WHO IS THIS JESUS? – sermon

Who is this Jesus?

“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!” (Matthew 8:23-27 NIV)

Based on a sermon by Harry Morgan

Small fishing Boat
Fishing on the Sea of Galilee?

After Harry set us up in the Sea of Galilee by showing us pictures of the sea, the men in a small fishing boat and showing us how that sea is about the size of Lake Simcoe, I could feel the tension of the disciples in the small boat while they were in that storm.

The storm on the Sea of Galilee
“Lord, save us. We are going to drown.”

One day my husband and I went out on Lake Simcoe in our motorboat, after coming down the quiet, serene Trent canal. We entered the lake only to find that the winds and the waves were vicious. Not being a great sea person I wanted to turn back to the calm of the canal.

Not my hubby – he set out full speed when he saw a large yacht heading across. We caught up to that boat and spent the next couple of hours following in their wake while they headed across Lake Simcoe. Believe me … I prayed. But I did stay calm.  Not calm enough to take a picture, though.

The calm of the canal
The calm before the storm.

We had life jackets available and we had Jesus. The disciples had no life jackets and were not sure of the power of Jesus.

The disciples said, “Lord, save us. We are going to drown.” They called out to him but were unsure what He could do.

Jesus calmed the winds and the waves.

That day the disciples grew in their faith. They concluded, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

We can use this story as a parallel to our lives. The Lord allows storms to happen so we can grow in our faith. We face a variety of storms and they do happen without warning.

Personal storms of sickness, heartache, family problems, financial stresses, depression and jobs – all of these can bring stormy emotions.

Our society itself is in turmoil – the markets unsettled; the European countries challenged; the United States still suffering from the housing and debt crisis.

And even Christ’s church is facing a storm – there is a societal shift away from “church”. Back in the 60s people asked why we were not in church? Now they ask why we go to church?

Does that mean we give up? No – we press on. We do all that we can do and leave the rest to God.

Let’s marvel at how Christ can calm the winds and the waves – how we can find peace when we trust in Him.

You might also like Trust and Calm in the Midst of a Storm.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Facebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmail

6 comments

  1. Pingback: URL

I love to connect with you.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d