2. The Crossing of the Lake
Alexander Moody Stuart
Matthew 8:18-27. Now, when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave commandment to depart unto the other side. . . . (See also Mark 4:35-41, Luke 8:22-25.)
Luke 9:57-62. And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto Him, Lord, I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest. . . .
These three followers on the seashore having been dealt with, not after the words but according to the heart of each, Christ enters the ship. One probably returns to his friends and family, and another to his comfortable nest. The third leaves others to bury his father, and embarks with Christ; and he finds a rough and trying lesson to learn, in this first following of his Lord.
(1.) Christ commands His disciples to pass over to the other side of the Sea.
The literal distance is not great, say perhaps ten miles; allowing both for the breadth, and for their destination on the other side being toward the south of the Lake. But measured by the transition from Capernaum to Gadara, the real distance is far more than the breadth of a wide ocean. It is to pass from a circle of friends into the midst of strangers; from love, kindness and honour, into suspicion, hatred and fear; from earnest followers forsaking all for His sake and entreating Him to remain, to the trembling slaves of their own lusts, grudging the loss of their ill-gotten gains and beseeching Him to depart out of their coasts; from flocks of sheep on the hills and busy fishermen on the shore, to herds of swine, howling maniacs, and legions of devils. “Let us pass over unto the other side”, Jesus said, leaving all that was so attractive for that which was so repulsive, and taking His disciples with Him. He who dwells in the pillar of the cloud, even when our hearts are saying that it is good for us to be here, will often give the command, Let us pass over to the other side. And if He goes and we do not follow, we shall not retain His presence even where we may have found it sweetest.
(2.) The voyage is undertaken suddenly, for “they took Him even as He was in the ship”.
Jesus departs without preparation for Himself or for His disciples. They did not expect such an order that evening; it has been a long day’s work to Him and a long day’s listening for them, in public preaching and private instruction; and rest seems now to be seasonable for the servants, and needful for their Master. But the people on this side have heard for the present as much as they can receive; and when the multitude is dismissed, Jesus will go elsewhere with the tidings of salvation; so they take Him, as He is, into the ship. The Son of Man, the heir of all things, in the zeal of His Father’s house and His love to men, makes little of personal comforts Himself; and wills that His disciples should hold themselves ready to go at a moment’s notice on their Master’s service, prepared to leave home and comfort and ease, whenever the gospel calls for the sacrifice.
(3.) He takes the apostles with Him: the school of the prophets, in which He is training the ministers of the Word.
Let no man despise a due preparation for that sacred office, because Christ Himself, for the space of three years, diligently trained for the ministry those men who were afterwards endowed with the Holy Ghost and with power, and were to excel others both in personal grace and miraculous gifts. He taught them in public and private, examined them often by close questioning, and gave them every opportunity of putting questions to Him in return. Theirs was also a training college, from which the students were sent forth to preach and to return to their Lord with an account of their labours. And the teaching was not the less effectual but the more, because Teacher and scholars together passed from place to place, as on the present occasion. It was a movable school of the prophets, with daily lessons in providence as well as in grace. Without providential teaching, a man is but a half-taught minister of the Word. Even if he has both grace and gifts, he will lack one great branch of that knowledge with which the people require to be daily fed.
(4.) Besides Christ’s immediate company in their own ship, a number of other disciples, ministering women probably as well as men, accompanied him in “other little ships”.
They may not know their exact destination, but they understand that it is some distance farther down the Lake on the other side, for none of them attempt to go round by land, as they do on another occasion afterwards. Some of them accompany Him in ships, and the rest wait for His return; for when He landed again, “the people gladly received Him, for they were all waiting for Him”. They did not remain upon the shore during Christ’s absence, for He crossed the Sea in the evening and could not have returned till the following day. But they watch for His coming; some of them must see the ship soon after it leaves the other shore; and when Jesus returns home, the whole people are assembled on the beach to welcome His arrival. “How beautiful . . . are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings!”
The second section, as edited, of a chapter from Moody Stuart’s book, Capernaum*. The previous section, last month, dealt with the three “followers on the seashore”, whom Moody Stuart describes as “the hasty, the tardy, and the limping followers of Jesus”.