Matthew 14:22-33

22 Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people home. 23 After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone. 24 Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves. 25 About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!” 27 But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!” 28 Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.” 29 “Yes, come,” Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted. 31 Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?” 32 When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 Then the disciples worshiped him. “You really are the Son of God!” they exclaimed.

Here in Matthew 14 we come to the famous story of Peter walking on water. But in order to really understand the story we need to back up and look at the background context to the story. Jesus had just been told that John the Baptist, a close relative of his had been beheaded by Herod. When Jesus heard the news he got into a boat and left for a remote area to be alone. But the crowds heard where he was headed and followed on foot from many towns. When Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped out of the boat he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Because it was getting late, the disciples wanted Jesus to send the people away, but Jesus had other plans and he miraculously fed over 5000 people with only 5 barley loaves and two fish. John 6:14 tells us that the people were very excited and said, “Surely this is the prophet who is to come into the world.” Verse 15 reveals that Jesus knew they wanted to stage a coup and make him king by force. They wanted a Messiah who would turn the nation of Israel into a world power. It’s here that we see first

•          The courage of Christ in the chaos  

We see this demonstrated in at least four ways, first 

1.         He Calls and Commands.  

Verse 22 says: “Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowd.” Jesus took charge and commanded his disciples to get into the boat. This word means to “compel by force.” The disciples didn’t want to leave this celebration, because they didn’t want to miss out on what was about to happen. But Jesus knew that they would be influenced by all this flattery and so he got them out of there right away. Jesus recognizes that the people’s motives weren’t right and He knew that the disciples were not mature enough in their faith to handle all this attention. He had the courage to make a tough call to walk away from the flattery and attention, to step out of the unhealthy spotlight. He did this not only for Himself but also to protect His disciples from the poison of peer pressure. So let me ask you, what is your response to Christ’s commands?  Sometimes Jesus commands don’t seem to make sense but will we follow them by faith and obey instead of object? Jesus called them away from the party for their own protection. Sometimes following Christ’s commands don’t seem very fun, but Jesus cares more about our faith than fun. It’s in these moments when His commands don’t seem to make sense that we need to obey by faith. 

Jonah 2:10-3:10

2:10 Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach. 1 Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time: 2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.” 3 This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all. 4 On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” 5 The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow. 6 When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes. 7 Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city: “No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all. 8 People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence. 9 Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.” 10 When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.

• God’s still had a plan for his life

“Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.” Just because Jonah had pursued his own direction and disobeyed it didn’t change Gods plan. Our failure doesn’t force God to change directions; Jonah was the one who had to course correct. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” So are you going to sit in the puke or pursue His plan? Today we want to sit on the shore, to stay where it is safe, but God’s plan involves proclaiming His offer of peace to other people. You don’t have to be defined by disobedience, are you going to find your identity in your failure or the Fathers forgiveness? When the Word of God came to Jonah the second time it came with the same commission that he had received at first. It was God’s plan for him to go to Nineveh and it was still God’s plan. It was Jonah that changed not God’s plan. Today many Christians claim that they don’t know what God wants them to do, which reminds me of a story Donald Grey Barnhouse, a pioneer in preaching over the radio, once told. His daughter had come to him with a request that he had denied. ‘Well then what do you what me to do?’ she had asked. He told her what he wanted and then went on with his work. She remained standing in front of him and after a while Mrs. Barnhouse called to the daughter from another room, ‘Where are you? What are you doing?’ she asked. The daughter replied, ‘I am waiting for daddy to tell me what he wants me to do.’ To which Mr. Barnhouse raised his head and said to her, ‘Whatever you are doing it is not waiting to find out what I want you to do. I have told you what I want you to do, but you do not like it. You are actually waiting to see if you can get me to change my mind.” If we were honest with ourselves we will admit that we know a lot more about what God wants than what we are doing. You and I know that God wants us to be a witnessing, to love our neighbors as ourselves, to be good stewards of our time, treasures, and talents, just to name a few. So are you being obedient to what He has already told you to do? Is it time to stop hiding behind the excuse that you don’t know what God’s wants and get busy with what you do know of His Will? I think our problem is that we often know what God’s will is we just don’t want to do it. Lastly Jonah discovered what:

• God can do with a surrendered servant. 

“This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all. 4 On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!”Jonah became a messenger of mercy, he had a short sermon of only 8 words but it had radical results. The whole city confessed and responded to God’s message with great mourning.  Verse 5 says: “The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow. 6 When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes.” When Jonah surrendered to go and speak God used even the terrible experience of his time in the belly of the fish for His glory. God has the power to do the same thing through your pain. Out of our failure God can bring spiritual success and forge a future where there was only a mess. Only God can take the bad and use it to bless, which I believe is what Paul is getting at in Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”Obedience not only benefits our life but it can bring blessing to many others. I love the truth that this chapter is bracketed by God’s mercy; it starts with His mercy to Jonah and ends with His mercy on Nineveh. But notice that the mercy which results from repentance is a limited time offer. Nineveh had forty days to seek God’s forgiveness. We have a God that pursues and is patient, but there is a limit to lawlessness. If we fail to heed His Word and continue to do what we want the consequences of our actions will eventually catch up to us and cost us dearly. What direction are you running in today, are you running toward rebellion or repentance? Are you walking in the footsteps of forgiveness or failure?