Watch/Listen
When God Trained His Team
Brian Mashburn
February 22, 2015
Audio Player
When God Trained His Team
Today we begin looking at the time in the ministry of Jesus when he spent an inordinate amount of time training his team. Jesus knows he will not be with them in the flesh forever, and so he wants them to be prepared to carry on his ministry once he is gone.
For this, he knew they needed a few things: heart, courage, perseverance, and faith.
So after pairing them up and sending them out on short term mission trips - which gave them a taste of what it will cost on the one hand, and what it feels like to succeed when doing ministry on the other - he then uses opportunities presented by two boat outings to get them to grow in their focus on him, the King of the Kingdom they preach, and thereby, grow in their faith.
The first boat outing takes them across the Sea of Galilee to a spot where thousands await, hungry. Jesus presses his disciples to feed them, forcing them to face the impossibility of the assignment, which set them up to be amazed at the power of God that accomplished it.
The second boat outing happens in the Sea of Galilee during a storm. The disciples are exhausted and struggling when Jesus comes walking on the water towards them. They don't believe their eyes, but sure enough it is Jesus, and when he gets in the boat, the storm calms immediately.
What is Jesus doing? He himself answers this question, as he looks at his baffled, hard-hearted disciples and says, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."
He was training them in the ways of faith. Because he knew, with what was coming, they would need it.
And he knew we would, too.