Seeing Jesus
Seeing Jesus
Matthew 14:22-33
Captain Paul Ryerson
Corps Officer
Gwinnett County Corps, Georgia Division
A Magic Spell
In the book, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Prince Caspian, Lucy, and Edmond find themselves in a sticky situation. They are on a quest, that led them to a mysterious island. When they arrived, they quickly noticed that this island had a magical spell over it. As they further explored, they learn that the locals who live on the island are subject to a spell that makes them all invisible. They haven’t been seen in many years. The person who cast the spell, simply known as the Magician, lives in a mansion on the island. When Prince Caspian, Edmund, and Lucy start to explore the land, the locals waste no time trying to capture them which was easy since they couldn’t see them. Once captured, they order them to fight the Magician so that they can regain their visibility. They threaten to do harm to them if they don’t go up against the Magician. They imprison the prince and Edmond and urge Lucy to break the spell. Little Lucy, though filled with fear, said she would.
Lucy enters the Magician’s house and quietly makes her way into what looks like his study room. There was a pedestal with a book on top – the spell book. She opens it to try to find the right spell. She tried different ones with no luck. Finally, she found the visibility spell. Lucy reads the spell and returns visibility throughout all the land. As she was closing the book to go outside to reunite with her group, she hears a noise coming from down the hall. Fearing it is the Magician, she tries to find a place to hide in the study. With nowhere to go, she stops and stares at the door. Expecting to meet her doom, her fear turned into joy, when Aslan, the High King of Narnia, enters the room. Lucy runs to give him a kiss and places her head against his mane. She knew she was safe now. “Oh Aslan,” she says, “It was so kind of you to come.” “My child,” says Aslan, “I have always been here. You just couldn’t see me. You just made me visible.”
Crisis on the Sea
This happened to the disciples, too. Like Lucy, they saw Jesus do the unexpected during a crisis. After Jesus fed the 5000, He tells them to get in a boat and sail across the sea. He will meet up with them after He spends some time in prayer. When evening came, Jesus went to the seashore to meet them. However, they were still in the boat crossing the sea. Scripture says that it was the fourth watch, which was between 3:00 am – 6:00 am. In other words, it was taking the disciples a long time to do a simple task. The Bible says that Jesus saw their boat and walked out to it. In case you missed that, He put His feet on the water and walked to the boat without sinking.
This isn’t normal! People do not walk on water. Whichever disciple was taking watch that night from the boat thought the very same thing. He couldn’t understand or comprehend what he was witnessing, so he shouted, “It’s a ghost!” If we are honest, we can relate to this. When any of us shout, or even think, something is a ghost, it is always from fear. Jesus must have seen their fear and called out to them, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” But because of the darkness of the night, they had to depend on their ears to recognize the figure on the water. They weren’t 100% certain, so Peter shouts, “Lord, if it is You tell me to come to You on the water.” Peter could have easily asked a number of questions to prove that it was Jesus. Instead, Peter challenges Jesus to make him do something humanly impossible. In other words, if it is the Messiah on the water then He can help me walk on water. Jesus responds with one word: “Come.”
Come
It’s one thing to dare, challenge, or request God to do something: it’s another thing to be obedient to His response. Peter accepted the call and got out of the boat. When Peter put his feet on the water, he didn’t sink. He started moving toward Jesus, and with every step he stayed above the water. With his eyes on Jesus, Peter was doing the impossible. But the wind started picking up, and the sound of the waves became loud. The realization that he was in the middle of the sea sank in. Outside distractions started to pull his eyes down. When this happened, he started to sink. Peter went from doing the impossible to doing the expected. Jesus reached out His hand and grabbed Peter. Jesus said, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” In other words, you wanted to do the impossible, but you didn’t think I was going to do it, did you?
Seeing Jesus
While Peter and Jesus were in the sea, something else was happening back on the boat. The disciples were watching. They saw the whole thing. When Peter and Jesus returned to the boat, all of them worshipped Jesus. They said out loud, “You are the Son of God.” While Peter was taking his eyes off Jesus, the rest in the boat saw everything clearly. The Messiah is here.
Often, when you and I encounter Jesus, others will see Him too. You and I were not on that boat that day. The disciples got to be the eyes of the world but the rest of us see through faith. It’s through the disciples’ eyes that we know He fed the 5,000 and that He walked on water, but our faith in Him was never meant to be based on our eyes alone, but by faith.
The truth is that there will be times when we are like little Lucy who only runs to the “good book” when times are hard, or like Peter who doubts at the first sight of trouble. Whatever we do, our eyes must be on Him. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29).
Our Corporate Prayer
Lord, help me have faith strong enough to keep me from sinking under life’s challenges. Even though I can feel the waves of the sea under my feet, I will keep my eyes on You alone. Amen.
Our Worldwide Prayer Meeting
USA Western Territory
Thinking it Through
If we're honest, we have all taken our eyes off Jesus during critical times in our lives. What brought you back your focus back to Him? How can you help others to look to Jesus?
Notable Quotables
Faith loves the stars too dearly to be fearful of the night. - Lt. Colonel William G. Harris
"Faith is the Victory!" This is a great a cappella arrangement of an old favorite.
We would appreciate any feedback and/or suggestions on how to improve these devotionals. Please email comments to: SpiritualLifeDevelopment@uss.salvationarmy.org or by going to our website: https://southernusa.salvationarmy.org/uss/spiritual-life-development.
We would love to hear from you.
Lt. Colonel Allen Satterlee
Territorial Spiritual Life Development Officer/THQ Chaplain