Konig.org - about Jesus and Christianity

Keep your eyes on Jesus

There are two sets of scriptures in the Bible that speak of raging storms on the Sea of Galilee: Matthew 8:23-27 and Matthew 14:23-32. The Sea of Galilee by all standards is small in size, it is 13 miles long, 8 1/2 miles at its widest point, and has a maximum depth of 150 feet. One would ask, how can a body of water this small get so rough to bring fear into the disciples while crossing that body of water, as told in the Bible? The answer: The shallow depth, combined with the wind currents that are generated in that area, can make quite a storm.

When the winds blow hard over the sea, the water actually rocks back and forth, causing rough waves. It acts in the same principle as holding a shallow pan of water in your hands and tipping it from side to side. The constant high winds over the sea rocks the water back and forth.

In Matthew 14:23-32 the disciples were in serious trouble trying to row a boat through a storm. Jesus saw this and walked across the water to help them. In tradition at that time, people in the area believed that demons and ghosts lived either in the desert or in great bodies of water. When they saw Jesus, their first thought was a ghost came up out of the water. You can imagine their initial fright. Here they are, in a raging storm, at night, with what they thought was a ghost coming out of the sea. But as soon as Jesus identified Himself and told them not to be afraid, they calmed down.

It's the same in our lives, with all the raging storms rocking our boats, we need Jesus to calm the storm. Peter was then calm enough to get out of the boat and with his eyes on Jesus, start walking on the water towards Jesus. But once he took his eyes off Jesus and took notice of the raging storm around him, he started to sink. This is another lesson in life, no matter how bad your situation is, your sickness, financial problems, family problems, no matter how bad the storm is raging around you - never lose sight of Jesus.

Once you accept Jesus into your life, He will be in your boat, calming the storms. It is then a good idea to keep in daily contact with Him, through prayer, and don't become complacent and take your eyes off of Jesus. In Matthew 8:23-27, the disciples are again crossing the Sea of Galilee in a terrible storm, this time Jesus was asleep in the boat. When the waves rose higher than the boat, the disciples in great fear awoke Jesus. He did not fear the storm, but because they did fear it, Jesus miraculously calmed the storm.

The boat and the storm serve as a good representation of our troubled lives. We, too, can and should call upon Jesus to calm our storms.

By George Konig
www.konig.org
January 25, 2004

See a list of all of our commentaries

Home Page
Our email address is:
cifquestions@yahoo.com

Christian poetry
• Thank you Lord
• My Psalm
• The Bible
• Witnessing for Jesus
• The Search
• The Crucifixion
• The Frustrated poet
• Fun City
• The Steel Mill
• Visit from a devil

Articles and Commentaries
• George's testimonial
• Lukewarm Christians
• Why Christians should oppose abortion
• Bible history timeline
• Old Testament prophecies fulfilled by Jesus
• What is Christianity?
• What is the Bible?
• What is Salvation?
• Taking the next step
• See list of all articles
• List of all commentaries

Bible prophecy
• End times prophecy
• Prophecies fulfilled by Jesus' birth
• Fulfilled by Jesus' life
• Fulfilled by his crucifixion
• Others involving Jesus
• Fulfilled by Israel - part 1
• Fulfilled by Israel - part 2
• Fulfilled by Babylon
• Fulfilled by Tyre
• Fulfilled by Nineveh
• Fulfilled by other nations

Other stuff
• About us / Contact us
• Links to Christian sites
• Copyright policy
• Home Page