Jesus: deserving of worship

The reading is from Matthew chapter 14, verse 22 to 36.

Matthew 14:22–36

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.

And Peter answered him,

Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.

He said, Come.

So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.

But when he saw the wind, he was afraid.

And beginning to sink, he cried out,

Lord, save me.

Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him,

O you of little faith, why did you doubt?

And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, Truly you are the Son of God.

And when they had crossed over, they came to the land at Gesenarat.

And when the men of that place recognised him,

they sent around all that region and brought to him all who were sick,

and implored him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment.

And as many touched it, were made well.

Join me in prayer then, just before we turn to God's word.

Lord, I pray you will feed us with your word this morning.

Keep us from distractions.

Keep us from carelessness in the hearing of your word.

Make your spirit work within us, Lord,

both to enliven us and to enlighten us.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Amen.

All right, well, I'm going to start with a once upon a time story.

Once upon a time, back in the day,

before satellite navigation in cars and in the phones,

which is probably cut out, most of the young people are ready,

we actually had to send directions to people

if they were coming to visit us in Newcastle

and didn't know the Newcastle district.

We actually sent them directions.

And the directions were always a mix.

A mix of some big landmarks

and some more specific street signs.

Landmarks, of course, being big,

are things that they can't miss.

So the sign on the M1 for the link road

and then the F1 motel and the sports fields at Wall's End,

roundabouts, the Ellamore Vale shops and so on and so forth.

So when they saw the big landmarks,

they knew they were still going in the right direction.

That then allowed them freedom to look for specific signposts

and so eventually they would get to our place.

Now, just park that illustration for a minute

and I'm going to follow up with a question now.

And hopefully the two combined will help us get back

into a study of Matthew's Gospel.

It's been 10 months and we've been in Matthew's Gospel

and we're sort of picking it up at not a natural break.

But hopefully these two things will get us back into it.

So here's the question.

When you come to read something like the Gospel,

like Matthew's Gospel or Mark or Luke or John,

how actually do you read it?

Now that might seem like a very Irish thing to say,

but what I'm meaning is how do you actually engage with it?

How do you approach it?

How do you study it?

What are you expecting to find in it?

Now, so many Christians,

and I have to say sadly so many Bible teachers,

seem to approach the Gospel such as Matthew

as just a series of stand-alone stories.

And those stand-alone stories really aren't connected any more

than sort of, well, to a little bit of a travel log of Jesus

through his three years of ministry,

almost like a trip diary.

Now, the problem with a focus like that

is that it often leaves people just digging into individual incidents,

trying to find application,

trying to find in the details of individual stories

something that we can sort of live by.

And oftentimes it's reduced to, you know,

don't be like this and do be like that,

often focused on the characters in the incidents.

And all the while doing that,

we become oblivious to a big picture

that's been a big portrait of Jesus

that's been developed brushstroke by brushstroke

through each of those incidents.

So, back to my illustration and bring them both together again.

As we move back into the study of Matthew's Gospel this morning

after a 10-month break,

I want to suggest to you that we really need to be

understanding that Matthew has very highly compiled this.

It's very carefully crafted and designed.

He's arranged the account of the life of ministry of Jesus

like a set of directions.

There are big landmark directions,

and then there's more detailed signpost directions.

And these two things combine

to ensure that we arrive at the right conclusion

about Jesus,

which is what the biography is all about.

And so, Matthew's account

of the life and ministry of Jesus

is, as I say, carefully organized and compiled.

It steps us through

critical pieces of information

from time to time,

highlighting big landmarks,

but then oftentimes just following through

with the smaller detailed signposts.

Now, here's the thing,

that each of these incidents are stand-alone.

That's true, they do stand-alone,

but they should never be taken alone.

Because the narrative is designed

as one movement,

one big picture,

building towards one great conclusion

about the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, yes, we read individual incidents,

we see them stand-alone,

but we must never just take them alone.

We must be asking all the time,

what is the big picture

that has been developed brushstroke

by brushstroke

through each of these incidents?

So, in summary then,

Matthew's account

is not

about the people

that Jesus met.

Matthew's account,

as is all the other biographers of Jesus,

is about the Jesus

that people met.

Now, there's a very different emphasis there,

isn't there?

So, we need to read the Gospels

looking for the Jesus

that people met

and what they learned about Jesus

from their actual individual encounters with him,

personal encounters with him.

Now,

does this really matter?

Well, I think it does.

It matters heaps.

It matters both

for our own understanding of

and response to Jesus,

but I think it also matters

for our ability

to introduce unbelievers

to the text of the Gospels.

We need to be able to help

unbelieving friends

who might want to read about Jesus

to know how to read about Jesus,

how to read these accounts

to maximize their understanding of Jesus,

how they're meant to be read.

So, with that introduction,

let's then refresh our big picture

of Matthew's account

of the life and ministry of Jesus.

So, you need to turn back with me now

to Matthew chapter 4.

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

And I have to confess,

I've done something really stupid

here yesterday.

I had a sheet with all the Bible verses

I'm going to reference on it,

but I didn't print that sheet.

I printed a parallel sheet

somehow or other.

I'm not quite sure how I did it,

but anyway,

the sheet you have this morning

doesn't have any Bible references on it.

So, Matthew chapter 4,

Matthew 4:12

verses 12 through to 17,

and verse 23,

that's the start

of Matthew's account

of the formal part

of Jesus' ministry.

And at that start,

Jesus declares

that he was Messiah.

He was God's long-awaited,

long-promised king and saviour

who had come into this world

to establish God's kingdom,

that is,

God's rule

over the hearts and minds

of God's people.

And in verse 23,

he gives us his MO.

He said that he'll be doing it

through teaching

and preaching

and healing.

In other words,

he would teach about himself

and how he would

fulfil his mission

and he would demonstrate

his power

to fulfil his mission

by undoing

the effects of sin

through physical healing.

His mission

was about,

principally about,

undoing the effects of sin

and establishing God's kingdom

and he would demonstrate

this as it was developing

by undoing the effects of sin

through physical healing.

Now,

the interesting thing then

is that as we track

Jesus' ministry through,

what we find is

there's a growing opposition,

massive unbelief,

conflict developed,

especially from the Jewish

religious leaders

whom we would have assumed

would be the first

to recognise

and embrace Jesus.

but in fact,

they came to the conclusion

that Jesus

was an evil fraud

and they came to the conclusion

the only option

they had

was to get rid of him,

to murder him.

Things don't seem

to be developing

as the Lord Jesus

thought they might

or are they?

Well,

jump forward then

to Matthew chapter 13.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

In response

to this growing opposition

and belief

and conflict,

Jesus teaches

his disciples

a series

of parables,

a series of stories

that have a sort of

deeper meaning into them.

And in those parables

in chapter 13,

I don't have time

to sort of dip into them now,

but essentially

Jesus is saying,

look,

in spite of what

now appears,

be assured

that my kingdom

is real,

has already been established,

it will be successful

exactly as God

intended it to be

and it will be

worldwide.

In other words,

Jesus is saying

to his disciples,

look,

the portrait

of me

and my mission

is still

being painted.

Jesus said,

look,

you can expect

that as people

encounter me,

some will

just turn up

their nose

and

in arrogant

rejection

walk away

from me.

But at the same time,

says Jesus,

some people

will understand.

Some people,

the lights

will go on

and they'll just

turn to Jesus

and it'll

produce great

faith.

Then through

the end of

chapter 13

into chapter 14,

I believe

Jesus presents

a series

of very

live,

what we might

call these days

immersive

experiences,

immersive teaching

experiences

of case studies

that prove

his point.

So immediately

after the

teaching and

parables,

he finds

himself being

rejected

in his

hometown

as Nazareth

and the

cause of

the rejection,

this Jesus,

he's way too

ordinary to

be Messiah.

Then,

he's rejected

by Herod

who sees an

identification

between John

the Baptist

and Jesus

and Herod

rejects him

because,

well,

this John

the Baptist

and this

Jesus guy,

they're way

too fussy

about sin

and righteousness

and I'm not

going to have

that.

But on

the other

hand,

Matthew

records then

a series

of three

miracles.

Actually,

much more,

it's clustered

as three

miracles,

much more

than three

in here.

Immersive

teaching

experiences

for thousands

of random

people and

his own

disciples.

And these

three miracles

add immensely

to the

big picture

portrait of

King Jesus

and they

result in

new understanding,

new faith,

and new

worship of

Jesus.

So,

let's jump

into the

text then

now.

What do

the teachers

about Jesus?

Well,

very simply,

the teachers

that Jesus

is the

powerful

Lord of

the universe.

So,

miracles are

signposts.

when you

say a

miracle,

it's

pointing to

something,

it's

pointing to

something

about

Jesus,

pointing to

a truth

about

Jesus.

And these

signposts

here that

we're looking

at this

morning,

they're so

large that

it's impossible

to miss

them.

It's

impossible to

misread

them.

Jesus

does,

as a matter

of course,

without fanfare,

things that

only God

could do.

it's

that simple.

He's not

limited by

the laws of

nature,

but in

fact has

power to

control the

laws of

nature.

And so we

start just

tracking through

the three

miracles together

very briefly.

We've got

this massive

hungry crowd.

The

disciples don't

know what to

do with

them.

And Jesus

calmly

suspends

the laws

of nature

so that

the finite

resource of

a few

loaves and

a couple

of fish

are extended

to feed

this massive

crowd

and still

have far,

far more

left over

than they

started with.

Only a few

hours later,

move into the

next miracle.

Jesus sent

the disciples

on ahead.

He was

going to

pray for

a while

and they

got caught

in what's

called a

contrary wind

on the

lake.

In other

words,

a wind

that was

swirling.

They could

neither go

forward,

neither could

they go

back.

They were

aiming to

go down.

Again,

Jesus suspends

the laws of

nature and

just comes

to his

disciples in

the darkest

part of the

night when

their need

was the

greatest.

he just

turned up

on the

water.

And not

only that,

but in

response to

Peter,

he suspends

the laws of

nature for

Peter.

He says,

come on,

you want to

come over

here?

Yeah,

come on,

out you

come,

jump out of

the boat,

hope you

come.

Peter walked

on water.

And finally,

when it's

all over,

Jesus,

they get

back in

the boat

and suddenly

that contrary

wind,

that storm

that ordinarily

would take

hours to

subside,

it's all

calm.

And they

safely arrived

at the

shore.

The signposts

are unmistakable.

King Jesus

is a king

like no

other king.

More than

that,

King Jesus

is God.

And in

the context

of conflict

and opposition,

then we

need to

say something

like,

King Jesus

is God

and therefore

he's not

to be messed

with.

Such is

his power

that who

in their

right mind

would think

they could

oppose or

reject or

get rid of

Jesus and

thwart his

purposes.

more

personally,

these

miracles

teach us

that Jesus

is a

compassionate

saviour.

He's a

sovereign

lord,

so big

out here,

but he's

also so

personal,

so compassionate,

so immediate

as a

saviour.

Verse 14,

14,

if you

look in

the text,

this doesn't

often come to

the surface

when we deal

with the

feeding of

the 5,000,

but before he

even thinks

about feeding

them,

verse 14,

when he went

ashore,

he saw a

great crowd.

What's his

thoughts when

he sees a

great crowd?

He had

compassion on

them and

healed their

sick.

When we

just ponder

that for a

minute,

here he is,

he's surrounded

by crowds and

yet another

crowd.

And Jesus

would have

known full

well that

this crowd

was really

interested in

him as a

sort of

celebrity,

but had

very little

understanding

of him as

king and

saviour.

And it

would have

been real

easy,

I think,

if it

had been

me,

just to

get a

bit annoyed.

That's a

sanitized

version.

But Jesus

had compassion

on them.

And he

healed them.

Now what

was he doing

in doing

that?

Well the

compassion

speaks for

itself.

But in

his generosity

and grace,

he took

this random

crowd and

he gave

them an

immersive

experience.

immersive

teaching

experience of

his character

and his

mission.

Now,

sickness and

disease right

throughout the

Bible is

obviously and

primarily the

symptom of

things not

being right in

God's world,

particularly the

symptom of the

consequences of

sin.

And healing

therefore was

the obvious

consequence of

the effects of

sin being

reversed and

people being

restored to

what they were

created to be

in God's

kingdom.

Healing, as I

said from

chapter 4,

verse 23,

is at the

heart, the

essence of

Christ's mission

as Messiah,

as God's

king and

savior.

fear.

Jump then to

verse 34, 36,

and I want you

to see these

two verses as

bookends of

the three

miracles.

Again, it's

even more

random.

They get to

Gennesaret and

then the all

points bulletin

goes out,

Jesus is here,

bring all your

sick people and

you don't even

have to speak to

him, just brush

against his

clothes.

And again,

Jesus graciously,

generously,

healed them.

As many as

touched his

clothes were

made well.

See, Jesus

has given a

signpost about

himself.

He's

highlighting the

primary focus of

his mission as

Messiah, as

God's king and

savior.

Bookending here

with healing.

But there's much

more Jesus is

teaching within

these miracles.

So go back to

the feeding of

the 5,000 again.

So it's called a

desolate place,

in other words,

a wilderness.

So I think very

likely that as

Jesus fed these

people, it would

have evoked

memories from the

Old Testament of

God feeding his

people with

manna,

in the time of

the Exodus.

You remember

back then, they

were in a

physical wilderness,

lost and

wandering.

Even worse, they

were in a

spiritual wilderness.

They were there in

the wilderness because

they had rejected

God and God

said, this wilderness

is going to be the

death of you.

They were there in

punishment because of

their sin.

And yet, at that

point of lostness for

his people, he fed

them.

He was literally

their life.

He was their

sustenance.

Even though his

people didn't

appreciate the life

and the sustenance

that he gave them.

I think Jesus is

saying to the

crowd, I want you

guys to remember

that story and

then remember what

was said back then

that there would be a

new and greater

Moses who would

come and do

that which Moses

could only

approximate, could

only start, could

never finish.

And I'm he.

And I've come to

effect a new

exodus, a new

deliverance from sin

and death into new

life.

I'm the one that

you need to look to

to satisfy your

spiritual hunger.

And in the same

way, going into the

miracle of the

walking in the

water, in the same

way, Jesus comes to

rescue and the

deliver his people

in the context

here is scary.

It's the darkest

part of the night,

somewhere between

3am and 6am.

And they're at the

end of their own

resources.

They've battled

all night against

this squall, this

storm, and they're

getting nowhere.

And they're real

danger of death.

And worse than

that, they're

in the common

understanding of the

day and throughout

the Old Testament,

water was

associated with the

chaos and turmoil

of sinful world.

In fact, sailors

believed that the

whitecaps actually

were evidence of

evil spirits in the

waves in the sea

waiting to grab hold

of sailors and drag

them down into the

abyss of death.

death.

These guys were

terrified.

Experienced sailors,

they were on their

home patch of the

Sea of Galilee, but

they were terrified.

And again, throughout

the Old Testament, the

idea repeatedly is that

the Lord comes to

rescue his people.

And the picture of the

sea and the turmoil of

the sea is often

used as a picture of

God's compassion and

commitment to his

people in this world

of sin.

And Jesus, verse 27,

comes to them in their

point of need,

delivers them from

almost certain death

into perfect safety on

land.

That's the movement.

And in one short

sentence, verse 27, he

teaches them so much in

the midst of that

immersive experience of

fear and terror.

Verse 27, he says,

three things.

Take heart or be of

good cheer.

It is I, or that can

be taken literally as I

am.

Do not be afraid.

Now, that little phrase

take heart, be of good

cheer.

Jesus uses that three

times.

It's used three times in

the Bible, each time by

Jesus.

In Mark chapter 9, verse

Mark 9:2

2, and these were the

references I should have

on your page, but Mark

Mark 9:2

chapter 9, verse 2, Jesus

says to the guy who is

paralyzed, brought before

him, be of good cheer.

Why?

Your sins are forgiven.

In John chapter 16, verse

John 16:33

33, on the eve of his

crucifixion, Jesus says to

his disciples who were in

torment and totally

traumatized and confused,

Jesus says to them, be of

good cheer.

I have overcome the world.

In Acts 23, verse 11, in a

Acts 23:11

vision to Paul, when Paul's

life was under great threat,

the Lord Jesus, I believe,

appeared to him and said, be of

good cheer as you have

witness to me in Jerusalem, so

you will witness to me in

Rome.

Now, in each of those cases,

the context is Jesus undoing

the effects of sin and building

his kingdom.

Sin would not have, sin or

sinful people would not have the

last word in God's world.

God's saving purpose in Jesus

would.

Then the next phrase is, it is

I.

Jesus identifies himself, it is

I, or, as I say in the Greek, it

could be I am.

And I'm going to run with that for

a moment.

You're probably already guessing

why.

Jesus says to his disciples in the

terror of having exhausted their

own resources and facing almost

certain death.

I am.

Do not be afraid.

You remember the first context

of that?

Moses was saying, Lord, what the

heck are you doing?

You're sending me to rescue your

people from Israel.

That is a humanly possible task.

People won't even listen to me.

It's so ridiculous.

What will I say to them?

Just say, I am sent you.

In other words, I am the power that

makes the humanly impossible possible.

Actual.

So I think what Jesus is trying to

say to his disciples here is, the

same God who rescued his people from

Egypt from a picture of bondage and

sin, humanly impossible, same God

who did that, is before you now to

rescue you in your point of need.

To rescue and deliver you from fear

of death into the good life of

security.

But it doesn't stop there even more.

When Peter is there before the Lord

and suddenly becomes aware of his own

circumstances, his trust in the Lord

falters and he starts to go down.

When he starts to see a situation in

terms of his own ability and resources

starts to sink, once again, Jesus

graciously reached out, reassured Peter

by grabbing him tightly and encouraging

him to trust more.

It's almost as if Jesus is just having a

little bit of fun with the silliness

of what Peter's done.

That is, that Peter, having experienced the

power of Jesus to suspend the laws of

nature so he could actually walk in the

water, then couldn't trust Jesus to keep

him safe while he was doing it.

I think maybe that's really what Jesus

is saying to Peter.

Come on, Peter.

I can do this.

Trust me to do that.

Jesus wanted Peter to learn that his

understanding of and confidence in Jesus

was too small.

Twice in one day, in one day,

Peter had witnessed the power of Jesus

over the laws of nature.

Unlimited power.

And twice in one day, he had witnessed the

compassion of Jesus to save, to heal, to

deliver his people into safety.

Yet he faltered.

See, Peter couldn't apply the theory or

what his eyes saw in one situation to his

own circumstance.

That's essentially what it comes back to.

Yeah, I can see it out there and that's

wonderful out there.

Wow, how great is the Lord.

I'm sinking.

Where do I go from here?

Where do I go from here?

And I think we're like Peter.

This is really all about Jesus.

But just allow me one comment here.

I think like Peter, our problem is so often

not that we're outrageous in our expectation

of Christ, but that we're just not confident

enough.

Far too untrusting.

We look at our circumstances and we just

think, wow, they're too awful for Jesus to

protect us and deliver us from.

And so, my friends, the only fitting response

to King Jesus is total worship.

You look at verse 33.

And those in the boat worshipped him saying,

truly, you are the son of God.

Now, my friends, the focus of this miracle is not,

I believe, that Jesus walked on water.

That's significant.

Nor is the focus, and especially not the focus,

is that Peter walks on water.

That's incredible as well.

Nor is the focus of the miracle that Jesus calms the storm.

The ultimate focus of the miracle is that all this immersive teaching experience,

all the learning, all the new understanding of Jesus,

overflows into worship.

Because that's the only appropriate response to understanding Jesus as they've experienced him in these moments.

They've seen him as a sovereign Lord with limitless power.

They've experienced him personally as a compassionate Savior and King.

There can be no other option.

Jesus has shown himself to be God.

And ought to be worshipped.

And we can see how that develops, can't we?

Because initially, we have terror.

But terror is replaced with confidence and trust and security.

And what's the difference?

The actions of Jesus.

And so, terror being replaced with confidence and trust and relief and thankfulness,

that is an expression of worship.

As Peter learned from the hand of Jesus,

that having enabled him to walk on the water,

that he would be able to keep him safe while he was walking on the water,

that new aha moment would overflow in worship.

As Peter developed a greater confidence and a greater trusting and dependence on the Lord Jesus.

And likewise, when we get to Gennesaret,

I don't know whether you've ever thought or not, but I've pondered it a fair bit this week.

Why did Jesus allow the crowd, as it were, to set the agenda for them?

Why didn't he chastise them for bringing these hordes?

We're not told they sought Jesus' permission.

They just saw, well, there's Jesus.

Come on, guys, bring your sick.

They'll get healed.

It seems a bit arrogant.

It seems a bit presumptive, doesn't it?

Is that the right word?

Whatever.

Fill it in the right word if that's not the right word.

It just feels a bit off.

And yet Jesus doesn't chip them for that.

Why?

I think I've come to the conclusion.

This might be right, might be wrong, but this is what I think.

I think their actions were an expression of worship.

They clearly didn't understand everything about Jesus,

but they understood enough to know that they wanted their actions to be commensurate with what they did believe about Jesus.

And so they brought their sick to be healed, trusting him to be the one who would heal them.

That is an act of worship, an expression of worship.

And all of this together, then, is real-time evidence that Jesus' kingdom is being built in the hearts and minds of countless thousands of people.

Random people, special disciples.

Makes no difference.

For people who encounter Jesus, the Jesus they meet changes their lives forever.

And draws from them worship.

I just want to finish with just a very brief challenge then.

Everybody worships something.

The definition of worship in that sense is that everybody ascribes ultimate value to something or someone.

That's what it is to be human.

We worship.

So, the question then becomes, what shapes and drives your worship?

Worship.

If you're a Christian, then we're told in Romans chapter 12 that worship is a whole of person, whole of life, response of thankfulness, confidence, and trust in Jesus.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

There is no other adequate response if we approach Jesus as Savior and Lord.

So, I say to you again as a Christian, what shapes and drives your worship?

If you're not a believer here this morning, and chances are we've got quite a few who aren't yet believers here this morning.

There's no point in saying that you understand who Jesus is.

That you appreciate what Jesus came into the world to do.

That makes no sense if, having said that, you then continue to be king in your own life.

Or you continue to give your worship and allow it to be shaped by someone or something other than Christ.

See, true understanding will be expressed in coming to Jesus.

Recognizing your great need.

Recognizing your sinfulness.

Recognizing that he alone is the one who can save you and deliver you.

Recognizing his compassion and his desire to do that.

And then living your life under his control.

Back to those who are Christians this morning.

Well, the evidence of growing faith and confidence in Christ is better worship.

Now, we need to be really careful today when we say we're looking for better worship.

I would say to you this morning, better worship is not about new hyped up experiences.

They may have a part.

But that's not essentially what better worship is.

Better worship will be the result of studying God's word.

And seeing the power and loving concern of Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

That will overflow in better worship.

As you express greater love for.

Greater commitment to.

Greater service of the Lord Jesus.

Pray with me again, please.

Very simple prayer.

Lord, help us to hear your words.

Keep us from hiding from them.

Keep us from excusing ourselves before them.

Burn them deep into our hearts and minds.

And bring us to you for forgiveness as we need forgiveness.

And new worship as we desire to reflect our thankfulness to you.

In Jesus' name.

Thank you.