Job 38 (he did not see the whole picture) Psalm 18 Romans 10:5–17 (Matthew 14:22–33) Peter rescued after walking on water with Jesus Peter calls upon the Lord and is saved.
"The message of Salvation is to all"
Context of Romans 10 our aim is to proclaim Christ's work, how he comes to us...
Jews rejected as they attempted to keep the law rejecting the righteousness of the Gospel. Why?
1. Ignorance of the Gospel
2. Rebelliousness
3. Trying to establish their own righteousness They did hear but Paul does not answer why Israel rejected.
Romans 11 does not attempt to answer why but points us to Gentiles being grafted in with a warning not to reject. But Paul does return to the promise...
We are given to trust not to understand everything...
Not to understand God but to be addressed by Him We can not explain God but are called to trust His promises The overarching theme is the compassionate/suffering God Romans 9 is not about election but selection a people not a person
LSB #587 "I Know My Faith Is Founded" WOULD BE AN APPROPRIATE HYMN
:5-8 the righteousness of faith
:6 personification of righteousness, context is Deuteronomy 30:9-14 the commandment is right here, near to you, Christ fulfilled the Law For us. The word near you is Christ. He is here, near you. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot ascend or descend. Yet Christ became incarnate and is the center of all. Christ is the goal and the fulfillment of the Law. (See John 3)
:6 is the central verse, the Word of God is not powerless. It has not failed. But cannot be understood by the ways of the world. It is not reasonable. The way it has always been with God. Contrary to worldly expectations.
:9 this is not a check off of what you must do to be saved. This is the response of faith. It confesses and believes what has already been proclaimed to you.
The Word comes to you in a located way through preaching (see Vv.14-15) God's word is placed on you so you can call on him.
:14-17 it's impossible to believe without the word, preaching, or preachers. The Lord always works through means.
:16 yet not everyone has believed but no explanation is given.
:17 a summary. Yet God is not surprised.
The Lord. Who laid the foundation of the earth.” (Job 38:4) Is the Author and Giver of life. Who governs all things by His Word. His wisdom and power. Are beyond our understanding. Except. As He reveals Himself in the incarnate Word, Christ Jesus. He has “entered into the springs of the sea.” And “walked in the recesses of the deep.” (Job 38:16), And He draws near to you in mercy. Have you been “a long way from the land, beaten by the waves,” and "tossed about by hostile winds." (Matthew 14:24).
Christ the Crucified Comes to Save Us by the Word of Faith
1. In our mortality and sinful unbelief, we do not always recognize the Lord Jesus.
A. But as we cry out in fear, He speaks tenderly to us: “Do not be afraid,” and He reaches out His hand to save us. (Matthew 14:27, 31)
B. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13),
2. And now we call upon Him in faith.
A. Because we have heard “through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17).
B. “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (Romans 10:8).
Matthew 14:22-33
Summary: This passage provides wonderful image of faith: so powerful, yet so fragile. Faith can move mountains. This is good news. The better news is that Jesus comes to us amid the storm. The best news, I think, is that Jesus lets us stay in the boat when we only have little faith.
Key Words
απολυση (meaning "release", 14:22) Jesus here "releases" the crowd. Prior to the feeding of the 5,000, the disciples wanted Jesus to release the crowd. Now that they have been fed, he is releasing them. Also interesting is that now Jesus must compel (ηναγκασεν, from αναγκαζω) them to leave as well.
προσευξασθαι (meaning "to pray", 14:23) The verb to "pray" is a middle voice verb. Typically middle voice means the object and subject are the same, in that the subject is doing the verb to itself (for instance, shaving would be a good candidate in English for a middle voice verb!) This would suggest that prayer involves some sort of movement, externally or internally, to prepare oneself for prayer. I remember once I was invited "to assume the posture of prayer."
βασανιζομενον (participle form of βασανιζω meaning "torment"; 14:24) This word can even mean torture (as in the beast at the end of Revelation)
θαρεσειτε (meaning "be of good cheer," 14:27) I am fascinated by this. Is Jesus here commanding faith? Is it possible for the individual to suddenly turn one's disposition around? I believe here that we are saved from this dilemma when we realize that the next words of Jesus to Peter are pure promise: εγω ειμι. "I am" says Jesus. "I am" is not simple a declaration that Jesus is present, but that Jesus is God, for εγω ειμι is the same of God. As Jesus says this, he reveals to Peter that he is indeed God and he is with Peter. Without the promise of his presence and divinity, Jesus words to Peter would be cruel. Why can Peter take courage? Because Jesus is there with him, not because Peter needs to "get it together."
ει συ ει (meaning "since it is you", 14:28). The word "ει" is often translated "if." However, its translation is really governed by the tense of the verb to which it is linked. If it is linked with a subjunctive tense verb, then it is building a hypothetical case; if it is linked with an indicative tense verb, then it is building a true case.
Here it is used with an indicative verb, meaning Peter believes it is a true condition: Since it is you, command me. [In the case of A, which is a true scenario, then B; rather than: In the case of A, which may or may not be true, then B.
ολιγοπιστε (from ολιγ meaning "few" and πιστε meaning "faith", "of little faith", 14:33) A gracious reminder that we can still be in the boat with Jesus and only have a little faith. Having lots of faith is not a requirement for journeying with Jesus.[1]
He Prayed Alone
Rev. Dr. Daniel J. Brege
“And after he had dismissed the crowds, he
went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there
alone.” (Matthew 14:23)
Echoing the Old Testament, the New Testament sets
forth the principle that the Word of God and prayer are central (Acts 6:6; 1 Ti
4:5). God’s Word is His means by which
He accomplishes His wondrous and powerful acts, and prayer is our means whereby
we in faith ask for God’s blessings, speaking back to Him His Word.
Preaching from Sunday’s Gospel, likely most
pastors—rightly so—will magnify the miraculous and instructive account of Jesus
and Peter. Let us not however overlook
the importance of Jesus approaching His Father alone in prayer. As demonstrated
by the perfect Man, both God’s Word and prayer—though having different
functions—are equally valuable in the life of God’s children.
Though God’s children should indeed gather together
for prayer, which is an integral part of worship, yet praying alone to God is
magnified throughout Scripture. Moses
interceded for Israel for forty days in prayer (Deut 9:25).
When Saul rebelled, Samuel cried to the Lord
all night (1 Sam 15:11). Daniel prayed
daily in his closed room, facing Jerusalem (Dan 6:10). The Apostle Peter, apparently as a habit,
went to the housetop to pray (Acts 10:9).
Praying in solitude is so important, our Lord spoke of it in His Sermon
on the Mount: But when you pray, go into
your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your
Father who sees in secret will reward you (Mt 6:6). Perhaps more important than this
encouragement to pray alone is Jesus’ constant example to do so.
As Jesus began His ministry Mark records, he
departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed (1:35). Luke speaks of this habit of Jesus: But he
would withdraw to desolate places and pray (5:16). Luke 6:12: In these days he went out to the
mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.
Note Gethsemane where Jesus, preparing to
suffer horribly for mankind’s salvation, withdrew from the Apostles to pray
(22:41). In each Gethsemane account we
find the stupendous struggle of Jesus, and His prayerful submission to the
Father’s will. No doubt this perfect man prayed the Psalms in Gethsemane as he
faced his excruciating destiny, bearing the sins, sicknesses and sorrows of
mankind.
Why pray alone, when even at times no other human
realizes you are doing it? As the Spirit
brings people to faith through the Word, so Christians will personally employ
that faith by coming to God alone in prayer.
Praying alone is perhaps the ultimate expression of a Christian’s
faith. No faithless person will pray
alone to God. When we are alone with God, for what shall we pray? Certainly for anything. However praying to God is something that
“improves” as one’s faith matures.
Thus
both John the Baptist’s followers and our Lord’s Apostles asked that they be
taught how to pray (Luke 11:1). In
response to their request the Apostles received the foundational prayer—the
Lord’s Prayer. As we come to God in
solitary prayer, the Lord’s Prayer is certainly foundational; likewise the
Psalms are ready-made prayers for God’s people to read, to learn and to
pray.
Often (Like Moses, Samuel, Daniel
and Jesus) we are driven to our knees in prayer when we face the trials of this
life. Many of the Psalms are cries of
lament to God, and are appropriately prayed on such occasions (e.g. 13, 130,
70).
Some wise theologians have said
that when we mature in prayer we are consciously echoing God’s Word back to
Him. Thus we may mediate on a verse such
as, Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path (Ps 119:105).
Appropriately we would be moved to pray,
“Father, my path today is a dark path. Help me to consider your word that the
path of this life and the path to eternal life be made bright through your Son
who is the very heart of your Word.”
We
can similarly pray the Catechism, which is a condensation of the basics of
God’s Word. Though even the most mature
Christian offers “imperfect” prayers, yet the blood of Jesus and the
intercession of the Holy Spirit make them perfect before our Father.
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