This morning, we continue our series, “The Miracles of Jesus,” by looking at when Jesus fed 5,000 with a little boy’s lunch. We looked at this miracle for the past couple of days, and we will do it again today.
Before we get into the miracle, let’s look at the foundational scripture I will share be sharing with you all year.
(Psalm 126:4 TPT)
Now, Lord, do it again! Restore us to our former glory! May streams of your refreshing flow over us until our dry hearts are drenched again.
This is a season of refreshing and restoring for us. I pray you get refreshed and restored as we study each miracle.
This miracle is covered by Matthew, Mark, and John ((Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52, John 6:15-21).
We will look at Matthew 14. In Matthew’s account, this comes right after Jesus feeds the 5,000. But I did not share with you the overall context of the day. Jesus received news that his cousin, John the Baptist, was killed before feeding the crowd. So, to set up the story, I will give you a better understanding of what Jesus was dealing with that day and how we can learn some things about the power of prayer before we get into Jesus walking on water.
(Matthew 14:6-12 NIV)
6 On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests and pleased Herod so much
7 that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked.
8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”
9 The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted
10 and had John beheaded in the prison.
11 His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother.
12 John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.
Jesus’ initial reaction was to draw away from people so that He could spend time with the Father in prayer.
(v.13) When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.
But the crowds were following Him, and He had work to do on the assignment the Father gave Him, so He focused on what He needed to do. So Jesus:
— Was moved with compassion
— He saw many sick in the crowd
— He healed the sick
— He fought back against satan by destroying the works of the devil (sickness)
— He then fed the 5,000 with two fish and five loaves of bread
And when that was over, the Bible says:
??22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.
23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray…
— After receiving terrible news
— After having a rough day
— Jesus spent time with the Father in prayer
— His alone time with the Father was special to Him (we can learn from this)
After Jesus prayed for hours, the Bible says:
24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.
26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
The NKJV and other versions of verse 25 tell us that Jesus came to them in the fourth watch of the night.
(Matthew 14:25 NKJV)
25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.
So what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. Jesus had feelings like we all do.
Jesus experienced emotions. While He was God in the flesh, being fully God, He was also fully man. As a man, He experienced the full range of human emotions. The Bible tells us that He laughed, cried, and even became angry (John 11:33-38). This shows that it is perfectly normal and human to experience a wide range of emotions.
When Jesus’s cousin (John the Baptist) was killed, Jesus had to get ahold of Himself. Verse 13 says, “When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.”
— He got away from everyone.
— He and John the Baptist had connected since the womb. (John the Baptist leaped in his mother’s womb when Jesus (also in His mother’s womb) came to visit John’s mother).
— His cousin was dead, and He was upset.
— Jesus withdrew from everyone to spend quiet time with the Father.
— After Jesus got ahold of Himself, and after knowing that satan had struck a blow to the Kingdom of God, Jesus came back in the power of the Spirit.
Verse 14 says, “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.”
— After spending time in prayer and getting ahold of Himself, Jesus came back and healed all the sick.
— Unlike the incident at the pool, where Jesus walked past hundreds of sick people and only healed one man, He healed them all in this case!
— Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8), and sickness is surely of the devil.
— Since satan hit His Kingdom with death, Jesus stuck back with LIFE!
— There were many times when Jesus was moved with compassion for the sick. In this case, while the Bible does not say it, I am pretty sure that He was moved by what happened to his cousin.
— Jesus’ emotions were not a sign of weakness: Jesus’ ability to experience and express his emotions does not detract from his divinity or his strength. In fact, it shows that he fully understands and empathizes with our struggles and feelings.
— Jesus’ example teaches us to be honest with our emotions. We don’t always have to suppress them. We just cannot allow ourselves to be ruled by them. Jesus’ actions teach us it’s okay to be sad, angry, or joyful, just as long as we continue to be led by the Holy Spirit.
— Jesus’ experience with emotions shows us it is possible to be fully human and fully divine. In our case, while we are not God in the flesh, as Jesus was, we do house God in our flesh. We are human conduits of the divine, and through Jesus’ example, we learn that walking in the Spirit does not mean we have to be void of emotion.
— If Jesus, who was God incarnate, experienced emotions and still pleased the Father, then we can do the same. Our emotions can actually draw us closer to God in a more personal/intimate way. Jesus’ reaction to the news about his cousin’s death drew Him closer to the Father. May we all do the same thing when faced with troubling news!
— Emotions are powerful. If uncontrolled, they can lead us to go astray. However, the Holy Spirit can help us channel our emotions in a way that propels us into our destiny.
— In this season of refreshing and restoring for us, may we spend time with the Father in prayer, and may our prayer time empower us the way it did with Jesus.
2. Jesus prioritized alone time with the Father in prayer when He needed it, and we should learn to do the same.
In Matthew 14, we see Jesus withdraw from people and spend alone with the Father in prayer. He did this twice. The first time was when He received news that His cousin, John the Baptist, was killed. Jesus got into a boat and withdrew from everyone and then came back to heal the sick and feed the crowd. After everyone was fed and they collected the 12 baskets of food (leftovers), Jesus needed more quiet time with the Father. The Bible says:
??22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.
23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray…
— So, after receiving terrible news and having a rough day, Jesus sent everyone away.
— Jesus sent His disciples into the water on a boat.
— He dismissed the crowds and sent them home.
— He went up into the mountainside, all by Himself, to pray.
— Jesus prayed until the 4th watch of the night.
— We know this because it was the 4th watch of the night when Jesus walked on water and caught with the disciples who were in the boat.
You may wonder, “What is the 4th watch of the night?” In Bible times, the night was divided into four watches, with each watch lasting for about three hours. The four watches were:
(1) The first watch, from sunset to around 9:00 PM.
(2) The second watch, from around 9:00 PM to midnight.
(3) The third watch, from midnight to around 3:00 AM.
(4) The fourth watch, from around 3:00 AM to sunrise.
We can assume that Jesus sent the disciples and the crowds away no later than in the early evening. This means that Jesus prayed by Himself, with the Father, for hours. He was there for at least six hours. This tells us a few things about Jesus and about the importance of prayer:
— Jesus was fully human and fully divine. As such, He had, AND NEEDED, a deep relationship with God the Father. The fact that He was God in the flesh did not give Him the autonomy to operate free from the will of the Father.
— Jesus only said what the Father led Him to say, and He only did what the Father led Him to do. He made it very clear that He was NOT on this planet to do His own thing. Jesus said He was sent to this planet to do the will of the Father, not His own will. This meant that He was committed to doing all He could to ensure He was in sync with the Father’s will. Prayer was a big part of that.
— Even though Jesus kept a crazy schedule during His 3.5 years of ministry, He made time to spend time with the Father. Jesus enjoyed His ALONE TIME, especially in prayer. This shows us that prayer is not just a duty but an important aspect of our relationship with the Father. In prayer, we can find strength, get renewed, get restored, receive insight, and receive power. Jesus went into His prayer session one way, and He came back rejuvenated. Please remember this when you re facing challenges. You should make time to spend alone time with the Father.
— Prayer is key and central to being in tune with God’s will. This passage shows that Jesus was in tune with God’s will so much that after praying for hours, He knew He needed to catch up with the disciples, who had been battling a storm. The disciples were so tired from battling the waves and the wind that when they saw Jesus, they thought He was a ghost. My point is that when you are in tune with the Father, through the Holy Spirit, He will lead you to spend alone time with Him, and He will also lead you concerning when you need to go help others. This is the type of discernment we can walk in when we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.
— In 2023, I pray you learn to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit to where you will know when you need to be alone, you will know when you need to be around others, you will know who you are supposed to help, and you will know how you are supposed to help them. This is how Jesus lived. He was led by the Holy Spirit in all things. I pray you learn to live the same way.
I started this message by saying that I was going to teach about Jesus walking on water. But I had so much to share to just get you ready for it. Now that you understand the setting, tomorrow I will deal with Jesus and Peter walking on water.
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for Your love and grace! I believe this is a season of refreshing and restoring for me!
As I study the miracles of Jesus, my faith is reignited and increased!
I see the importance of prioritizing my alone time with You, Father.
Jesus was fully God, but He was also fully man. He had emotions like we all do. He felt joy and pain, happiness and sorrow. I do not have a High-Priest who is not acquainted with my feelings. He felt like I feel, but He never once sinned. I learn from Jesus’ example.
I embrace my emotions and control them to the point where they fuel my passion and energy for You and Your purpose for my life.
I make time to spend time with You, Father, on a regular basis and especially when faced with challenges.
Like Jesus, I get away from everyone and everything and spend time with You in prayer. And like Jesus, I come back from my prayer closet renewed, restored, revived, rejuvenated, and ready to face whatever I need to face on the path to my destiny.
My prayer life is key and central to my walk with You. I pray, You speak, I hear, I obey, and I launch into every situation empowered by Your grace and informed by Your Spirit. Living this way, I know GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
