Epiphany
4 – January 28th and 29th, 2017 – Matthew
8:23-27
In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World +
In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World +
“What
sort of man is this, that even the winds and sea obey Him?”
That is the question that the disciples are left wondering at the
end of our Gospel lesson today. They have seen Jesus up and calm a
great and mighty storm – and not just anyone can do that. Next
snowstorm, I don't get to walk outside and say, “Stop snowing”
and have it stop snowing. None of us do. Yet there is Christ Jesus
– He rebukes the winds and the seas, and then it's calm. Period.
So, what sort of man is this? Now, the simplest and bluntest point to
draw from this text is that this Man Jesus is in fact also God. This
is the mystery of the Incarnation – that Jesus is both truly and
completely man and truly and completely God. And as we look through
this text in detail we will see that – both Jesus' humanity and His
divinity. But there's more to the disciples' question than that –
what sort of man is this, what is this Jesus like? This God-man,
Jesus Christ, God incarnate – what is He like? Let's consider our
text.
“And
when He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him.” Okay?
What boat? What's going on? See, our Gospel lesson just sort of
starts us off in the middle of the story – and it's actually a
continuation from last week's Gospel lesson. If you will recall,
last week we see Jesus come down from giving the sermon on the mount,
and then He heals a leper, then He heals the servant of the
Centurion. It's been a busy day – and Jesus wants to rest. But
that doesn't happen. In verse 14 Jesus enters Peter's house... but
then He heals Peter's mother-in-law – there's an act of love if
ever there is one. But then in verse 16 we hear, “That
evening they brought to Him many who were oppressed by demons, and He
cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick.”
Alright, I'm home, time to rest – and then what happens – an
evening full of casting out demons and even more healings... it just
keeps going and going. So we hear this in verse 18 - “Now
when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, he gave orders to go over to the
other side.”
That's it – too much, I need a break, we are going to the other
side of the sea of Galilee – and even as He is headed to the boat,
people keep hounding Jesus – a scribe asks Him questions, another
disciple pesters Him until finally He jumps in the boat and they
shove off and finally, finally Jesus can get some rest.
This
explains what happens in the boat. “And
behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was
being swamped by the waves; but He was asleep.”
Jesus had had a long day. He was worn out. Period. All tuckered
out. So tired that He sleeps soundly through a storm. My friends,
when we see Jesus in our Gospel lessons, remember that He really is a
man, a human being, a person. A real one. He's not a superhero,
He's not Captain Energy – When He became man, He became man just
like us. Have you ever gotten tired and worn out – well, so did
Jesus. Have you ever been hungry, thirsty, all those sorts of
things? Ditto Jesus. When He becomes Man, Jesus takes on all the
weaknesses and frailties that we deal with in this sinful world. And
so Jesus is just worn out.
And
a storm comes up. Now, remember, many of the disciples were
fishermen. They were old hands at being on the sea – and here's
the thing about sailing at night. You can't really watch the weather
very well. Sailors watched the clouds – red sky at night, sailor's
delight, red sky in the morning sailor take warning. The clouds give
a clue to the weather – but they got into the boat when it was
already evening... so the disciples are sailing blind, and a storm
whips up – and it would have been one they hadn't seen coming.
This was why you didn't cross the sea in the middle of the night
normally, but there they are and they are out there in the middle of
the Sea of Galillee, and then we hear: “And
they went and woke Him saying, 'Save us, Lord; we are perishing.'”
This
is a bad storm. You can tell it's bad because even the old sailors
are panicking. This isn't “we might just get wet” - this is the
captain running around shouting “We're going down.” And so they
run to Jesus; tired Jesus, Jesus so worn out that He's sleeping
through a killer storm and rain and wind and waves. And they rustle
Him awake, and Jesus looks at them and asks, “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.
Now, this is really interesting. Jesus is a bit curt with folks
here. The word there is not the typical word for fear – phobos or
phobia. It's a different word that really sort of means cowardly.
And “o you of little faith” is just one word in Greek – it's
quick and to the point. And then He rebukes the winds – He chews
out the weather. So basically, this is more like Jesus saying, “Oh,
you cowardly little... shut it, wind!” And it stops. And I'd
presume Jesus goes back to bed... because He's tired. And the
disciples are left there wondering just what sort of man this Jesus
is if He can turn a raging storm into a calm like that, with just a
word.
We
can view this text in terms of Jesus' power. Our God is a mighty
God. He stills the seas with a word. All those Romans around who go
on and on about the might of Neptune – yeah, with a Word Jesus puts
the seas back into their place. If it's a contest of might, a battle
of power – Jesus is true God – no one stands a chance against
Him. And there's the sticky wicket, isn't it? Against Jesus. I
mean, let's face it – if we ticked off Jesus, we wouldn't stand a
chance against Him, would we? And there are the disciples pondering
this great power – man we better not get on His bad side.
Yet,
what sort of man is Jesus? Do we marvel at the power He exercises?
Yes, but perhaps we should marvel at this as well – there is Christ
Jesus, God Almighty, the Word of God by Whom all things were made...
worn out. Worn out not from a day of parties and fun, not worn out
from enjoying a life of luxury, but worn out from showing love to
underserving people like you and I. Worn out from from preaching
then healing then casting out demons and healing and teaching and on
and on. Do you see – it's not just that Jesus is the Almighty that
should make us marvel – it's that Jesus is the One who wears
Himself out for our sake.
You
realize that is the heart of the Christian faith. Not just that
Jesus is God – but rather that God becomes man for our sake and
wears Himself out in love and service to us – literally, He goes to
the cross and He dies for us. If you die on a cross, you basically
die of exhaustion – you are too tired and worn out to support
yourself enough to breathe. You are ex-hausted – out of haust, out
of air. The wonders of Christ Jesus aren't just His power, His
glory, things that we like, things that we think we can twist to our
advantage and ride out to our temporal benefit. The true wonder is
that He gives and gives of Himself until everything is given, even
giving up His life - “And Jesus cried out again
with a loud voice and yielded up His Spirit.”
That's how Matthew describes our Lord's death. And this is all for
you, for your good.
Jesus
is determined to show love. In His earthly ministry He is often worn
out and tired, often He has to flee to get rest because He pushes
Himself beyond the point of human frailty. And He does so to make
sure that you have forgiveness and life and salvation. And He gets
it – Jesus understands what it is like to be worn out, to be weary
– He knows what a bad day looks like, He knows what a crazy busy
day looks like. He gets it. And He gets through them – and unlike
us, who fall into sin, He does so sinlessly, perfectly. And He just
keeps on showing love over and over and over. That's the type,
that's the sort of God that you have. That is something worthy of
marveling over.
But,
all too often we don't leave it there – we try to turn moments like
this into “Jesus did it and you can too” - which is silly. We
try to use Jesus as motivation or lay a guilt trip. “Jesus gave
until it hurt – so open up your wallets!” I mean – I could do
that – at the last Voters' meeting we decided we are going to try
to get a Vicar for this Fall, and that will cost more money so we
could use some more... but that's not the point of the text. This
isn't about trying to twist your arms or squeeze your wallets or
whatever. Besides, you and I aren't Jesus – it's not about what we
do. Rather, ponder this. When Jesus rebukes the storm, there is a
great calm. So let's leave it at that calm – let's leave things
not with a great rush to what we should or ought to do, and instead
look at Jesus in the calm.
Did
you see what happened? Jesus rises from His rough day, and He saves
the folks of little faith, and then there is calm. That's the point,
that's the lesson. That's who Jesus is – Jesus is the sort of man
who will rise from the dead on the third day and show up to fearful
disciples and proclaim peace. He's the sort who will say “All
authority in heaven and earth has been given to Me”
- but then not make demands upon us, not drive us to busy work –
rather “Go therefore and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have
commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the
age.”
Not a burden – go on, baptize people. Wash away their sins. Go
on, preach the Gospel, proclaim the kingdom of God, tell people they
are forgiven – have the Lord's Supper – because I am with you
always, even to the end of the age. There is nothing you need fear,
there is no reason for any cowardliness – I'm with you still, and
you are saved – you are forgiven, you are brought into My Kingdom –
and you can rest securely, you can sleep like babies – well, the
hypothetical babies that actually sleep and rest well. Why? Because
Jesus, True God and True Man has everything well in hand, and He has
it in hand for you. Be still and know that He is the Lord, and that
He is your Savior. In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the
World+