Tag: Sea

Episode NT16 – Walking on Water

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – New Testament

Based on John chapter 6 verses 14 to 20 & Matthew chapter 14 verses 28 to 36

Walking on Water

‘It was hard work passing out all that bread and fish to all those people! And by the time we’d each collected a basket full of leftovers, the twelve of us were exhausted!’

‘It was then that the crowds realised Jesus had just fed well over five thousand people from the contents of a child’s packed lunch, they were amazed! It was an incredible miracle and reminded them of how in the time of Moses, God had fed the people of Israel with manna from heaven when they were wandering in the desert.’

‘It was enough to convince some of the crowd that Jesus was the ‘Great Prophet’ Moses had promised would one day come, and so they decided that they were going to make Him king, even if it meant they had to use force to make it happen!’

‘Jesus was indeed the ‘Great Prophet’, but at that time we didn’t understand how the ‘Great Prophet’ Moses had promised would come us, and that His kingdom wasn’t one restricted to the earth. And so Jesus slipped away from us all and made His way higher up into the hills to be alone and pray.’ (PAUSE)

‘As the crowd melted away, going back to their home, the twelve of us, His disciples, were left waiting for Jesus. Jesus hadn’t left any instructions with us about what we were supposed to do. So after a while we wandered back to the boat and waited for Him there.’

‘The hours ticked by slowly, and when it started to get dark and we realised Jesus wasn’t going to be coming back with us, we set sail for Capernaum.’

‘The wind was against us from the start and we made slow progress through heavy waves. When we were about three or four miles out into the lake, our minds were completely absorbed in the battle against the waves and in trying to make headway through the dark seas. So when, at about three o’clock in the morning, we saw a figure walking on the water towards us out of the night we screamed in terror!’

‘But no sooner had we seen the figure and started to scream than the voice of Jesus came to us strong and loud from the figure in the darkness. ‘It’s all right,’ He said. ‘It’s me! I’m here! Don’t be afraid.’’

‘As we looked at each other, not sure what to think or do, Peter started shouting back. ‘Lord, if it really is you, then tell me to come to you by walking on the water.’’

‘The rest of us couldn’t believe what we were hearing! Peter wanted to walk to Jesus on the water – in this storm?’

‘‘Come to me Peter,’ Jesus said.’ (P)

‘It was so typical of my brother Peter! Without a second thought he leapt out over the side of the boat and, gazing at Jesus, he started to walk on the water towards Him!’ (PAUSE)

‘Maybe it was the howling winds that first caught Peter’s attention and took his eyes off Jesus. Whatever it was that broke his concentration, Peter started to notice the massive waves rolling by, and as he saw them and stopped looking at Jesus, terror grasped at his heart, and as the fear took hold so he started to slip down into the water. ‘Save me Lord,’ he screamed as he sank lower and lower.’

‘Instantly, without a moment’s hesitation, Jesus reached out His hand and grabbed hold of Peter. ‘You don’t trust me very much do you Peter?’ He said. ‘Why did you doubt me?’’

‘The two of them climbed into the boat and as they did, the wind stopped.’ (PAUSE)

‘It was then that all of us fell to our knees and worshipped Jesus. We had seen the impossible, Jesus coming to us walking on water in the midst of a storm, and then calling Peter to come to Him on the water. We had seen Jesus save Peter’s life when he called out to Him for help. And so on bended knee we all said to Jesus, ‘You really are the Son of God.’’ (PAUSE)

‘We landed at Gennesaret and it seemed that within moments the news of our arrival spread throughout the whole region. Soon crowds of people arrived, begging Jesus to heal the sick. Even the sick themselves begged just to be able to touch the fringe of His robe, and everyone who touched it was healed.’

Episode NT11 – A Stormy Time

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – New Testament

Based on Mark chapter 4 verses 35 to 41

A Stormy Time

Jesus had been working hard all day – teaching crowds of people about God, listening to their problems, healing the sick and showing them God’s love. It’d been a long hard day and He was very tired. So when evening came He said to His friends, ‘Come on, let’s go to the other side of the lake.’ It was a big lake called ‘The Sea of Galilee’.

Some of Jesus’ followers – His ‘disciples’ were fishermen who’d grown up working on the Sea of Galilee. So they said, ‘OK Jesus, get into the boat and we’ll take you across to the other side.’

So Jesus, shattered from His hard day’s work, got into the boat, found a cushion for His head and laid down at the end of the boat, probably under some covers. And as they left the crowds behind, He fell into one of those – deep, dreamless sleeps that you sometimes fall into when you’re really – really tired. (P)

The fishermen sailed the boat quietly on a gentle breeze, while the other disciples who weren’t fishermen sat in the boat, chatting over some of the things that’d happened during the day. And off they went into the middle of the lake.

But when the boat reached the middle of the lake, something started to happen! The gentle breeze that’d helped them along so far – suddenly changed direction. And no longer was it a gentle breeze – but a howling gale! It rushed at the boat, threatening to capsize it! The fishermen leapt forward to the sail to drag it down before the boat was blown over. – And then – the wind started to whip up the waves. So far they’d lapped gently at the boat, but now they started to grow, while the wind snatched the spray and lashed it into the faces of the disciples as they fought to control the boat.

The waves that had been gentle ripples were now enormous mountains racing towards them one after another. One moment the boat was heading straight up to the sky – and then over the top and hurtling down the other side, almost as if it wanted to bury itself into the bottom of the sea. They didn’t know what to do. They tried to turn the boat toward the waves, but it was impossible as wave after wave came at them from different directions. And as each wave hit – it was almost as if it wanted to smash the tiny boat to pieces, to turn it into matchwood. Either that or sink it, as the furious waves cascaded gallons of water into the boat! Those who weren’t fishermen baled the water out as fast as they could. But no matter how hard they bailed, trying to protect their eyes from the stinging spray, the boat got fuller and fuller!

Even the fishermen, men who’d grown up living on these waters and knew all about them, had never seen a storm like this. What were they going to do? The boat was going to be destroyed. They were all going to drown! What about poor Jesus at the back? (P) What about poor Je…! JESUS! Jesus did miracles!

Almost as one man they rushed to Jesus, grabbing hold of Him and shaking Him awake! ‘Jesus – Jesus, don’t you care that we’re all going to drown?’

Jesus woke up from His deep sleep, and quickly took in the situation. And then with a slightly puzzled look on His face He slowly made His way to the mast – as the boat was being tossed and turned in the raging sea. Then taking hold of the mast, He stood up. And towards the wind He shouted, ‘Peace.’ And at the waters, ‘Be still.’

As the words left His mouth, instantly, the wind that had been a howling gale died to nothing at all. And the water, which had been churning violently, became completely calm.

And then Jesus turned and looked at His disciples, ‘Why were you so afraid?’ He asked. (P) ‘Do you still not trust me?’ (P)

The disciples, who’d been terrified of the raging winds and waters, felt even more frightened now. A different kind of frightened – because they found themselves asking each other, ‘Who is this man, that even the wind and waves – obey His every word?’