Thursday, December 18, 2008

Tis' the Season...for Miracles

Matthew 14:18-20
And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”
So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”

Jesus walked on the water (a miracle) to get to the disciples. Miracles have purpose. These instances are not to simply dazzle us, such as fireworks or the Macy’s Day Parade, but to accomplish a purpose. A miracle without purpose is simply an exhibition.
The miracle of walking on the water was not simply to display the magnitude and wonders of Christ’s faith, but to demonstrate the depths and lengths as to which Jesus was willing to go in order to reach and comfort his disciples.

Mark 16:6-8
But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.
But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.”
So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

I heard a sermon not once, but twice actually, that emphasized the occurrence of Peter being singled out in this passage. The speaker stated that there are some scholars who believe that there is an importance in the act of “mentioning” in biblical texts. And in this particular passage, Peter was specifically “mentioned.” Now, some people will say that Peter was mentioned simply because Christ had designated him the Rock, Cephas in the Greek, and that Christ would found His Church upon Peter. That is true, but if you explore the previous passages, you will find that Peter had denied Christ.

Christ had poured all this time, effort, passion, compassion, and designation of appointing Peter one of the twelve disciples. Peter spent three and a half years with Christ and saw numerous miracles first hand, such as Jairus’ daughter being raised from the dead and the Transfiguration. Peter was the one who answered Christ when Christ asked, “Who am I? Really? Who do you think I am?”

Peter answered, “You are the Anointed One. The Son of the Living God. Meshiach. Messiah. That’s who you are.”

It was Jesus who said, “Peter, you have received direct revelation from God Himself. You didn’t learn this in a book. You didn’t learn this burning the midnight oil pouring over ancient texts (not that it hurts any to do so). You didn’t seek counsel from the Pharisees or the Sadducees. You got this straight from God.”

It was Peter who told Christ, “I will never leave you. I’ll be here till the death.”

Yet Peter turned his back in embarrassment and shame to Christ.

And how does Jesus respond after the resurrection?

Does Jesus say, “Go tell the disciples to start the Church. As for that Peter cat, I’m through with him. I’ve had my fill. He denied me. Turned his back. Enough is enough with that redneck rabble rouser. I’ll make John the Rock. At least he loves me.”

No. The angel hangin’ out in the tomb tells the women who came to honor Christ’s body to go tell the disciples, AND Peter, that Jesus is going to meet up with them.

And Peter.

Jesus restores Peter.

It’s a miracle.

Just like Christ defied the laws of physics and crossed treacherous waters to meet with His disciples, and ultimately inviting Peter to join Him on the waves; so Christ crosses the treacherous waves of our lives and reaches out to us, and invites us out of our boats that we cling so desperately to, to join Him in the chaos and confusion that is seemingly licking and chomping to consume us.

And Peter steps out.

He does fine for awhile.

But he becomes focused on the circumstances and begins to sink.

As he sinks, he cries out.

Jesus lifts him up. He restores him to the boat.

Just like Peter…

…Jesus calls us to meet Him in the middle of our trials and circumstances.

Sometimes we do fine for awhile - sometimes we make it to Christ.

Sometimes we sink.

But there is Christ.

Pulling us up. Restoring us to the boat.

And the angel says, “Go tell the disciples, AND Peter.” And as the sermon went, the speaker said, “Maybe in that instant, God loved Peter…just a little more.”

Just a little more? you might ask with a raised eyebrow of skepticism.

Maybe it seems and we feel that when we are hurting the most, God puts an extra blessing, an extra grace upon our heads that cause us to “feel” as if God is so focused on us in our trials and circumstances, that He loves us just a little more. As if we’re just a little more special than anyone else at that instant in time.

And I think that is a miracle.

God did another miracle because He loved each and every one of us so much.

God made a way for Christ to reach across the expanse and trappings and confinements of the space/time continuum. “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

Imagine that.

God is with us.

Ordinary people just like you and I…

…and God chooses to be right smack dab in our midst.

For the first time ever since the garden, God is miraculously walking, talking, sharing, teaching, loving, giving, healing, raising up, creating, and divesting every single day with ordinary people like you and me.

Christ humbles Himself and divests Himself of His Deity when He took on the fashion of a man (Phil 2:7-9). A man born of a virgin birth, and He’s not on the ground more than a few moments, and God is speaking to His surrogate father in a dream to get out quick, fast, and in a hurry to Egypt so that Herod wouldn’t kill Christ. (Now, for each and every one of us, we might have strongly considered to stay in Heaven and not have to deal with all this giving up Deity and eternal comforts instead of coming to earth to save a rebellious humanity).

Christ lives in Egypt and eventually He is able to return to the heritage of God. Christ lives a sinless life. Performs so many miracles that the miracles are not all recorded because the author of John says there is not enough room to contain them all (John 21:25).

And He sacrifices Himself.

On a cross.

Cursed is every man that hangs on a tree.

He’s buried for three days.

Resurrects.

Its one thing to die, it’s a whole different thing to resurrect!

It’s a miracle!

A miracle that is for each and every one of us.

A miracle in which Christ crosses the sloshing sea and tempestuous waves of death and separation from this plane of existence, to restore eternal life to humanity.

And do we deny Him?

We all do from time to time.

But He takes us back.

It’s a miracle!


(c) Aaron Brown, 2008

1 comment:

Matt Burgos said...

You're a good writer...I read your work...Merry Christmas!
:-)