47When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. 48Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them. 49But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; 50for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, “Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.” 51Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished,
The disciples feared the wind and the sea while they were in a boat that was being tossed about. They feared for their very lives as they could not gain control of the boat no matter how hard they tried. Yet when Jesus comes walking on the water their fear is not removed; instead it is intensified. It says they were terrified when they saw what they assumed to be a ghost walking on the water. Then when Jesus speaks to them and gets into the boat they were "utterly astonished". Not only were they in a stormy sea, they were also in a sea of emotions. To get the full scope of what the disciples were feeling in this moment it's important to look at what these words meant. Terrified when they saw Jesus (ghost): to strike one's spirit with fear or dread. Causing inner perplexity (emotional agitation) from getting too stirred up inside. Astonished: literally, "to remove from a standing (fixed) position," put out of place; i.e. "beside oneself," showing someone as flabbergasted (completely stupefied); at a total loss to explain or account for something; overwhelmed, astonished Utterly: very, exceedingly. intensifies (raises) a thought, taking it from much ("a high extent") to "very much" ("a great extent"), i.e. utterly (strongly, "to the max") What is the difference between the fear they experienced from the wind and the sea and the fear they experienced when they saw Jesus walking on water? There was no difference except for the intensity. They were struck with fear and dread by the wind and the sea, and that fear intensified when they thought a ghost was walking toward them! They must have thought: "we aren't just going to die by drowning, we're going to be haunted too! They must have remembered the previous storm in Mark 4 and what Jesus did when He was in the boat with them, rising and rebuking the wind. But they never thought it possible that Jesus could actually walk on the water. No man is capable of doing that, especially in the midst of a stormy sea. They did not fully know who Jesus was, so they assumed that it was a ghost walking on the water. This wasn't just their "buddy" walking towards them, this was the infinite Son of God doing something so divine that it caused intense fear to rise up within the disciples. What does this mean? There are many people today who are afraid of God because they do not know God. They are afraid of Him the same way that they are afraid of ghosts or natural disasters taking place. These same examples happen in a parable that Jesus gives in Matthew 25. A master had given a certain amount of talents to his slaves expecting a return on his investment once he returned. Once he returned, the one who received the five talents had five more to give. The one who received the two talents had two more to give. But the one who received the one talent said: “And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. 25‘And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ This man's view of God was so skewed that he was afraid of disappointing Him, so he didn't even try. He saw Him as a "hard man" and not a loving Father. He had not gotten close to the heart of the Father to know who He truly was. The disciples in this story did not know who Jesus truly was. So they viewed Him as a "ghost" walking on the water, not as the Son of God walking on top of the waves He had created. It seems that it is only through storms that the diamond of the character of God is turned to give us a new glimpse into who He is. But notice, they didn’t lose fear once Jesus got into the boat. Their terrifying fear of the "unknown" had morphed into reverence, astonishment, and amazement. They wanted Jesus to stay away at first because they thought He was a ghost and they were terrified. Now they wanted to keep their distance from Him because they realized their own inability, sinfulness, and inadequacies while in His presence. Yet, Jesus drew close to them. Proverbs 9:10- The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. We need a restoration of the fear of the Lord in our lives, and in the church again. Viewing God correctly for who He is unlocks the wisdom that He has to offer to mankind. The disciples were able to learn something new about who Jesus was because they obtained a healthy fear of Christ through this experience. Questions To Consider: 1. How would you describe the phrase: "The fear of the Lord"? 2. What is something that God has done in your life that caused you to gain a healthy fear of Him? Something so powerful that it made you realize that He truly is the Creator of all things?
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