Psalm 134 - "Behold and Bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who by night stand in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord. The Lord who made heaven and earth bless you from Zion!

1.30.2007

Day 25

Due to an interesting turn of events, I seem to have gotten a new part time job for the weekends. So, that is my reason for not blogging for the past few days, please accept my sincerest apologies, Jerry, you can take the bag off your head now...
Tonight I was meditating on a verse that does not contain the word behold, but it is my opinion that it should and so I am including it here. John 6:16-20,
"Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got in the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark and Jesus had not
come to them. Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. So when they
had rowed out about three or four miles [BEHOLD] they saw Jesus walking on the
sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid. But He said to them, "It
is I, do not be afraid."
Jesus, the God-man walked on water! But the question for me tonight was why? What was Jesus thinking and feeling as He was walking out to meet His disciples in the middle of a storm? Here is just one possible thought based on tonight's meditation. I was looking at the feeding of the five thousand that happened right before this event. Jesus multiplied bread and astounded the multitudes. They were so astounded that they wanted to make Him king by force. The people were ready to start a revolution! So Jesus withdrew to pray and sent His disciples ahead of Him. I can only imagine what the disciples were thinking about Jesus. Were they thinking about who would be the greatest in His kingdom? Were they thinking about how powerful and rich they would be? I can imagine their pride swelling, but that pride could lead to false ideas about who this man is. But as Jesus aproached them on the water, all of those false ideas came crashing down. He isn't just some guy who could multiply bread, this is the very son of God. This is more than a cool story, it is the fear of the Lord. He is that awesome thing. He can't be controlled, marketed or publicized. The only response to this sight is on of worship and wonder. "Truly, you are the Son of God."

1 comment:

ChriS & Yvette Ferguson said...

Professor Bates,

Your beholding is blessing me! This is so true. Know that you were prayed for this morning!