Master Of The Seas

by R. Hickling, Nottingham, England | Category: The Lord's Miracles | Mar 1992

The sea! To those who enjoy a few fleeting weeks by its shores in glorious, peaceful weather it can give satisfying relaxation, but to those who "go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters" it can be the source of some very different experiences.

The Sea of Galilee is an inland sea, subject to atmospheric downdraughts causing violent storms which erupt suddenly. It was here the Lord chose to perform some of His miracles, and through them to teach His disciples.

Calming the Storm (Mat. 8:23.27; Mark 4:35-41):

The Lord and His disciples were crossing the sea to "the other side". It had been a busy day, the Lord was weary and eventually fell asleep. Soon one of the characteristic storms arose. Although the men in the boat would be accustomed to such happenings, this storm seemed particularly violent; the boat was filling with water, and they were convinced they were in extreme danger. Yet their Master continued to sleep! With excited cries they awoke Him, "Master, carest Thou not that we perish?" they said. Then, as the late Cecil Belton so beautifully expresses it in his hymn:

Calm and majestic rises from His pillow

Sea's mighty Lord, commanding, "Peace, he still!"

Sink then to rest, with troubled wind and billow,

Their tossing minds, soothed by His potent will.

At that moment, the disciples who had seen their Master in His humanity asleep in the boat, then saw Him in all His majesty when, as Creator, He commanded, "Peace, be still!" The elements obeyed, even as they must. What had the disciples expected to happen when they awoke their Lord? Whatever it was, the men "feared exceedingly, and said one to another, Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?" Not yet had they achieved a full appreciation of the Person and power of the One with them in the boat.

The Lord knew that His disciples would suffer persecution and tribulation in many forms as they followed their Lord in their lives. So must they learn to look to Him to bring them peace in times of distress; the peace which only He can bring. The Lord is the source of all true peace whether to convicted sinners, deeply exercised about their condition before God, or to believers experiencing the trials that beset them, or to the raging nations. As pilgrims in a hostile world, let us look to the Lord for His peace, remembering one of His parting promises. "Lo, I am with you always" (Mat. 28:20). The great Person in the boat had quelled the great storm and brought a great peace, and so it will be with us if we remember that He cares for us. Years later, Peter, maybe remembering this very incident wrote, "Casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He careth for you" (1 Peter 5:7).

Walking on the Sea (Mat. 14:22-33; Mark 6:45-52; John 6:15-21):

Once again, the disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee, but this time the Lord was not with them in the boat. He had retired to the mountain to engage in prayer with His Father. Although He was not with His disciples, He had not forgotten them. As they made their way across the water, they encountered a strong head wind, and so found the rowing exceedingly difficult. In his account, Mark tells us that the Lord saw them in their distress (Mark 6:48), but it was not until the fourth watch of the night that He came to them. The disciples must learn patience and to await the Lord's time (Mat. 14:25). "Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him" (Ps. 37:7).

Meanwhile, it would have been easy for the disciples to have turned back when, quite likely with the fierce wind behind them, the rowing would have been easier. But, had they done so, they would not have been carrying

out the Lord's wish (Mat. 14:22). They had to learn to endure, to continue steadfastly. "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ" (2 Tim. 2:3 AV).

In the last watch before the dawn, when, no doubt, their physical strength was at its lowest, the Lord came to them, miraculously walking on the sea. The disciples had not expected Him to come to them in that way, and they were startled, thinking they had seen an apparition. But all their fears were soon dispelled when they heard His words, "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid" (Mat. 14:27). How their spirits must have revived when they heard those words, "It is I"!

The contrary wind faced by the men in the boat would speak to us of the difficulties and disappointments that face the servants of the Master today. Their obedience to the Master had brought strain and stress, but it had brought the joyful knowledge also of His watchful care. With ever increasing lawlessness and departure from God around us today, shall we turn back and give up the struggle? If we do, we shall fail our Lord. He has promised to give us the strength to endure, to be with us until the end. In this miracle, there is also a delightful picture of the hope we have of the Lord's return. He came to the disciples in the fourth watch of the night, when they did not expect Him. We are, surely, in the "fourth watch" of the present dispensation, and the dawn is

very near. When the Lord comes, like the men in the boat we shall "straightway" be on the far shore, the heavenly shore. Are we waiting and watching for Him? Will His coming take us by surprise?

The Miraculous Draughts of Fish (Luke 5:1-11; John 21:-14):

The Scriptures record two occasions on which the Lord miraculously provided a draught of fish for the disciples when their own efforts had failed. The first was early in the time of the Lord's ministry and the second in the period between His resurrection and ascension.

On the day described by Luke, several of the fishermen on the shore were astonished at the miracle (Luke 5:9), but the thrust of the lessons it contained seems to have been directed mainly at Peter, that man who, by nature was impetuous and self confident Peter was an experienced fisherman and needed no one to instruct him in the art of catching and landing fish. Yet he and his companions had toiled all night and taken nothing (Luke 5:5). This occasion was not Peter's first acquaintance with Jesus Christ (John 1:4042), but the time had come for him to gain a greater appreciation of Him.

The Lord's invitation to Peter to let down his net again after a profitless night's toil could have met with a scornful retort, but his earlier experiences of the Lord no doubt prompted him to reply, "... but at Thy word I will..." A great haul of fishes was the result of Peter's obedience. He realized

he had witnessed a miracle, and it excited awe in Peter's heart It highlighted his consciousness of his own weakness and sin. "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, 0 Lord", he cried (Luke 5:8). But the Lord had come to save the contrite in heart, not to depart from them, and His response to Peter, "Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch (take alive RVM) men" (Luke 5:10) was evidence of this. Peter must learn to take the humble place, be emptied of self, be obedient to his Master's direction, and trust in His power to fulfil His purpose in catching men. So too, is it with us today.

The second time the Lord miraculously' provided a draught of fish is the last of all the recorded miracles of the Lord. Once again the fishermen disciples had toiled all night in vain. Then the Stranger on the shore had called on them to cast the net on the right side of the boat where, He said, "... ye shall find". They obeyed, and "were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes". At first, Peter seems not to have realized the identity of the Man on the shore. But John knew. He said to Peter, "It is the Lord". Peter's reaction was immediate, and possibly at that moment he recalled the earlier occasion when he had been so moved by the experience of a similar miracle, with the lessons he had learned then and the sense of awe that had filled his being. On that never-to-be-forgotten day he had been so attracted to the Lord Jesus Christ that he had had no difficulty in leaving all and following

Him. Now, perhaps, his vision had become somewhat clouded, and he must realize again that if he were to follow the Master then it must be in love toward Him and in appreciation of all His excellencies. The secret of the separated and sanctified life lay, as it still does, in an increasing grasp of the worth and value of Christ.

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.

The Stater in the fish's mouth (Mat. 17:24-27):

This miracle demonstrates the Lord's deity against the background of His wisdom, meekness and humility. As Son over God's house, the Lord was under no obligation to pay the temple tax, and this He explained so graciously to Peter. Yet, as no principle of truth would be violated, the Master was willing to pay it so as to give none occasion of stumbling. But had the Lord or Peter the necessary money to pay the tax? Whatever the answer to that question, the Master gave a further demonstration of His deity. Peter was to go to the sea, cast a hook, take the first fish to come up, and in its mouth he would find the required coin. If the Lord Jesus created the coin for this occasion we see Him as the divine Creator. If he knew that the first fish that would come up had taken a coin into its mouth, we see proof of the Lord's omniscience.

The Sea is His:

Several attempts have been made to explain away the miracles at the Sea of Galilee by human reasoning and logic. "The sea is His, and He made it" (Ps. 95:5). We believe they were all a demonstration of the power of the divine Creator, performed by the incarnate Son of God to manifest His glory and give instruction and blessing to His disciples.

R. Hickling, Nottingham, England | Mar 1992
The Lord's Miracles