The Wind and the Waves

Before they knew the Master, Yochanan and Andrei went to hear the Yochanon Hamitvel, John the Baptist, preach. They were surprised when they saw him. He was a wild looking man. His hair was long and loose and twisted by the wind. His beard was broad and bushy. He looked like a prophet from days of long ago.

The Talmidm were all in one boat, but the Master was not with them. It was dark on the lake. The wind was rising. It was blowing against them.

They pulled hard at the oars to force their boat into the wind and toward the shore of Capernaum.

As they pulled their boat across the lake, the wind pushed against them. The waves were getting larger and they seemed to be turning the boat the wrong direction. "Pull harder, it's a storm rising," Yaakov warned Shimon and Andrew.

How far to Capernaum? How long had they been on the lake? They pulled at the oars until their arms were aching and their backs were breaking. It seemed like they were getting nowhere. It seemed like they would never get to Capernaum.

Out of the darkness the wind rose up stronger and harder. It splashed up great waves out of the lake and tossed them at the Talmidim. Their boat was turned and turned again as the one wave smacked them from the side and then another spun them around.

The tops of the waves splashed and frothed over the sides of the boat, soaking the men to their bones. The wind howled with joy and rage and spat out higher waves and scooped out deeper troughs. Their little boat was floundering.

"If only the Master was here!" Yochanon cried out. Once it had happened that they were all at sea together when a storm caught them by surprise. The Master was sleeping in the boat like Jonah while the frightened Talmidim fought the wind and waves. They woke him up, and with only a word from his mouth he calmed the storm. The wind had died. The waves lay back down. This time the Master was not with them though. Where was the Master?

Yeshua had gone up a hill to find a quiet place to pray. As he prayed, he looked out over the lake. A stormy wind had risen. He could hear the waves crashing against the shore below him. His eyes searched the dark and tossing waters until he saw their little boat, just a speck in the distance. He saw that they were struggling against the storm.

It seemed as if they had been tossing on the waves all night. They used buckets to bail the water out of the boat as fast they could. It seemed as if they really might sink.

Yaakov's eyes searched the blackness for any of the familiar shapes of the shoreline. He saw only the heads of the waves lifting and falling. Suddenly he saw something else. It was a man in the water.

"Look!" Yaakov shouted. The others saw it too. It was a man in the water-not in the water-on the water. It was a shape like a man walking over the tops of the waves, striding over the waves like a man might step over crags and stones. It was as if the water was solid to his foot, and he did not sink. He was passing by them on the water, passing by the boat.

The Talmidim cried out in fear. A spirit! An angel! A ghost!

The eerie specter seemed to hear their frightened shouts and turned toward them. The waves rolled under them, tipped them up and turned them around.

Yochanon was leaning out over the edge of the boat to try tosee when he was suddenly face to face with the water-walker. It was the Master. Yeshua said to him, "Do not be afraid. It's me."

Yochanon shouted to the others, "It's the Master!"

The Master was standing on the water. He let a rolling back of a wave lift him to the boat. They reached for him, he took their hands climbed over the side and into the boat. No sooner had Yeshua's foot found the bottom of the boat then the wind was suddenly silent and reverent. The waves bowed their heads. Something hard bumped the side of the boat. Yaakov leapt over the others to see what they had thumped into.

"Behold, the docks of Capernaum," he announced.

All night they had struggled to cross the lake but could not. Now in the blink of an eye they had come to the shore. Gentle waves were lapping the sand. Yeshua was in the boat with them. It was as if the night alone at sea had never happened.

Focus: Yeshua is no ordinary person. We can trust him even when we don't see him and especially when we are afraid.

Thinking About It:
Why were the disciples afraid without Yeshua?
How far did they get across the lake without Yeshua?
How long did it take to cross the lake after the Master got into the boat?

Bible Search: Matthew 14:13-33
1. Which talmid got out of the boat?
2. Why did he begin to sink?
3. How was he saved from drowning?
4. What did the Talmidim say about Yeshua when he got into the boat?

Click here to read a similar story about a man in the water.

Kehilat Sar Shalom