Discovering Biblical Treasures Sunday August 13, 20 17 Volum e 0 2, I ssue 27 The H ebr aic W ay (learning the Scripture the way ancient people did) LET’S D I SCOVER M ATTH EW 14 :22-32 LINGUISTIC STRUCTURE A 22 Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. 23 After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. 24 But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out in fear. B 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid." C 28 Peter said to Him, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." D 29 And He said, "Come!" And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. C’ 30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" SOM ETH I N G ABOU T TH E LI N GU I STI CS This narrative is a chiasm based on top- 31 B’ Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" ics for each section. Who A’ 32 When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, "You are certainly God's Son!" A: Who is Jesus. B: Jesus's words towards his disciples. C: Words of Peter. The center is invitation of Jesus. was was the Yeshua question? Yeshua could direct the forces of nature which proved to His disciples that He was God in the flesh. The questions and answers offered are for discussion purposes. You may have different questions and answers. Remember all questions are valid and all answers must be defendable from Scripture. Your Questions: ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 1A Why did Yeshua send His disciples off in a boat by himself? (v. 22) This narrative follows the feeding of the 5,000. It is possible that Yeshua was willing to chat with any of the people. The disciples where always protective of Yeshua and kept people at a distance whenever possible. By sending the disciples away, Yeshua could now do what He wanted to do. What is the significance of it being a night? (v. 23) Night time was a time for the evil inclination to be its strongest. This was believed because darkness was associated with evil while the light was associated with the LORD. Yeshua sent His disciples out at night on the Sea of Galilee. It was quite unusually for anyone to attempt to navigate the Sea during the night. The belief that the Why would the disci- center of Sea was an abyss that could swallow the boat and its pas- ples take the boat to- sengers was prevalent in Yeshua’s day. Therefore, it could be a test ward the center of the of how the disciples dealt with evil. Certainly, they had to deal with lake and not around the shore line? (v. 24) evil when they evangelized. This is a difficult question to answer, if at all. The narrative tells us that they were instructed to take the boat to the other side What is the significance of the boat being a long distance from land and in bad weather? (v. 24) The boat being a long distance from land tells us that the disciples of the Sea of Galilee. The in the boat could not see land. The Sea of Galilee is 25 miles wide. shortest distance to the Considering the narrative takes place at night, it would be difficult if other side of the Sea was not impossible to see the land when the boat reached a mile or so to traverse through the off shore. The disciples were truly alone. center of the sea. It appears from the narrative that was what was going to happen 3 What is the allegorical meaning of Peter becoming scared? (v. 30-31) Perhaps it is that Peter realized that he th When was the 4 watch of the night? (v. 25) “The Jews, since their conquest by Pompeii’s, had adopted the Roman division of the night into four watches, and this was accordingly between 3 A.M. and 6 A.M., in the dimness of the early dawn.” was not ready to go out on his own. He needed more training from Yeshua. Ye- shua telling him that he did not have faith What is the significance of Yeshua walking on the water? (v. 26) First point to contemplate is how far the boat was from the land. Since the waves of the sea was battering the boat, and because it was 9+ hours after Yeshua’s command, it is safe to assume that the boat was several miles from short. The miracle is not only Yeshua walking on the water but also Yeshua being able to cover the distance between the shore and boat. The exact distance is unknown. The author of Matthew is showing the reader that not only is Yeshua the replacement for Moses but also Yeshua had divine qualities. Only the divine could rebuke nature by first walking on water then stopping the storm. could easily be that Peter did not have faith in himself. Yeshua might have believed that Peter had the training necessary should and that have he been able to walk on water Why did Peter want to join Yeshua on the water? (v. 28) also. The Disciples were learning how to carry on the Yeshua movement after He was gone. Therefore, Peter might have wanted to join Yeshua because he wanted to learn the secrets of how Yeshua did the miracles He did. 4 Main/Center Point D I SCOVERI N G BI BLI CAL hen viewing this story as an allego- baptism. However, we do not make ry the question becomes what is a disciples. A disciple of Yeshua is TREASU RES spiritual lesson(s) can be one who has faith in the salvation learned. Do remember that there acts of Yeshua and is educated in can be more than one allegorical the faith. Churches really need to interpretation. Perhaps the lesson stress the education part of the here is that we must be educated Great Commission. Peter believed about the faith before we can go that he was trained to be able to do out and make disciples for Yeshua. what Yeshua could do. His sinking The Great Commission says that into the water was a sign that he we are to baptize and educate. The was not ready. Also, this leads us church stresses the baptize part of to the understanding that a member the Great Commission because the does not have to know everything church wants members. We do about the faith to become a disci- make members for churches by ple. The purpose of Discovering Biblical Treasures is to teach students of the Bible how to learn the Bible in the same manner that our Lord and Savior Yeshua did. What did people think when they heard the Scriptures spoken by Yeshua. that Cultur e of D em ons The fear of demons and evil spirits played an important part Learn more from the teachers of the Bible Learning University at http:/ / bibleinteract.com in the lives of Semitic people. They even created specific re- You can watch many video teachings at http:/ / bibleinteract.tv assured them that he was not a spirit. 5 ligious laws about spirits. In Assyria when a man entered a house at night and was unknown to the family, he would be tested by sticking him with a large needle. If he was a spirit he would change into a donkey. Yeshua’s disciples believed in spirits. That is why they became scared. Yeshua quickly H EBRAI C VI EW —PU TTI N G I T TOGETH ER This passage read literally is filled with spiritual lessons. To discover even more treasures, it needs to be read as an allegory. One allegorical interpretation is offered. Fishermen would not have gone out into the sea at night. In addition, they would have taken a route around the perimeter of the sea to get to the other side rather than going straight across the sea. The middle of the sea was considered the abyss where there were sea creatures and Satan. The boat with the disciples was far enough away from the shore line that they could not see it. They had between nine and twelve hours to journey into the sea. Therefore, if Yeshua was walking out from the land He would have had to travel a great distance. The literal interpretation is that of a miracle and a very cool story. Looking at the story as an allegory brings up a lot of additional possibilities. One view is offered here. This is an allegory about educating new converts about the faith and to understand that while one is learning about Yeshua that one can still make disciples. How do we make disciples from Yeshua? We must talk to people and tell them about Yeshua and how Yeshua has affected their lives. We must be ready for the basic questions about the faith. Therefore, a base knowledge of the faith is important. The Great Commission says that we are to make disciples for Yeshua by baptism and education. The church concentrates on baptism but fails at times on the education. When a person is baptized without education then they are simply members of the church. It is the educated in the faith and baptized person who is a true disciple. The more one learns about the faith the stronger their faith becomes. Peter sinking into the water could be viewed in several different ways. One option offered here is that Peter felt that he was ready to make disciples by coming out of the boat but he still needed more education in the faith, which is symbolized by his sinking. Yeshua convinced him in the allegory that he was not yet ready to make disciples. The disciples needed more training which occurs in the subsequent chapters. How deep is your knowledge in the faith? The more you learn, the more you will learn to rely upon Yeshua. There is never an end to learning about being a disciple of Yeshua. There are plenty of avenues available. Take advantage of everyone you can find.