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III. The Apostles Confess

A. Revealing the Divine

Israel’s increasing opposition to Jesus dominates Matthew’s third book, climaxing with His rejection by His hometown of Nazareth (see Matthew 13:54-58).

In his fourth book, Matthew returns to depicting Jesus’ mighty, god-like deeds. He miraculously feeds a crowd of 5,000 (see Matthew 14:13-21) and another crowd of 4,000 (see Matthew 15:32-39). He performs miraculous healings (see Matthew 14:34-36; 15:29-31; 17:14-21), walks on water (see Matthew 14:22-33), and is transfigured in glory (see Matthew 17:1-13).

In the midst of these miracles, the Pharisees and Sadducees still demand that He show them "a sign from heaven" (see Matthew 16:1-4).

But only those with faith can recognize Him. And one of the subplots in this fourth book is the growing faith and awareness among the Apostles that Jesus is the Son of God.

We will look at two illustrations of this - the story of His walking on the water and the story of Peter’s confession of faith.

B. Walking on the Sea

The story of Jesus walking on the water is a dramatic one (see Matthew 14:22-33).

He sends the Apostles across the lake in the boat while He dismisses the crowds. Then He goes up to the mountain by Himself to pray.

He apparently remains in prayer for most of the night. All the while the Apostles are struggling and fearful as their boat is being tossed about in the waves.

How do we know this? Because the Romans divided the 12 hours between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. into four "watches." Matthew tells us that Jesus didn’t walk out to the boat until the "fourth watch" (see Matthew 14:25) - sometime between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. That suggests that the turmoil in the boat went on for many hours before Jesus began walking toward the Apostles on the sea.

But the full meaning of the story depends on our understanding Matthew’s use of the Old Testament substructure.

Remember that Israel was "born" in a dramatic rescue at sea - the night crossing of the Red Sea and the drowning of Pharaoh’s army (see Exodus 14:10-15:21).

God’s powers over the waters are extolled throughout the Old Testament as a sign of His omnipotence over all creation and that He alone "can save from any danger" (see Wisdom 14:3-4; Psalm 77:14-20; Isaiah 43:16-17; 51:9-10).

Typical of the Old Testament’s treatment is Psalm 107, which has many echoes of the story we’re reading from Matthew (see Psalm 107:23-32):

They saw the works of the Lord, the wonders of God in the deep.
He spoke and roused a storm wind; it tossed the waves on high…
their hearts trembled at the danger.
They reeled, staggered like drunkards; their skill was of no avail.
In their distress they cried to the Lord, who brought them out of their peril,
Hushed the storm to a murmur; the waves of the sea were stilled.
They rejoiced that the sea grew calm,
that God brought them to the harbor they longed for.
Let them thank the Lord for such kindness, such wondrous deeds for mere mortals.

In the Old Testament, God alone has the power to walk on water. "He alone…treads upon the crests of the sea," we read in the Book of Job (see Job 9:8; Habakkuk 3:15).

Treading upon the sea, Jesus is being depicted as having all the powers and prerogatives of God. That He rescues the Apostles from the sea is a further reflection of His divine powers (see Psalm 77:20-21).

And He assures the Apostles with the words: "Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid." The phrase "do not be afraid" appears often in Jewish and Christian stories of divine revelation (see Matthew 17:7; 28:5; Revelation 1:17). But we want to pay particular attention to the phrase, "it is I."

Ego eimi, the Greek words translated as "it is I," literally mean "I am." This is the same phrase that God used to reveal Himself to Moses (see Exodus 3:14) and in the Old Testament is a sign of divine identity and authority (see Isaiah 41:4,10,14; 43:1-13).

With his careful use of Old Testament references, Matthew is showing us the divine identity of Jesus (compare John 4:26; 8:24,28).

This is further reinforced by Peter’s response - "Lord, if it is You…." - requesting a miraculous sign.

Peter is asking for a share in Jesus’ powers and Jesus makes a one-word response, "Come." We may have here an allusion to Job, where God challenges Job: "Have you entered into the sources of the sea or walked about in the depths of the abyss" (see Job 38:16).

In the Greek translation, we see remarkable similarities in the language of these two passages. In the Greek, the word "entered" is the same as the word that Jesus and Peter use for "come." The word "walked about" is the same as that used to describe Peter’s walking on the waters. And the word "sea" has already been used in describing Jesus walking on the sea (see Matthew 14:24).

Peter’s cry of salvation as he begins to sink also evokes an Old Testament context (see Psalm 69:2-3,15; 18:17; 144:7) as does Jesus’ still of the winds (see Psalm 107:29-30).

An interesting footnote: though others have called Him "Lord," up until now the Apostles have not referred to Jesus as "Lord" except on one other occasion - in begging Him to save them from the raging seas (see Matthew 8:23-27). And the appeal, "Lord, save Me" appears in only one other place in the New Testament - in Matthew’s earlier sea-rescue narrative.

The story ends with the Apostles’ confession of faith: "Truly, You are the Son of God" (see Matthew 14:33).

While others have called Him "Son of God" (see Matthew 2:15; 3:17; 4:3,6; 8:29), this marks the Apostles’ first recognition of Jesus as the revealer of the Father.

Continue to Section 4