anywhere to get bread when they already have bread available here.
And this makes sense, considering who Jesus is. I mean, there is no way he can say, “come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy-laden and I will give thee rest”, and then turn around and say, “Okay if you are looking for rest, go to a hotel or something”. In this scripture, Jesus was demonstrating that He is the final solution to all our struggles. Not in some philosophical way, but in practical terms.
Here, Jesus showed us that literally no situation can ever warrant you leaving the household of faith to seek a solution. He is always up to the task.
“But God, I have nothing. I don’t have a degree, I don’t have a killer business startup idea, I don’t have anything that can help me get the solution I seek. What do I do with my backlog of debt, poverty, pain?”
God says, like he said through the mouth of Jesus in Matthew 14:18, “Bring them hither to me.”
Jesus is that bread of life.
Verse 19–21
And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.
5 loaves of bread and two fish without God cannot feed thousands. In fact, 1000 loaves of bread and 400 fishes would barely give every one a bite.
This scripture is a retelling of a miracle.
However, what stood out to me was that God is saying to us that the volume is not the problem. The source is the problem. The attitude with which you receive is the problem. Your perspective is the problem.
And, if you are the problem, leaving to find solution elsewhere is not going to help you in the slightest.
This much is true in our world. I mean, 5 loaves of bread and two fish received with thanksgiving was enough to feed thousands in this scripture. However, many of us have more than five loaves of bread, more than two pieces of fish, and we are still hungry and insatiable. The world is full of rich people (in material terms) who can buy whatever they want, but can’t seem to afford the things they need. Sometimes, it’s not about how much we have, because if we don’t change our attitude; our perspective, then we won’t see much in what we have been given. We always complain, and the things we have never even seem to be enough. Everybody pretends like not having a million dollars is their biggest problem until they have it, and suddenly not having $10m dollars becomes their biggest problem.
Verse 22–26
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. 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. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
A quick lesson I learned here is that, sometimes, the problem is not the storm. The problem is that you cannot walk on water. Even in a storm, imagine who is more disadvantaged: is it the person who is alone, with no vessel, or a person who is in a boat on troubled waters?
Yet, the people in the boat, who had a semblance of security in the form of the vessel they were occupying, were more afraid than the one who was standing in the tempest without a vessel.
This scripture reminds me of the one where Jesus was asleep in a tempest (Mark 4:37–39). It wasn’t that there was no storm, but that he trusted in God so much that it gave him peace that surpasses understanding. The situation notwithstanding. We are too concerned sometimes with the events of our lives, that we forget that our response is more important than these events. The events of life can throw us off balance, because we live in a chaotic world. However, it is our response that ends up determining our outcome, so we don’t have to be victims of our circumstances.
Verse 27–29
But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
God calls Peter to dominate like he dominated. God wants you to win. God is not afraid of any man sharing the spotlight. God wants every one of us to be in absolute command of our affairs. This really means a lot to me because it shows us that God loves us. Sometimes other human beings may want you to shine, but may become threatened by your rising and not want to share the spotlight. However, God is not trying to hog attention or, most importantly, success. God wants you to prosper.
Verse 30–31
But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
Without hesitation, God saves.
God did not leave Peter to drown a little so that he could teach him a lesson in having great faith. As soon as Peter cried, ‘Lord, save me’, the Lord saved Him. Even though your failures teach you, and you can learn from your defeats, it is not God’s will that you suffer defeat and failure.
No parent wants his child to suffer a car accident so that he can understand why to drive safely; the child may not survive it. Nobody wants their child to flunk out of school so that he can understand the value of hard work.
Everybody would rather that their child just listen to instruction, however, its often not the case. So, sometimes, failure teaches us the lessons we were not able to learn the right way. Experience is only the best teacher because humans are the worst students.
Another “bonus” lesson I learnt from these last verses:
Jesus called Peter a man of little faith. Peter had just walked the distance of a few feet on water. This shows the enormous potential that even our mustard seed faith can have.
Even as baby christians, as young believers, we don’t have to wait till we are full grown lions to command respect over a house cat. Our level of authority in simply believing the finished work of Christ puts us in command of so much already. We are seated with him far above in heavenly places. That alone is enough to show us that we are not supposed to be meat for the enemy.
However, your level of command is always at the mercy of your understanding; your awareness. You can stumble in the dark and bang your shins on as many bedposts even if you have a flashlight in your backpack. You need to be mindful of the fact that you have that light on you before you can even remember to use it. Having a flashlight won’t make a difference if you don’t remember.
Thank you for joining us this week!
Hope to see you soon again.
