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Rise Above Bible Study

When Jesus Christ walked on the water, He was teaching us a deeper lesson that some people might over look. The lesson Jesus Christ taught us by walking on the water is how to rise above and over come all the problems of this world. This teaching takes place just after Jesus Christ feed the multitude with five loaves and two fish.

Matthew 14:22-24

V22 And straightway Jesus constrained His disciples to get into a ship, and to go before Him unto the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.
V23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, He was there alone.

Jesus Christ told His disciples to get into the ship without Him. He sent the people away and went by Himself to pray to our Father. We should follow the example of Jesus Christ and find time to pray to our Father by ourselves everyday. When you pray to God, be sure to ask forgiveness for your sins and tell Him that you love Him. Our love is what God wants most from us. Thank God for the blessings that you do have and just talk to Him. Always say that His will be done, not ours and ask in the name of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

V24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.

The disciples are in the ship by themselves out on the sea and they are getting tossed around because of the waves.

Now for the deeper student, there is much more to this verse than most think about. What can the sea be symbolic of? Lets go to Revelation and find out.

Revelation 13:1

V1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

Here we have a beast that will rise up out of the sea in the last days. I'll get to what the sea is symbolic of in a minute but first I want to explain this beast. This is the first beast of Revelation 13. This beast is a political one and will be a one world government of the last days. Yes, someday there will be one government to rule the world. Just remember you read it in God's Word first. The seven heads are the seven continents of the earth. The ten horns are ten kings that receive power from the second beast of Revelation 13 which is Satan himself. Satan will come back to earth claiming to be Jesus Christ (Revelation 13:11-18)

Ok now on to what the sea is symbolic of and for that we are going to Revelation 17 which gives us an explanation of the beast of Revelation 13

Revelation 17:15

V15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

This tells us that the sea, which is a big body of water is symbolic of people.

Now that we know the sea is symbolic of people, lets read Matthew 14:24 again.

Matthew 14:24-33

V24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.

Contrary 1727 enantios (en-an-tee'-os); from 1725; opposite; figuratively, antagonistic.

Have you ever found yourself overwhelmed with all the different opinions of mankind? One person says one thing and the other will say just the opposite. There is only one place in this whole world where what is said you can count on. That place is God's Word, the Bible. When God tells us something is going to happen, you can bet all you have that it will happen just as He said it would. We should never put our trust in mankind because sooner rather than later they will let us down. We should put our trust in God because He will never let us down.

V25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
V26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.

Spirit 5326 phantasma (fan'-tas-mah); from 5324; (properly concrete) a (mere) show ("phantasm"), i.e. spectre.

The fourth watch is from about 3 a.m. to about 6 a.m. so this miracle is taking place at night. The disciples were afraid because they thought they were seeing a ghost.

V27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
V28 And Peter answered Him and said, Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water.

The "if" in verse 28 would make us think that Peter did not really believe he was seeing the Lord walking on the water. Not so. The New Testament was written in Greek and some things are lost in the translation. Here is what the Companion Bible says in appendix 118. 2 a. about how "if" is used in verse 28. "Followed by the Indicative Mood, the hypothesis is assumed as an actual fact, the condition being unfulfilled, but no doubt being thrown upon the supposition." So we see that Peter really did have faith and believed that the Lord was walking on the water.

V29 And He said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

Now remember that we learned the water is symbolic of people. Jesus Christ is teaching us how to rise above the ways and problems of this world. Jesus Christ is the only one to walk this earth in a flesh body and not sin. When Peter stepped out of the boat, his mind was focused on the Lord. With his mind on the Lord and his faith in Him, Peter over came the circumstances and walked on the water. With our mind on the Lord and our faith in Him, we can rise above the ways and problems of this world today. We need to have faith in the Lord and focus on the Lord and His teachings.

V30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

What was his big mistake? Peter took his mind off the Lord and lost his focus. His faith was gone and he began to sink. The same is true for us today when we take our mind off the Lord. When we start to get caught up in the ways and problems of this world, we start to sink spiritually. We need to keep our faith in the Lord and stay focused on His teachings. Then just like Peter did at first, we to can rise above and over come our circumstances. If we have faith and keep our mind on the Lord, we will not sink.

V31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

Hebrews 11:6 tells us "without faith it is impossible to please Him." Do you find yourself sinking spiritually and being overwhelmed by your circumstances? How strong is your faith in the Lord? Do you know that the Lord will help us over come our problems if we just let Him? We need to study His Word and have faith that He will keep the promises He has made to us. We need to do the best that we can and then turn over to Him what we can not handle. God wants to help us. After all, we are His children and He loves us. There is nothing that God can not do but if we lack faith in Him, we are not pleasing Him.

V32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
V33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped Him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

Jesus Christ calmed the wind and the disciples worshipped Him knowing that He is the Son of God.

Remember that we learned in Revelation 17:15 that the sea is symbolic of people. The lesson that Jesus Christ would want us to learn from Him walking on the water is that with His help, we can rise above the problems of our everyday life. We do not have to sink spiritually like others do by worrying about the circumstances of everyday life. We do that by having faith in Him and studying the Word of God. Jesus Christ is our example on how we should live our daily life. We need to keep our faith strong and our mind focused on Jesus Christ. God promised us that He would take care of us if we do things His way. We find out how God wants us to do things by reading His Word. We are to do things God's way the best we can and then leave it in His hands.

posted 10-26-00