Down an Unfamiliar Road

At the turn of the last century, a young poet was writing his reflections on how the world had not turned out as he and others had hoped it would. In one of his poem, he penned this line: “Dreaming men are haunted men.”¹ In his case, it involved war and the struggle for freedom from oppression. Dreams were shattered for many, and it appeared that worse times were yet to come.

The dreams that haunt many people are most often those with high expectations that turn out to be just illusions. It’s a case of thinking things will get better on their own, all it takes is a little hope and a willingness to wait it out. Thank God, that was not what Jesus thought when He looked at the world around Him and how corrupt and immoral it was. He knew He had a mission, and nothing was going to stop Him from reaching His goal, even if others thought it impossible.

There’s a popular song from the movie, “Man From La Mancha,” called, “To Dream the Impossible Dream,” written by Joe Darion. It is still sung and admired by many today. The last two verses go like this: “And I know if I’ll only be true to this glorious quest, that my heart will lie peaceful and calm when I’m laid to my rest. And the world will be better for this that one man, scorned and covered with scars, still strove with his last ounce of courage to reach the unreachable star.”

And that’s what happened. Don Quixote did not get to that unreachable star, and he died a haunted man. So don’t go chasing the impossible, let God handle those things. But do all you can do with what you have striven for and realize your dream of having been a meaningful and significant person in your family and other people’s lives as a true and faithful child of the Living God. You don’t have to be better than everyone else, just be your very best, and God will do all the rest.

There is another verse in the song goes: “To fight for the right without question or pause, to be willing to march into Hell for a heavenly cause.” Jesus already did that! And by doing so, He opened a way for you to march into heaven for the same cause. So keep marching. God is not just watching, He’s walking with you. – Dr. Robert R. Seyda

1Stephen Vincent Benet: John Brown’s Body, Doubleday, Doran & Co., New York, 1928, Bk. 1, p. 29

WHO SAYS GOD DOESN’T SPEAK ANYMORE

While ministering in Germany, I was invited to conduct a week’s revival in a nearby town. At the close of the second night’s service, a young woman came forward during the altar call and with tears in her eyes asked me if I could come visit her and her mother because she was dealing with some depressing personal issues. She informed me that she lived out of town and briefly described the intersection with the main highway I traveled to get to the revival. She explained that her house would be sitting several meters off the road on the right side, and had a red roof. I let her know that I certainly would do so at my first opportunity.

Some days later, I was driving toward the same town on my way to another meeting when I passed the intersection she described and at that instant the Holy Spirit spoke to me so strongly to go visit this lady, that I had to slow down and pull over on the shoulder of the road. It was like a voice in my soul that said, “The intersection you just passed is the one the woman was telling you about. Go back and take that road.” So, I quickly did a u-turn and went back to the intersection. I turned left and found myself going uphill amidst a thick forest on a narrow country road I’d never traveled before. All at once the unfamiliarity made me feel somewhat lost. So I said to the Holy Spirit, “You directed me to go this way, so you’ll have to help me find this house; I’ve never been here before.”

When I reached the top of the hill into a clearing, the road went along the crest of the hill, and there were very few houses along the highway but all of them had red roofs. As I passed house after house, I wondered, “How am I going to find the one where she lives?” Then I spotted a house sitting back off the road on the right side. Quickly the Holy Spirit confirmed to my spirit that this was the house I was looking for. So I pulled into the driveway leading down to the house, hoping and praying that it was the Holy Spirit not just my imagination guiding me.

As I walked up the steps to the door, I said to myself, “If this isn’t the right house I’ll sure look silly. How can I explain my being here to whoever opens the door.” I knocked and waited. Then the door opened and my doubt quickly vanished as I recognized the woman who opened the door, and she called out my name with great surprise and then dissolved into tears while inviting me in.

As we sat down, she told me that just a few minutes ago she and her mother were on their knees pleading with God to please send Brother Seyda to their house that day. That’s why when she suddenly saw a car pull into the driveway it was more than she could hope that it would be me. She then poured out her story of being abandoned with a child by a man who she found out later was already married. We prayed and asked God for guidance and comfort. I was able to assist her so that it settled her mind and she accepted what happened as God’s will for her life.

If this experience taught me anything, it was that when God’s Spirit wants to guide you, there are some amazing things that will happen when you are obedient. But you can’t wait and just put it off out of doubt or fear. That phone call to a friend or family member the Spirit has been urging you to make or that visit to someone you are burdened with the Spirit is motivating you to make, go for it. Just like Ananias whom the Spirit urged to visit a man named Saul of Tarsus, you never know what miracle may take place because of your obedience.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Part III

Verses 10-11: Then Jesus asked the people to step closer. He said, “Listen and understand what I am saying. It is not what a person puts in their mouth that makes them polluted. It is what comes out of their mouth that makes them polluted.”

Remember this, there’s a difference between defiling the soul and defiling the body. Believe it or not, one may encounter a filthy drunk and find out that in his heart he is a kind and compassionate person. On the other hand, one could meet a sophisticated nondrinker and discover that they are full of animosity, bias, hatred and disdain for others. As the great early church orator Chrysostom stated: “Jesus did not say, ‘The observance of food laws is nothing,’ or ‘Moses did a poor job of making laws,’ or ‘Moses only made these laws as a way of coming down to your level.’ Instead, He speaks to them on the level of advice and counsel and used natural phenomena as evidence. He does this when He says, ‘Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.’ In this statement He appeals to nature itself both in the process of instituting law and in the process of revealing what He has to say.”¹

There’s an old English story about a teacher named Mr. Tulliver who listened with petrifying wonder to an essay being read in class by a young girl named Maggie. He wondered what type of book this young lady had gotten hold of. It turned out to be the one called, “The History of the Devil,” by Daniel Defoe. Later, when the teacher confronted the girl’s father he explained that they found it at a book sale. Said the father: “…they’ve all got the same covers, and I thought they were all one and the same, as you might say. But it seems one mustn’t judge by the outside.”² From this, came our famous English maxim: “Never judge a book by its cover.” This is what we use today when referring to people who may look different on the outside than what we find on the inside.

What Jesus was really saying about others was that they dressed themselves in such a way that any onlooker might think they were pure and righteous, but when one hears them speak it was obvious they are hypocrites and deceivers. But for Himself, it was a different message. We know from Scripture that David had a ruddy complexion and Saul was taller than anyone else. But when it came to the Messiah, Isaiah said there was nothing about Him physically or His looks that would cause anyone to admire Him. That’s why we have no physical description of Jesus in the New Testament. It was only when Jesus opened His mouth that people realized what was on the inside. Too often, Christians judge people on the outside before they hear them speak from the inside. Then, they go into denial because they don’t want to believe that anyone who looks so righteous outwardly could be so full of wrong intentions inwardly.

Now Jesus points to some of His listeners’ the real character flaws that I’m sure really annoyed the Pharisees. They were so particular how they washed their hands and the food they ate, making sure it was kosher, etc. Yet Jesus looks at them and says: “It’s not what you put in your mouth that determines who you are, it’s what comes out of you mouth that identifies you for who you really are.” David met some of the same kind of people, and here’s what he said about them: “Those wicked people started doing wrong as soon as they were born. They have been liars from birth.”³

At first this may sound rather unrefined. But as a father, one thing I learned in helping to raise four children, I never spent one minute teaching them how to fib. It seemed to come naturally. But I did spend a lot of time trying to convince them about the benefit of telling the truth. Isaiah is more graphic about such people: “You can’t be trusted, even in court. You lie about each other and depend on false arguments to win your cases. You create pain and produce wickedness. You hatch evil, like eggs from a poisonous snake.”⁴ The prophet Jeremiah put it this way, “They use their tongues like a bow to send lies flying from their mouths like arrows.”⁵

It is notable, that an early church theologian ties this same principle to Holy Communion. This is what he wrote: “In exactly the same way it is ‘not what enters into the mouth’ that makes the person holy. This is so even if that which is called the bread of the Lord is considered to make the person holy by some of the more perfect disciples. The two cases are similar. It is not the food but the conscience of the one who eats with doubt about whether it was right to do so that defiles the person who has eaten. For ‘the one who doubts is condemned if one eats, because one is not eating from faith.’⁶ It is also like the case in which ‘nothing is pure to the one who is defiled and unbelieving.’⁷ The thing involved is impure not because of itself but because of the person’s defilement and unbelief. In the same way, that which is ‘made holy through the word of God and prayer’ does not on its own account make the one who uses it holy.⁸ For if it did, it would also make holy the one who eats of the Lord ‘in an unworthy manner’ and no one would become ‘weak’ or ‘sickly’ or would ‘sleep’ because of this food. For this is what Paul showed in the statement, ‘Because of this many among you are weak and sickly and a significant number are falling asleep.’⁹ Therefore, in the case of the bread of the Lord, the one who uses it derives benefit when one shares in the bread with a mind that is undefiled and a conscience that is pure.”¹⁰

Verses 12-13: Afterward, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Did you know that the Pharisees really got upset over what you said?” Jesus responded, “Every plant that my Father in heaven has not planted will be pulled up by the roots.”

Jesus’ response to the news the disciples brought Him about the Pharisees feeling insulted by what he said concerning their inward pollution, did not sound like what the disciples may have expected. Instead of saying: “That’s their problem,” or, “Tell them to get over it,” Jesus used an illustration that sounded much like the parable He told earlier about the real wheat and the lookalike wheat. In this case, it pointed out that His Father in heaven was the one who is responsible for determining which is which.

The great Chrysostom preached: “The disciples were saying these things not only because they saw how hurt the Pharisees were, but also because they themselves were a little confused. But since they did not dare to say this out of concern for their own confusion, they hoped to learn further by listening to Jesus’ own elaboration of this issue. To show that this is so, listen to what is said after these things by Peter, who was hotheaded and speaking out before the rest. He says, ‘Explain this parable to us.’¹¹ By this he reveals the confusion in his soul. He does not dare to say openly, ‘I take offense at this,’ but he expects that he will be released from his confusion by the interpretation of the parable. But he too ends up being rebuked.”¹²

Jesus’ answer to His disciples would not have been such an unusual thought for the Jewish scribes. The story is told that a certain Rabbi once met with a Roman Government official who had been sent to his area to arrest thieves. An argument ensued, with the Rabbi suggesting that this official may unknowingly arrest the innocent and let the guilty escape. He gave the official some tips on where to find these crooks. But when the official began to arrest them, another Rabbi objected, and sent this message to the Rabbi cooperating with the Roman official: “How long will you deliver up the people of our God for slaughter!” The Rabbi involved sent back a reply: “I’m weeding out thorns from the vineyard.” To this the objecting Rabbi retorted: “Let the owner of the vineyard Himself [God] come and weed out the thorns.’”¹³ Sounds like Jesus may have heard this story.

But Chrysostom is not finished. He goes on to say: “Why therefore does Messiah say, ‘Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted?’ Those who are diseased with the ideas of the Manichaeans¹⁴ say that this was said about the law. But what Jesus had said before this shuts their mouths. For if He were speaking about the law, why did He earlier make a defense on its behalf and fight for it when He said, ‘Why are you transgressing the commandment of God because of your tradition?’ And why does He bring in the prophet [Isaiah] in front of everyone?¹⁵ Contrary to what the Manichaeans say, Jesus says these things about the Pharisees themselves and their traditions. For God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ This statement from God surely is a plant of God.”¹⁶

So Chrysostom is speaking about those plants (like the genuine wheat in the parable of the wheat and weeds), and how they must be identified as either being planted by God or planted by man. The ones planted by God are healthy and grow strong while those planted by man are diseased and lead to a form of contamination that causes other plants to be poisonous. This certainly seems to be what Jesus then goes on to say to His followers.

Verse 14: Stay away from the Pharisees. They lead the people, but they are like blind men leading other blind men. And if a blind man leads another blind man, both of them will fall into a ditch.

Could our Lord have in mind the words His Father spoke to the prophet Isaiah? “In all the world, no one is more blind than My servant Israel. No one is more deaf than My messenger to the world. No one is more blind than My chosen people, the servant of the Lord.”¹⁷ It is understandable that the Pharisees were offended. Their laws concerning sanctity were based primarily upon what a man ingested, drank and touched. But Jesus throws this aside and exclaims that it’s what’s in the heart that brings defilement. No wonder the Pharisees became agitated, they were just shown a real picture of themselves. So often people believe that others see them the way they see themselves and are therefore unwilling to accept the portrait others paint of them. There is a difference between being slandered or maligned, and being confronted with an honest and genuine appraisal. When someone we trust points out our faults and shortcomings we should thank them and then ask God to help us make the necessary changes.

There is an interesting Jewish parable told about this that goes: “Our sages taught us this parable; a man possessing full eyesight walks with a blind man. The man that has all his facilities guides the blind man so that he will not stumble. After a while, close to evening time, he asks the blind man to light a lantern for him. The blind man is dumbfounded, and tells his companion that since he is blind it is up to his companion to light the lantern, as he would not benefit by its light anyways. The companion replies that he himself is not in need of the light of a lantern, but he wants it known that although the blind man would not derive any benefit from its light, he lit it for the sake of his companion. Israel is the blind man in that parable, whereas God is the seeing One. If God had not provided us with the commandments of the Torah, we would all be walking through this life like blind men.”¹⁸

In this case, Jesus is saying to the Jews, all of you are blind when it comes to the truth, yet none of you are willing to light the lantern of God’s Word so that others who are looking for light to guide them may see. But since He is the light, just take hold of His hand and He will lead them and restore their sight. We see a similar situation faced by the prophet Micaiah when everyone else, who were identifying themselves as God’s messengers, were predicting victory, he saw defeat. We read, “While all this was happening, the officer went to find Micaiah. When he found him, the officer told him, ‘All the other prophets have said that the king will succeed, so you should say the same thing.’ But Micaiah answered, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, I can say only what the Lord says.’”¹⁹

Apparently, there was some continuing doubt among Jesus’ disciples as to this dispute over the verbal law when compared to the written Word of God. So by choosing to talk about this as a case of plants that look the same but are not, He reveals another factor. When a plant is pulled out of the ground before harvest, it usually means it was not planted by the owner of the field and must be thrown away as a weed. This goes along with what Isaiah received as a revelation from God: “Jerusalem, get up and shine! Your Light is coming! The Glory of the Lord will shine on you. Darkness now covers the earth, and the people are in darkness. But the Lord will shine on you, and His Glory will appear over you.”²⁰ And for all those who receive this Light, the message given by Isaiah says: “They are the young plant in My garden that will grow to be a wonderful tree. I made them with My own hands.”²¹

Therefore, Jesus is saying that if God did not put these people in His garden, He would make sure they didn’t stay long enough to hurt the crop He did plant. After all, the Psalmist said: “Good people are like budding palm trees. They grow strong like the cedar trees of Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the LORD. They grow strong there in the courtyards of our God.”²² Our Lord’s metaphor of the blind leading the blind was meant as a figurative illustration of those who were ignorant of the truth, trying to explain the truth to others. Isaiah had a similar illustration, “So the Lord cut off Israel’s head and tail. He took away the branch and the stalk in one day. (The head means the elders and important leaders. The tail means the prophets who told lies.) As guides are leading Israel the wrong way, so those who follow them will be destroyed.”²³

Jeremiah heard the Lord say that what really bothered Him was this: “They should be ashamed of the evil things they do, but they are not ashamed at all. They don’t know enough to be embarrassed by their sins.”²⁴ It wasn’t that they were clueless, but that they were unable to properly put the puzzle together to see what they were doing wrong. Jesus was trying to get them to see how it was done. My two older sisters were fond of putting picture puzzles together. Sometimes it would be so big it covered the dining room table, so my mom needed to put an oil cloth over the puzzle, then a tablecloth over that so we could eat without ruining the puzzle. What if they had decided to mix the pieces of three or four puzzles together in the same box and then put them together as one puzzle? It would have been impossible.

The same way, the scribes, and Pharisees were trying to put together the puzzle showing God’s will and plan of salvation by mixing verbal tradition with written law. All Jesus was telling them was this: “Forget about both and put the picture together with the pieces I’m giving you and you will see what God wants boldly and clearly.” The word of the Lord to Ezekiel went this way: “I will give you the right answer on how to follow my will. But if any prophet is foolish enough to give his own answer, I, the Lord, will show him how foolish he is!”²⁵

Early church theologian Chromatius sees a dual purpose in what Jesus said about the blind leading the blind. He writes: “These words were intended to expose the scribes and Pharisees, who were blinded by the error of their unbelief. Not only were they unable to recognize the light of truth—not believing in Christ—but also they were attracting others into the pit of death. Nevertheless the words also apply to heretics.²⁶ Denying that Christ is the “true light from true light, and God from God,”²⁷27 they too were steeped in blindness. Because of their perverse doctrine, they also proved to be guides and leaders to those adrift.”²⁸

Such blindness is still with us today. The use of the term “blindness,” is a metaphorical way of saying that there are those who cannot spiritually see what is being described. As such, “blindness” becomes a synonym for spiritual ignorance. In other words, such people are trying to describe a place they’ve never visited or explain a subject they have never studied. Often, such blind prophets present what they describe as a vision from God when in fact it is a product of their own imagination. Too many have followed such self-constructed visions and thereby led themselves and others into the path of despair and loss of real faith.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Part II

Verses 3-4: Jesus answered, “And why do you refuse to obey God’s directives so that you can follow those traditions you have? God said, “You must respect your father and mother.”¹ And God also said, “Whoever says anything bad to their father or mother must be killed.”²

This illustrates one of the issues Jesus constantly dealt with when debating with the Jewish teachers and Pharisees. They were looking at the verbal traditions in their Mishnah for guidance, while Jesus was constantly pointing to the written laws in their Torah. He begins His response by quoting the fifth commandment. Then He follows with a quote from the supplemental directives given to Moses. He then compares them to the verbal traditions being followed by the Pharisees and scribes. For instance, in the Mishnah we find eleven chapters dealing with vows or oaths. And this is no doubt the part that Jesus was paraphrasing to show man’s interpretations of this commandment in their verbal tradition.³

Someone once asked a Rabbi: “To what extent does the requirement of honoring the father and mother extend? He said to them, ‘Why are you asking me? Go and ask Damah ben Netinah. He is the chief of the patroboule⁴ of his city. One time his own mother was slapping him before the entire council, and the slipper she was beating him with fell from her hand, so he bent down and gave it back to her, so that she would not be more upset.’”⁵ The respect for parents was so great that one Rabbi lamented: “Would that I had a father and a mother, whom I might honor, and so inherit the Garden of Eden.”⁶ And the Rabbi goes on to say: “This is how Scripture compares the reverence one owes to their father and mother with the reverence they owe to the Omnipresent One.”⁷

But a different Rabbi taught: “So great is the honor one owes to father and mother, that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave it preference, even over the honor owed to God.” This Rabbi then adds: “When it comes to the matter of honoring father, and mother, whether you have sufficient food or whether you do not, you must honor your father and mother, even if you have to go begging at door to door.”⁸ So it is clear that Jesus chose a very time honored and sensitive teaching from the Law. But now comes the stark reality of how such a sacred trust had been corrupted by these same Rabbis.

Verse 5: But you teach that a person can say to their father or mother, “I have something I could use to help you. But I will not use it for you. Instead, I am going to give it to God.”

Early Church theologian Origen, who lived among the Jews in Alexandria, offers his understanding of what Jesus said about the Rabbi’s teaching on how children can avoid their legal responsibilities of taking care of their father and mother just by making a vow, called Korban, to do so. He makes a very valid argument pointing out that while the Jewish teachers had found a way around the commandment to honor one’s father and mother at all cost, they did not address the second part of what Jesus said, and that was: If you speak maliciously against your father or mother you are to be put to death for doing so. No doubt Jesus wanted to know how could they ignore the one but forget about the other?⁹

Origen then goes on to say that what the scribes and Pharisees were really doing is this: That by giving an exemption of the law to honor one’s father and mother at all cost by making a vow that instead of giving to their parents they were giving to God, they were in fact violating the second commandment that forbid speaking maliciously against one’s father or mother. Origen says: But you, Jesus says, are setting aside two commandments of God by your one tradition. Then you are not even ashamed when you accuse my disciples when they are not transgressing any commandment. For they were walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances.’¹⁰”¹¹

So the Pharisees and scribes knew exactly what Jesus was talking about when He referred to what they called “Korban,” which means “gift.” But even more, it was a gift tied to an oath of loyalty and fulfilling the law. This word was even used to identify a sacrifice of any kind brought in devotion to God. Some Jewish scholars have rebutted Jesus’ charge by saying: “The charge of hypocrisy, or lip-service, raised against the Pharisees in this connection is entirely unfounded; for pharisaic tradition did actually provide a remedy against rash vows by empowering any sage consulted to dissolve the vow in case it could be shown that it was not made with a full consideration of all its consequences; this very power ‘to loosen that which is bound’ by the Law being declared to be a privilege of the Rabbis, derived from the spirit of the Law while seemingly against the letter of the Law.”¹²

However, Jesus would have never made this accusation were this not being practiced in His day to circumvent the law. Not only that, once something was considered to be Korban, even the giver could not then use it for himself.¹³ Yet, such circumvention was often encouraged so that the Temple received these gift offerings instead of giving them to what some might consider undeserving or unworthy parents. So, what Jesus saw was that even though these vows were considered unbreakable, the Rabbis had adopted a law that would allow for such a vow to be annulled, even though they claimed it could only be done with the corroboration of a sage after consultation.¹⁴

Jesus’ main point is that by allowing for such breaking of the vows of Korban by children to their parents, their man-made laws were in fact breaking the Laws God had established. After all, Rabbis clearly taught that such vows to one’s parents were in fact vows to God.¹⁵ So by honoring them, a person was honoring God. In Jewish literature we find this story given as an illustration: “It once happened in Bet Horon¹⁶ that a father was forbidden to receive a benefit through his son. Now the father was marrying off his son and wanted the grandfather to participate, so he said to his son: May the courtyard and the banquet be a gift to you, on the condition that my father come and feast with us at the banquet. Then the son said, if it is truly mine then let it all be consecrated to God! His father said to him: But I did not give it to you so that you consecrate it to God. The son responded: I know, you gave it to me so that you and grandfather may eat and drink together and become reconciled with one another. So then, the sin of breaking my vow will be on his head. When the matter came before the Sages they ruled: Any gift which is not given in a manner so that it can be consecrated to God is no gift at all and therefore is not valid.”¹⁷ Sound confusing? That’s what Jesus was up against. When trying to avoid one obligation by making up rules to do so, it only leads to violating other obligations.

What child today would think of selling an extra car they are not using, or a vacation home they no longer need, or a coin collection that is only taking up space, but not consider helping their parents who are struggling on fixed income, unable to feed themselves properly, without any transportation, and living in filthy accommodations, and then claim no fault because they gave all the proceeds to their local church for a missions project? This would in no way cover up their lack of parental respect. Surely, they cannot really believe that God is pleased with such a so-called sacrifice for His cause. This certainly seems to be what Jesus adresses next.

Verse 6: You are teaching them not to respect their father. So you are teaching that it is not important to do what God said. You think it is more important to follow those traditions you have.

Jewish theologian Maimonides comments: “The following rules apply with regard to a male minor who is twelve years and one day old and a female minor who is eleven years and one day old who take an oath or a vow, whether a vow forbidding them to keep something or a vow giving something away. We investigate them and ask them questions. If they know for whose sake they took the vow or for whose sake they consecrated the article, their vows and their consecration are binding. But if they do not know, then their vows and their statements are not valid.”¹⁸ Maimonides further explains, that someone cannot take a second oath until the first oath is carried out. Yet, you may make a second vow even before the first vow has been fulfilled. Also, a person who takes an oath may extend the boundaries of that oath, thereby enlarging what they plan to carry out. But, they will not be held responsible if they ultimately fail to reach their larger goal. On the other hand, if a vow to extended or enlarged is made and then not even tried, they are responsible and will suffer the consequences.¹⁹

This is what Jesus had to deal with because the Jewish teachers and leaders had gotten so far away from the original law. They thought they were improving the law, when in fact they were making it more complicated and harder to follow and obey. The same has happened in many segments of Christianity where teachers have strayed from the original Gospel of Jesus Christ. What has developed is what we call today, “co-dependency.” This is where excessive emotional and psychological reliance is placed on a partner, especially by those who feel they cannot take care of themselves on their own. In the spiritual world, this is the case of many believers who depend on the church and it’s ministers to assure their salvation instead of believing in God and on His Son Jesus Christ for their forgiveness and salvation. That’s why Jesus told these religious experts that by their establishment of man’s word above God’s Word they had in fact made God’s Word irrelevant.

This is what the Psalmist feared, “Lord, it is time for you to do something. The people do what is against your teachings. I love your commands more than gold, more than the purest gold. I carefully obey all your commands. So I hate anything that leads people the wrong way.”²⁰ We should have that same prayer today. The prophet Jeremiah felt the same frustration with the people to whom he was sent, “You keep saying, ‘We have the Lord’s teachings. So we are wise!’ But this is not true, because the scribes have lied with their pens. These ‘wise people’ refused to listen to the LORD’S teachings. So they are not really wise at all.”²¹ The prophet Hosea pointed to the priests, “My people are destroyed because they have no knowledge. You priests have refused to learn, so I will refuse to let you be priests for me. You have forgotten the law of your God…”²²

By Malachi’s time, things had not gotten any better, “A priest should know God’s teachings. People should be able to go to a priest and learn God’s teachings. A priest should be the Lord’s messenger to the people. But you priests stopped following me! You used the teachings to make people do wrong. You ruined the agreement with Levi. This is what the Lord All-Powerful said. You don’t live the way I told you. You have not accepted my teachings.”²³ So you can imagine some 400 years later, when Jesus came, not only had nothing improved, things had only gotten worse.

Early church seminarian Theodore of Mopsuestia has this commentary about what Jesus was trying to say, not only against the Pharisees, but for His own disciple’s understanding and compliance. He writes: “The scribes were entirely preoccupied with something else. The Lord instead was teaching them to take care of the needs of the body, so long as they were encouraged to cultivate virtue. When the Pharisees observed His disciples unconcerned about washing, they censured Him on the grounds that He had not taught them with enough care that it was a matter of utmost importance that they not eat what they had not washed. What reply, then, does the Lord make to this? ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of God for the sake of your tradition?’”²⁴

Theodore then goes on: “Thus Jesus re-frames the question into an even more severe accusation. They had not only broken God’s command but also misused it for ulterior motives. The metaphor shifts: God had commanded that parents be honored by their children. That honor was owed to them to such an extent that whichever of their children sinned stubbornly against them merely by word would be condemned. “But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained from me is given to God, he need not honor his father. You say that it is up to the children whether to honor their parents or not. You imply that a son says nothing out of bounds to a father when he says, “I will give a thank offering instead of taking care of you, my own father, and no further care is to be taken of you.’ In this way, by your own peculiar traditions, you yourselves are dishonoring the gifts of almighty God.”²⁵

Verses 7-9: You are hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he spoke for God about you: “These people honor Me with their words, but I am not really important to them. Their worship of Me is worthless. The things they teach are only human rules.”²⁶

Here, Jesus points to the prophet Isaiah to prove His point. Also, God’s message to Ezekiel, who attempted to teach the people the truth, certainly applies to Jesus trying to help the scribes and Pharisees see the truth: “And now about you, son of man. Your people lean against the walls and stand in their doorways talking about you. They tell each other, ‘Come on, let’s go hear what the LORD has to say.’ So they come to you as if they were my people. They sit in front of you as if they were my people. They hear your words, but they will not do the things you say. They only want to do what feels good. They only want to cheat people and make more money.”²⁷ In turn, when Jesus spoke to His disciples He was following a concept presented by Solomon: “My son, listen closely to what I am saying. Let my life be your example.”²⁸

In addition, God issues an indictment on Israel about their worship and teaching that certainly applied to those who lived in Jesus’ day.²⁹ Unfortunately, there are many today who would be found guilty of the same insensitivity to God’s Word and will for their lives. Jesus was trying to point out to these haughty religious leaders what Solomon warned against: “You can trust this: Every word that God speaks is true. God is a safe place for those who go to Him. So don’t try to change what God says. If you do, He will punish you and prove that you are a liar.”³⁰ And what the prophet Isaiah warns about can be applied to many people today, “The Lord says, ‘These people come to honor me with words, but I am not really important to them. The worship they give Me is nothing but human rules they have memorized.”³¹

All of this was like a weight pulling down their spirits so that they could not worship the LORD in spirit and in truth. Another well-known Rabbi joins in his response to the prophet Isaiah by commenting: “They came close to raising themselves up to the heavens. They showed themselves as though honoring God with mouth and lip, but in their hearts they had drawn far away from Him. And their reverence of Him is not done wholeheartedly, but by the instructions of those who teach them.”³² No wonder Rabbi Nathan made this remark about his fellow Jews: “If the hypocrites were divided into ten parts, nine would be found in Jerusalem, and one in the world outside.”³³

Early Church preacher Chrysostom gives us his summary on how those who followed the verbal traditions were attempting in vain to worship God. He writes: “Did you notice that prophecy agrees exactly with what was said here and that it long ago predicted their evil? For this very thing with which the Messiah now indicts them was also said long ago by Isaiah. Isaiah said that they despise the things of God: ‘They worship me in vain.’ But Isaiah also said that they place great value on their own concerns: ‘They teach as commandments the teachings of human beings.’ Therefore, it was on reasonable grounds that the disciples did not keep these teachings. Jesus thus strikes them with a mortal blow. He does this on the basis of the circumstances, on the basis of their own covenant to which they had consented, and on the basis of the prophet who had intensified the grounds of the accusation.

Jesus does not talk with the scribes at all because they had ceased to accept any more correction. Instead, He directed His message to the crowds so that He could introduce doctrine that is high and great and full of philosophical insight. He took this as His starting point and finally wove in that which was greater, even throwing out the observance of kinds of food. But note in what sequence these events happen. After He cleansed the leper; after He nullified the Sabbath; after He displayed Himself as King of land and sea; after He instituted laws; after He forgave sins; after He raised dead people; after He supplied them with many examples of His deity. It is then that He talks to them about food laws. For all of Judaism is held together by this; and if you take this away, you also have taken away the whole thing.”³⁴

There is a lesson here for all believers, regardless of what denomination they belong to. When man-made rites, rituals, and other forms of worship are demanded above and beyond what Jesus said, that we are to worship God in spirit and in truth, then those who do so are usurping God’s authority and such worship will be in vain. God is not against any form or custom that is meant to honor and praise Him with a sincere heart, but He has no time for such things when they are arrogantly reported to be from Him when they are in fact from the mind man. God made it clear that we are not to pretend when worshiping Him. To do so is only satisfying our religious commitments, formalities, and beliefs.³⁵

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Part I

NOTE: Some might think that the ensuing dissertation by Jesus involves only the legalistic aspects of Jewish Law and customs. But Christ is making a spiritual point which implicates our real attitude toward God. Just as the Pharisees were guilty of violating God’s commandments with the traditions of man, that helped them circumvent their vows, we are also often guilty of the same trespass when we worship God in obedience to forms and traditions that have become substitutes for the genuine article. There is little difference between ourselves and the Pharisees when we repeat memorized prayers, or repetitious creeds; give redundant testimonies, or sing songs by rote, and go through actions that have become nothing more than subconscious reflexes brought on by years of practice, without our hearts really being involved in what we bring to the Living God as worship. Unfortunately, in some churches services have become so perfunctory that any emotional outbursts of praise and adoration to God are frowned upon.

Verses 1-2: Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus. They came from Jerusalem and asked Him: “Why do your followers not obey the traditions we have from our great teachers who lived long ago? Your followers don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

It is apparent now that the news about what Jesus was doing up in Galilee had reached Jerusalem to such a degree that the religious leaders felt it was time to take action. These first two verses are not so much a recording of the incident as they are a setup for what Jesus had to share that would challenge these Scribes and Pharisees on their interpretation of the law. It is a case of commandment verses custom. Jesus and His disciples are accused of breaking a tradition instituted by man, not one instructed by God.

Early church theologian Origen sees it this way. He says: “Pharisees and scribes came to Him from Jerusalem. They did not come because they were amazed at the power in Jesus that healed people even if they ‘only touched the edge of his cloak.’ Instead, they came with a faultfinding attitude and brought an accusation before the teacher. The accusation did not concern the transgression of a commandment of God but rather the transgression of one tradition of the Jewish elders. Probably the charge of the faultfinders itself displays the piety of the disciples of Jesus, because they offered no grounds at all for criticism by the Pharisees and scribes in regard to transgressing the commandments of God. The Pharisees and scribes would not have brought the charge of transgressing the commandment of the elders against the disciples of Jesus if, indeed, they were able to get a firm hold on the ones who were being accused and were able to show that they were transgressing a commandment of God.”¹

Jewish scholars tell us that among the Jews, traditions were based primarily upon what were called “verbal teachings,” that had been successively handed down from Moses through each generation to Rabbi Judah the Patriarch,² who compiled and categorized them it into what is called the Mishnah.³ Another revered Rabbi gives an even more exhaustive list of 39 recipients from Moses down to the years 352-427 AD.⁴ The next few centuries added the Gemara.⁵ The Mishnah plus the Gemara equals the Talmud.⁶ There are two versions of the Talmud – the Jerusalem Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud. The Jerusalem Talmud was finally composed circa 200-250 AD, so we can see that all of these teachings in Jesus’ day were already being transmitted through the spoken word. Once these teachings were written down, there was no longer any need to pass them on verbally. For those interested in further study, the venerable Jewish Rabbi Moses Maimonides shares some of these traditions in one of his Tractates.⁷

According to Jewish history, Rabbi Ashi, who reestablished the Academy at Sura (Babylon), was the first editor of the Babylonian Talmud. The esteem in which these were held by the Jews is seen in the following example: “The associates in the name of Rabbi Yohanan said, ‘The words of the scribes are as relative in importance to the words of the Torah, and as dear as the words of Torah.’ As it says, ‘And your palate desires the words of the scribes as much as it does the best wine of the Torah.⁸”⁹ Another respected Rabbi added this comment: “The words of the scribes…are more dear than the words of the Torah.”¹⁰ And then another Rabbi boldly remarks: “I will prove to you that the words of the scribes are more dear than the words of the Torah.”¹¹ He goes on to explain that a Rabbi named Tarfon¹² would have only been guilty of neglect had he forgotten to recite the Shema – “Hear, Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD is one,” from the Torah. But when he violated the words of the scholars of Hillel,¹³ he was liable to be put to death. This shows that the words of the scribes are more important than the words of the Torah. This is what Jesus faced when He confronted them with what God said.

We find this conjecture became part of verbal tradition when a Rabbi admonished his son: “My son, be more careful in the observance of the words of the Scribes than in the words of the Torah, for in the laws of the Torah there are positive and negative precepts; but, as to the laws of the Scribes, whoever transgresses any of the enactments of the Scribes incurs the penalty of death.”¹⁴ So no wonder Jesus received such strong rebukes when He stated that the Word of God He brought was superior to the words of the scribes that they brought.

It appears this was the crux of the discussion and argument in this part of Matthew. Such doctrines and sayings were also transmitted from father to son by word of mouth, and thus preserved among the people. Such traditions constitute a large part of Jewish verbal teachings and many legal doctrines seek to trace their origin from Moses on Mount Sinai, which Jews call “Sinaitic Commandments.” There are other traditions, however, which refer to national and historical events, rather than to difficulties in the Jewish law, written or verbal. It was intended to fill in the gaps left by the written law, because the scribes and Pharisees did not think it told the whole story.

Here Jesus indicts the Pharisees for breaking the divine commandments of God. It is clearly pointed out that tradition, when contrary to true message, is vain and useless. Nonetheless, some self-righteous people in different parts of the world continue to be involved in activities that offend God, but they excuse it by calling it tradition. But the Word of God calls for holiness and purity. In some places, when sinners take things that are not theirs it is called, stealing, but when hypocrites do the same thing it is called, misappropriation; the sinner lies, but the hypocrite merely bends the truth; the sinner gossips, but the hypocrite is simply getting the word out. But when we become a new creature in Christ Jesus, it breaks those traditions because old things pass away and all things become new.

Violating a commandment because of tradition is without justification and therefore sin. The bone of contention here between Jesus’ disciples and these Pharisees and scribes was the washing of the hands before eating. On the surface it may appear that the disciples had not learned basic hygiene. But there is more to it than that. It is most likely that the Pharisees were more upset with the manner in which the disciples were washing their hands. We are told, that for Jews washing one’s hands before eating fruit was not required. As a matter of fact, it was considered pretentious to do so. But before priests were to eat any bread, we are told: “The hands are ritually washed with a cup that contains between 2.5-3.0 oz for the eating of non-sacred food, for tithes, and for offerings; and for the eating of consecrated food, the hands are immersed into 74 gallons of water; this is because if his hands become impure, his entire body becomes impure and he must immerse his entire body. If a person immersed in a pool for the eating of non-sacred food, and intended to remain pure for non-sacred food, he is forbidden to eat food given as tithes.”¹⁵

In the first written version of the verbal tradition, one Rabbi says: “Once the hands have been washed, one says a blessing over the bread, and that is the beginning of the meal.”¹⁶ More everyday requirements are also found in Jewish writings such as: “Washing hands between courses in the meal is a matter of choice. If one desires, one may wash; if not, one need not. There is no obligation to wash before partaking of unconsecrated fruit, whether before eating or afterward. To the contrary, whoever washes his hands before partaking of fruit is considered among the haughty. Whenever bread is eaten with salt, it is necessary to wash one’s hands afterward, lest it contain Sodomite salt or salt that resembles Sodomite salt, and after eating, one inadvertently pass one’s hands over one’s eyes and blind them. This is the reason why we are obligated to wash after eating.”¹⁷ The same Rabbi goes on the explain: “If the hands were immersed in drawn water, whether in a container or a pool, the person’s hands are not purified. Instead, drawn water poured from a container must fall upon his hands. For hands may only be washed from containers and using human effort.”¹⁸

It really sounds as though over the many centuries of commentary, each generation of Rabbis tried to “out holy” one another. I remember growing up in a strict Pentecostal organization where all manner of jewelry was outlawed in favor of external holiness. Ministers found themselves in hot debates over whether the wedding ring belonged to the category of jewelry. As a result of hardliners many were turned away from the church because they would not comply with removing their wedding band. Can you imagine a woman who just received Christ as her Savior, going home and telling her husband that she was not going to wear her wedding ring anymore because now she was a real born again Christian? It appears that this was the modern equivalent of verbal tradition winning out over the written word.

So it seems that the real crime here on the part of Jesus’ disciples may have been that they were washing their hands in a basin instead of having water poured over them. But these Pharisees and scribes were tame compared to some Rabbis. One particular Rabbi proclaimed: “Whoever washes his hands before the meal must lift them up lest the water pass beyond the finger joint and then flow back and render the hands unclean.”¹⁹ It is clear from these instructions that there was less interest in actually getting the hands clean than there was in fulfilling the details of the ritual. Unfortunately, this same spirit crept into Christianity over the centuries with regard to Communion and Water Baptism. There is more interest in fulfilling the mandate than in gaining what these ordinances are really intended to do. In some cases, like these Rabbi’s here, unless the Eucharist and Christening are done in a certain prescribed way, then the person administering these sacraments is to blame for misleading and defiling either the communicant or the convert.

Then, another Rabbi chimes in: “Whoever eats bread without previously washing the hands is as impure as if he just had intercourse with a harlot.”²⁰ But a different Rabbi goes even further: “Whoever makes light of washing the hands before and after a meal will be eliminated from the world.”²¹ Not only that, but there is an added factor. If one violated these rules on the washing of hands before giving or eating food, they might be in danger of being possessed by an evil spirit that endangers the health of those that eat the food their unwashed hands have touched.²² This evil spirit named, Sibetha, came in the form of a foul odor.²³ As a matter of fact, one Rabbi got a reputation of being good at concocting medicines. It was said: “Whenever he discovered some new medicine he would fill a water jug with it and suspend it outside above the doorstep and proclaimed: Whosoever desires let him come and take of it. Some say, he knew from tradition a medicine for the Sibetha disease, and he would suspend a jugful of water and proclaim, Whosoever needs it let him come and wash his hands so that he may save his life from danger.”²⁴

So committed were some Jews to this ritual that when one Rabbi was in prison he had only enough water to wash his hands, but that would leave him with nothing to drink, so he stated to the prison guard: “What can I do? When someone disobeys the words of the Rabbis they deserve to die. Therefore, it is better for me to die than to transgress against the opinion of my colleagues.”²⁵ So we can see what kind of opposition Jesus was up against on even the most minor of points such as on how one washes their hands before eating.

Early church preacher Chrysostom offers this view: “Now consider with me how they are convicted even by the very act of asking the question. For they do not say, ‘Why do they transgress the law of Moses?’ Instead they say, ‘Why do they transgress the tradition of the elders?’ From this it is clear that the priests were instituting many new practices, even though Moses with great fear and with dreadful words had commanded that one should neither add nor take away anything. For he says, ‘Do not add to this word that I am commanding you today, and do not take away from it.’ But this did not at all stop them from instituting new practices. The issue here provides an example: eating with unwashed hands, which they thought unlawful. They focused inordinately on the outward rites of washing cups and things made of bronze and the rules for washing themselves. By this time, they should have been released from needless observances. God’s timing had moved forward to that point. But just at that point they bound people up with many more observances. Why did they turn things upside down? Because they were afraid that someone might take away their power. They wanted others to be more afraid of them. They themselves had become the lawgivers. The issue of transgressing the traditions of the elders had gotten so inverted that they were insisting that their own commandments be kept even if God’s commandment was violated. They exercised so much obsessive control that the issue finally became a matter of formal legal accusation. But the indictment would instead fall against them in two ways. They themselves were instituting new practices and were devising punishments in regard to their own observances while placing no value on those instituted by God.”²⁶

When we look at the various denominations of the Christian church today we can see a variety of rites, rituals, ordinances, customs and traditions that influence the way the Gospel is preached, sinners are invited to receive forgiveness, praise and worship is conducted, water baptism is administered, foot washing is observed, etc., etc. What is most enlightening, is how many of them are not found in the Scriptures, but can be traced back to interpretations of scripture by preachers and scholars. But one of the most frightening factors is how God’s punishment is declared by one denomination on another when they do not adhere to the man-made customs and traditions they practice.

UPDATE FOR ALL STUDENTS AND READERS

We just finished the very dramatic Chapter 14 of Matthew’s Gospel. We saw where the wicked king Herod was forced to arrest John the Baptizer because his wife was upset over what the preacher was saying. It seems that in one or more of his sermons John the Baptizer had denounced Herod for illegally taken his brother Philip’s wife, Herodias, to be his wife. Philip and Herodias already had a daughter named Salome.

But Herodias wasn’t finished, she didn’t want John the Baptizer merely arrested and then let go after a certain period of time. No! She wanted him dead! But how? Then she hatched a plan. She had her beautiful young daughter, Salome, to dance on Herod’s birthday. It was a custom for a king to be generous on his birthday. So she instructed her daughter that when Herod asked what it was he could give her for such an enticing dance, she was to say, “I want John the Baptizer’s head served on a platter.”

With reluctance, Herod did just that. And when Jesus heard about it, because John the Baptizer was a relative through his mother, Mary; and because John the Baptizer had been ordained by God to be the messenger announcing Jesus’ coming and ministry, He took it personally. This prompted Jesus to seek solitude where He could grieve, but when He arrived at his destination, a large crowd was there to greet Him. So instead of sending them away to wait another day, He began to teach them and heal their sick.

By the end of the day everybody was hungry, so Jesus asked His disciples to feed them. But they had no food. Then Jesus asked them to see what they could find. They came back with a little boy’s lunch consisting of five small flatbreads and two sardines. So Jesus took this little meal, blessed it, gave some to each of His disciples and told them to distribute it. What a miracle! There was enough food to feed 5,000 men plus women and children! Not only that but when they took up the scraps it filled twelve baskets!

When it was all over, Jesus told His disciples to go by boat across the lake to the other side and He would join them later. While on the crossing, the disciples ran into a wind storm. It got worse as the night wore on. Then, right in the middle of the night, a figure appeared walking on the water. At first, they were frightened, but when Jesus identified Himself it calmed their fears. However, Peter wanted to make sure. So he asked the figure on the water to invite him over to where He was. Jesus did so, and Peter got out of the boat, and sure enough, he started walking on the water toward Jesus.

But the wind was still blowing pretty hard and the water was not calm and smooth and Peter became afraid as he stepped over one whitecap after another. As soon as he took his eyes off Jesus, Peter began to sink into the stormy waves. But Jesus reached out and pulled him back up, and together they walked to the boat. As soon as they got in, the wind stopped, the waves ceased, and they sailed on to their destination.

The disciples were astounded. They looked at each other, then turning to Jesus they bowed before Him and said, “Truly, you are the Son of God.” They then kept on sailing until they arrived at their destination. But as soon as they embarked from  the boat and came on shore, people there recognized Jesus and soon the word spread. So people started bringing their family and friends to be healed, merely by touching the hem of Jesus’ garment.

What a wonderful story! But instead of Jesus setting up His ministry headquarters there, He would soon be greeted by skeptics and doubters. They were not out to learn more about the anointed prophet from Galilee but to find fault with Him and His disciples. We will encounter them in the next chapter. I hope and pray you will continue to walk along with me as we travel this path in Matthew’s Gospel, telling the greatest story every told.

I want to thank you and congratulate you on your love for God’s Word. And I ask Him to bless you for taking the time to study it so that you can know more about His Son Jesus. God bless you.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Part V

Verse 34: After they finished crossing the lake, they arrived at the shore of Gennesaret.

According to Jewish historian Josephus, Gennesaret, meaning in Hebrew,”garden of the prince,” was a fertile district on the northwestern shore of the lake, situated between the cities of Capernaum to the north, and Tiberias to the south which gave the lake its name. It is 13 miles long, and 8 miles wide, with a maximum depth of 141 feet. It would later become known among Christians as the “Sea of Galilee.” The area of Gennesaret is about halfway between Capernaum and Magdala where Mary (known as Magdalene) came from.

It is that part of the Promised Land originally given to the tribe of Naphtali. In one Jewish commentary we read: “And Moses the prophet of the Lord blessed the tribe of Naphtali, and said: Naphtali favors and delights in the fish of the sea which falls within his portion; and he will be nourished with blessings in the fruits of the valley of Gennesaret which has been given him from the Lord; he will inherit the water of Sopheni, and the sea of Tebaria (Tiberias).”

To this we find what is written in a Jerusalem Fragment attached to a Jewish commentary: “And Moses the prophet of the Lord blessed the tribe of Naphtali, and said: Naphtali shall be satisfied with favor, and be filled with blessings from the Lord; he will have possession to the west of the sea of Gennesaret, and to the south.”¹ It certainly was one of the choice portions of Canaan that went to Naphtali. The Jews spoke of it as being a very fruitful place, which gave rise to this story: “Rabbah ben Bar Hannah said: When we went to visit Rabbi Johanan to eat the fruit of Gennesaret, when there were a hundred of us we used to take him ten pieces each, and when there were ten of us we used each to take him a hundred each, and a hundred could not be gotten into a basket holding three-fourths of a bushel, and he would eat them all and then swear that he had not eaten a thing.”²

This fruit was so good and tasty that Rabbi Abin son of Rabbi Adda quoted Rabbi Issac as saying: “Why is there no fruit of Gennesaret available in Jerusalem? So that the Festival pilgrims would not say. ‘If we were to ascend to Jerusalem merely to eat the fruits of Gennesaret it would suffice us.’ In that case, the object of the pilgrimage would not meet its original purpose.”³ As a matter of fact, we are told that Gennesaret was often referred to as being, “At the end of the valley of fatness, crushed by wine,”⁴ because its fruit was so sweet.⁵

We also find an interesting story in the Old Testament about this area, that occurred when Joshua led the children of Israel into the Promised Land to conqueror it.⁶ Even the great Jewish historian Josephus has much to say about this area:

“The land also that lies next to this lake has the same name of Gennesaret; its climate is wonderful as well as its beauty; its soil is so fruitful that all sorts of trees can grow on it, and the inhabitants accordingly plant all sorts of trees there; for the temperature so well mixed, that it agrees very well with those several sorts, particularly walnuts, which require the coldest air, flourish there in vast plenty; there are palm trees also, which grow best in hot air; fig trees also and olives grow near them, which yet require an air that is more temperate. One may call this place the ambition of nature, where it forces those plants that are naturally enemies to one another to agree together; it is a happy contention of the seasons, as if every one of them laid claim to this land; for it not only nourishes different sorts of autumnal fruit beyond men’s expectation, but preserves them a great while; it supplies men with the principal fruits, with grapes and figs continually, during ten months of the year and the rest of the fruits as they become ripe together through the whole year; for besides the good temperature of the air, it is also watered from a most fertile fountain. The length of this land extends itself along the banks of this lake that bears the same name for about four miles, and is two and a half miles wide. And this is the nature of that place.”⁷

Knowing all this, we can see two things that may have brought Jesus to Gennesaret at this point of time in His ministry. First, He had just finished several long, tiring weeks of ministry and needed some rest. So what better place to visit and taste its wonderful fruit than Gennesaret? Also, this was the area where a woman who was desperately in need of healing was waiting for just one touch of His garment, a meeting that was already assigned to Him before the world began.

Verse 35: Some of the men living there spotted Jesus and recognized Him. So they sent the word around to other people throughout that area that Jesus had come. The people then brought all their sick relatives to Him.

It appears, the men living in Gennesaret had more faith in Christ’s abilities than what His own disciples showed.⁸ The disciples conveyed concern in the presence of Christ while the men of Gennesaret displayed confidence. The disciples called for Jesus to help them, the men of Gennesaret called others to be helped by Christ. Isn’t it odd, that over the years there have some atheists and agnostics who have read more of the Bible than many believers. While these skeptics are looking in the Scriptures for something to criticize, it seems that these believers have little interest in looking for something to confirm. Here, for example, is an article about a well-known British atheist and skeptic, Dr. Malcolm Muggeridge:

Last December Malcolm Muggeridge — iconoclast, womanizer, and professional cynic — stunned his native England by converting to Christianity. Muggeridge took Holy Communion in a small steepled chapel in Hurst Green, Sussex, and when the service was over he said, “It’s a particularly joyful sort of day. It’s rather like when you fall in love with a woman and ask her to marry you. You know there are no more questions to be asked.”

What does a journalist do when he runs out of questions? That’s what Muggeridge’s friends at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) said condescending toward his new faith, whispering to each other. But Muggeridge would have answered: “He becomes an atheist.” It is atheism which refuses to grapple with the ultimate questions of where man came from, what he is doing here, and where he is headed. Muggeridge says, “It is one of the fantasies of the 20th century that believers are believable people, sentimental people, and that you have to be a materialist and a scientist and a humanist to have a skeptical mind. But of course, exactly the opposite is true.”⁹

The early church preacher Chrysostom had this to say: “For neither did they approach Him as before, dragging Him into their houses and seeking a touch from His hand and directions from Him in words. But now in a far higher pattern, and with greater self-denial and with a more abundant faith, they tried to win themselves a cure. By now the woman who had the issue of blood had taught them all to be constrained in seeking wisdom. And the Evangelist, also implying that at long intervals Jesus visited the various neighborhoods, said, ‘When the men of that place recognized him, they sent round to all that region and brought to him all that were sick.’ Far from abolishing their faith, this interval of miracles had made it even greater and preserved it vigorously.”¹⁰

Verse 36: They begged Jesus to let them only touch the edge of His cloak to be healed. And all the sick people who touched His cloak were healed.

The concept of touching the hem of Jesus robe might be traceable to what we find in the pattern for Aaron’s robe.¹¹ The seamstresses were to use blue, purple, and red yarn to make cloth images of pomegranates. Then these pomegranates were hung around the bottom edge of the robe with gold bells in between each one. Aaron was only to wear this robe when he was doing his priestly duties. That way, as he moved around inside the Most Holy Place, the bells would ring upon his going in and his coming out. This was intended to keep him from dying while on duty without anyone knowing. As a result, it began to be believed that there was power in the hem to keep Aaron alive. So we can see that anyone who might touch that hem could receive some of that power to make them whole from sickness.

Early church Bishop Poitiers offers this on the subject of people seeking just to touch the hem of Jesus’ robe: “Many things came in the way that, after the gathering of five thousand men who were filled to satisfaction, dampened our effort to give a proper account. Our understanding on this point, however, remains the same. The time of the law was over, and five thousand men were brought into the church from Israel. The believing people now hastened from the law, saved through their faith. They offered to God the remaining persons among them who were feeble and ill. These offered persons wanted to touch the hem of his garment to be made whole through faith. As from the hem of the entire garment, the whole power of the Holy Spirit came forth from our Lord Jesus Christ. This power was given to the apostles, who were also going out as it were from the same body, and it afforded healing to those who wished to touch the garment.”¹²

This is certainly one spiritual way of looking at it, but there were other things at work throughout all of Galilee and Judea. Even though it was quite a walk from Capernaum to Jerusalem, there were many who walked that way for the purposes of trade, visiting, and of course, the festivals in Jerusalem. So I’m sure it did not take long before the word got around about this self-appointed prophet from Nazareth who was spreading a new concept of salvation among the Jewish people in Galilee. And since He had not been endorsed or commissioned by the Sanhedrin, they were certainly curious as to what He was up to, especially any talk about Him being the awaited Messiah. So in the next chapter, we will see their reaction to this man who could forgive sins, raise the dead, heal lepers, feed thousands with a small lunch, and people could be healed simply by touching the hem of His garment.

LEARN TO SMILE AT YOUR ENEMY

In one of Greek writer Aristophanes’ plays, we find this line: “The wise can often profit by the lessons of an enemy.”¹ In other words, if you are smart you will gain knowledge from the difficulties that you face. The character in the play goes on to explain that you can learn things from an enemy you cannot acquire from a friend. After all, it’s our enemies that teach us to be cautious, to develop ways to protect ourselves so we are not so vulnerable into being fooled or misled.

While it is inadvisable to go out and deliberately make enemies, it is also naïve to think that we don’t have them. So instead of letting things in life that threaten our well-being, peace of mind, sense of security, and purpose for living cause us to be fearful and unwilling to go forward, use them to develop the necessary talent and abilities to survive victoriously.

That’s why on a spiritual level, the apostle James wrote to his friends: “My brothers and sisters, be very happy when you are tested in different ways. You know that such testing of your faith produces endurance. Endure until your testing is over. Then you will be mature and complete, and you won’t feel so helpless.”²

WHO SAYS, GOD DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO DRIVE

As I drove along a very straight but narrow highway in Serbia, Yugoslavia, in the passenger seat sat the legally blind bishop, and in the back seat sat a paraplegic pastor with his wife. Several days before, the regional communist party chief summoned me to his office. He wanted to know why I was there and what I was going to do. I did not hide anything and told the truth. I told him that I was a preacher and had been invited there to speak to several congregations. He graciously gave me permission to preach as long as I did not say anything against the communist party.

As my passengers and I chatted we came up behind a tanker truck and seeing no oncoming traffic I pulled out into the passing lane. Just as the right front end of my car came alongside the left rear wheels of the tanker, the driver suddenly moved over into the passing lane. I threw on my brakes and pulled to the left to avoid a collision. However, because the road was so narrow, I ran out of room because there was no shoulder, and just as his tires were about to hit my vehicle, my left front wheel dropped over the edge of a 15-foot down-slope lined with trees along a stream at the bottom. My car could have easily rolled over, but just as we started down the incline, it was as if an invisible pair of hands took hold of mine on the steering wheel and guided us safely to a level spot between the road, the ditch, and the trees.

When my car came to a stop, we all started to breathe again and began praising the Lord for His protection. I was able to drive along the stream until I could pull back up on the road and continue our journey to where I was scheduled to preach that night. Although we were in somewhat of a shock, we talked more about how God saved us from an accident than we did about the truck driver pulling over and causing us to leave the road in such a desolate place.

The little barn that had been converted into a church was packed with over 100 people. Their passionate praises in song touched my heart. I spoke through an interpreter, and at the close of my sermon, I gave the altar call. Several stood up to receive Christ as their Savior. But when one particular lady stood up, the whole congregation broke into tears and started magnifying God with praise. I didn’t know who she was or why the congregation responded so emotionally to her responding to the invitation to be born again.

After the service, the bishop came to me with a look of elation. He said excitedly, “The woman, who stood up tonight to be born again, is the wife of the communist party chief you saw in order to get permission to preach!” We rejoiced in the Lord as I wondered what her husband would say when she went home and told him what happened. That the preacher he allowed to speak was the one God used to bring her to Christ.

On our trip back to the town where we were staying, I noticed that on both sides of the road there were 30ft high trees planted about 15 feet apart running along the stream. That caused me to wonder how it was that I missed those trees after we went off the road. As we approached the spot where it happened I suddenly noticed why. On this 30 plus mile stretch of highway, the place where my car came to rest was the only location on either side of the road where a gap of thirty feet between the trees existed.

It then became clear to me; Satan did not want us to make it to that church for this woman to receive salvation. However, our God was in full control. I learned then, that sometimes God allows a storm to catch us, just like the disciples, so that Jesus can come and rescue us, and show us His power and supremacy over the devil. That miracle gave me even more strengthened faith to never doubt Him in any situation.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Part IV

Verse 22: “Then Jesus immediately made His disciples get into a boat. He told them to sail to the other side of the lake. He said He would come later after saying goodbye to the crowd.

This is not the first time Jesus sought solitude so He could pray alone.¹ But because of the ensuing events, I’m convinced that He had more on His mind than just praying. He was about to show His disciples something they had never seen before to convince them that He truly was the Son of God, the Messiah. If there was anything that persuaded people in those days that an individual possessed divine qualities, it was their power over nature.

For instance, among the Greeks, Zeus was believed to be the presiding deity of the universe, ruler of the skies and the earth, and was regarded as the god of all natural phenomena in the sky; the personification of the laws of nature; the ruler of the state; and finally, the father of gods and men. By using his shield, called the Aegis, Zeus could create all natural phenomena related to the air and the sky, such as rainstorms, windstorms, and intense darkness. At his command, mighty thunders would flash and lightnings would roll, wreaking havoc; or the skies would open to rejuvenate the earth with life-giving water. However, Jesus’ disciples were about to see someone greater than Zeus.

Early church Bishop Hilary offers this insight: “The spiritual significance of this must be discerned, comparing the order or nature with the coming revelation. The historical event of His being alone in the evening anticipates a future event: His solitude at the time of the Passion when everyone else had fled in fear.”² In other words, Jesus did not panic in the storm because He already knew while things were quiet that God was in control. Oh, how fitting are the words by Horatio Spafford in the second verse of his song that goes: “Though Satan should buffet though trials should come, Let this blest assurance control, that Christ has regarded my helpless estate, and has shed His own blood for my soul. It is well with my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul.”

Verse 23a: Then after saying goodbye to the people, Jesus went up into the hillside by Himself to pray.

This must not have surprised the people left on the shore with Jesus, to see Him head for the hills for solitary prayer. After all, that’s how Moses spoke with God on the slopes of Mt. Horeb in Sinai. Yet, many Rabbi’s didn’t think it was proper to imitate Moses. We read where one Rabbi says: “A man should not stand on a high place when he prays, but he should pray in a lowly place, as it says, ‘Out of the depths have I called Thee, O Lord.’³”⁴ This was no doubt the continuation of the teachings found in another earlier Jewish document.⁵

Here, even one of their esteemed Rabbis commented: “One should not stand in a place more than three to six inches high and pray. Similarly, he should not pray while standing on a bed, bench, or chair. A raised platform that has a surface area of six feet by six feet which is the minimum size of a house, is considered like an attic. Therefore, one is permitted to pray there. Similarly, if it is surrounded by walls, even if it is not six feet by six feet, one may pray there, since its height is not noticeable, because it constitutes an area unto itself.”⁶ By such thinking, people were trying their best to impress God. But for Jesus, that was man’s verbal tradition, not a law from His Father in heaven.

Early church preacher Chrysostom gives us his thoughts on this incident: “For what purpose does He go up into the hills on the mountain? To teach us that solitude and seclusion are good when we are to pray to God. With this in view, you see, we find Him continually withdrawing into the wilderness. There He often spends the whole night in prayer. This teaches us earnestly to seek such quietness in our prayers as the time and place may afford. For the wilderness is the mother of silence; it is a calm and a harbor, delivering us from all turmoils.”⁷

Oh how true! So often, the only time we earnestly pray and call out for God’s guidance is when we are suddenly in trouble and facing overwhelming odds. Jesus did not wait until He was in the middle of the problem to lift up His eyes and pray, He did so knowing that it was important to solidify His contact with the Father before things happened. If we do not pray before we go out to do His will, we may not be able to pray when suddenly caught in a storm we cannot control.

Verses 23b-24: He stayed there all alone until late in the evening, and by this time the boat with the disciples was a long way from shore, and was having trouble making progress because the strong headwinds and high waves were beating against it.

No doubt, what was about to take place out on the lake, and what would occur once He arrived at the boat’s location was already on Jesus’ mind. He was not reacting to an occasion, He was responding to an opportunity. But Jesus did not start walking before the disciples had been given an chance to use their wits and talent to overcome the obstacles now against their reaching the other shore. Listen to what Augustine has to say about this: “When all good advice fails and the rudder is useless and the spread of the sails presents more of a danger than an advantage, when all human help and strength have been abandoned, the only recourse left for the sailors is to cry out to God. Therefore, will He who helps those who were sailing to reach port safely abandon His church and prevent it from arriving in peace and tranquility?”⁸ Of course, the answer is “No!”

Chrysostom put these lines in his sermon: “This was all for their training, that they might not look for some easy hope of preservation from any earthly source. He then allows them to be tossed by the storm all night! This had the purpose of awakening their stony hearts in a most complete way. This is how Jesus dealt with the nature of their fear, which the rough weather and the timing had produced. He cast them directly into a situation in which they would have a greater longing for Him and a continual remembrance of Him.”⁹ No wonder when we look back on Church history we see many storms that believers have gone through, yet they persevered because they knew Jesus would never forsake them.

Verse 25: Between three and six o’clock in the early morning, Jesus’ followers were still in the boat as Jesus came walking toward them on the water.

Remember, Jesus had been on the other shore all day teaching, and the possibility that He took a nap before venturing out on the waves would not be out of the question. The KJV states that it was the “fourth watch” of the night. In the early era of Israel, we find where a night was divided into three parts: 6 PM to 10 PM; 10 PM to 2 AM; and 2 AM to 6 AM.¹⁰ Then the day was equally divided in three parts: 6 AM to 10 AM; 10 AM to 2 PM; 2 PM to 6 PM. Jewish historians tell us that the night’s three watches were called: “ashmurah” or “ashmorot.” The first one is mentioned in Lamentations 2:19, the middle one in Judges 7:19,¹¹ the last one in Exodus 14:24 and 1 Samuel 11:11. But later on, the subdivision of nights and days were divided into twelve equal divisions of variable duration, and probably adopted in the Exile from the Babylonians.¹²

Also, from the New Testament text it appears that this division of the night into four night-watches had been adopted by Greeks and Romans which they called, “vigiliæ.”¹³ Luke tells us about four squads of soldiers that were stationed to guard Peter in prison.¹⁴ That would be four soldiers for each of the night watches. Some Rabbis retained the three watches in the night,¹⁵ but Matthew used the Greek and Roman calculation: The first was from 6 PM to 9 PM, the second from 9 PM to 12 PM (midnight), the third from 12 AM (midnight) till 3 AM, and the fourth from 3 AM to 6 AM. Therefore, here in the text was the fourth watch between 3:00 – 6:00 AM.

One early church scholar’s impression of this incident comes from the bishop of Aquleia who says: “Who was able to walk on the sea if not the Creator of the universe? He, indeed, about whom the Holy Spirit had spoken long ago through blessed Job: ‘Who alone stretched out the heavens and walked on the sea as well as the earth.’¹⁶ Solomon spoke about Him in the person of Wisdom: ‘I dwelt in the highest places and my throne was in a pillar of cloud. I orbited the heavenly sphere alone and walked on the waves of the sea.’¹⁷⁶ David likewise declared in his psalm: ‘God, your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters.’¹⁸ So too Habakkuk noted, ‘The raging waters swept on; the deep gave forth its voice.’¹⁹⁸ What is more evident than this testimony, what is more clear? It points to Him walking on the water as well as on the ground. This is God’s only begotten Son, who long ago according to the will of the Father stretched out the heavens and at the time of Moses in a pillar of cloud showed the people a way to follow.”²⁰

Verse 26: When they saw Jesus walking on the water, it frightened them. “It’s a ghost!” they shouted in fear.

By being able to see Jesus from a distance, it must have been a clear windy night with a bright enough moon to reflect off the water. The sudden appearance of a stranger you may not know was not that foreign to Jewish teachers. However, they also taught that one should be cautious. They tell this story to prove their point: “And it happened when Joshua was near Jericho, that he looked up and behold there stood a man in front of him, . . . and Joshua fell face down on the ground. Now how could he do such a thing, seeing that Rabbi Joshua ben Levi has said that it is forbidden for a man to greet another by night, for fear that he is a demon? — It was different there, because he said to him, ‘I am captain of the host of the Lord’. But perhaps, was he lying? — We take it for granted that they do not utter the name of heaven in vain. He said to him: This evening you neglected the regular afternoon sacrifice, and now you have neglected the study of the Torah. Joshua replied: In regard to which of them have you come? He answered, ‘I have come now.’ Straightway, Joshua tarried that night in the midst of the valley.”²¹ So as in Joshua’s case, what this apparition said would go a long way in determining if the disciples thought He was a ghost or a demon.

Chrysostom had this to say about the disciples mistaking Jesus for a ghost: “This is the way He constantly deals with our fears. He does not hesitate to allow worse things to happen, even more alarming than those before. They were troubled here not only by the storm but also by the distance from the land. Note that He did not too easily remove the darkness. He did not come quickly to their rescue. He was training them by the continuance of these fears and instructing them to be ready to endure.”²²

Verse 27: But Jesus quickly comforted them. He said, “Don’t worry! It is I! Don’t be afraid.”

It is interesting to note the sequence in which these words of Jesus fall. First, in His assurance, “Don’t worry” This occurrence is similar to a story told by Jewish sailors and related to a Rabbi. The sailors told that while they were sailing a large wave lifted them up so high that, “we saw the resting place of the smallest star.” Then they heard one of the giant waves call out to the other, “Go and see the power of the master [by whose command] I must not pass the sand [of the shore even as much as] the breadth of a thread; as it is written: ‘Don’t you fear? says the Lord; will you not tremble at my presence?²³ I’m the One who placed sand as a shore for the sea, and made it an everlasting ordinance which it cannot exceed.’”²⁴ In other words, God knows what we don’t know. He knows how long the peril will last and when things will end.

Secondly, in identifying Himself as, “It is I.” This may have originally been Jesus saying in Aramaic, “This is, I AM.” That’s the name of Yahweh. That was the name given to Moses by God. No wonder after His miracle of calming the storm the disciples would realize He was the Son of God. And thirdly, to encourage them He said, “Don’t be afraid.” This makes Jesus so in character with His heavenly Father who told Israel, “Don’t worry—I am with you. Don’t be afraid—I am your God. I will make you strong and help you. I will support you with my right hand that brings victory.”²⁵

In this I see the divine succession of assurances that Christ brings to all those caught in the storms of life. First He wants us to know that all is not lost; that our experience has not become a failure so that we see no sense in going on. Secondly, He reinforces the fact that He is not just a friend or neighbor or family member here to help us out, He is the Son of God with power and authority over all forces, be they natural or supernatural. And thirdly, that we need not try and find a place to hide; to become a recluse and never want to come out again. This is what gave Peter the courage to walk on water. If faith worked for Peter, then faith can work for us.

Augustine sees a future fulfillment in what Jesus did here on the Sea of Galilee. He writes: “The fourth watch of the night marks the end of the night. One watch consists of three hours. This means that at the end of the world the Lord will come to the rescue, and He will be seen walking on the water. Although this ship is tossed by the storms of temptation, it sees the glorified Lord walking upon all the billows of the sea—that is, upon all the powers of this world. For through the voice of His Passion He gave an example of humility according to the flesh. Those waves of the sea to which He willingly submitted for our sake were stilled, in accordance with the prophecy: ‘I came to the height of the sea, and the storm swallowed me up.‘²⁶”²⁷

Verse 28-29a: Peter replied, “Lord, if that is really You, tell me to come to You on the water.” So Jesus said, “Come, Peter.”

Even after concluding that the figure on the water was Jesus, Peter was still not satisfied. He wanted the Son of Man he knew to do something that would remove all doubt; something that only the Son of God could accomplish. Jesus was not the least bit bothered by Peter’s request. Furthermore, this effort on Peter’s part was not to show others how great he was in getting an answer from the Messiah, but how awesome Jesus was as the Messiah with His answer.

Theologian Jerome believes that while Peter may have had enough faith to get out of the boat and walk over to Jesus on the water, he was unwilling to do so until Jesus gave the word for him to come.²⁸ And a fellow church theologian of Jerome gave this commentary: “What is signified by the fact that Peter dared to come to Him upon the water? Peter indeed has the principal role in the church. And what is the meaning of those other words: ‘Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water,’ if not, Lord, if you are truthful and never lie at all, let your church be glorified also in this world, for prophecy declared this about you? Let it walk upon the water, and it shall come to you, to whom it was said, ‘The rich among the people shall entreat your favor.’²⁹”³⁰

Both Peter and our Lord show us here that there is nothing wrong with asking God to give His assurance that what is being said or what we see happening is from Him. Use your imagination and look at the other disciples encouraging Peter to step out of the boat and walk closer the figure they see on the water and make sure that it is Jesus. During my ministry I’ve received correspondence from people who informed me that they believed it was God’s will for me to come and minister to their congregation or to send them some financial support for their efforts. In each case I’ve responded by telling them that I plan to talk with the Lord myself and if He approves of what is being asked then I will certainly follow through. Remember, don’t put your faith in the one who claims to speak on behalf of God, but put your faith in God to let you know it is also His will.

Verse 29b-30: Then Peter left the boat and started walking on the water toward Jesus. But while Peter was walking on the water, he noticed how the wind was making waves. He was afraid and began sinking into the water. He shouted, “Lord, save me!”

If Peter did not really believe that Jesus was in fact the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, he would have never left the boat. Peter may have been impulsive, but he wasn’t that gullible. As long as he kept his eyes focused on Jesus he had little trouble traversing the distance between himself and his Lord. But then he allowed himself to be distracted. So in his panic Peter felt much like the Psalmist who said, “God, save me from all my troubles! The rising water has reached my neck. I have nothing to stand on I am sinking down, down into the mud. I am in deep water, and the waves are about to cover me.”³¹

Here our Lord is repeating what His Father had done before. The Psalmist tells us: “God gave the command, and a strong wind began to blow. The waves became higher and higher. The waves lifted them high into the sky and dropped them into the deep sea. The storm was so dangerous that the men lost their courage. They were stumbling and falling on deck like someone who is intoxicated. Their skill as sailors was of no use. They were in trouble, so they called to the LORD for help, and He saved them from their troubles. He stopped the storm and calmed the waves.”³²

And the prophet Jeremiah could certainly commiserate with Peter since he went through a similar fright, “Water came up over my head. I said to myself, ‘I am finished.’ LORD, I called your name…You heard my voice. You didn’t close your ears. You didn’t refuse to rescue me. You came to me on the day that I called out to you. You said to me, ‘Don’t be afraid.’”³³ But in Peter’s case, the Master was disappointed in Peter’s faith. Instead of continuing to look at Jesus, Peter got his eyes on the waves.

How true this is when we face similar circumstances. There is a chorus to a song we sang in church years ago that goes like this:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face.

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace.³⁴

Verse 31: Jesus immediately reached out and caught Peter by the hand. He said, “Your faith is insufficient. What caused you to doubt?”

Here we see that the Lord did not walk off and let Peter drown because his faith was not strong enough for him to finish. Instead, He reached down and took him by the hand and led him safely back to the boat. Jesus’ heavenly Father did something similar with Moses, “He was by Moses’ side and led him with His wonderful hand. He divided the water, so that the people could walk through the sea.”³⁵ It is important to notice that neither the Father nor the Son removed the threat, but they both walked with the person in the middle of the threat. So often we pray for God to get rid of what is terrifying us, instead of simply reaching out and taking hold of His outstretched hand to guide us through it to the other side. That’s why the word “overcome” is used so much by John in his writings.³⁶

In one of his sermons, Augustine made this point: “While human praise does not tempt the Lord, people are often ruffled and nearly enthralled by human praise and honors given by the church. Peter was afraid on the sea, terrified by the great force of the storm. Indeed, who does not fear that voice: ‘Those who say you are happy are placing you in error and alter the path for your feet?’³⁷ And since the soul struggles against the desire for human praise, it is good for it to turn to prayer and petition amid such danger, lest the one who is charmed by praise be overcome by criticism and reproach. Let Peter, about to sink in the waves, cry out and say, ‘Lord, save me!’”³⁸

Verses 32-33: After Peter and Jesus were in the boat, the wind stopped. Then the followers in the boat bowed before Jesus and said, “You really are the Son of God.”

Here we see the divinity of Jesus revealed in an awe-inspiring way. Therefore, His claim to be the Son of God was confirmed because He evinced the same power His heavenly Father displayed in Israel’s past. Did not the Red Sea part at the command of God the Father?³⁹ One Jewish commentator envisions this division of the sea as representing the separation of Justice and Mercy.⁴⁰ In other words, justice had been served by their deliverance from Egyptian bondage, now they began walking in God’s mercy.

And did we not read earlier where the patriarch Job say of God: “He alone made the skies, and He walks on the ocean waves?”⁴¹ And the Psalmist exclaim: “You walked through the water and crossed the deep sea, but you left no footprints?”⁴² So now His Son does the same, so why not accept Him as the Messiah. We learn from the early Jewish group called, “Essenes,” that the term “Son of God” was much discussed even amonst themselves, so the term used here by Matthew was not out of place nor previously unheard of.⁴³

What had started out as a lonely trip across the Sea of Galilee and developed into a scary time when the storm hit, had now turned out to be one of the greatest moments of the disciples’ lives. Isn’t that often the case? That’s why in the midst of the storm it would behoove everyone to start thinking about how the outcome might end up being one of their choicest experiences. Keep in mind, there can be no “Peace, be still!” unless there is a storm. There can be no rescue, until there is danger of harm.