Vintage Jesus

Vintage Jesus
“Next time you think you’re perfect, try walking on water.”
Matthew 14:22-33

Intro….When it comes to “Vintage Jesus”, the story of him walking on the water is one of the best known.
• There are countless cultural references to walking on water.
• I think you could go up to most people and ask them who was the only person to ever walk on water and they’d say Jesus.
Text: Matthew 14:22-33
Big Picture: The story in Matthew 14 is “Vintage Jesus” because it is well known, is truly miraculous, proves that Jesus is God, and teaches us about faith and trust in God.

The boat full of disciples is now in the middle of the lake, in the middle of a storm and check out this statement:
• (v.25) “During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.”
• Yes, I fully believe Jesus walked on water. I also believe he fed the “10,000” etc.
• Vintage Jesus is the Jesus who is miraculous.
• And I’m talking miraculous in a God way, not a way we use the term today to describe a full court basketball shot at the buzzer, or grand slam in the 9th inning to win the game…
• This was no big deal to Jesus, he wasn’t showing off. He was just doing what he does best, perform needed miracles to make a point.
• The miracles of Jesus always served a purpose. He didn’t walk around “blowing stuff up, or setting things on fire” just to show off…
• Jesus had just fed at least 5000 people to show them that he will always provide and that there will always be enough.
• In the miracle of Jesus walking on the water, Jesus teaches about faith, trust and staying focused on him.
• The miracles of Jesus should lead us to worship him, to awe and wonder.
• Jesus used miraculous power to heal the sick, feed the hungry and raise the dead.
• (Tim Keller “The reason for God” on the importance of miracles.) “Jesus’ miracles are about more than just about the suspension of natural order, they are about restoration of the natural order.
• God did not make the world originally to have disease, hunger and death.
• Jesus has come to redeem what is wrong and heal what is broken.
• “His miracles are not just proof that he has power but amazing foretastes of what he is going to do with that power.”

Now all this miracle stuff sounds great to the casual observer…

v. 26 “They were terrified, it’s a ghost, they cried out in fear.”
• Who can blame them? It was sometime between 3-6am and it’s not like you see someone walking on the water every day. As far as we know, this is the first and last time this ever happened.
• This part of the story, we can all relate to…image driving down the freeway in the middle of the night on your way home from a Thanksgiving gathering and you see Jesus walking down the freeway in the middle of all the cars…
• However, “Vintage Jesus” wants us to trust him…to know that this actually is him wanting to show us something important.
• The natural tendency is to shrink in fear or amazement when the miraculous happens.
• Instead, Jesus wants us to follow him, to trust in him.

v. 28 Peter is such an important part of this story. He represents all of humanity.
• What do you see in this picture? (fear, faith, trust, cheering on..)
• We know God is asking us to step out and have faith.
• That first step can be easy or hard, but what’s really hard is to continue to keep focused, keeping our eyes on Jesus.
• Doubt is not the absence of faith it is a test of faith.
• Peter had faith to step out but he did not count the cost and he looked down. He got distracted by the “world around him.”
• It was only then that Peter began to falter and sink.
• Yet, the hand of grace pulled Peter to safety.

So, when we talk about “Vintage Jesus, ” here are some important things to remember:
• Jesus has control over the situation. Wind and waves obey Him.
• We must keep our eyes on the LORD rather than the situation that threatens to engulf us.
• That will give us the confidence we need to walk through the raging storms in our lives.
• Christ's hand is always extended to the lost.
• We all need to reach out in faith to the LORD for salvation.
• Jesus walking on water is a principle that the invisible realities of faith in Christ are victorious over the visible threats of this world, regardless of the form they may take.
• This story of Jesus walking on the water is one that just about everyone has heard of.
• It’s a great chance to have a conversation with someone about why this is possible, why Jesus can do this.
• It affirms his deity.
• It shows he is asking us to keep our eyes on him and have faith.
• “Vintage Jesus” is not just a challenge to our minds, but a promise to our hearts, that the world we all want is coming.

v. 27 If we listen we can hear the soothing voice of Jesus, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”