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Who Is Jesus?
Matthew 8:16-27

Jesus had been healing and teaching the people and the crowds began to press and follow him. It became necessary for Jesus to escape the crowds at times in order to teach the disciples he had chosen. In this story of Matthew, the crowds forced Jesus to cross Lake Galilee to escape, but the crowds met him there on the other side of the lake as well. He began teaching them along with the Twelve, when some of them began asking to become his disciples.

It is not clear why they wanted to be his disciples, but it is clear that they had motives other than fulfilling and advancing Jesus’ purposes on Jesus’ terms. Jesus turned them away, reminding them of various things that would interfere with their following him on his terms. Following him required leaving behind many lesser things that laid hold of their lives in order to place the reign of God first. For some it was family, for others it was a secure place of residence, for others there were issues of social standing, prominence, and power. They had their own issues before them and did not really understand what commitment and discipleship to Jesus really meant. They did not really understand who he was.

Discipleship for Jesus meant leaving behind everything in order to follow him. He knew that many within the surrounding multitudes were just not up to it. He told one would-be disciple that it would mean making a break with family to accept the call of God on his life. He was not just simply one more rabbi in the context of First Century Judaism. He was not simply a healer and prophet, even though they did not really understand who he was.

Who was this man who would make such an issue over someone wanting to become one of his disciples? Should he not want to make it easy for people who desired to follow him? Why turn people away at the outset, when it would seem to counter the purpose of increasing his presence and impact in the world by expanding his base of followers? It was a matter of esteem for most rabbis to have a large pool of disciples. It lent credibility to their teaching and increased their standing in society. Learning about the Torah was very important in Jewish society, and the opportunity to teach and influence others in their study of God’s instructions was a high honor. No one turned people away from following them. Then there was Jesus

Jesus did not seem too worried about turning people away. He had a definite purpose and direction. He would not allow for distractions in the cause set before him. After teaching the crowds, he got into a boat with his twelve chosen disciples. They cast off from the shore to be alone and away from the crowds that continually pressed for Jesus' attention.

Several of the disciples were very much at home in a boat. They had spent years learning their trade as fishermen on Lake Galilee. This was their home turf. On the water, they could escape the crowds and enjoy some personal time with Jesus on their own terms. They could enjoy being back in their element. They could also enjoy being in charge of something they actually understood, instead of always struggling to keep up with Jesus' newest teaching.

Matthew does not give much detail in this story, but doubtless, the disciples pushed off shore and headed into the water long before the storm began to brew. The sky darkened and the wind rose, whipping the waves against the boat in which they traveled. A little storm was no worry for these seasoned fishermen, but squalls on Lake Galilee could turn nasty very quickly. Before very long, things were getting farther and farther out of hand and in growing desperation they finally turned to Jesus. He was asleep.

They had not turned to Jesus earlier. After all, they were the ones skilled with handling the boat. Jesus was no fisherman. His background was rather that of an unskilled laborer. Plying the boat through the wind and waves was their craft, not Jesus’. They handled the sails, the rudder, and the oars, lashing things in place and bailing as the waves crashed over the prow and sides of the boat. At some point, however, the storm became too intense, the danger they faced became more critical, and their level of anxiety increased beyond their level of comfort. They recognized their need of help, even from one unskilled as a seaman.

The sea had long been a symbol of evil among the Jewish people. It spoke to them of a spiritual agency that countered God’s will and purpose in creation. They looked upon the waves and saw an ever eager threat to encroach upon the dry land of God’s creation. They understood that if God were to turn his back, the sea would overcome the barriers God had placed on it when first creating dry land in the midst of the sea.

It is very likely that these fishermen attributed the current storm to something other than natural events in a material world. They saw it as some kind of spiritual oppression. To them it was some kind of purposeful attack on their lives and the life of their rabbi and master. Their anxiety was not just about winds and water. It was also about forces of evil positioned against their lives. They felt threatened and turned to the sleeping man in the boat with them.

How Jesus could sleep during such a storm on rough waters is hard to comprehend. One would think the shouting and thrashing around him would awaken him, yet it was only when the disciples clamored for his waking attention that he roused himself to speak with them. They were worried and afraid. In their fear, they begged for his intervention and aid, saying, “Save us, Master, for we are all about to die!”

Jesus’ answer was wholly unexpected. “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?”

It would seem obvious they had ample reason to fear. Theirs would not have been the first boat to capsize in a storm on this lake. Their lives were in jeopardy, and their fear was justifiable by all accounts—that is, by all accounts but that of Jesus. It was only after pointing to the ineffective value of their faith that Jesus turned to the storm. Jesus turned his focus on the winds and sea and spoke, ordering peace.

The winds and waves became still. There was a calm and an end to the storm. Instead of harsh winds and waves, all became calm. The storm continued to rage, but now it was no longer on the sea. It raged in the hearts and minds of the disciples.

“What kind of man is this?” they questioned. “Who is this that even the winds and the sea obey him?”

They had walked with Jesus for some time. They had watched him heal people and cast out demons. They had listened to his teaching. They had taken him for a rabbi and prophet, but nothing in their experience prepared them for what they had just witnessed. It caused them to have to wrestle anew with the question of Jesus’ identity.

Everything they had just witnessed conflicted with what they knew to be true. It conflicted with their expectations of Jesus and the understandings they had held regarding him. It challenged them to review their reasons for following Jesus, as well as what they expected to receive from being his disciples. It called them to question what following Jesus could mean, as he was obviously more than they had taken him to be.

What about our own expectations? How does Jesus’ mastery over the forces of nature and evil conflict with our expectations, hopes, and dreams? How should it surprise, challenge, and change us along with our response to him? If the Jesus we serve is actually God, how should that impact our relationship to and expectations of Jesus?

—Pr. Christopher B. Harbin

© Copyright 2017 Christopher B. Harbin.