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As we follow the Lord on the pathway to glory, we first experience rejection, and then we suffer the lack of our daily necessities. After this, we experience the storm on the way (Matt. 14:22-33). The storm in chapter fourteen indicates that on the pathway where we follow the rejected King there will always be troubles. From the end of chapter thirteen to the end of chapter sixteen, there are many negative things. Humanly speaking, as we follow the rejected King on the pathway to glory, there is nothing good. It seems that everything is a problem. Do you like rejection? Do you enjoy lacking the things you need for your daily living? Do you appreciate the storm on the sea? If on our pathway there is no rejection, shortage of daily necessities, or storm, it is an indication that we are not actually on the pathway. If we are truly on the pathway to glory, we shall have problems and hardships.
Verse 22 says, “And immediately He compelled the disciples to step into the boat and to go before Him to the other side, until He send the crowds away.” Suddenly, the Lord compelled the disciples to leave Him. However, He did not go with them. He compelled them to leave by boat in order that He might have more time to pray to the Father privately. As verse 23 indicates, He went up into the mountain to pray. Before the Lord sent them away, the disciples participated in the enjoyment of the Lord’s supply. The lack of necessities had issued in a very pleasant experience. The disciples were enjoying the Lord’s supply, and they were happy. If we had been there, we would certainly have been joyful. I believe that Peter talked a great deal about what the Lord had done. He might have said, “John, isn’t this wonderful? Look what the Lord did with five loaves and two little fishes!” Then the Lord seemed to say, “Don’t talk. Step into a boat and go before Me to the other side. I realize you have been having an enjoyable time, but now you must go.” The disciples might have said, “Lord, will You go with us?” Then the Lord might have answered, “No, you go by yourselves. I am going to the mountain to pray.” Many times, immediately after a pleasant enjoyment of the Lord, He suddenly tells us to go to the sea. Then He leaves us. This is a portrait of today’s situation. The Lord has gone to the mountain, to the heavens. However, He has charged His church to go ahead on the sea, where there often are contrary winds and storms.
Verse 23 says, “And having sent the crowds away, He went up into the mountain privately to pray. And when evening came, He was there alone.” The heavenly King, as the beloved Son of the Father (3:17), standing in the position of man (4:4), needed to pray privately to His Father who is in heaven, that He might be one with the Father and have the Father with Him in whatever He did on earth for the establishment of the kingdom of the heavens. He did this not in the desert, but on the mountain, leaving all the people, even His disciples, that He might contact the Father alone.
Verse 24 says, “Now the boat was already many stadia away from the land, in the midst of the sea, distressed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.” Surely the Lord took notice of the fact that the boat was distressed by a storm. When He compelled the disciples to step into the boat and to go before Him, He foresaw that a storm was coming. Nevertheless, He did not go with them. Rather, He went away to the mountain to pray. Today the Lord Jesus is on a mountain, that is, in the heavens (Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25), and the church is on the sea. Day by day we face the contrary winds. From the day we first came to Anaheim, the contrary winds have been blowing. We have not had one calm day. The church boat has constantly been distressed. However, this is our destiny. The fact that the Lord is in the heavens praying for us is a source of comfort and encouragement to us. We do not care how strong the contrary winds are, for we know that the Lord is on the mountain praying for us. The storm is not under the control of the opposition; it is under the Lord’s feet.
Do not be afraid of the contrary winds. There is no need to be disturbed by them. Others can testify for me that, no matter what happens, I am not afraid of anything. My wife can testify that every night I sleep soundly and that every afternoon I have a good nap, free from worry. Sometimes my wife is surprised that I am not troubled by the problems. I have many things to do, and it is my duty to take a good rest. Because our destiny is in the Lord’s hand, there is no reason for us to be afraid of anything. The contrary winds and the opposition are under His feet. The Lord is on a high mountain praying for us and interceding for us. He knows how strong the wind is. But He laughs at the wind and seems to say, “Little wind, you mean nothing to Me. What are you trying to do? You can’t do anything with My church. Those in the boat are My followers. In fact, they are just Me. Although I am here in the heavens, I am also with them.” What a marvelous picture this is of the high mountain, the troubling waves and contrary winds, and the little boat on the sea! The winds and the waves all work together for our good. Do you not believe that the opposition is working for our good? It certainly is. In Anaheim we have seen how much good the opposition has accomplished for us.
Some have condemned me by saying that I do not believe that Jesus Christ is in the heavens. They accuse me of being too inward, of always telling you not to look to the heavens, but to look to Christ within you. The truth is we need to look in two directions. First, we must look to the Lord within us and say, “O Lord Jesus, are You happy with Your abode in me? Do You enjoy this place?” We all need to see that Christ is in us. In order to enjoy Him, we must know that He dwells within us. If He were far away, we could not enjoy Him. Second, in order to trust in the Lord, we must look to Him in the heavens where He sits with authority and intercedes for us. Soon He may be on His way to come to us. Hallelujah, He is both within us and in the heavens interceding for us! If we see this, we shall not be distressed, troubled, or bothered by any storm, for we shall have the assurance that the boat is His boat, that the church is His church. The sea cannot damage the boat. On the contrary, the sea serves the boat. As we shall see, the wind and the waves taught Peter a great deal.
“And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea” (v. 25). According to the Roman guards, there were four night watches, each of three hours, from sunset to sunrise. The first watch was the evening watch; the second, the midnight watch; the third, the cock-crowing watch; and the fourth, the morning watch (Mark 13:35). The fourth watch was probably from three to six o’clock in the morning.
Verse 25 says that the Lord came to His disciples, walking on the sea. While His disciples were distressed by the waves, the Lord walked on them. This testifies that He is the Creator and the Ruler of the universe (Job 9:8).
Thinking that the Lord was a phantom, the disciples cried out for fear (v. 26). “But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, Have courage; It is I; do not fear” (v. 27). The heavenly King brought courage to the disciples by His presence. When they mistook Him for a phantom, a ghost, He encouraged them by saying, “It is I.”
Verse 28 says, “And Peter answered Him and said, Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the waters.” When the Lord said, “Come,” Peter stepped out of the boat, “walked on the waters and came toward Jesus” (v. 29). Only Peter was bold enough to do this. I doubt that any of us would have been as bold as Peter. It was a miracle that Peter could walk on the waters. He walked on the waves by faith. Faith is our action upon the word of the Lord. To have faith does not mean that we are able to do things; neither does it mean that we make up our mind to go in a certain direction. Faith simply means that, although we may be very weak, we dare to act upon the Lord’s word. The Lord said to Peter, “Come,” and Peter took that word, acted upon it, and walked on the waves. Do not examine whether or not you have faith. If you examine yourself, your faith will disappear immediately. Do not ask yourself, “Am I strong in faith? Is my faith adequate?” If you question yourself like this, you will immediately sink beneath the waves.
Verse 30 says of Peter: “But seeing the strong wind, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me!” Peter came down from the boat and walked on the waves by faith in the Lord’s word (v. 29); however, when he saw the strong wind, his faith vanished. He should have walked only by faith in the Lord’s word, not by the sight of the circumstances (2 Cor. 5:7). When Peter cried out for help, “Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him and said to him, You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (v. 31). Since the Lord said to Peter, “Come” (v. 29), Peter should have stood on that word and not doubted. Hence, the Lord rebuked him. Faith comes from the Lord’s word and stands on the Lord’s word. As long as we have the Lord’s word, we should simply believe in His word and not doubt.
Do not be troubled by any storms, for we are in the boat, the Lord’s church. Even if we cannot see the Lord or feel that He is with us, we may be assured that He is on the mountain interceding for us. Perhaps He is even on the way to the boat. Whether He is on the mountain interceding or on the waves walking toward us, we should not be disturbed. At times we may not only have peace inwardly, but even receive a word from Him to walk on the waves. When we receive such a word, we should simply walk on the stormy sea. Do not be bothered by the opposition and persecution. With the Lord’s word we may walk to meet Him, even walking through all the opposition and upon it. This is faith.
We should not blame Peter for having little faith. Among all the disciples in the boat, Peter was the first to enjoy the Lord’s presence. Some of us are too slow and too timid. Do not criticize others for being too quick. You need to be quick yourself sometimes. Which do you prefer — to be like Peter or to be like Thomas? Peter was bold, but Thomas was timid and cautious. In the churches there are many careful, cautious ones. But Peter was not cautious. As soon as he heard a word from the Lord, he stepped out of the boat and onto the water. However, the cautious ones may say, “But Peter had to cry out to the Lord to save him. There is no need for us to cry for help. We are safe here in the boat.” Yes, you are safe in the boat, but you are not in the Lord’s presence. You are not like Peter who was the first to get back into the presence of the Lord.
Peter caused a great deal of trouble. The quick ones always make trouble, whereas the timid ones never cause problems. The timid ones do not cause trouble, but neither do they bring in the presence of the Lord. With the cautious ones, nothing seems to happen. Year after year goes by, and everything remains calm. But those who are like Peter are always stirring things up. They may cause trouble, but they are rescued by the Lord and thereby are brought into His presence. Some of you cautious ones need to stir up a little trouble, then cry out to the Lord to be saved, and get into His presence. Who do you think enjoys the Lord more — the cautious ones or the quick ones? The answer certainly is the quick ones. Nevertheless, the timid ones may say, “Let us sleep. Sooner or later, the Lord Jesus will come. We don’t need to jump in the water, cause trouble, and then cry out for rescue. We don’t need to be so quick to get into the presence of the Lord. If we take it easy and be calm, the Lord will come.” In one sense, the cautious ones are right and those like Peter are wrong. But the bold ones have more enjoyment of the Lord than the timid ones. Eventually, however, the Lord’s presence is not just with Peter, but with all the disciples in the boat.
Verse 32 says, “And when they went up into the boat, the wind ceased.” This was a miracle. This miracle not only testifies that the Lord is the Ruler of the heavens and the earth, but also that He cares for the hardships of His followers as they follow Him on the pathway to glory. When we have the Lord in our boat, the wind ceases. The record of the two miracles in this chapter implies that while Christ was rejected by the religious and political peoples, He and His followers were in the barren desert and on the stormy sea. Nonetheless, He is able to provide for their need and to carry them through hardships.
The Lord’s presence caused the storm to cease. I have experienced this many times. I cannot tell you how many storms I have passed through during the past fifty years. But eventually every storm ceased. Not one storm lasted more than three to five years. Three to five years actually is not a long time. To the Lord, it is just a few minutes, for with Him a thousand years are as one day. Do not be alarmed — every storm will cease.
After the Lord had caused the wind to cease, “those who were in the boat worshipped Him, saying, Truly You are the Son of God” (v. 33). To recognize that the Lord is the Son of God is to realize that He is equal to God (John 5:18). Hence, this indicates that the disciples acknowledged the Lord’s divinity (Matt. 1:23; 3:17).
In 14:22-33 we see a portrait of ourselves. Some of us are like Peter and others are like Thomas. Some are quick and bold, always causing trouble and making mistakes; others are timid, cautious, and sleepy. The timid ones may murmur against the bold ones, “Brother So-and-So is too quick. I don’t agree with that. He is utterly wrong. But I am slow and cautious.” I am very clear about the situation in the churches regarding the quick ones and the cautious ones. I know those who are bold and who cause trouble and those who are cautious and never cause problems. I appreciate all the cautious ones; however, I do not agree with them. Because they are so cautious, they never stir up anyone or anything. People need to be stirred up to walk on the waves so that they may get into the presence of the Lord. Those who do this will bring the Lord to the boat. No cautious one, timid one, slow one, or careful one has ever brought the Lord Jesus to the boat. In the case of the cautious ones, the Lord must come to the boat on His own. If He does this, He will find the cautious ones sleeping. No one will be waiting for Him. After waking from their slumber, the cautious ones will say, “Lord, You are here. This is rather good. Praise the Lord for this! Now it is time to go back to sleep.” Those who are slow and careful never cause any trouble or problems. We need to be quick and bold. However, in being quick and bold to step out of the boat and walk on the sea, we must take care of four things: first, that we act upon the word of the Lord, not without hearing a word from Him; second, that our direction is toward the Lord Himself; third, that we get into the Lord’s presence; and fourth, that we come back to the boat. If we take care of these four things, we shall be right, even if we appear to be wrong.
After Jesus and the disciples came to Gennesaret, the people of that place brought to the Lord all who were ill. Verse 36 says, “And they besought Him that they might only touch the fringe of His garment; and as many as touched were made thoroughly well” (v. 36). The healing power went out, not from the inner being of Christ, but from the fringe of His garment. The Lord’s garment signifies Christ’s righteous deeds, and the fringe signifies the heavenly ruling (Num. 15:38-39). Out of Christ’s heavenly-ruled deeds is the virtue that becomes the healing power. According to Numbers 15, the fringe of the garment signifies the virtue of God’s people who walk according to His regulations. The fringe was made with a blue ribbon. This revealed that their daily walk was regulated by God’s heavenly rule as indicated by the color blue, a heavenly color. When Jesus was on earth as a man, He walked in this way. His daily walk was regulated by God’s heavenly commandments. Therefore, there was with Him a virtue that could flow out to heal others.
The healing that takes place in the church life does not mainly issue from the inner being of the Lord Jesus. Rather, it primarily issues from the virtue of the Lord’s human life. In the church life we experience the Lord’s presence with us on the sea in the midst of the contrary winds. His presence prepares the way for His virtue to flow out to reach the sick people and to heal them. This type of healing is different from the miraculous healing by divine power. The garment of Jesus does not signify His divinity. Rather, it signifies the righteous deeds of His humanity. His humanity bore the mark of the blue ribbon, of being regulated by the heavenly ruling. This produced a virtue that was capable of healing the sick. This kind of virtue can be expressed only through the proper church life where Jesus is present.
Revelation 22:2 says that the leaves of the tree of life are for the healing of the nations. In typology, the fruit of the tree of life represents the Lord’s divine life, and the leaves represent the Lord’s human deeds. The fruit, the Lord’s divine life, is for nourishing us, and the leaves, the Lord’s human deeds, are for the healing of others. In the new heaven and the new earth the leaves of the tree of life will be for the healing of the nations, that is, the virtue of Christ’s humanity will heal the people. In Matthew, after the boat reached its destination, the virtue of the Lord’s human deeds became so prevailing that every manner of sickness was healed. Likewise when we have the proper church life with the Lord’s presence today, there is among us the uplifted humanity of Jesus. This uplifted humanity has the virtue signified by the fringe of Christ’s garment. If we, the church people, have the proper church life and live by Christ, we shall live out His uplifted humanity. In this kind of living there will be a virtue with the power to heal those around us.
In typology, the land visited by the Lord after the boat came to shore was a figure of the millennium. In the millennium there will be a great deal of healing. Nevertheless, the healing to be found in the millennium should be experienced today. The church people should have a foretaste of the millennium. We must live out the uplifted humanity of Jesus to have the virtue that can heal those surrounding us. For others to be healed means that their corrupted character is changed. Those around the church life are all in darkness and corruption. But if the church people live out the uplifted humanity of Christ, this will cause a healing power to flow into them. Even other Christians will be healed.
