What does a carpenter know about water? Wood?
Sure. Hammers and saws? Of
course. But what does a carpenter know
about water? Not too much…except for
this carpenter. This carpenter is
different. I remember when we, my
brother and I, first encountered this carpenter. We had been fishing all night,
and we had caught nothing. Then along
came the carpenter. “Push out into the
deep water and let down your nets.” We were fishermen. We knew the water. Why take advice about fishing from a
carpenter? But this carpenter was
different. We let down our nets and
caught more fish than our boat could hold…actually more than two boats could
hold safely. He is no ordinary
carpenter.
Then there was the storm.
The carpenter had said that we should all go across the lake. Then he fell asleep in the back of the
boat. Not too long and the storm hit out
of nowhere. Waves were crashing over the
bow. We all felt sure we were going down
for good. “Master, don’t you care that
we are perishing?” The carpenter woke
up. We wanted him to help bail out the water.
But he stood and spoke to the storm.
The carpenter spoke with authority.
And the storm listened. “Be
still!” And it was still. He is no ordinary carpenter.
It seems this carpenter knows about water. He knows more than us fishermen when it comes
to water…well, when it comes to everything.
I remember that other time when he sent us off in the boat and said he
would come later. We were pulling on the
oars as hard as we could, but the wind was against us. It had gotten dark, and the wind had come up,
and the waves with the wind. That’s when
the carpenter came. He came on the
water, but he wasn’t in a boat. He was
walking. “Lord, if it is you, command me
to come to you on the water.” His reply –
one word: “Come”. So I stepped over the edge of the boat. I stepped out onto the water, looking into
his face. Then the wind and waves caught
my attention. What am I doing out here? I started to sink down. I called out to him. And he caught my arm, lifting me up. “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” He is no ordinary carpenter.
We saw the carpenter heal the sick. We saw him give sight to the blind. And we
saw him beaten, and we saw him die. But in three days, we saw him alive
again. Death was no match for this
carpenter.
Later Nathaniel, Thomas, James, John and two of the others
and I were together. I suggested that we
go fishing, and they agreed. So we went
out in the boat, but we caught nothing. “Children,
do you have any fish?” “No.” “Cast your
net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” Some?
There were so many we couldn’t pull the net in. It was John who recognized him first. “It is the Lord!” He didn’t have to say it twice. I was in the water and made for the
shore.
What does a carpenter know about water? Well, this carpenter is not a regular
carpenter. He is not like any other
carpenter you have ever met. He is the
Lord of the wind and waves. He is the Light in the storm. And He is the one who
gives living water.