by Pastor Brian Phillips
Originally delivered as an exhortation during worship at Holy Trinity
Jonah 2:1-10 & Matthew 14:22-33
There is a fascinating intersection between today’s Old Testament reading from Jonah 2 and the Gospel reading from Matthew 14. In Jonah 2, the prophet has run away, having refused to go and preach to the city of Nineveh because he wants them to be judged. In order to get away from the Creator of land and sea, Jonah gets on a boat (sin makes us foolish). God sent a storm and Jonah ended up in the sea, then in the belly of a great fish which the Lord had also sent to swallow up Jonah (1:17). Chapter 2 is Jonah’s prayer from the belly of the fish, which ends with the words, “Salvation belongs to the Lord!” (2:9).
In Matthew 14, the disciples get into a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee while Jesus dismisses the crowds and goes up to the mountain to pray alone. Sometime between 3am-6am, a terrible storm ravages the sea. And it is in that storm that Jesus walks out to the disciples on the water. At first, the disciples are frightened, but Jesus reveals Himself.
“And Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me.’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.”
Unlike Jonah, Peter steps out in obedience to the Lord. His problem comes when he takes his eyes off Jesus and starts to pay more attention to the storm. But, also like Jonah, Peter’s story ends with salvation. He cries out, as he is sinking, “Lord, save me,” and Jesus does. He pulls Peter up from the waves and, when they get into the boat, the wind stops.
Have you ever wondered why Jesus didn’t stop the wind and waves earlier? Why not when Peter walked out on the water? The same reason the Lord brought about the storm that landed Jonah in the water. The same reason the fish was prepared by the Lord to swallow Jonah up. That is, the Lord used the storm to teach both of these men what they needed to learn – Jonah and Peter both needed to remember that the Lord is God.
It is true that Jonah’s problem was rebellious disobedience, and Peter’s was fear and lack of faith, but in both cases, the Lord taught them through storms. Storms are great teachers. What is the Lord teaching you through the storms? Let us confess our sins…