02-28-21 “What kind of man is this?”

Scripture   Luke 8:22-25, Mark 4:35-41. Matthew 8:18-27

SYNOPTIC STORY COMPARISON

L -     One day, 
Mk - That day when evening came,
Mt -   (No comment on the day or time)
 
L -     Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake."
Mk - he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side."
Mt -   When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake.
Luke and Mark continue with them getting in the boat, however, Matthew (the eye witness) adds more to the story: Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
          Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
          Others wanted to follow, but Jesus knew there was a cost to following him (he knew they were about to go right into a raging storm) and if they were to follow, they needed to know this was not going to be a picnic with the pastor, rather a storm with the savior. We are not given their response and Matthew, like Luke and Mark, continues the story.
 
L -     So they got into a boat and set out.
Mk - Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.
Mt -   Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him.
 

L -     A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
Mk - A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.
Mt -   Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat.
 
L -     The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!"
Mk - Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"
Mt -   But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"
L -     He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. "Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples.
Mk - He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"
Mt -   Notice that Matthew (the eye witness) speaks to them while the storm is still raging, then he shows them his power to calm the storm, by faith.  He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
 

L -     In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him."
Mk - They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"
Mt -   I believe what Matthew (the eye witness) records next, is the point to the whole story: The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!"
          Notice he left out that they were terrified or fearful because their amazement is what was important. The question they asked was paramount, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!"
 
WHAT KIND OF MAN IS THIS?
          They had witnessed healings and other miracles, but this one caught their attention. Why? They were present when he turned water into wine and when he fed the 5000. Some of them were in this same boat on this same sea when Jesus gave them a miracle catch of fish. What was so different about this one that caused them to wonder ‘what kind of man Jesus was?’
          First, the other miracles were more passive. They were also miracles that all used something that already existed – stone jars of water, a little boy’s lunch, and fish in the sea. Like we learned last week that God created the first matter out of nothing by speaking it into existence, so this MAN was able to control an out of control nature by having faith to speak a word; and what he spoke…was accomplished. They had not seen this kind of miracle – nor this kind of man – that is because the man they were seeing was none other than the redeemer God of the Old Testament who was in their boat…sleeping.
          What God did in creation, they witnessed first-hand.
 
          Now look at this from Jesus’ perspective. When he got in the boat he was exhausted from a lot of walking, and teaching, and healing. You can imagine how good that cushion looked in the back of the boat. After all, he was in a boat with professional fisherman who spent as much time sailing this very body of water as they did walking on dry ground. What could possibly go wrong?
          In fact, something did go wrong. A storm, squall, tempest, eruption of wind and waves were crashing over the boat. How exhausted was Jesus? He didn’t wake up. These men were used to pop-up storms and you can bet they did everything they knew how to do before waking up Jesus. Have you ever been on a boat in Lake Eire when a storm popped up out of nowhere and it was so bad you were afraid you might die? Let me ask that of my wife and children?
 
TELL THE BOATING STORIES
          I was like these fishermen – except, they came to a point where they were certain they would capsize in the middle of the sea too far to swim to shore; and they screamed at Jesus – Get up and help!
          They had forgotten the things Jesus had done and more importantly, who Jesus was. Thousands of years prior, this same Jesus said let there be light and there was. LISTEN: John 1:10 He (Jesus) was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.
 
          In that boat on that day Jesus didn’t care who was the smartest, the best looking, the most wealthy, or even the best sailor. He allowed the storm so they could see for themselves that they did not have the ONE THING he wanted them to have – FAITH. Not faith to calm the storm – but faith that he could calm the storm. When you are in the storms of life, do you rely on your power and wisdom, or do you have faith that God will see you through. It is easy to have faith when things are going well, but what about when you find yourself not in the eye but in the furious part of the storm? That is when you will know whether you have faith or not?
          Forget the personal losses we have all experienced due to this storm called COVID, as a church and as a pastor, I have to wonder if Jesus is asleep in the boat, or do I/WE have faith that God will not only see us through but will also accomplish even greater things in us than ever before?
          How important is our faith in Jesus right now? Hebrews 11:6  Without faith it is impossible to please God. The disciples were amazed at who Jesus was. The bible shows that Jesus has power over all creation, specifically over all nature, all sicknesses, all evil spirits, even over death.  The ONLY part of creation that has ever dared disobey Jesus – is US! The wind and waves that day had to choose – they had to obey his word. God has given us a free-choice, to obey his word, or to lack faith and be disobedient.
          When we become like the rest of nature and freely choose to put our faith in Jesus, we will then live a life – not in fear, rather in faith. The wind and the waves had no fear that day – they also had no choice but to obey. How will you choose to live?
          Is it right to compare human response to that of nature’s elements? Yes, but if not, why would the very next story be a parallel story in each of the 3 gospels, only involving humans instead of nature? The storm calmed and the boat set sail again and landed in the land of the Gerasene’s and a man, or two as one gospel writer reports, are possessed by a legion of demons that have caused a storm of epic proportions within them and through them in the community. The people around them, like the disciples in the boat, were terrified, until the demon possessed came face to face with Jesus and at his word, the demons departed and went into a herd of pigs, ran over the edge of the hill, into the water and drown. Once the demons were gone, or the internal storm had been stilled, the men who had been demon possessed were now at peace like the sea of Galilee. They put their faith in Jesus and went throughout the area proclaiming that new found faith in Jesus whose word, had calmed their storm.
Romans 5:1-5
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.