The Progressive West Virginian. [volume] (Williamson, W. Va.) 1911-1913, 1912-10-03
LESSON FOR OCTOBER 6.
JESUS WALKING ON THE SEA.

Jesus spake unto them. saying, Be OF
good cheer. 1t il Il be not afraid. Mat
thew 14.2.
The miracle of the feeding of the
FIVE thousand marks a crisis In the
life Of Jesus. (John 6:15). The human
ity of Jesus is shown In that as soon
as he had performed that miracle he
first sends away his disciples. then
sends away the multitude, while he
departs into a mountain to pray To
pray the prayer of Thanksgiving, to
pray for strength to withstand this
new temptation, .(John 6:f4, 15); to
pray for those whom he had fed;
and surely to pray for his chosen ones
that they might understand him and
his mission.
Jesus had taken his disciples into
the mountain for their own good.
MARK 6:31) and now he sends them
away lest they yield to the advice,
the opportunities, of the crowd and
consort with them In their desire to
make Jesus temporal rather than
spiritual king Such course would
have precipitated matters. But In his
solitude as he prayed, Jesus was
watchful OF his own.
He had sent them into the storm
to avoid greater danger, would he
not watch over them? SO with many
testing in our lives. They seem
severe, but how little we know Of the
greater danger we have missed. He
saw ". 49, their distress long before
they saw their relief tv49). Jesus
knew the need of prayer. Jesus knew
the need Of solitary prayer as he must
pass this crisis, so 1t was that while
he fingered In prayer they were dis
tressed till the fourth watch, near
daybreak. Once before mark 1887
they had been with him In great
storm while he slept. NnK they are
alone, but Jesus is not asleep. Though
seemingly alone yet he was helping
them through prayer (Heb. 7:25) and
when the proper time arrived he went
when the rescue Il Cor. 1919. The
helplessness OF the disciples and the
stress Of the storm Is heightened when
we consider the fact that these were
fishermen Injured by exposure to such
storms. To further test their faith
he made as though The would have
passed by them" ". 49,. So 1t Is
that testings and sometimes such ca
tastrophes as that Of the Titanic
would teach man his real weakness
before God But though verse 4S re-
vealed a dark situation the dawn OF
help was at hand.
III Considered Test.
1t il not strange that they did not
recognize Jesus. He often comes to
US In ways we do not at first recog-
nize, In ways that at first terrify us,
but he does not leave us long in sus-
pense. We read. he "straightway'
rescued them 1T is 1; be not afraid"
Notice he assures them first who 1t Is
that is near, 1T is r. They recognize
the tones of his familiar voice and
then they were ready for his words
OF confidence, "be not afraid" So God
speaks to us In the hour OF out
darkest trial, saying 10, ! am with
you always; DE not afraid"
From the parallel account by Mat
thew Matthew IA: 1886 we, read OF
Peters attempt to walk upon the wa
| ter. His rash and iii considered test
of the reality of Jesus presence. Then
we see him as he too compares him.
self with the angry storm and taking
his eyes off of Jesus begins to sink.
Peters sharp, piercing cry; his clear,
definite, appeal is at once answered
and Jesus leads him safely back into
| the boat.
How different is the picture once
Jesus was in the boat. and how soon
they reached the goal toward which
they had been struggling, (John 6:19,
21). II any one is at sea, II any one
/ Is fruitlessly toiling against wind and
| wave, only let them take Jesus on
board and soon they will reach a
safe landing place.
The disciples were amazed and
their hearts were hardened wv. 81.
52), and this even after the creative
miracle OF feeding the five thousand
why SO! 1t Is evident that even
those nearest to him did not appre.
bend the true meaning OF this miracle,
on the contrary their hearts we're har-
dened, .. g., blind. This Is given as
reason for their amazement, In the
face of this miracle, at his victory
over the storm This would not have
occurred had they as yet fully under
stood the feeding Of the multitude. We
are told that the next day Jesus up
braided the multitude because OF this
very same lack. John 6:22, ctc. OF
course the disciples did not follow him
for the loaves, still they had not en-.
tered into that deep spiritual concep.
ton of Jesus that would have saved
them from amazement at any Of his
acts.
Spiritual Application.
The real Interpretation of Christ's
miracles is not that we are to be
amazed at the material manifestation
but that we are to see the spiritual
lesson and application.
It was a different reception Jesus
received when they reached Genne-
saret wv. 1850. There he Is recog
nized at once. There they flock to
him with their sick ones and Mark
with few deft strokes shows us the
picture OF vast deal OF healing None
is disappointed. for we read that az
manv as touched him were made
shole.
| In this lesson we see Jesus direct
Ing his disciples. We see the disciples
obeying that direction even though II