Mathew, the first gospel in our bibles, written it’s thought for the Jewish believers by Matthew the tax collector. One of the 3 ‘see together’ gospels, each with lots of shared material but originally written for different sets of believers. It is important that this book was for the new Jewish converts but anyone from that time and culture may well have picked up on so much that points over and over to Jesus as Messiah. Matthew is laced with references back to the Jewish Scriptures I believe allowing the Holy Spirit to convince the readers that Jesus is who he says he is. 

The sense of Jesus, Lord of all: God of the big and the little, continues into the next section of our readings. From the depths of John’s death, the account crescendos into the massive miraculous feeding, that begins with this almost silly exchange with the disciples, to food for all and lots of clearing up after. Notice the end-to-end participation of both Jesus and the disciples, starting with Jesus alone with His grief and His father and finishing with the clear up, no one turns up later for the big event - let’s get totally stuck in, church!

Right at the end Jesus is alone again, meeting with God. And we focus in to the disciples (sore backs after that big clean-up - but imagine the conversations!) now struggling to row across the lake. Jesus went out to them: it’s what He does! He comes out to the world, to each of us in the middle of the storm, in the middle of our terror and He challenges us, He builds us up and then He builds us up to challenge us some more! Look at the encouragement it must have been to land at Gennesaret, a particularly fertile strip by the side of the lake where Jesus can heal the sick with no hindrance and even a tiny touch of his clothes brings light and life.

It feels like there’s a rhythm in Matthew, perhaps it reflects our own lives and the life of the church, the possibility of Jesus there and working in all things, there in teaching, action, rebuking, miracles and teeny tiny mustard seeds and edges of His clothes alive with healing. No wonder Peter’s cry... ‘Convince me that it’s you.... I want to join in!’

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Prayer challenge: Where do I need to get more committed and stuck in?  Thank you, Jesus, that you come to us in the middle of the storm and stand with us and that even then you call us, you challenge us to more.  Amen.