Category: Job

  • A Dark and Stormy Night

    Jesus walks on the water

    I was reading a familiar passage of Scripture yesterday. It’s an account of Jesus walking on water on a dark, stormy night. There is more to the story than you might suspect from an initial read.

    Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray.  And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. Mark 6:45-52 ESV

    In the parallel passage in Matthew, we see Peter step out of the boat and walk on the water. That’s powerful stuff. For this morning, though, I’m going to key in on some key imagery from elsewhere in the Bible that might not be immediately obvious.

    Jesus was about to pass them by. Why? He is about to confirm who He is. In Exodus 33, God allows His glory to pass by Moses, although Moses is not permitted to see God’s face. Now, in case you might think I’m reading too much into this passing by, stay with me.

    In Job we read,

    …who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble; who commands the sun, and it does not rise; who seals up the stars; who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea; Job 9:8-8 ESV

    God alone walks on the water. We know Peter tried a few steps but couldn’t sustain it. Jesus walked partway across the Sea of Galilee.

    When the disciples panic and think they see a ghost, Jesus calms them by saying.  “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”  It is I, is only 2 words in Greek (ego eimi), and they are much more powerful and significant than most Bible readers realize.  The phrase in English translates as “it is I,” but a more accurate translation can be argued as “I AM,” a direct assertion of His deity. 

    Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:13-14 ESV

    Jesus affirms His deity by pointing us back to the Old Testament, by walking on water (a physical miracle) and by using the name God used to introduce Himself to Moses.

    Does knowing those things change the meaning of the passage? Not at all, but they do deepen our understanding and appreciation of what was happening that dark and stormy night.

    Jesus is God in the flesh. He came to pay the penalty for our sin. He loves us enough to die for us when we were still His enemies. He accepts us by faith.

    That’s a bigger miracle than walking on the water. It’s a reason to rejoice.

    Kevin

    SUMMARY

    I share how a familiar account of Jesus walking on water carries far more meaning than we usually notice. Old Testament imagery and the words “I AM” reveal what Jesus was really declaring that stormy night on the Sea of Galilee.

    TAKEAWAY

    I connect Jesus “passing by” the disciples to God’s glory passing by Moses in Exodus 33.

    I show how Job 9:8 makes clear that God alone walks on the water, marking this as no ordinary miracle.

    I unpack how “It is I” translates the Greek ego eimi, echoing God’s own name “I AM” from Exodus 3:14.

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    IMAGE

    William Brassey Hole (1846-1917) – Jesus Walks on the Sea

    A c.1905 illustration from The Life of Jesus of Nazareth Portrayed in Colours. Public Domain

  • General Revelation: Why No One Can Claim They Didn’t Know

    I have a habit I did not set out to form. Most mornings, before the day gets loud, I end up outside for a few minutes. Not for any spiritual reason at first. Coffee. Fresh air. Quiet. But at some point I started noticing that the quiet was not actually quiet. Something out there was already talking.

    A bird. The light changing. The same trees that were bare a few weeks ago full again. And every time, the same thought: this did not happen by accident, and whoever is responsible for it has not stopped paying attention.

    That is not poetry. That is theology. And Scripture has been saying it since the beginning.

    God Made Sure You Would Know

    The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and the expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. Psalm 19:1-2

    Creation has been preaching since Genesis and has not taken a day off. You do not need a seminary degree to hear it. You need to step outside.

    Job said the same thing from a very different place. He was not in a season of quiet morning coffee. He was in ruins. And still he pointed to the birds and the beasts and the earth itself and said, ask them. They know something.

    Who among all these does not know that the hand of Yahweh has done this, in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all the flesh of man? Job 12:9-10

    This is not a soft comfort. It is a hard fact. God has made Himself known through what He made, and He did it on purpose.

    I have written about how creation points us to a God who is near and who cares for what He has made. Creation Is a Signpost

    No One Is Without Evidence

    Here is where it gets serious.

    Paul did not write Romans 1 to comfort anyone. He wrote it to close every exit.

    For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, both His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. Romans 1:20

    Without excuse. Not without opportunity. Not without enough information. Without excuse.

    From the smallest particle yet to be discovered to the edge of an expanding universe no one has mapped, God is being declared. The smaller we look, the larger the claim becomes. The further we search, the less accidental any of it is. To look at creation and conclude there is no God is not a neutral position. Scripture calls it willful. Romans 1:18 calls it suppressing the truth.

    Some Judgment Day, no one will be able to say to the LORD, I didn’t know.

    What You Do With What You Know

    General revelation, the knowledge of God available to every human being through creation, is enough to leave us without excuse. It is not enough to save us. For that, God went further. He sent His Son. He gave us His Word. He sent His Spirit to open what our own effort never could reach.

    But it starts here. Outside. Any morning. With a bird and the light changing and the quiet that is not actually quiet.

    The question creation puts to every person who has ever lived is not whether God exists. That question has already been answered. The question is what you will do with what you already know.

    Be blessed

    Kevin

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    SUMMARY

    God has embedded the knowledge of His existence and care into every corner of creation, from a bird call on a quiet morning to the expanding edge of the universe, leaving every person without excuse. General revelation is enough to condemn but not enough to save, which is why God went further and sent His Son, His Word, and His Spirit.

    TAKEAWAY

    Psalm 19, Job 12, and Romans 1 together establish that creation is not passive scenery but active testimony to God’s existence, power, and care. 

    General revelation is universal and intentional — God made sure no one would be without evidence, and Scripture calls willful blindness exactly what it is. 

    Creation leaves us without excuse but not without hope; for salvation God went further, which makes the gospel not a backup plan but the completion of what creation started.

    The importance of reading the Bible. It’s your primary truth source.