Jesus went out into the desert to avoid a conflict with the ‘not-quite-a-king’ Herod Antipas. He didn’t want to play power games with Herod. He was living on a different plane. Matthew evidently wants us to see a parallel between Jesus and Moses in Chapter 14. First of all, the context is similar: that of God’s people being led out into the desert. Secondly, Jesus’ miracles of the miraculous provision of food and the walking across the water also echo the exodus miracles (the manna and the parting of the sea). Jesus was acting as a new Moses setting his people free from the competitive chaotic world. In Genesis 1:2 and in the flood of Genesis 7 the sea is a symbol of a world in chaos. In Genesis 1 God brings order to this chaos and in Genesis 7 God returns the world to chaos in answer to the spread of sin. Both Jesus and Moses crossed seas on foot to demonstrate something about the life of faith: it involves walking with God above the competitive chaos of this world and not getting ‘drawn down’ into the world system. To achieve this we must, like Peter, keep our eyes on Jesus. This means trusting God as our provider and keeping our hearts set on God’s purpose. When Jesus enabled Peter to walk on the water, he wasn’t just teaching him a new trick. This is deeply symbolic. Jesus is saying, “This is how I want you to live. I want you to walk on top of the watery chaos because I have called you to subdue the chaos.”
Reflect on your life in the light of this.
Read Matthew 14
