I often drive with my brain set to auto-pilot. I drive from home to work along the same path I’ve taken for days and won’t even remember the trip. I miss the people, cars, billboards, and weather that changed from the day before. The route is engrained in my system. I’ve heard myself say, “I could make that drive in my sleep.”
Have you ever had that experience?
I bring it up today because we often drive through today’s passage in our sleep. We read the account of one of Jesus’s top five miracles and we yawn. We’ve heard sermons on it, listened to radio broadcasts dissecting it, even underlined or highlighted portions of it in our Bibles. This miracle is so familiar it’s even a part of the English language lexicon. We hear one or two idioms from it in political speeches, sports color commentary, and song lyrics.
Our task: don’t miss it like we have 1,000 times before.
Let’s ramp up into this miracle.
Jesus was being followed by crushing crowds making it hard to teach and heal. His humanity must have been tired. One of the Roman guards casting skeptical eyes over the crowds used his position to approach Jesus.
He said, “Lord, my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.”
You know the story. Jesus offered to go to the Centurion’s home, but his faith was so absolute that he believed if Jesus said his servant was healed, the servant would be healed.
The healing continued. The disciples and crowds followed after Jesus to Peter’s Mother-in-law’s home. Jesus healed until late in the evening.
Was the crowd and their demands too much for Jesus’s humanity? Was there a greater lesson He wanted to teach in His divinity? Could it be both?
Jesus and the disciples boarded a boat, probably one of Peter’s family’s, and Jesus “gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake.” The questions were still coming as they were preparing the boat to sail.
A teacher of the law proclaimed his passion for Jesus. “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.”
Was that man discouraged? Did he get off the boat and go home? We don’t know.
Another man said, “Lord, let me go home and bury my father.”
Jesus told him, “Follow me and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Ouch!
On this severe note, Jesus climbed aboard and they shoved off.
Here’s the passage. Don’t miss it.
Without warning, 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!”
When He arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes….Matthew 9:24–28a NIV, emphasis added
I told you it was familiar. If you rolled your eyes or just skimmed the words, go back and read it word for word.
Other than waking Jesus, what were these guys supposed to do? They were seasoned fishermen. If the boat belonged, as Bible scholars suspect, to Simon and his brother Andrew, then they knew the boat, the water, and the volatile weather. Peter would’ve commanded the men well. He would’ve fought the weather knowing he could conquer it. This must have been some storm.
I’ve heard at least a dozen sermons on faith. The preacher will point to the fact that Jesus, “gave orders to cross to the other side.” He will then quote verse 28, “When [Jesus] arrived at the other side.” Then, he will say something like, “Obey Jesus and He will get you to the other side.”
Hard to dispute the logic. Jesus rebuked the disciples of their lack of faith. He, the creator and controller of all things, told them to cross the lake and then went to sleep.
I believe I have a God-given mission. Do you? Yet every few steps on the path, I get the shakes. Last night, I turned off the lights, closed my eyes, and thanked God for a productive day. Five minutes later, I was still laying there and heart was still beating faster than it should. I prayed through my list of worries. Heart rate still too high. (Or was it? Was I worrying about the heart rate now without measuring it?) How many times a day do I not believe I will “get to the other side”?
So these preachers are right. But for those of us who fear, I ask again, what else were those men supposed to do other than wake Jesus?
I think the greater lesson of this passage is in the language.
Jesus REPLIED to the disciples and REBUKED the waves. Just think about what might have happened if Jesus rebuked the disciples and then whispered to the waves in a calming voice. The Bible might read instead: “And after the rebuke, the disciples hung their heads, went back to their stations, and grumbled that they weren’t good enough to follow Jesus.”
The REPLY of Jesus was microscopic compared to the REBUKE and demonstration of His power. The Bible says, “The men were amazed.”
Perhaps we should feel our fear, go to Jesus and express our fear, and let him REPLY to us. Jesus didn’t say anything to those disciples that they didn’t already know, “Why are you so afraid?” They knew they were afraid. Jesus knew they were afraid. No problem there.
Finally, Jesus said, “You of little faith.” He didn’t say, “You of no faith.” Think about this: they were talking to the object of their faith. When Mark tells of this experience, the storm on the lake follows immediately after Jesus says the kingdom of God, “is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground.” Perhaps Jesus was saying, “You of mustard seed faith, why are you so afraid?”