On Removing Ships

The Lord Jesus challenges his disciples twice in Matthew 14. First, when the disciples advise Him that the hour is late and He must send the people away in order that they may go into the surrounding towns and get food, the Lord Jesus says, "You feed them." Later, He sends them on ahead in a ship to cross the lake while He goes up into the mountain to pray, knowing that they would be caught in a storm.

In the first instance, they look only to themselves to meet the need. "We have here but five loaves and two fishes." What does Jesus say to do? "Bring them hither to Me." They should have confidently brought the need to Him to meet.

While they are tossed about on the ship, Jesus comes to them and says, "Be of good cheer; it is I: be not afraid." Peter, ready to trust, calls to the Lord and He bids Peter, "Come." Come to Me, Peter. I am your hope and stay in the storm. Not the ship. That ship nor all your skill on the sea will be able to save you. Learn this. Come to Me. Bring the need to me.

Peter comes, but then he doubts. The word doubt in this passage is the Greek word, distazo: dis - double; stasis - a standing. Peter was standing in two ways. What were those two ways? He could have continued toward Jesus, hoping only in Him to save him in the storm. Or he could have looked to the ship and his skill to direct it through the storm to save him. To Peter's everlasting credit, He boldly looked to the Lord Jesus and got off the ship. But then the crisis. Was I foolish to get off the ship? Was I mad? I just let go of the only tangible safety net I had. Standing in two ways, Peter sinks.

We often do this in the storm. We stand in two ways, hesitating about which one to cling to and trying to walk in both. And so we sink. It goes against every grain to trust only in Him for our day to day needs. Often we don't realize we aren't trusting Him until we are brought to a point of need so great that we are like Peter, too far from the ship for it to be any help. But that is exactly where the Lord wants us. Most of us can't even claim to be like Peter. He may have sank, yet of his own volition, Peter got off the ship. We (or maybe just me) are like the other disciples who clung to the ship, not daring to look to Jesus alone. For us, He must tear down the ship around our fearful, knocking knees, and it is a frightful, naked feeling. Nothing but Jesus to save us. Nothing to hold onto. If He doesn't save, we will sink beneath the waves.

It is precisely because Peter didn't have a ship to grasp onto that he cries, "Lord, save me." He knew in that moment that his deliverance was completely dependent on the Lord. There was no ship, no help apart from the Lord. So the Lord had to let him begin to sink so that he would know that the Lord Jesus is his only hope and stay, that He is trustworthy.

"And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand and caught him." I love that. Peter was never in any danger. Only in his own mind. The Lord was always there even if Peter lost sight of Him. It's all about learning. Whether we jump ship of our free will or whether the ship is removed, the lesson remains the same. He alone is our hope and stay.

A Crown for Courage, a retelling by Haley

Long ago in ancient Greece, a wicked creature, called a sphinx, put a curse over the city of Thebes. This dreaded creature had the head of a woman, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. Its presence loomed as a shadow over the city. Every person lived in constant fear of the great monster. Every day the sphinx swooped down from the sky and picked off a helpless victim like a sniper for his dinner. Then, one morning, he defied the Greeks to solve his riddle. If they could, the city would be relieved of the curse and he would leave them alone. If they could not solve the puzzle, they would become his supper. Desperately, all the wisest and bravest scholars of the village tried to free their people. The sphinx must have grown in size then, because most of the scholars sadly ended up on his dinner plate. Soon none were left that were brave enough to solve the monsters clever riddle. The city quaked with fear.

One day, a small speck appeared in the distance growing bigger and bigger as it neared. As it approached, the people that were left in the city could see that it was a sturdy, fairly good-looking, middle aged man walking up to the city gate. He turned out to be a wise man, who had traveled from a far off land. As soon as he learned of the city’s troubles, Oedipus (for that was his name) set out to find the evil sphinx. Soon he stood on a hill scanning the gully below where the monster lived. Suddenly, a frightening dark shadow blocked the sun from Oedipus’s sight.

“Do you dare to trespass on the Great Sphinx’s territory?” snarled a voice behind him. Oedipus whipped around to see two glaring eyes blazing like fire right in front of his face.

The sinister monster looked at the wise man with satisfaction. “You will make a most scrumptious meal.” It snickered wickedly. “But first, of course, you want to have a try at my most clever riddle. Foolish people,” he mumbled under his breath and rolled his eyes. “This is my riddle. At dawn, it crawls on four legs. At noon, it walks on two. At sunset, it totters three. What is this thing? What is so different but the same?”

Oedipus thought hard. The sphinx was certainly clever. However, he was cleverer. “I will only have one chance to figure out this baffling puzzle,” Oedipus thought. Then, to the sphinx, he announced confidently, “I’ve got it.”

“You do, do you?” the beast mocked. “Remember you only have one chance before you’re my dinner, so you better be sure.” He smiled evilly and licked his lips.

Evenly, Oedipus smiled back at him just as evilly and then replied bravely, “It is a human.” The sphinx looked shocked. Oedipus smiled with pleasure this time and went on. “In the beginning a baby crawls on all fours. Then, it learns to walk on two. When he becomes old, he walks using a cane.” With a terrible, ear-piercing scream of defeat and the sound of flapping wings, the sphinx was gone. All throughout Thebes, the people hailed Oedipus as a hero. Later, the people crowned him king for the daring deed which he had been so courageous and wise to accomplish.