Once Jesus was no longer there, I can imagine that the crowds began to disperse little by little and eventually the twelve disciples were left alone. Night fell and Jesus still hadn't returned to rejoin them. I don't know how many hours they waited there; we only read that, despite the darkness, the disciples made their way down to the lakeside, got into their boat and began to sail off across the lake to the opposite shore - in the direction of Capernaum.
There are two things about this decision that may seem strange to us:
- Why did they set off on their trip in the middle of the night, when it was already dark?
- And why did they go away, leaving Jesus behind on that side of the lake?
Setting out in a boat in the middle of the night might seem crazy to us, but we need to remember that some of the men in this group were fishermen; they were used to going out on the lake in the dark of night. Perhaps the disciples didn't want to spend the whole night out on the hillside under the stars; perhaps heading for Capernaum was "heading home" for them at that point in time. After all, we read in vs 1 that they had taken a boat across the lake before the experience of feeding the five thousand.
But, if they didn't want to spend the night sleeping out in the open air, why did they set off and leave Jesus behind? How did they imagine that He was going to get back to the other side of the lake? Was it perhaps that they thought Jesus had left them? Did they think that the wonderful times they'd spent with Him were over now? Or had He been gone so long that they began to wonder if He'd been making His way back to the other side of the lake without them?
We don't know their reasons; we only read that they got into the boat under cover of darkness and started to cross the lake... only to run into a fierce storm when they were just a few miles out. The wind and waves were all around them. We've seen our fair share of storms here in Eastern and Southern Spain this week; in some coastal towns the waves were ten metres high, and the streets were so flooded that cars were being swept away. I can only imagine how scary it must be if you're actually out in the middle of the water, far from the nearest shore.
I found the metaphor kind of interesting, though: after setting out without Jesus and with it being too dark for them to see properly, they found themselves in the middle of a violent storm. When we run into storms in our own lives, perhaps it would be helpful to evaluate whether we set out without seeing the way clearly, or without having Jesus "on board" with us.
The rest of the story is well known. Fortunately, Jesus came to them, walking on the water, and said, "It's me. I'm here. Don't be afraid." Even when life gets a little stormy, we don't need to give into fear or worry if we know that Jesus is with us on the journey.
I found the end of the story (verse 21) really interesting. We read that they invited Jesus into the boat with them and, in a relatively short time, they arrived at their destination. We don't read that the storm stopped. (This isn't the time when He spoke to the wind and waves and they died down.) The storm continued, but Jesus was with them and they arrived safe and sound on the other side of the lake.
Sometimes we do face storms in life, even when Jesus is with us. God's presence with us doesn't guarantee that everything will be smooth sailing, that our journey will be free of turbulence... but it does guarantee that we can give our fears and worries to Him and that He promises to bring us safe and sound to our destination.
We don't know their reasons; we only read that they got into the boat under cover of darkness and started to cross the lake... only to run into a fierce storm when they were just a few miles out. The wind and waves were all around them. We've seen our fair share of storms here in Eastern and Southern Spain this week; in some coastal towns the waves were ten metres high, and the streets were so flooded that cars were being swept away. I can only imagine how scary it must be if you're actually out in the middle of the water, far from the nearest shore.
I found the metaphor kind of interesting, though: after setting out without Jesus and with it being too dark for them to see properly, they found themselves in the middle of a violent storm. When we run into storms in our own lives, perhaps it would be helpful to evaluate whether we set out without seeing the way clearly, or without having Jesus "on board" with us.
The rest of the story is well known. Fortunately, Jesus came to them, walking on the water, and said, "It's me. I'm here. Don't be afraid." Even when life gets a little stormy, we don't need to give into fear or worry if we know that Jesus is with us on the journey.
I found the end of the story (verse 21) really interesting. We read that they invited Jesus into the boat with them and, in a relatively short time, they arrived at their destination. We don't read that the storm stopped. (This isn't the time when He spoke to the wind and waves and they died down.) The storm continued, but Jesus was with them and they arrived safe and sound on the other side of the lake.
Sometimes we do face storms in life, even when Jesus is with us. God's presence with us doesn't guarantee that everything will be smooth sailing, that our journey will be free of turbulence... but it does guarantee that we can give our fears and worries to Him and that He promises to bring us safe and sound to our destination.
