Os Guinness tells us in his book In Two Minds, “To believe is to be ‘in one mind’ about accepting something as true; to disbelieve is to be ‘in one mind’ about rejecting it. To doubt is to waver between the two, to believe and disbelieve at once and so be ‘in two minds’.”(1)
This morning we are going to look at a situation in which Jesus’ disciples were in two minds. They neither totally believed nor totally disbelieved Jesus’ power to rescue them. After examining this account we are going to realize that we too are often in two minds; as we find ourselves in doubt concerning Jesus’ power in our lives.
Hopefully by the time this message is over, we will realize that we need to be in one mind. We need to either admit that we believe Jesus, or admit that we don’t. We can’t ride the fence when it comes to faith in Christ. We are going to learn that we must be in one mind about our faith in Jesus and keep our eyes fixed only on Him before we can expect to see Him work in our lives.
He Has our Back (vv. 22-23)
22 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. 23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there.
We see here that Jesus sent His disciples away, and then He ascended into a mountain to pray. H. A. Ironside tells us that this account represents the day when Jesus would ascend into heaven and no longer be present among His followers. It represents the day when Jesus’ followers “would be left to make their way alone, as it were, across the troubled sea of earthly circumstances, looking forward to the time when they would again behold their Savior.”(2)
That day of longing for Jesus is now present, as He is currently seated at the right hand of the Father. However, that doesn’t mean He is so distant that He can’t hear us when we cry out to Him; and He is not so far away that He can’t help us in our times of trouble. Remember that Jesus has your back.
Jesus may have sent His disciples ahead of Him into the wild blue yonder, and they may have thought that they were all alone, but they were not lacking His help. From that high mountaintop, Jesus was interceding on behalf of His disciples and covering them with holy prayer.
Today, Jesus is interceding for us from the heights of heaven. Based on Hebrews 7:25, Ironside says, “He has gone up on high where He ever liveth to make intercession for us.”(3) Allow me to read for you this verse from Hebrews: “He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Jesus is alive and well, and He lives to help us. We are under God’s protection through Jesus Christ no matter what the circumstances, and no matter what life may throw our way, because Jesus is always interceding on our behalf.
He is With Us (vv. 24-27)
24 But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. 25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”
Verse 24 tells us that the wind became very rough and the disciples’ boat was getting tossed to and from. The account from Mark tells us that the disciples were “straining and rowing,” (Mark 6:48) emphasizing that they had to fight for their survival. The disciples must have been frightened at that moment, and probably wondered why Jesus was not there to rescue them.
We can all feel this way sometimes. We might feel like the weight of the world is against us, just waiting to crash down on top of us. We can feel a lot like the disciples of whom the Scripture says were “straining and rowing,” trying to keep their heads above the water; and we wonder where Jesus is when we really need Him. Many of us are overloaded with work, and the bills keep piling up; and at the same time our house is falling apart because we have neither the time nor the money to fix it. We can feel like we’re all alone and that no one really understands or cares about our situation. We may be struggling, but does that mean that Jesus is not with us? Does it mean He doesn’t hear us or care?
Many times in life we seek to turn and run the other direction, but I want to point out that we can never outrun a storm. We can never run from our problems. We must press onward through the storm before we can be clear of it. Jesus won’t always lift us out of the storm, but He will give us strength for the journey; and as Psalm 119:105 reveals, He will be a “lamp unto our feet” and a “light unto our path” to guide the way.
Ironside tells us, “The people of God have been frequently placed in such circumstances during the time that the Lord [Jesus] has been ministering on high in the presence of the Father, and God’s dear people have often thought themselves forsaken and forgotten, but His eye has ever been upon them.”(4) There is one thing we must never forget in our trials and troubles, and that is the fact that Jesus is always there for us. His eye is always on the sparrow. He is Emmanuel – God with us.
The disciples apparently didn’t remember this fact or even realize it, because they were frightened of both the storm and the presence of Jesus. We read that Jesus came to them in the fourth watch of the night walking on the sea. The fourth watch of the night would have been around 3 a.m.,(5) which is an hour that many people today call “the unholy hour,” believed to be a time of haunting and evil spirits. Someone walking on the sea at 3 a.m. would certainly have been enough to make anyone afraid. You can hardly blame the disciples for their reaction.
Even though the disciples had an apparent reason to be afraid, at that moment they credited more reality and power to evil spirits than they did to Jesus. Have you ever considered that when we doubt Jesus we are crediting Satan with more power than God? Remember also that whatever we ascribe power to is what we worship. We need to learn to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus at all times, or we might wind up worshipping the enemy, and his sole purpose is to make us afraid.
In verse 27 we see that Jesus sensed the disciples’ fear and He said, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” William Barclay says, “In life the wind is often contrary. There are times when we are up against it, and when life is a desperate struggle with ourselves, with our circumstances, with our temptations, with our sorrows, and with our decisions. At such a time no man has to struggle alone, for Jesus comes to him across the storms of life, with a hand stretched out to save, and with His calm clear voice bidding us to be of good courage, and not to be afraid.”(6)
We Still Doubt Him (vv. 28-30)
28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
Isn’t Peter’s reaction to Jesus somewhat similar to ours? He had seen Jesus’ miracles so many times before – the most recent of which was the feeding of the 5,000 – and yet he still doubted. Apparently Peter recognized Jesus enough that he just had to ask if it was Him. However, even though he recognized Jesus’ form, he apparently didn’t believe that Jesus had the power to rescue Him.
Jesus has been diligently praying for His disciples on the mountain, and Peter acknowledged Him by saying, “Lord, if it is you . . .” Of all the things that Peter could have said to Jesus, he didn’t have to say that! At that moment he was acting like the Israelites whom God delivered from Egypt. The Lord showed them miracle after miracle, and they continued doubting His power to deliver.
Like Peter, we can fail to realize and acknowledge that Jesus is watching over us even though He is not physically present. Similar to Peter’s situation, Jesus will decide to show up on the scene to comfort our faint hearts. We might see Jesus perform a miracle in our lives, and we will still doubt Him and ask for a more profound or magnificent sign. The very fact that Jesus was walking on the water and walking out to save the disciples was a miracle in itself, but Peter requested what He perceived to be the greater miracle and sign of Jesus’ power. He thought that if he were able to walk on water himself then it must be Jesus.
Jesus didn’t have to grant this request. It had nothing to do with Peter’s physical well-being, but He did it to teach him a lesson. When Peter walked out on the water, he was able to walk, so long as he fixed his eyes upon Jesus, but when he looked at the storm and the raging sea, he began to sink. Jesus wanted Peter to realize that his faith was small, and that no matter what Jesus did for him, he would still doubt Him. Jesus showed Peter that through the power of Christ he could walk on water, but only if he trusted Jesus to enable him to. But Peter credited more power to the raging waves than to Jesus and that is why he sank.
He Still Has Compassion (vv. 31-33)
31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”
We see here that Jesus stretched out His hand to Peter in order to rescue him. At that moment Peter didn’t have his eyes fixed on Jesus, but Jesus still helped him anyway. You see, Jesus will help us when we keep our eyes fixed on Him in faith; but if we get too in over our head, He loves us enough to save us even when we doubt Him. That’s how great His love is for us. The thing is; He might wait until we’re at the end of our rope and about ready to sink and drown.
There’s a story about a man who was walking along a narrow path, not paying attention to where he was going, and he slipped and fell over a cliff. As he plummeted, he grabbed ahold of a branch growing from the side of the rock face. Realizing that he couldn’t hang on for long, he called out for help. He yelled, “Is there anybody up there?” When a voice finally answered, the man said, “Who’s that?” The voice replied, “It’s God, do you trust me?” The man said, “I trust you completely, Lord.” God replied, “Good. Let go of the branch.” After a long pause the man cried out, “Is there anybody else up there?”(7)
We see that when Jesus caught Peter, He asked him why he doubted. In this verse, “the Greek word for ‘doubt’ suggests the idea of trying to go in two different directions at once or of serving two different masters simultaneously.”(8) Jesus was pointing out to Peter that the only source of hope, and the only source of help was in Christ alone. Jesus wanted Peter to stop looking around, stop searching for help in other places, and climb on board with Him. When Peter finally trusted Jesus and climbed aboard the ship of faith, the wind ceased, and all was calm. If we choose to climb on board with Jesus and trust in Him alone, we will see His power manifested in our lives.
Time of Reflection
If we want Jesus to guide us and help us through life’s difficult journey then we must place our faith and trust in Christ alone. If we are seeking advice from other places such as horoscopes, psychics, or even other religions, then we are telling Jesus we don’t trust His power. If we are allowing the circumstances of our pain to become the object of our attention and fear, then by doing this we are also telling Jesus that we don’t trust His power. We must not credit any power to the things of this world, for if we do then Satan will have power over our lives. In order for Jesus to work in a powerful way, we have to look only to Him.
We need to look to Jesus when times are difficult, and we need to look to Jesus when times are good too. We must not let anything have more power over our lives than Jesus Christ. If we have failed in keeping our eyes fixed wholly on Him in any area of our life, then we need to ask God’s forgiveness, and start seeking Him anew today.
What is it that is keeping you from realizing the saving power of Jesus Christ? Are you presently distracted by the things of this world? Are you focused on making money, partying with your friends, hanging out at the local bar; or perhaps you are afraid of giving up a particular sin that has a hold on your life? What is keeping you from looking unto Jesus? Without Him, you are sinking and drowning in your sin; and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). But Jesus can save you if you will just look unto Him, and as Peter cry out, “Lord, save me!”
NOTES
(1) Michael P. Green, Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1997), 114. Taken from Os Guinness, In Two Minds (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1976), pp. 24-25.
(2) H. A. Ironside, Expository Notes on the Gospel of Matthew (New York: Loizeaux Brothers, 1948), p. 185.
(3) Ibid., p. 185.
(4) Ibid., p. 185.
(5) William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, vol. 2 (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1958), p. 116.
(6) Ibid., p. 117.
(7) Green, p. 138.
(8) Craig L. Blomberg, Matthew, The New American Commentary, vol. 22 (Nashville: Broadman, 1992), p. 235.
