{"id":687,"date":"2007-06-13T12:30:02","date_gmt":"2007-06-13T12:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/06\/sunday_school.shtml"},"modified":"2021-05-29T02:45:33","modified_gmt":"2021-05-29T02:45:33","slug":"sunday_school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/06\/sunday_school.shtml","title":{"rendered":"The Fourth Watch"},"content":{"rendered":"

This weekend we were in Toledo with Mom and Dad. They get up for the early adult Sunday School. Dave runs the class, and I always enjoy Dave’s classes, so we went along. The text was Matthew 14:22-34:<\/p>\n

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
\nDuring the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
\nBut Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
\n“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
\n“Come,” he said.
\nThen Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
\nImmediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
\nAnd when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
\nWhen they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This has long been one of my favorite stories, but Sunday brought to light new things in this familiar tale.
\nThe key was in verse 22:<\/p>\n

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There’s something in there that I hadn’t thought of before. Jesus, being God, knew what was coming. He knew that He was sending them out on the lake, straight into a storm. Alone.
\nMeanwhile, He went to spend some quality time with Dad. Hours, he prayed on the mountain, while the disciples headed strait into a storm. Not until the fourth watch, which, acording to the online parallel Bible<\/a>, was after 3 AM, did Jesus come to them.
\nWe like to think of Jesus as one who rescues, saves us from harm, but here he send the disciples straight into danger. The question is why? Why would He send them into danger? Why would have them face it alone and what does it tell us about God?
\nIt seems clear that Jesus sees opportunity in the storm. Opportunity to teach the disciples of His power. Opportunity to put things in perspective for them, to help them see the storms that seem to loom large from God’s perspective. That opportunity is great enough that not only will he refuse to shelter the disciples from it, he sends them right into it’s midst. And he’s content to wait and have them battle that storm for hours before strolling in to join them.
\nWhat this tells us about our God is at once shocking, scary and comforting.
\nThe shocking and scary part is that God isn’t concerned with sheltering us from pain and hardship. In fact, it’s just the opposite. For the opportunity for growth presented by trials, he will lead us right into them, and let us fight with them for some time before coming to our aid.
\nThe comforting part is that He knows exactly what He’s doing. He can see what lies on the other side of the storm, we cannot. He know that we will emerge stronger and closer to Him in the end. Once Jesus appeared, the disciples weren’t focused on the storm anymore. And once he got in the boat, they had a perspective on Him that no lesson on shore could ever deliver.
\nThe comfort is that the fourth watch comes, and with it Jesus, in ways that we couldn’t see Him otherwise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This weekend we were in Toledo with Mom and Dad. They get up for the early adult Sunday School. Dave runs the class, and I always enjoy Dave’s classes, soRead More The Fourth Watch<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Fourth Watch - salguod.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/06\/sunday_school.shtml\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Fourth Watch - salguod.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This weekend we were in Toledo with Mom and Dad. They get up for the early adult Sunday School. Dave runs the class, and I always enjoy Dave’s classes, soRead More The Fourth Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/06\/sunday_school.shtml\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"salguod.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-06-13T12:30:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-05-29T02:45:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Doug Schaefer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@salguod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Doug Schaefer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/06\/sunday_school.shtml\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/06\/sunday_school.shtml\",\"name\":\"The Fourth Watch - salguod.net\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2007-06-13T12:30:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-29T02:45:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2237e297e41300051087d8791343043f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/06\/sunday_school.shtml#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/06\/sunday_school.shtml\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/06\/sunday_school.shtml#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Fourth Watch\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"salguod.net\",\"description\":\"Stuff I Think Up\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2237e297e41300051087d8791343043f\",\"name\":\"Doug Schaefer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d8dde291ac4514740353f4bb9cbd9418?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d8dde291ac4514740353f4bb9cbd9418?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Doug Schaefer\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/salguod.net\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/salguod\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/author\/salguod\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Fourth Watch - salguod.net","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/06\/sunday_school.shtml","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Fourth Watch - salguod.net","og_description":"This weekend we were in Toledo with Mom and Dad. They get up for the early adult Sunday School. Dave runs the class, and I always enjoy Dave’s classes, soRead More The Fourth Watch","og_url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/06\/sunday_school.shtml","og_site_name":"salguod.net","article_published_time":"2007-06-13T12:30:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-05-29T02:45:33+00:00","author":"Doug Schaefer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@salguod","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Doug Schaefer","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/06\/sunday_school.shtml","url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/06\/sunday_school.shtml","name":"The Fourth Watch - salguod.net","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2007-06-13T12:30:02+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-29T02:45:33+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2237e297e41300051087d8791343043f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/06\/sunday_school.shtml#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/06\/sunday_school.shtml"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2007\/06\/sunday_school.shtml#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Fourth Watch"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/","name":"salguod.net","description":"Stuff I Think Up","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2237e297e41300051087d8791343043f","name":"Doug Schaefer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d8dde291ac4514740353f4bb9cbd9418?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d8dde291ac4514740353f4bb9cbd9418?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Doug Schaefer"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/salguod.net","https:\/\/twitter.com\/salguod"],"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/author\/salguod"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":528,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2006\/07\/qts_with_jessic_6.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":687,"position":0},"title":"[QT’s with Jessica] – John 6:25-40","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"July 25, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"My Summer time Bible Readings with 11 year old Jessica. I think this was one of our best conversations to date. John 6:25-40 J - Why did they follow him across the lake? What did Jesus say about that, do you remember? J - He said it wasn't because they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quiet Time Journal"","block_context":{"text":"Quiet Time Journal","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/quiet-time-journal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":786,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/02\/luke_24.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":687,"position":1},"title":"Luke 24","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"February 14, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Luke 24:1-3 - A grueling day watching the Lord beaten and crucified followed by a long, sad Sabbath waiting to go anoint his body, then they find the tomb empty. How dejected they must have felt. After all they'd been through to find that someone had messed with Him on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quiet Time Journal"","block_context":{"text":"Quiet Time Journal","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/quiet-time-journal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":783,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/02\/luke_223571.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":687,"position":2},"title":"Luke 22:35-71","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"February 12, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Luke 22:35-38 - What I get from this is not that Jesus wants us to be armed, rather that he was communicating to them that things are about to change. While he's here, he's setting the stage for the kingdom, soon the kingdom will be established. Until it's been established,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quiet Time Journal"","block_context":{"text":"Quiet Time Journal","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/quiet-time-journal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":310,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2005\/04\/the_upper_room.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":687,"position":3},"title":"The Upper Room","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"April 16, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Matthew 26:20-35, Mark 14:17-28, Luke 22:14-39, John 13:1-38, 14:1-31 Luke 22:19-20 - Growing up in a Presbyterian church, each time we took communion the pastor would recite these verses or something very similar. Even though my current church doesn't do this (and we take communion every week), they still ring\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quiet Time Journal"","block_context":{"text":"Quiet Time Journal","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/quiet-time-journal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":776,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/02\/luke_17.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":687,"position":4},"title":"Luke 17","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"February 1, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Luke 17:3 - Jesus here says \"Pay attention to yourselves!\" That makes me think that I need to watch out for my own sin, but immediately following he says \"If your brother sins, ...\" Clearly the 'yourselves' was a collective one, not individual. We are our brother's keeper. If we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quiet Time Journal"","block_context":{"text":"Quiet Time Journal","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/quiet-time-journal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":767,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/01\/luke_92862.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":687,"position":5},"title":"Luke 9:28-62","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"January 16, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Luke 9:30-31 - I wonder if He had these kind of meetings with dead prophets when He was praying alone? :-D Luke 9:36 - I wonder why they didn't tell anyone at the time? Did Jesus tell them not to? I would think they would have wanted to share it,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quiet Time Journal"","block_context":{"text":"Quiet Time Journal","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/quiet-time-journal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=687"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1593,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687\/revisions\/1593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}