Worthy of worship

This morning's scripture reading is going to come from Matthew 14:22–33. If you have your Bibles, we're going to take a look here and read from Matthew 14:22–33.

Immediately, [that being Jesus] he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way off from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!" and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid."

And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

This is God's word.

Introduction

So, we've been looking and walking through the book of Matthew, and Matthew has been over the course of this book progressively beginning to show us who Jesus is. Now, we the readers of the text, having the forward future view of all of this, understand very clearly who Jesus is. But this is not something up to this point that is evidently clear to all the people that are following Jesus. There are lots of rumors and thoughts, but no one really understood from the Old Testament just how grand of a work God was going to do in his Messiah—that God would become human.

And so, there were oftentimes these little glimpses that we begin to get as we pass through the scriptures. Even the demons begin to acknowledge him. Jesus seemingly has authority over every single thing. He speaks and demons are cast out. He wills something and it comes true. He declares healing over someone and they are healed. He has such great authority. Where is his power coming from? Why has God given him such great power?

And so people begin to see him not just as a Jewish rabbi, which is what he would have first been viewed at by many who followed him—this great teacher who really taught as one with authority, who many had never heard anything like this before in their lives. But then Jesus begins to do these miracles. And now we're seeing not just a rabbi, but a prophet. We're seeing an Elijah of old or something like that, one like Moses. And Matthew constantly is throwing in either these quotes or these allusions to the Old Testament to show how Jesus is fulfilling the prophecies, and he's embodying so many of the types that were before him that point to him. He's embodying like a true and better David. He's embodying, as we've looked at very much in Matthew, a true and better Moses.

Even we see last week that when Jesus feeds the 5,000, there's this allusion all the way back to the Old Testament, Moses, in that same way through the power of God, God brought manna like the bread from heaven and quail to feed his people in the wilderness. So we see here Jesus is teaching people in the wilderness who are hungry and he takes bread and fish and multiplies them, but greater than Moses. Moses fed enough for the day, and there was enough after they picked up and that was it. It supplied the need for the day. Jesus feeds, and there's baskets and baskets and baskets left over. There's a surplus.

And so constantly throughout we're seeing: who is this man? In this passage here, Matthew takes another step forward to begin to wow us, the reader, but particularly the disciples, on who Jesus is. Because the ultimate goal and aim that Matthew has here, and he says it in the very last verse, is to show that Jesus is worthy of worship. Now, there is only one that we're supposed to worship. The Jews knew it was God alone. That's who you bow before. And so, we're going to see in this passage that that's exactly what Matthew is beginning to say to each of us: that Jesus is the Son of God, worthy of all worship.

Now, a few things as we look at this passage and we come into it. You see obviously that Jesus urges and sends his disciples away, get into the boat and they start going across the Sea of Galilee. It would have taken probably two to four hours, depending on how they were crossing, to get across to the Sea of Galilee, unless the weather wasn't really working for them, which it was not in this case. Jesus then sends the crowds away and goes up on a mountain to pray. And so there's a distance between him and the disciples. Here's Jesus up on the mountain; here's the disciples down below struggling against the wind and the waves and the ocean currents at this point in time.

And just in case we think that Jesus is walking on a sandbar, the Greek in there says he was a great distance off. The Greek uses the word stadia. So Jesus is thousands and thousands of yards, he's miles out away from them at this point in time. He's far away. The text wants to make clear that the disciples, he comes to them in the fourth watch of the night, which would have been from 3:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. Now, knowing that it only takes two to four hours to get across the Sea of Galilee, we can see this is an extended trip. This is taking much longer than should be anticipated. But that's because, as we see, the winds and the waves that are disrupting their progress. They certainly couldn't have sailed. They would have had rowers, usually four rowers in the boat, trying to row and struggle against all of the current in order to make it to the other side, and they're tired and they're weary.

But as I said, these are just a few little pieces as we walk through that Jesus ultimately is going to come walking on the water. We don't want to pass by that too quickly. He is defying physics. This is a truly remarkable thing. This is more than just a miracle. Healings are great speaking things. He's defying physics in ways that are just unfathomable.

And you're faced with this reality: who is this man? Or is he more than a man? As we'll see, Matthew wants us to see that he is the Son of God and he is worthy of worship.

We all worship

As we look at worship today, we all worship in life. We can worship the right thing, and that's what he's calling us to do, or we can worship the wrong thing. But we all worship in life. Matthew's aim is to center us on the Son of God as the one we worship, who is in the image of God, fully God, fully man, fully worthy of our worship. And if we worship other things, or we fear and give allegiance or heart or anything to those other things, then they enslave us. I've talked many other times before about idols and the power of idols that they can have over our lives. The problem is that we worship the wrong things and we don't worship Christ.

This is from a non-believer. I just wanted to read this quote. I might have read it before, but it's so striking because it's someone that isn't even a believer and yet he spoke this at a graduation commencement speech. He says:

"Everyone worships. Because here's something else that's really weird and true. In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is not such a thing as not worshiping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. The compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel that you are enough. It's the truth. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure, and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you. Worship power, you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart, and you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. But the insidious thing about these forms of worship is there are default settings. They're the kind of worship you just gradually slip into day after day, getting more and more selective about what you see and how you measure value without fully being aware of what you're doing. Everybody worships."

And so the question as we look at this passage is: who is really worthy of your worship? If you worship Christ, you will find that all the other things out there that call to you, that will enslave you, grow strangely dim. Worship Christ and the right things in life and you will never be restless and weary as you are anchored in him.

So why is Jesus worthy of worship? Matthew's going to show us this, and then I believe there's three implications that come from this passage.

Why Is Jesus Worthy of Worship?

Why is Jesus worthy of worship? Well, Jesus has complete authority. As we have seen, as I just mentioned a minute ago, Matthew has been unpacking and showing us that Jesus is doing all these miracles. He's this true and greater Moses. He has authority over the winds and the waves. He has authority over demonic spirits. And now even over physics itself, it seems that Jesus can conquer all things.

Everything in this passage is bending to Jesus. If you notice and read carefully, Jesus tells the disciples—it doesn't show it in your English Bibles, but he basically commands the disciples: get in the boat, go. And they hop in the boat and they start going. And then the crowds who won't seem to leave him alone, who he cannot send away, who are always swarming and flocking, Jesus says, "Go, see you later," and they go and they leave. Then Jesus gets up on the mountain to pray, and he comes down into the water. The water bows to him as he just steps on top of it and walks on it. Jesus commands Peter, "Come on, walk out on the water." Peter obeys. Everything in this passage is bending to the will of what Jesus commands, what Jesus desires. He is worthy of all the worship in this passage.

The very fact that he walks out on the sea—you know, people had done miracles throughout the Old Testament. People had brought about healings. People had raised the dead. Nobody had walked on water. There's these allusions in the Old Testament that come up. Things like, for example, Job 9, which Job even talking about God as he's asking these questions about the greatness of God, and it's a rhetorical piece where he says, "Who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled on the waves of the sea." It's God. Only God can trample on, who rides upon the wind and stamps upon the oceans with all authority.

The psalmist in Psalm 77 says this about the Lord: "Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters, yet your footprints were unseen. You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron." So there's your Old Testament piece right there where just like Moses, but instead of going through the sea, Jesus walks upon the waters.

And one of the things that Jesus does when he stands on the waters and they see him like a ghost—and this is just one more hint that Matthew drops in here—and they cry out in fear, Jesus says to them: "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid." In your Greek there, he uses the phrase ego eimi. Now, that is an emphatic usage in the Greek in which he's using the divine name, "I am." Just as in the Hebrew, it's an emphatic usage. It's not just "it's me" or "I am." It's a way of emphasizing it. Whenever that gets used, it's a very clear indicator. In fact, when Jesus in another passage is standing up in front of the people and says, "Even before Moses, I am," they knew exactly what he meant in that moment. They knew exactly what kind of claim he was making. And so even here, Jesus is saying: don't fear, take heart, I am, it's me, the Son of God.

Matthew is very clearly showing us not just a great prophet, but one who supersedes all and one who even declares and points to himself as divine and worthy of worship. Jesus has complete authority over all things. He is the true and greater Moses. And he even as he walks on the water proclaims about himself, "I am." He is worthy of our worship. That's why when he gets into the boat at the end of the passage, the disciples know very clearly what's going on here. There is no question. "Truly, you are the Son of God," they say.

So three implications that we see because he is worthy of our worship:

1. Worship anchors your soul

Point one is really: worship anchors your soul. When you realize that Jesus is worthy, that he has authority and that he's worthy of worship, you can be out on the seas of the ocean, you can be struggling through different things in life, and yet you can remember who he is.

The very thing that he says here to them when he sees them, he says, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid." That word "take heart," it gets translated—your Bibles may say take courage, be confident, take heart, be hopeful. All of those different ways that we could use the Greek to translate in those different ways. You can be hopeful because I'm here, because I have all authority. In the midst of this storm, and even in the midst of your struggle, see who I am. See me here. Look to me in these moments.

We find that worship anchors our soul in the middle of even a storm when we look to Christ, because we behold his grandeur and his authority. It's like the old hymn, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. And what happens? The things of this earth grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. And so it is when we rightly worship the one to whom all worship is due in our life—not just in song, but with heart and with devotion, when we bow the knee and submit our lives to him and we look to him as the author and the perfecter of our faith. Then even in the midst of our weariness and our tiredness, we can enter into these places with him and find peace that passes all understanding. We can find something that anchors us, even while it doesn't change necessarily the circumstances around us, but anchors us in the midst of the storm.

Rightly worshiping God will drive that fear out. Drives the fear out of our hearts. One of the ways that I thought about it this week, it's a perspective shift when you worship.

Years ago, my kids were really little, and one night I was out in the backyard doing something. It was already nighttime. You know, you put your kids to bed and it's probably only 10:00, but it's dark and I had to do something. I come back in the house and one of the kids had gotten up after we'd laid them down, and they were like, "Somebody's in the backyard!" I was like, "Oh, no, no. It's me. I was back there. It's okay." Now, that might have made them feel a little bit better, but whoever this was, they weren't fully convinced. And so, the question was: what if somebody else was back there? Or what if somebody else some other time is back there? They're continuing to sort of fixate on this potential worry that someone could always be in that backyard at any given point in time, and they could be incredibly worried about what might happen.

In that moment, just like any dad, I knelt down on my knee before him and I said, "You look here. I will never let anything hurt you. I've got you. And if anything scares you and you call out, I'm there like lightning. I'll be there to protect you."

Think about that same way with the one who has all authority. He's got you. His promises remain true even in the midst of the storm. You can hold on to that. When we rightly look to him and begin to worship him, something inside of us becomes so anchored and steadfast that all the fears and the worries and the troubles and the weariness, they begin to melt in his glory.

For all of us, what do you worry about? What turns your eyes away from the King? You worry about the economy, AI, wars, the government, provision for your own family, your job. All of a sudden, these things can become things that distract us, that de-center our worship. Jesus is constantly stooping down and inviting us: look at me. Look at me.

2. His presence empowers us to live bodly

The second thing is: his presence empowers us to live boldly. It empowers us to step out even of the boat.

In verses 28–29, Peter answered and said, "Lord, if it's you, command me to come to you on the water." And he said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. Walked on the water.

Now, commentators say all sorts of things about this passage. None of them agree; they're all over the place. I think the thing that I want us to see, and what Matthew is getting at here, is that Peter is actually—for all that we kick Peter all the time—Peter is beginning to get this. Peter's beginning to understand: this guy is not just a prophet. There's something amazing in him. There's something that I am drawn to be near him and to pursue him and to bow to him. I want to be with him, and I want to experience his glory and his power in my life. I'm tired of being in this boat struggling against the winds and the waves when he's out there and the peace is out there, and I want that.

He starts worshiping, and that worship in his own heart and his life, what does it do? Call me and I'll come out of the boat. I will. The faith that begins to birth in him is worship. Worship empowers and infuses your heart in such a way. It builds this passion in you.

I mean, you know what I'm talking about, right? Have you ever had these moments when God just—you experience his power? You see an answer to prayer. You're moved in your quiet time or in worship, and you see his authority. You see his power. You see his glory and his beauty, and things begin to melt around you, and courage is birthed in your heart. In all of these different ways that he moves and he calls you to follow him, you begin to have the courage to do so because it's worship.

Worship isn't just singing songs. There are Greek words that articulate that we present our bodies as living sacrifices. This is your true and reasonable worship. That word is latreia in the Greek. It means like a work-worship. We're moving, we're going, we're doing things as God calls us. We have the courage and the confidence in him to be obedient and submissive wherever he calls us because we want to be with him. Like the children of Israel when the pillar of fire or cloud moved: I'm going with him. I don't want to stay out here in the wilderness by myself; I'm going with him. So it is: we want to be with him where he is. When he calls us over here and over there, we will come out on the water and follow him.

Worship empowers you and your faith to step out of the boat, to walk onto the water because you so want to be where he is. Jesus is constantly calling us: look at me, focus on me.

Another illustration with kids this morning. I don't know why I was thinking about kids, but you ever see when—because Peter's just getting out of the boat, right? You ever see a parent, a kid's a toddler, they're on the side of the pool, right? And the parent's in the water. If you're a parent, you've probably done this before, right? You're just like, "Hey, come here. Come here." You're trying to get the child to jump into the water. The child is looking at the risk. You're kind of far back there, I don't know if I can make this leap, this water's looking pretty intimidating, and this is the unknown. But what's the parent doing? "Look at me. Look at me. Look at me. Look at me. I got you. I got you."

Worship oftentimes does that same thing where God's like, "Look at me. Look at me. I got you." If we can fixate on him, the things around us begin to grow dim in our joy and desire to be with him. We're willing to step out. We're willing to come because worship propels you forward. Boat life gets weary. Sometimes we just need the invitation: look at me, come, come here, jump, jump, so that we can respond.

How might worship, that kind of worship, inspire us in some area of life to live with more courage—to speak when he says to speak, to serve when he says to serve, to surrender when he says to surrender in whatever form he calls us to step out? We'll be obedient. People kick Peter for getting out of the boat. Remember, Jesus didn't chastise him for that. He said, "Come on." The invitation is there. Yeah, he falters, but he got out of the boat. That's a good step.

Peter one day will get out of that boat and he won't stumble and he won't sink. One day Peter gets out of that boat and he steps onto the sea of glass that is described in Revelation before the throne of God. He didn't sink. I just had this beautiful picture of him walking up to the throne of God because he wanted to be with him. One day seeing him as he stood on that sea and walked to that throne, not sinking, but walking on that water.

3. When we fail, we have one who does not fail

Third piece: when we fail, we have one who does not fail. We can look to Jesus for your rescue.

We see in verses 29–31, it says that when Jesus said to him, "Come," Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"

Why did you doubt, Peter? Remember what got you: the faith that got you out of the boat, the worship that got you out of the boat, that's the thing that will sustain you when you're on the water. Don't start looking at all that other stuff. Peter sinks at the end of the day because he started to look at other things and it caused him to stumble.

There are all sorts of things that can make us stumble when we get out of the boat. Many of them, as I've talked extensively before, are idols. I read one a moment ago where that non-believer even saw the trap of idols. They enslave you, they fill you with fear, and you're always trying to measure up in order to gain that thing from them. It's a transactional relationship. Jesus just invites us to come, to embrace him and not to be sold out or looking or thinking about those other things. Look at me. When we look to him, even when we fail, even when we lose our way, he is there to rescue you.

What you look at most intently in life dictates the direction you go in. What you look at most intently dictates where you go. Sometimes we can go after those idols or we can chase after other gods in life, and those things fail us. Here is the one who is proven, as Matthew is showing us, who has all authority over all things, and who loves us and who has invited us out on the water. If he has invited us out, he will not fail you.

When you do fail, because that's so much in life—don't we all do that? Don't we all lose our way at times? Life gets shaky. We start to worry about this or that. We take our eyes off of him and we fail. But the thing that shows that God is so gracious is the moment we cry out, "God, I'm sorry," the moment we turn our attention back to him, he's there to grab us. "I got you. I wasn't going to let you fall. I wasn't going to let you drown. I'm here."

And so, we see that worship can re-center us once again on God. It can remind us of the truths of him. If you are struggling in your life with anything that is taking you off of the worship of God, then just in the place where you find yourself, begin to worship. Worship is like—not to weaponize it, but it's like a weapon. It's a weapon against your fear. It's a weapon against your doubt. Do you know why? Because you begin to proclaim the truths about God that are rehearsed throughout scripture. Those truths remind you of things in your life that you've experienced in God, and they change your perspective and certainly anchor you. They re-attune your attention to him and they revive you.

That's what the psalmist always does over and over again. They come and confess, "Lord, I've lost my way, and are you even listening?" He's complaining, but he begins to rehearse the things about God to his own soul, and it begins to push out the untruths and the falsehoods and the distractions, and it fixates him on what? The truth and the source of that truth, God alone.

Worship is what drives out the fear, the doubt, and the lies, so that we can also join with the psalmist and say: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling." You rehearse these things over and over in your prayers and in your worship, and they refocus your attention on what is true.

Closing

The disciples see here in verse 32: "And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, 'Truly you are the Son of God.'"

The disciples here recognize who Jesus is. Finally, this is remarkable because it's even before Peter's confession, which is a couple chapters later. They see and know for themselves who Jesus is, and the response is to worship him as God—to bow, to proskyneo as it says in the Greek before him, to give him glory and reverence and submission, a desire to behold him and to pursue him with life.

When you worship what is worthy, you'll find one who quiets your fear, refreshes your weariness, empowers you to step out, and who catches you when you fall.

Let's pray.