Radio Antioch

 

 

 

This is our Radio Antioch Podcast Episode 19.

 

    During his recent visit to our Radio Antioch Live! meeting, Dr. Cliff Pash offered this challenging look at this familiar scripture.

 

Credits

 

Cliff Pash in Kakira, Uganda

  

 

   This Mission Update is Radio Antioch Podcast Episode 18.

   My Friend Dr. Cliff Pash of Advancing the Kingdom Ministries spoke at our Radio Antioch Live! meeting on February 20th about the mission projects they are running in Uganda. We work with Dr. Pash when we are in Uganda and have been part of several of their projects. In this video, Dr. Pash brings an update on the work in Uganda, along with some insights on ministering to the predominately Muslim people in the region.

 

 

 

Credits

 

			Cliff and Julie Pash
	Join us this Saturday night as we welcome Dr. Cliff Pash, African Evangelist, Church Planter and educator.  We have partnered with Dr. Pash on a number of missions projects, including being a sponsor of the Nawansega church, the first Christian church in a predominately Muslim part of Uganda, now in its second year of operation with over 500 attending.  Dr. Pash brings a fresh message of Holy-Ghost empowered Christianity, with powerful ministry and teaching.    We will also be hosting a guest Worship leader, Mark Dryer, founder of Uganda Tabernacle Ministries We are meeting at the Christian Life Fellowship church, with the service starting at 7 PM   Their Address is: 41625 North Deep Lake Road Antioch, Illinois 60002 For Mapquest directions, click HERE. If you can’t attend in person, you can watch the webcast LIVE at http://antiochtabernacle.org/blog/live/ If you have questions, or want to get involved, please send us an e-mail.
			Baptising new believers  in Uganda

 

Shoreline of the Sea of Galilee, near Tagbha

 

 

 

This Teaching is Podcast Episode 16. To watch, click the player above.

 

  We are going to be studying today from Matthew chapter 14, and also from Mark 6 and John 6.

 

   So let’s look at what’s going on here- Jesus and the disciples were in a remote place. A large number of people had come out to see Jesus, and He was ministering to them, healing the sick. Picking up in the Scripture in Matthew 14:

 

Matthew 14:13-23

    When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns.  When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.  As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food. Jesus replied, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat."  "We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish," they answered.  "Bring them here to me," he said.  And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.  Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.  After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,

 

    Jesus was modeling the Kingdom of God to the people- As the Messiah, He was their salvation. And in him was the healing of the sick, as well a provision – the disciples were worried here, as they had a crowd of about 10,000 people, (Remember, there were 5000 men, plus the women and children) and there was no way to provide for their need, in this case food.

 

   So before we go too much further, let me show you something- In this story, there are three distinct levels where God is touching the earth, and you can see the clear separation of all three by watching as each part goes their separate way as night falls. The first thing that Jesus does is send the disciples on ahead across the water. He would rejoin them later.  The second is the interaction between Jesus and the crowd: When it was time for the crowd to go home, He sent the disciples on ahead by boat, and spoke alone to the crowd. By looking in John 6 we get some insight into what the crowd was thinking:

John 6:14-15

    After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world."  Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

 

  Other places in the gospels we hear of Jesus spending 3 days with crowds. But this one was getting out of hand. It was not the Father’s plan for Jesus to become an earthly king, but rather for him to go to the cross as a sacrifice for all. So while is was good that the sick were being healed and the people miraculously provided for, it is more important that things stay focused on the plan of the Lord. If Jesus were trying to build a huge following, he could have let them make Him king. But He was following the Lord’s plan.

   It is easy to fall into that trap in our churches even today. There is always a huge amount of ministry need, and it is easy to build a lot of programs around meeting those needs. But we must be careful to always keep a spiritual ear open to what the Lord’s plan and agenda is, because not all that we do in our churches is entirely aligned with His perfect will.  So Jesus spoke briefly to the crowd, and then dismissed them. Things stayed aligned with the Lord’s plan. The people has been ministered to and had their bellies fed, and were content to disperse.

   Now, Jesus goes up on the mountainside alone to pray. After a day of such great miracles, it is good to return to the Father in prayer. The scriptures say that Jesus, although fully God, was also fully a man, with temptations. Jesus was able to avoid the temptations of sin. One way to do this was to stay in constant communion with the Father. There might have been some temptation to let those people make Him king. Knowing that the crowds in Jerusalem would one day reject Him, it might have been tempting to get off track. It might also been a temptation to let the huge miracles form pride in His heart. But Jesus clearly understood that He did nothing that he did not first see the Father doing. By staying in constant communion they remained one.  Notice that even Jesus took time away from ministry, away from the disciples, to commune with the Father.  

 Matthew 14:25 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.

 

    The Romans divided the night into four watches, starting at 6 pm in the evening. The fourth watch of the night would have been between 3 and 6 am. So Jesus spent some considerable time in prayer that evening.

     The third interaction in this story is between God and the disciples. So now let’s look in on the disciples. Jesus had sent them on ahead and they new clearly what they were to do.

Matthew 14:22   Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.

 

Matthew 14 :24-25 but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.  During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.

 

Mark 6: 47 - 48 When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land.  He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake.

 

John 6: 18-19 A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough.  When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified.

 

    So looking at this picture, what do we see? The disciples have been straining at their oars for 5 to 8 hours trying to get across the lake.  A very strong wind was blowing against them, and the seas were very rough, even for a crew of accomplished fishermen like Peter, James and John. The scriptures also say that Jesus saw them in their distress. Now, since it was the middle of the night and they were miles out, we know that Jesus most likely know about their plight prophetically, not through natural eyesight. But three things are clear here:

1. Jesus sent them on the journey.

2. The journey was rough and difficult, and even terrifying.

3. Jesus was aware of where they were and what they were feeling.

 

Matthew 14: 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It’s a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.

 

Mark 6:48b – 50  About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them,  but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out,  because they all saw him and were terrified.

 

John 6:19 When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified.

 

   So at first they cannot believe what they see- Could this really be a man walking on the sea- At first they imagined it might be a ghost- That in itself was terrifying! But as He grew closer they saw that it was Jesus, and they were even more afraid, as here is the Messiah revealed in miraculous power.

    Anytime we come face to face with the power and Glory of the Lord we are undone. Isaiah said “Whoa is Me! “ when he saw the Lord in a vision. An d the Lord in His majesty is truly awesome and terrifying.  But Jesus  was there to comfort them, and to teach them:

 

Matthew 14: 27 But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid."

   Now, all three versions of this story, this is rendered the same. But let’s go look at what the original Greek says:

The Young’s literal translation from the Greek puts it this way:

 

Mark 6:50

    for they all saw him, and were troubled, and immediately he spake with them, and saith to them, ‘Take courage, I am, be not afraid.’

 

   You see, the “He” of I am He, or “It is I” is implied. The actual language says “I am”

In the midst of the storm, in their moment of terror, Jesus reveals Himself as God.

Now, there is no doubt that the disciples understood it was Jesus, but we lost something powerful in the translation.

   

   Another reason for Jesus  using the “I am name of God might have been as a sign to the disciples:

 

Job 9:8   He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.

 

    If Job says that God alone can walk upon the waves, and Jesus arrives walking upon the water and naming himself by the Holy Name of God, then Jesus here announced himself as both God and Messiah.

 

  Some of the disciples are merely comforted-others became emboldened in Faith: If God was with them in the storm, were not all things possible?

 

 Matthew 14: 28-29 "Lord, if it’s you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."   "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

 

   I want to point out a transformation here: The interaction between Jesus and the disciples in this story is about them becoming who they were going to be in the kingdom of God. They were becoming the disciples that would change the world, living in Kingdom power and revelation. Look all the way to the beginning of the story:

 

Matthew 14: [16] Jesus replied, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat."

 

    Jesus was coaching the disciples to begin to move into kingdom power and revelation. “YOU give them something to eat!” Imagine what they must have felt after Jesus prayed and broke the loaves, giving as piece to each of them- The bread must have literally have multiplied in their hands!  But the disciples did not really grasp what this meant- they saw the miracles but could not get it into  their heads that it was possible for them to walk in the miraculous- On fact, the scripture says this:

 

John 6:52 for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

 

   But one disciple finally came to understand! Peter got bold and said “Lord if that’s you, I want to be where you are!”. You can guarantee that Peter was never the same again, for he got down out of the boat! It later years Peter would work bold miracles, but here are some of the first steps in that transformation!

 

Matthew 14:28-33  "Lord, if it’s you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."   "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.  But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"      Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"   And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.  Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

 

   Here again, Jesus reaching out to Peter fulfils scripture:

 

Psalm 18:16     He reached down from on high and took hold of me;

        he drew me out of deep waters.

 

Psalm 144:7

    Reach down your hand from on high;

        deliver me and rescue me

    from the mighty waters,

        from the hands of foreigners

 

But let’s look at what else was going on here:  The famous theologian Matthew Henry has this to say:

 

 Christ bade Peter come, not only that he might walk upon the water, and so know his Lord’s power, but that he might know his own weakness. And the Lord often lets his servants have their choice, to humble and prove them, and to show the greatness of his power and grace.

 

    You see, Peter did not fail when he began to sink. He was the only one to get out of the boat, so he had already left the other disciples far behind. No, he came face to face with the power of God, but in a way where he did not become proud, and knew that he was solely dependent upon Jesus.

 

     In walking on the water- we see the first glimpse of the great apostle that Peter was to become. He begins to walk in the power of God. But he is already being taught that without Christ he can do nothing.

 

John 6:21       Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.

 

     This journey was a transforming time for the disciples. They had just participated in the miracle of feeding the 5000, but their minds were darkened and their hearts hard. Jesus could have done it much differently. He could have has the disciples wait on the shore while he went up to pray-  but instead He sent them on a head alone. He could have rebuked the waves when he first “saw” them in trouble, from the shoreline- At a normal walking speed it would have taken Him an hour to walk the three and a half miles out onto the lake to reach them. Jesus could even have ordered the boat to arrive immediately as it did once He got on board. But no. This journey was part of helping these men of God begin to know Who He was. And in doing so, they saw clearly where they were. But they also got a glimpse into what they were becoming. When they arrived at the far side, the private of transformation was over, and they returned to the world of public ministry, meeting the demoniac and the legion of devils. But in between these times of public victory, we had an important time of testing, growth and private victory.

          And as a Christian each of us daily practices the three interactions seen in this story. We all have to depend first on the interaction between Man and his God. That one is the most important of all. Each of us is also called to be a mentor and influence to those around us, teaching by example the ways of the kingdom and helping them grow into their destiny in Christ. Finally, we all can be salt and life, bringing healing and nourishment to the lost crowds of this world.   

 

 

 

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  We would like to invite you our Radio Antioch Live! service this Saturday evening, February 6th, at 7 pm. For those of you in Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin, we invite you to join us in Antioch. For all of the rest of you, we invite you to tune to our Live Internet video broadcast.

  We are meeting at the Christian Life Fellowship church, a wonderful church in Antioch that lets us “borrow” their sanctuary for these meetings. Their Address is:

41625 North Deep Lake Road Antioch, Illinois 60002

For Mapquest directions, click HERE.

Please send us an e-mail if you have any questions.

If you can’t join us in person, join us for live video at

http://antiochtabernacle.org/blog/live/

The live video will start between 7:45 and 8 PM.

     We hope to see you then!

 

 

 

 

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