Water Walking Disciples (Part 2/6)

The devil must have worked himself up into a real snit over Jesus feeding the multitudes. That miracle probably cost him a lot of converts. He wanted revenge. “I’m gonna make Jesus look foolish,” he thought. “While He’s praying and acting religious, I’ll kill everybody that works for Him. We’ll wipe out His whole staff!”

The devil forgot that Jesus is the one and only real, live, Super Man. He even has Super Vision. He saw through that plot before Satan worked out the details.

Naturally speaking, it was impossible for Jesus to rescue the disciples. He was up on a mountain and they were across the lake. What could He do?

He broke the power of natural law.

Natural law won’t allow you to walk on water. Water won’t hold the weight of a man. You can trust me on this; I used to work as a lifeguard. One of my greatest challenges when I was seventeen years old was teaching a very obese woman how to swim. She was terrified of the water. When I think about that woman, I can imagine how Jesus must have felt.

The highest form of trust is trusting someone with your life. That’s what Peter did when he stepped out of the boat. Those other disciples trusted Jesus to some degree, but they hadn’t trusted Him with their lives. If they had, they would have gotten out of the boat. That’s similar to the position I was in trying to teach that lady to swim. So long as she was in the shallow water, she was in control. She slapped me around like a twig. You’ve got to understand, this woman was big enough to drink the whole pool, spit it out, and beat the fire out of me.

The only chance I had was to get her into a place where I was in control. That place was in nine feet of water, where she couldn’t touch bottom.

I finally got her to the deep end and she almost drowned me. When people get scared, their adrenaline flows, and this lady had a lot of adrenaline on board! The only way I could save my own life was to pull her under so she couldn’t breathe – she’d turn me loose for a minute, and I’d get away. The minute I tried to help her, she’d scream, “I’ll kill you!” Wham! She’d knock me back under. Every time she did that, I’d pull her under. I don’t know how many times it happened, but she fought me a long time. Finally, she’d used up all her strength and she thought she was going to die.

Just then, I grabbed her fingertips.

       She tried to grab me again. “Don’t grab me!” I yelled. “I’ve got you!”

       “You can’t hold me up!” she gasped.

       “I know I can’t,” I explained, “but the water can.”

I treaded water holding her by her fingertips. “The water is your friend,” I said. “You have life preservers inside your chest called lungs. If you scream and holler, they deflate and you’ll sink like a rock. But if you breathe in air, they’ll keep you up.”

The only way I could teach that woman to swim was to get her in a situation where she totally trusted me. I had to be in control. After that happened, she lost her fear of the water and was one of the easiest people I ever taught to swim.

Two weeks later, she came flying out of the dressing room running. Everything was moving. She dove into nine feet of water and created a tidal wave that slapped kids up against the side of the pool. “Look, Mr. Jesse!” she called. “A back stroke!”

That woman loved the water.

I taught her to swim, and most people thought it was a miracle. But Jesus taught Peter to walk on water. That was a miracle.

Matthew 14:23-33 (NIV)

After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” “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.”

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