Matthew 14:31-36

Mat 14:31 (KJB)
And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

The faith of even the strongest believers may waver but the Lord Jesus Christ never does. He did not allow Peter to sink. Notice that He stretched forth His hand showing a personal touch to reassure Peter that He would not let His friend drown. Then Peter is asked by Jesus, why did he doubt, because in the beginning of his walk, he was doing well. (Gal 3:3 KJV) Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? The Galatians also had the same problem. They began in the spirit and they were strong but there was a shift in their Christian walk. They went from being spirit led to being flesh led. This is what happened with Peter. He started out by keeping his eyes on Christ but finished by looking at the storm around him. He started in the spirit and finished in the flesh. Whenever we transfer faith from the spirit to the flesh, there will always be a degeneration in our Christian walk. The trap is that the transfer is normally very slow and sometimes is so subtle that we don’t notice we have shifted until it is too late and like Peter, we can still cry out, “Lord save me” and He will restore us on the path of walking in the Spirit. (Gal 5:25 KJV) If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Mat 14:32 (KJB)
And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.

Once Jesus had reached out for Peter, then both of them had gotten into the ship and the moment they got into the ship, the wind ceased and the storm was over. This is because their lesson was finished. This showed the power and authority that Jesus had over the elements. This lesson showed that Jesus can overcome any situation in a Christian’s life when the events seem overwhelming. It does not matter what it is because His power is unlimited and He will come to the aid of all those He has saved.

Mat 14:33 (KJB)
Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

Once Jesus had calmed the sea, the disciples, which were probably in all different places around the ship holding on had gotten up from where they were hunkered down and came to where Jesus was and began to worship Him. By the disciples getting up and coming to Jesus, it tells us the storm was completely over and the sea was calm making it possible for the disciples to move around the boat without any fear of being cast overboard by a wave. Once Jesus calms a situation, it is calmed for good. Here they verbalized the truth that Jesus is the Son of God because now they saw His power over the elements and who but God could control a fierce storm?

Mat 14:34 (KJB)
And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret.

The place where they landed was at the plain of Gennesaret or otherwise known as El-Guwer which was between Capernaum and Tiberias. At that time it was a very densely populated area plus it was a very fertile place. It stretched about 3 miles (5 km) along the shore and was about 1 ½ (2.5 km) miles deep. It was an area noted for its fruit and nut trees plus it produced very rich crops.

Mat 14:35 (KJB)
And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased;

This was the first time Jesus was in this area which was south of Capernaum. There were probably those who recognized Him from being in Capernaum and maybe some had enjoyed the feeding the day before. Once they knew that Jesus was in the area, immediately word had spread all around and they brought Him those who were diseased. This is a spiritual picture of people bringing people to hear the Gospel and once they are saved, then they are no longer considered diseased. Disease in Scripture is typed as those still in sin, especially leprosy. (1 Pet 2:24 KJV) Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. We were healed from sin’s disease by the sacrifice of Christ as we read in 1 Peter 2:24. It is not referring to physical disease because we all have physical diseases and if we are healed by the atonement of Christ, then we have a problem because everyone in the world has physical disease including Christians. The sacrifice of Christ heals our sin sick souls and brings us into eternal life.

Mat 14:36 (KJB)
And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.

They knew the power of Jesus and all they had to do was to touch the hem of His garment and they would be healed. (Mat 9:20 KJV) And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: The woman who had an issue of blood just touched the hem of His garment and she was made whole. The crowd that gathered did the same thing, all they did was touch the hem of His garment and they were all healed from their diseases. The power of Jesus was so immense that He didn’t even have to say anything, all they had to do was touch His garment. By the people coming to Jesus, they were showing that they had faith in Him and that He could heal the sick and lame. (Heb 11:6 KJV) But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Jesus responded to faith when dealing with the people and here there was no difference.

Back