Tuesday, February 22, 2011

What sort of man is this?

Matthew 8:23-27 (ESV)
And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. [24] And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. [25] And they went and woke him, saying, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing." [26] And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?" Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. [27] And the men marveled, saying, "What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?"
Can’t imagine sleeping on a boat this way, during a storm like that, Jonah did it, and so did Jesus. When everyone else is worried for their lives, Jesus and Jonah are calm but for different reasons. Jonah out of a fatalism and calm resolve to meet his fate, Jesus because for him there was nothing to worry about, he knew he’d be ok, as well as his disciples.
Why his disciples wake him up though, that is peculiar. If they thought Jesus could do something about wind and sea, than they should have known that he would not let them perish. But they wake him up in a panick. “Save us, we are perishing” they cry. Well we are all dying, but thanks to Jesus we no longer perish. H e has saved us from that, and given us eternal life, so that though we die, we do not perish. And he could do that, because he was the sort of man that could makes winds and sea obey him, the Godman, God incarnate, who came to save us with his death on the cross.

1 comment:

Steve Martin said...

I think I'd wake him up, too.

Because at my root lies an unbeliever (an un-truter) also.