Oceans

I had another connecting Scripture moment.

But first, a little PSA of sorts. (It ties in, I promise.)

If you have not seen/heard Hillsong United’s Of Dirt and Grace project, go look it up right now, preferably on Youtube so that you can see the videos that are available.

(Or just go buy it…that’s I’m sure what Hillsong would want me to say…my understanding is that it’s a CD/DVD combo.)

Basically, they traveled to Israel, and they did acoustic audio/video recordings of several of their songs (mostly from Empires) in various locations, most of them Biblical. For example, they did Say the Word from the spot where Jesus delivered the Beatitudes. I am literally obsessed with it. I have listened to the album so many times, and I’m not sick of it.

They also did Oceans from a boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee…In other words, they recorded/performed Oceans from the spot of the event that inspired the song, and what I love even more is that they refer to the Sea of Galilee simply as “the sea on which He walked“. 

Be still my heart.

The boat they were on even had fishing nets all over it. I have officially added “sing Oceans from a boat on the Sea of Galilee” to my bucket list.

Okay, PSA over. But I promised it ties in. The Scripture I had a moment with this week is Matthew 14/Mark 6/John 6–where Jesus walks on “the sea on which He walked”.

Whenever I picture this story, I picture Jesus walking on pretty still waters, average waves, in the middle of the day with the sunlight reflecting off His perfect hair. But that’s not what happened.

Mark’s version states that the disciples were “straining at rowing, for the wind was against them,” and Matthew’s telling says that the disciples’ boat was being tossed by the waves. The Greek word translated into ‘tossed’ is ‘βασανίζω’ (basanizó), which literally means ‘to torment or torture‘. So this isn’t just a little bit of wind and waves; this is a serious storm. No wonder Peter became afraid when Jesus told Him to step out of the boat.

Even worse, it was literally in the middle of the night, about 2 or 3 am. I’m sure if you went to the Sea of Galilee at night now (bucket list, seriously!), there’d be plenty of ambient light, but back then, they would’ve been rowing in complete darkness. When they started out, the waters would’ve been calm, and they probably had the light of the moon and stars. But storms bring cloud-cover. So not only were they in the midst of a storm, but they likely couldn’t even see their own way out of it.

If Jesus just wanted to show that He could do the humanly impossible and walk on water, He could have done so anytime. He could have just brought the disciples down to the beach in the middle of the day and say, “Hey guys, watch this!”. But that’s not the point. Jesus isn’t walking on just any waters here. He’s walking through darkness on stormy waters.

Jesus wanted to show that He is in control, even during the biggest storms.

Jesus wanted to show that He is still there even through the darkest darkness.

Jesus wanted to show that He can conquer even our biggest fears.

The text also makes it clear that the storm didn’t stop until Jesus (or Jesus and Peter, in Matthew’s case) got into the boat. So the entire time, Jesus is walking towards them in the midst of the storm. (It is estimated that the boat was 3 to 4 miles offshore, so it wasn’t a short walk either!)

To take things even further, John’s telling states that when Jesus got into the boat, they instantly reached land on the other side. So not only did Jesus walk through the storm and darkness, He brought them out of it.

Whatever your storm, whatever your darkness, rest knowing that He is with you in it, He’s already conquered it, and He will bring you through it.

As soon as the meal was finished, he insisted that the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he dismissed the people. With the crowd dispersed, he climbed the mountain so he could be by himself and pray. He stayed there alone, late into the night. Meanwhile, the boat was far out to sea when the wind came up against them and they were battered by the waves. At about four o’clock in the morning, Jesus came toward them walking on the water. They were scared out of their wits. “A ghost!” they said, crying out in terror. But Jesus was quick to comfort them. “Courage, it’s me. Don’t be afraid.” Peter, suddenly bold, said, “Master, if it’s really you, call me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come ahead.” Jumping out of the boat, Peter walked on the water to Jesus. But when he looked down at the waves churning beneath his feet, he lost his nerve and started to sink. He cried, “Master, save me!” Jesus didn’t hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, “Faint-heart, what got into you?” The two of them climbed into the boat, and the wind died down. The disciples in the boat, having watched the whole thing, worshiped Jesus, saying, “This is it! You are God’s Son for sure!” (Matthew 14:22-33, MSG)