Matthew 14:27

Mat_14:22; Mat_14:27

And straightway Jesus constrained His disciples to get into a ship, and to go before Him unto the other side.

The midnight voyage home

I. The feast followed by humiliation and trouble.

1. The feast in the desert was the greatest work in which the apostles were ever engaged during the ministry of Jesus. The miracle was of a more kingly character than others, shared by a greater number(and more plainly typical of great things to come in the kingdom of heaven. In this glorious work the twelve have been active ministers. They were not to remain to receive the congratulations of the multitude; they must go away at once. Jesus constrains them to return to the ship. Ministers must not intrude themselves into the Lords place; they must be willing servants, and then go their way and leave the rest to the Lord. The apostles had been highly exalted, and now they must be humbled. In the sight of the congregation they are sent away in charge of the empty boat, as if they were mere fishermen still.

2. But they are sent also into the midst of trouble. After we have had faith to distribute the bread of life comes the trial of obedience. It seemed as if providence were contrary to their course.

II. The storm aggravated by Christs absence, and stilled by his coming.

1. Jesus sent the twelve away alone, and all that the people saw was that He went not in the ship with them. Jesus was to come to them by the coast.

2. Jesus, meanwhile, has not walked along the coast, whence they expected to take Him in; but has left the shore altogether, and gone up into a mountain apart. In the retired mountain He cannot be seen by the disciples; but in His prayer to the Father they will not be forgotten.

3. Jesus comes to them according to His promise; but not according to their thoughts, either in time or in manner.

4. There is yet one more element of trial mingled for these midnight wrestlers with the waves. Jesus often appears to be going past in our time of need. Also His manner of coming alarms the disciples. In our trials we often mistake the coming of the Lord Jesus.

5. Jesus enters the ship; and how glorious is the effect of deliverance out of danger, of seasonable help, when obeying Christs command, against all adversity.

6. An unlooked-for blessing now awaits them on the shore. (A. M. Stuart.)

Jesus constrained His disciples

Why?

1. Lest they should take part with the rash, many-headed multitude, who would have made Him a king.

2. To inure them to the cross, and teach them to suffer hardship.

3. To give them proof of His power,

Nature and grace

The story of this miracle has instruction for us in connection with the material world in which we live. Nature is not, in all respects, to be separated off too sharply from grace; and this miracle reminds us that it is the Lord of this universe who is the Head of the Church and the Saviour of our souls. (Dean Howson.)

The government of nature

These miracles, dealing with nature, show themselves as interfering with what we may call the righteous laws of nature. Water should wet the foot, should engulf him who would tread its surface. Yet even in this, I think, the restoration of an original law-the supremacy of righteous man, is foreshown. While a man cannot order his own house as he would, something is wrong in him, and therefore in his house. I think a true man should be able to rule winds and waters, loaves and fishes, for he comes of the Father who made the house for him. Man is not master in his own house, because he is not master in himself, because he is not a law unto himself-is not himself obedient to the law by which he exists. (George Macdonald.)

Secret of Christs power over nature

A higher condition of harmony with law may one day enable us to do things which must now appear an interruption of law. I believe it is in virtue of the absolute harmony in Him, His perfect righteousness, that God can create at all. If man were in harmony with this, if he too were righteous, he would inherit of his Father a something in his degree correspondent to the creative power in Him; and the world he inhabits, which is but an extension of his body, would, I think, be subject to him in a way surpassing his wildest dreams of dominion, for it would be the perfect dominion of holy law-a virtue flowing to and from him through the channel of a perfect obedience. I suspect that our Lord, in all His dominion over nature, set forth only the complete man-man as God means him one day to be. I believe that some of these miracles were the natural result of a physical nature perfect from the indwelling of a perfect soul, whose unity with the Life of all things and in all things was absolute-in a word, whose sonship was perfect. (George Macdonald.)

The glorifying of Christs body

The difficulty here is our Lords withdrawing Himself personally from the control of earthly natural laws. It is common to conceive of the glorifying of Christs body as the work of a moment, at the Resurrection, or, at least, at the Ascension. But if we suppose the Spirits work in glorifying and perfecting Christs body to have been spread over the Saviours whole life, certain periods-such as this walking on the sea, and the transfiguration-being still distinguished as seasons of special activity, much that is obscure will be made clear. A body thoroughly of the earth, chained down by unseen hands to earthly matter, cannot shake itself free from its origin, but that a higher bodily frame, teeming with the powers of a loftier world, should rise above the earthly level is less surprising. This manifestation of Christs hidden glory was designed to build up His disciples in the faith. They saw more and more clearly with whom they had to do, and perceived that He was the revelation of the invisible Father, who alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea. (Olshausen.)

The Divine coming unrecognized

It often happens that the coming of Christ to His disciples for their relief is that which frightens them most, because they do not know the extent of Gods wardrobe; for I think that as a king might never wear the same garment but once, in order to show his riches and magnificence, so God comes to us in all exigencies, but never twice alike. He sometimes puts on the garments of trouble; and when we are calling upon Him as though He were yet in heaven, He is walking by our Ado; and that from which we are praying God to deliver us is often but God Himself. Thus it is with us as with children who are terrified by their dreams in the night, and scream for their parents, until, fully waking, behold they are in their parents arms! (H. W. Beecher.)

The sea on which Jesus walked

Shortly after passing the spot which was the scene of the terrible discomfiture of the Christian hosts by Saladin, we came to the brink of a vast hollow, and the Lake of Tiberius lay slumbering far beneath our feet. The sun was nearly at the zenith, and diffused a flood of dazzling light upon the waters, just ruffled by a passing breeze, on which we beheld a solitary bark, a mere speck, slowly making its way toward Tiberias. That city, with its huge castle and turreted walls, a pile of melancholy ruins, lay scattered along the nearer shore. The lake, about ten miles long, add five or six broad, was embosomed in mountains, or, to describe it more correctly, was like a great caldron sunk in the lofty table-land, which broke down to its edge in steep cliffs and abrupt ravines. At one end we could see where the Jordan flowed into it, and, beyond, the lofty peak of Mount Hermon covered with eternal snow. There was no wood on the hills, there were no villages on the shore, no boats upon the water; there was no sound in any direction. If there was beauty, it was that of the intense blue sky of Palestine, reflected in the blue expanse of waters, and over-canopying a landscape of serene, but corpse-like, placidity, like a countenance fixed in death, but upon which there yet lingers something of a parting smile. (W. H. Bartlett.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14:27 I am here: Literally I am. This declaration is associated with the appearance of God himself (see also John 8:24; 18:5-6; cp. Exod 3:14).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mat 14:27 . ἐλάλησεν : Jesus spoke; the words given ( θαρσεῖτε , etc.), but the mere sound of His voice would be enough.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 27. It is I; be not afraid] Nothing but this voice of Christ could, in such circumstances, have given courage and comfort to his disciples: those who are grievously tossed with difficulties and temptations require a similar manifestation of his power and goodness. When he proclaims himself in the soul, all sorrow, and fear, and sin are at an end.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(27) Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.—The accuracy with which the words are given by St. John, as well as by St. Matthew and St. Mark, shows the impression which the incident made on the minds of the disciples. To hear the familiar tones and the cheering words was enough, even amid the howling of the winds and the dashing of the waves, to give them confidence and hope. We can scarcely doubt that in after years that moment came back to their recollection, invested for them, as it has since been for the Church at large, with something of a symbolic character. Often the sky became dark, and the waves of the troublesome world were rough, and the blasts of persecution beat on them, and the ark of Christ’s Church was tossed on the waters, and they were wearied and spent with rowing. They thought themselves abandoned, and then in the dim twilight they would see or feel once again the tokens of His presence. He was coming to them through the storm. “Be of good cheer” became the watchword of their lives.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Peter answered him and said,.... Who knew his voice, and was ready to believe it might be Christ; and having more courage, and being more forward than the rest of the disciples, ventured to speak to him; saying,

Lord, if it be thou; for he was not fully assured that it was he: he might consider that nocturnal apparitions are deceitful, and that Satan can transform himself into an angel of light, and could put on the appearance, and mimic the voice of Christ; wherefore, to try whether it was a spectre, or really Christ, he says,

bid me come unto thee on the water; thereby expressing great love and affection to Christ, being willing to come to him, though through danger, through storms and tempests; and also his strong faith in him, supposing it to be he; who, he knew, was as able to support his body on the water, as his own; and yet much modesty, submission, and dependence; not willing to take a step without his order.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

Ver. 27. But straightway Jesus spake, &c.] He waits to be gracious, Isa 30:18. Our extremity is his opportunity. Cum duplicantur lateres venit Moses. God brings his people to the mount with Abraham, yea, to the very brow of the hill, till their feet slip, and then delivers them: when all is given up for lost, then comes he in, as out of an engine, εκ μηχανης.

It is I, fear not] Quid timet homo in sinu Dei positus? A child that is in his father’s bosom fears no bugbears.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

27. It is I — So does the Christian in the time of trial recognize the presence and cheering voice of his Saviour.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But straightway Jesus spake unto them (elalhsen , not ekraxen). He was evidently near them. Saying, Be of good cheer; (yarseite , Mat_9:2) it is I; be not afraid. Encouragement, self-manifestation, recall from present terror. But the absence of yarseite in Joh_6:20 suggests that it is, perhaps, a duplicate rendering of the Aramaic for mh fobeisye . For the LXX commonly translates "fear ye not" by yarseite . (e.g. Exo_14:13 Exo_20:20) One or two second-rate manuscripts omit yarseite in Mark, but this may be only due to a reminiscence of John. It is also omitted in Tatian"s "Diatessaron" (edit. Hemphill).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Observe, when the disciples were in the saddest condition, how one word from Christ revives them; it is a sufficient support in all our afflictions to hear Christ’s voice speaking to us, and to enjoy his favourable presence with us.

Say but, O Saviour, It is I; and then let evils do their worst: that one word, It is I, is enough to lay all storms, and to calm all tempests.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

27. It is I; be not afraid. How often has he to speak this word of encouragement, even to his own! almost always when they are brought suddenly, or in an unusual way, face to face with him. See Gen. 15:1; 21:17; Judg. 6:23; Matt. 28:5; Luke 2:10. It is I. Literally, I am. The same language used by Jesus in Jerusalem (John 8:58), for which the Pharisees would have stoned him, and in the Old Testament to designate Jehovah (Exod. 3:14). Here I should prefer to give it this meaning: Christ says not merely, “It is I, your Friend and Master;” he says, at least implies, it is the “I AM,” who is coming to you, the Almighty One who rules wind and waves, who made them, and whom they obey.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

27. And straightway Jesus spake to them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.] Mk. has: ἐλάλησεν μετʼ αὐτῶν καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς. Mt. alters, as often, into ἐλάλησεν—λέγων. Cf. on 8:3.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.