Matthew 8:18-27 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds 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.” Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” 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. The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”
We see in the above focus men who followed Jesus readily. They were the disciples with great faith in the man Jesus as someone led by God, maybe even the Messiah. They followed him without question: he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. They were dedicated to this leader of theirs in Judea, followed his commands and protected him from the crowds. They trusted his words, obeyed his instructions to the letter: As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.” (Mark 11:1-2) They had faith in Jesus’ words but remained confused about Jesus concerning his divinity, for they lived with him as a man with all the natural needs they had: eating, drinking, bathing, and the like. They slept by his side, listened to his breathing in the middle of the night, and saw Jesus remove himself to attend to his bodily needs. Considering these aspects, Jesus was more of a man to them than divine. Good teaching, Yes! Powerful healing and miracles, Yes! But the controller of all things, even the Creator himself, Maybe. But when Jesus rebuked the winds and the waves, they exclaimed, “What kind of man is this? He controls the winds and the waves. This event amazed them because it elevated their understanding of their leader. He was not just a man to obey and to follow, but a man who spoke words so powerful that even nature bowed to his will. But all that Jesus had done in front of them and all the teaching they had received from him traveling place to place through Judea did not convince them sufficiently of his divinity when they saw Jesus arrested by mere men. Incapable of resisting the fear of death inside of them, they all fled and hid from the authorities. In today’s passage, we see this fear of death in the boat as they crossed to the other side of the lake. They trusted and followed Jesus enough to get into the boat, but when the waves swept over the boat and they thought they might perish, they cried out in fear to the MAN sleeping: “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” Maybe their leader could save them from this life-threatening situation. He was their last hope. He was the one who ordered them to get into the boat: it was his responsibility to get them safely to the other shore. Maybe Jesus the man could help these men, some former fishermen. Maybe he had a better idea of how to ride out the storm, for Jesus was a man of great words and miracles. Desperately, they went to him. But Jesus did something they really did not expect. He spoke to the storm. Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. Of course, this startled the disciples. Rebuking the storm is not what they were anticipating when they woke him up, for they were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? They had been willing to call him Lord as men call leaders Lord or even Master, but they did not know the meaning of that term in the universe of existence. Lord, in heavenly words as angel uses the term, means: Creator, LORD of All that has ever existed. In the Old Testament, it means, He who was and is and is to come.
We who exist today still are confused by the term “LORD.” As the disciples, we often see Jesus as a great man: Perhaps a healer, a miracle worker, or someone who can convince us to be better; but to know him as the angels do: as Creator, LORD of All is another story. We often claim him as our Lord, telling him that we trust in him completely, but when we get sick, when we have trouble, when we experience the vissitudes of life, we quickly seek out man’s help. Now, this is not bad, for God uses the blessings of men’s abilities to help us under different situations. But often, we hear men say rather emphatically, “I trust the Lord!” Of course this is good—we should trust the Lord, but sometimes we forget that through the history of mankind, people have trusted the Lord and the ship has gone down. We forget the Christian woman from long ago who cried and wept over her babies who died from disease, malnutrition, and plague. We forget her great pain, her mental instability, as she touches here dead babies, crying out, “Why Lord!” “Why Lord!” In our modern world, we can so easily say, “I trust the Lord.” As if she did not trust the Lord. We forget that we run to the hospital or to the doctor, to make sure that we can make it through our illness or discomfort. We must be wary of what we are saying in this modern world of science. Sometimes, with our words, we heap scorn on our brethren in the past who endured horrendous situations, brought about by the times in which they lived. We ought to trust the Lord, say emphatically that we trust the Lord, but we must always remember that God is LORD, not just someone we claim to follow. The disciples confused the connotation of the word Lord when they rushed to the sleeping Jesus. Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” They were using Lord as a term expressing his leadership role, save us! We’re going to drown! When Jesus awoke, he placed the situation in a correct perspective, You of little faith, why are you so afraid? If you died here with the waves taking you under, do you not know that I am the controller of all things. Is your faith so small in who I am that I cannot take care of you? Don’t you understand that all that I am, everything I am talking about, and all my miracles are telling you that I have another existence for you, that this isn’t your home. You are mine and I will never leave you, even in the grave. But most of us cannot rest in this faith. We want a rescue here, a decision here, a way out here. We want an abundant life here. Our faith is small. We do not have faith that Jesus is LORD of all that is made, that real life is something more than just existing here. Jesus told the Sadducees who believed there was no resurrection, He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken! (Mark 12:27) We are badly mistaken as were the Sadducees if we believe this world is more important that the Kingdom of Heaven. The disciples on that day were thinking only of this kingdom. Jesus brought another kingdom to them that would never cease: finiteness would slip away as the dust we are made of will be gone forever, and the eternal life that exists in our souls will someday reign with Jesus forevermore.
If you walk through a cemetery with graves from the eighteen hundreds or the early nineteen hundreds, you will see many little graves with crosses on the tombstones, representing babies or young children who were buried there. You can almost hear the sobbing of the parents who lost their children so early in life. And yet there are crosses, for regardless of the hardships of life, they believed Jesus is LORD. They served God because they believed He is the great Creator of All Things and that He loved them. They trusted God and passed down Christianity to us who live in this modern world where medical help and science is so easily available to us. We are often like the disciples who rushed to the sleeping Jesus, “Help us, we are going to perish!” Jesus wakes up and looks at us in wonder, “Do not you know I am in the boat with you? Have you not heard that I will never abandon you? Do not you know I am the LORD? YOU SHALL NEVER PERISH!” Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds 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.” Jesus said to these two young men, what you are asking is serious, eternal. This is no game. This is not a ticket to get out of jail free. This is not a temporary fix for your life. This is the real thing, the very definition of what it means to be alive. You have been made to be with God, to have eternal life in your souls, to communicate and honor God forever. This world holds no real meaning in comparison to what you are as followers of mine. If you think you have to bury your father first before you commit to me one hundred percent, you have no part in me, for I am of another kingdom, not this earthly one. If you think that things are going to be better for you on your earthly journey because you follow me, I want to remind you, I have no place to call my home. If you want to have a happier family, more loving and caring, making your life warm and comfy under the auspices of God’s power and control beware: If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26-27) Peter, James and John left everything when they were called. They were no longer in the business of the world; they were in the business of a new kingdom. We who are IN CHRIST are no longer in the business of the world. Yes, there are great benefits of having people around you who love the Lord. Yes, families do benefit greatly from being Christian, but Jesus is not just Lord to help us have a better life; He is LORD, CREATOR OF ALL. Regardless of your circumstance today, do you believe He is LORD? He said to the disciples, You of little faith. Are you like the world who follow me because of fishes and loaves, follow me because maybe I can make this life on Earth better or are you children of God who know that their destiny is with God forever? As with the woman who holds her little dead child and cries out LORD, I trust you. DO YOU HAVE HER FAITH! We have a Savior; Jesus is his name!
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