Matthew 14:22-27 Walking on Water
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: April 11, 2019, Matthew 14:22-27
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
(Understanding the Text) Right after the multitude was fed, Jesus ordered His disciples to get in the boat and leave without Him. They may have protested since they were leaving Him behind. They had to be feeling confused. Jesus had just performed a great miracle, and they had been part of it. They had felt like they were participating in something momentous. They had controlled a crowd of 5,000 plus people, probably at least 10,000 people. They had ordered them around, and the people had obeyed. They had fed the people from baskets that never emptied, just like a tale from the old days. The people were excited about the miracle, but the disciples were more so. When the disciples picked up the extras, they had twelve baskets full of food. This was more food than what they had started with. They looked at Jesus with excitement. If He could do this through them, what else could He do?
The disciples were making a great error that it is all too easy for believers to do. They were taking the blessings given by God and calculating how they could use it to achieve their beloved goals rather than asking what God was going to achieve. They were amazed by Jesus’ power, yet they still looked upon Him as someone who could be manipulated and made to conform to the expectations of Messiah held by the Jewish people. Jesus needed to get them away from the crowd. The expectant crowd and the expectant disciples were not the right combination, so before everyone finished eating, but after gathering the remains, Jesus ordered the disciples onto the boat, and they left without Him, probably wondering when they were going to see Him again.
(Revelation of God / Understanding the Text) Jesus was following the Spirit’s leading. He trusted His Father to get Him back to His men. The disciples probably left about 5:30 or so. The sun was about to set as Jesus told the people that it was time to go home. All the sick and crippled had been healed. They had listened to His teaching, and they had been fed. Once the excited disciples left, the tiredness of the day would have had a chance to make itself felt. Did Jesus make one big announcement, “Go home now, everyone,” or did He move from group to group speaking to them in a friendly way and subtly indicating that it was time to leave? Once the people realized that the disciples had already left so that there was only one man to give them attention and once the people saw others getting up and preparing to leave, they would have followed suit. It is human nature to leave together. They knew that they would have to leave sometime, so when all their needs were met and there was no one of leadership to speak with, it was natural for the excitement to die down and tiredness to overtake them. It was natural to quietly agree in their hearts with Jesus that it was time to leave.
The crowd may have assumed that the disciples had simply gone out fishing and would return to pick Jesus up. Jesus knew better. It was evening after a long day, and He still had not accomplished His goal. He had come to this place to get away for a while and speak with His Father about the death of John the Baptist and about the next stage of His ministry. He needed time alone with His Father, so that’s what He did. He went farther away from the area where the crowds had listened and eaten to a more secluded place.
Maybe, Jesus’ place of prayer overlooked the lake, or maybe He finished His prayer and moved over to see where the disciples were. Either way, He saw that they were having troubles. Big waves were tossing the boat around and they were not able to make much progress. They needed Him, so He simply walked out onto the water to get to them. Did He plan to do this, or was it a suggestion given to Him from the Spirit?
The disciples said that He was a /phantasma/ or spirit. Did they believe in spirits of the dead or evil spirits here? What did they mean by this? The SDA Commentary says “Probably belief in ghosts and phantoms was widespread (see Josephus War i. 30. 7 [599]). Apparently popular superstition had not been erased completely from the minds of the disciples.” and ” a phantasma was the appearance of something that could not be accounted for on the basis of natural phenomena.” The disciples may not have believed that they were seeing the ghost of a dead person, but instead that they were seeing something supernatural that could not be accounted for by normal life, in which case, they were accurate in using phantasma.
(Application) My application for myself is that I should go to Jesus with my fears. He has the ability and the desire to stop me from being afraid. My fears are just as groundless as the disciples’ fear of Jesus because God is powerful and wants me to trust Him and not fear. The other lesson is that when I do God’s bidding, I will have even more than I started with at the end. God multiplies the blessings.
(Prayer) Teach me to expect You to be there when I am in need. Give me faith to not be alarmed when I experience the strange and unexpected. Most of all, guide me so that I do not try to fit You into my expectations instead of following where You lead.