@ LibertyGal
2025-03-20 01:45:49
This post was inspired by my Pastor’s sermon this morning. I’ve read this passage a bunch of times. I’ve always seen Jesus’s divinity. I’ve also seen the disciples’ lack of faith, but there is so much more to get out of this passage. It shocks me that I never saw it before and just had to share.
> Now on one of those days Jesus and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they launched out. But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. And He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?” (Luke 8:22-25)
It is obvious from this passage, that Jesus is divine. It reminds us of Genesis 1 when God speaks the waters into existence. It reminds me of Job:
> “Or who enclosed the sea with doors\
> When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb;\
> When I made a cloud its garment\
> And thick darkness its swaddling band,\
> And I placed boundaries on it\
> And set a bolt and doors,\
> And **I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther;\
> And here shall your proud waves stop**’? (Job 38:8-11) {emphasis mine}
Jesus spoke and the wind and waves instantly complied. All was instantly calm. Jesus’s actions scream His divinity, but there is so much more to get out of this passage in Luke 8.
## Why?
My pastor asked everyone a key question, “When Jesus told His disciples to get in the boat and to cross to the other side, did He know there would be a big, life threatening storm?” The kids at church wisely shouted, “Yes!”
Several of Jesus’s disciples were fishermen. They worked their entire lives fishing in boats in the Sea of Galilee. The were familiar with boats, wind, waves, and storms, and yet they were terrified by this storm. This was not a little storm. This storm was tossing around the boat and splashing waves of water into the boat threatening to capsize it in the middle of this large body of water.
I can somewhat relate (but not fully). I grew up in Florida and we would occasionally take a boat a couple of hours across the ocean to and from the Bahamas (Abaccos). One time we had to make the crossing on a particular day to get me back to head off to college. At this time, there was a Hurricane in the gulf (other side of Florida) that were making really big waves. If my memory is correct, we were in a 34 foot long boat and the waves were taller than the boat was long. My Dad would give full throttle to ease up one side of wave and then pull back as we shot down the far side of the wave and then again and again for hours. If the engine had failed, we would have turned sideways and been capsized. If my Dad had not kept the boat straight into the waves, we would likely have capsized, but my Father knew what to do and we made it safely to shore.
Jesus knew this giant storm was going to blow up, but He told His disciples to head right into what would soon be a giant storm. One key thought that I had previously missed is that He did not send them into the storm alone. He went with His disciples.
Initially the disciples tried to battle the storm themselves, but it was a losing proposition. They were losing the battle with the storm and losing it badly. Finally, they went to Jesus. I like how the NIV says it, “*The disciples went and woke him, saying, ‘Master, Master, we’re going to drown*!’” Mark 4:38 says, “*Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?*’” The disciples didn’t just ask for help; they accused Jesus of not caring. They called Him “Master” and “Teacher,” instead of “God” or “Lord.”
So going back to my Pastor’s question, why did Jesus, who knew there was going to be a terrible storm, tell His disciples to cross the water at that time? Was He teaching His disciples to trust in Him? Was He teaching His disciples to ask Him for help when they had a need? Was He teaching them who He was in a way that they would never forget? I think the answer to all of these questions is clearly, “Yes!”
## Application
Now we need to look at this passage and ask, “what do we need to take away and learn from this passage?” and “how can we apply this passage?”
I think there are several key points:
1. Jesus knew what was about to happen to them.
2. Jesus had a plan and a purpose for putting them in this fearful and life threatening situation.
3. This hardship had a good purpose.
4. Jesus was with them through it all.
So often I have people who want to deny that a loving God would intentionally put themselves or others in uncomfortable, scary, or dangerous situations. They say, “God wouldn’t do that.” or “Why would God do that?” Yes, God does cause us to go through hard times (I refuse to say bad), but not to cause us pain or hardship, but to grow us in our faith and witness.
It is a rare person who grows in faith during ease and pleasant circumstances. Most of us require hardship to force us to stop doing everything on our own and to trust Jesus and to lean on His power (Yes, I am speaking from personal experience). Nothing glorifies God more than resting in Him during the storm. Yes, God cares and loves you very much. Yes, God is with you through every hardship you will ever experience. Yes, God wants the best for you. We may not appreciate it in the moment, but God cares more about your eternal good than your momentary ease and happiness. He gives you what you need instead of what you want.
The amazing thing is that when you learn to trust in Him, when you learn to rely on His power, and when you learn to look for His good work in every situation, you will find a joy and peace like you never imagined. Instead of chasing everything looking for the perfect situation to make you happy, you will rest in the hand of the Father knowing a joy and peace that surpasses all human understanding.
In child labor, a woman’s body does what it is supposed to do to produce a baby. Sometimes, out of fear or desire for control, a woman will fight the labor. They will tense up and it causes more pain. If they relax and trust that the delivery will happen as it should, the delivery is usually much easier. Similarly, when we fight Jesus during the storm, when we don’t trust His omnipotence and omniscience, and when we try to do it our way instead of His, we actually make these hard times more uncomfortable and less effective. Instead of learning what God is teaching us, we end up harming ourselves. Instead of building an amazing witness, we give God a bad name.
No matter how bad the storm, look to Jesus and know that He is God. He is our good and loving God who works everything for our good.
Trust Jesus