Matthew 14:22–33

²²Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. ²³And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, ²⁴but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. ²⁵And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. ²⁶But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!" and they cried out in fear. ²⁷But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid." ²⁸And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." ²⁹He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. ³⁰But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." ³¹Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" ³²And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. ³³And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

Once before the disciples had found themselves in a boat on the Sea of Galilee in the middle of the night. On that occasion there was also a storm with strong winds and high waves. Jesus was asleep in the boat. Again they cried out in fear and woke Jesus up. When he had calmed the wind and the waves, they marveled and wondered, "What sort of man is this that even the wind and the waves obey him."

Now in today's Gospel, they still wondered what sort of man this was. Here they are, once again in a boat at night on the Sea of Galilee, and once again there is a strong wind tossing the boat around like a toy. But their fear was not on account of the wind and waves, it was caused by not knowing who Jesus was. When they saw him walking on the water and were terrified; they thought it was a ghost. They didn't know who it was. "What sort of man could this be?"

But this time, now the second time he calmed the winds and the waves, the question of identity was finally answered and they fell down and worshipped him saying: "Truly this is the Son of God."

Jesus had answered their cry of terror with three words of comfort: "Be not afraid, take courage, and I AM." Notice that it is on account of not knowing who Jesus is that, like the disciples, we are filled with fear. O certainly, we know in our heads that Jesus is the Son of God, that he was born in Bethlehem, that he suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. We know all the facts of his life, but just knowing the biography of a person does not mean we know the person. They knew all the facts, but they still were afraid. Peter expressed a great faith when he asked to walk over to him on the water, but even Peter, once he took his eyes off Jesus and started to notice the waves all around him, doubted and sank into the water.

That is so us! We know all the stories about Jesus, all that he did, even his miracles, but when we look at our situation we go into a panic. Instead of seeing the power and the love and provision of Jesus, we see our weakness and uncertainty. We see our age, our pains, our sicknesses. We see death approaching. We see how weak we are; how few we are, how powerless we are; how poor we are. It all looks scary to us and fills our hearts with doubt and fear. We tend to fight for survival and the entire focus of our lives becomes on ourselves. We turn in on ourselves and all we see are our problems. All we have the energy to do is try to survive. We cannot look outward at the needs of others, because we are too insecure of our own selves. We can't help others in need, because we are struggling to survive ourselves. All our time, energy, money must go just to keep ourselves alive and we can't afford to help others. All because we don't recognize Jesus. All because we don't see who he is and trust in his blessing for our lives. All we see are our problems. We don't see how strong he is in our lives. We don't even give him the opportunity to work in our lives and make himself strong in our weakness. We are like Peter, taking our eyes off of Jesus and looking at our problems we begin to sink and are about to drown.

But in our weakness and our fear, when we cry out, and Jesus responds; "Do not fear. Have courage. I AM." He comforts us with his word. It is by his word that he strengthens our faith and gives us courage. It is by his word that he reveals to us who he is. It is by his word that he gives us the faith to move mountains. It is by his word that he blesses us so that we can feed our neighbor when he is hungry; give him drink when he is thirsty; visit the sick and the prisoner. He responds with his Word. When we need a stronger faith; when we need courage to face the adversity in our lives; when we need comfort in sorrow, when we need the power to resist temptation; when we need forgiveness for our sins, it is by his Word that Jesus works these things in us. He tells us, "Turn to my word; Hear my word proclaimed; receive my word in Holy Communion," for it is in these places only that he does his work in us. It is here that he gives us faith; comforts us; changes our hearts, and bestows forgiveness.

It is by his word that he reveals who he is. He said to the disciples, "I AM." I AM is the name God used when he spoke to Moses in the burning bush. I AM is the God of creation, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Here, walking on the water and subduing the waves he showed his authority over water and creation. When Jesus said, "Do not be afraid. I AM," he was claiming to be the very same God who created the world through water. He is saying, "I AM the one who created the water." He is saying, "I AM the one who gives you your daily bread." "I AM the one who holds all things in my hands. I AM the one who does all things according to my will. I AM the one to whom you belong, in whom you live and move and have your being." He says, "All power and authority is given unto me in heaven and on earth, because I AM."

Therefore HE IS the one who holds you in his hands and who will not let go of you. HE IS the one who reaches out his hand to save you and pull you up out of the sea's battering waves and shelters you from the turbulent winds of life. HE IS the God who saves, "Jesus" is his name, and HE IS Emmanuel, God with us, so you need not be afraid. HE IS the one who suffered for your sins. HE IS the one who died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins. HE IS the one who by his own precious blood washes you from your sins and makes you holy and spotless in the eyes of the Father. On account of his obedience unto death and his atonement for your sins, God declares you righteous. God bestows forgiveness on you in Baptism and claims you as his own child.

When Jesus says "I AM" he is saying, I AM the God who led the Israelites out of Egypt through the Red Sea. I AM the God who gave bread to the Israelites in the wilderness. Note that this miracle of calming the wind and the waves deals with water. Just like when Jesus led the Israelites through the Red Sea. Note that this is one of two miracles that go together, coming right on the heels of the feeding of the 5000 in the wilderness. That miracle dealt with bread, just like when Jesus gave manna to the Israelites in the wilderness. So these two miracles go together. These two miracles reveal to us that Jesus is the great I AM who led the Israelites out of Egypt and fed them in the desert. And he also continues to do the same for you, his chosen people today. He leads us out of sin and the kingdom of death through the baptismal water and makes you a chosen people, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, born out of water. He feeds you and nourishes your faith through the bread of Holy Communion, which joins you to his cross where he sacrificed his body to be your redeemer from sin.

These two miracles, the feeding of the 5000 with bread and walking on water echo forth Baptism and Holy Communion. For in these miracles the disciples' question: "What sort of man is this?" changed to the confession, "This is truly the Son of God." It is his word, coming to us in the form of the Sacraments, that our eyes are opened and he is revealed to us as, "The Son of God."

As the disciples fell down and worshipped, so we are taught with his word and are fed with the Sacrament of the Altar as we worship on the Lord's Day. For this reason we gather here every Lord's Day, to be taught and fed. So that our eyes will be opened and we will know Jesus; know his strength and power to save us; will know him as the Savior from sin and the giver of eternal life; and then our fears will be calmed and our faith strengthened and our courage regained, Forever and ever,

Amen.