Luke 8:22-25 (3)
Notes
Transcript
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We’re going to be in Luke 8 again this morning...
And we’ve made our way down to verse 22.
As always, I would encourage you to follow along in your own Bibles.
-While you’re turning, let me point out, that...
…we have something of a shift in focus...
…going into this last half of Chapter 8.
The first part of the chapter was ordered thematically...
…around the proper reception of the Word of God.
And while today’s verses aren’t entirely detached from that theme...
They do have a different central focus.
The identity of Christ!
The next three events that Luke records...
…all testify to different aspects of Jesus’ . . .
authority
power
And ultimately:
His identity
Who He is!
This focus begins in Verse 22
Please follow along with me as I read.
Luke 8:22–25 (ESV)
22 One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out,
23 and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger.
24 And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm.
25 He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”
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As you’ve probably now come to expect...
…Luke, once again, does not appear concerned with...
…giving us the exact chronological order of this event.
He simply tells us, that:
Luke 8:22 (ESV)
22 One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” . . .
Notice, that Luke doesn’t tell us…
Why...
What led up to this...
...But only that it happened.
Matthew seems to indicate that it was...
…in response to the multitudes that were pressing in on Him in Capernaum.
He said:
Matthew 8:18 (ESV)
18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side.
Mark, on the other hand, tells us that it took place...
…on the same day that Jesus gave all of those Kingdom Parables...
…that began with the Parable of the Sower.
Following them, Mark says:
Mark 4:35 (ESV)
35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.”
Mark also tells us:
Mark 4:36 (ESV)
36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.
This is an important detail...
…because it shows us that they didn’t have to be in a large ship...
…in order to get everyone across.
They were likely just in their regular fishing boats.
They actually found one believed to be from the time...
…at the Bottom of the Lake, it was:
28 ft. long x 7.5 ft. wide
-Now, Luke tells us this at the end of Verse 22:
Luke 8:22–23 (ESV)
22 ...So they set out,
23 and as they sailed he fell asleep...
One Commentary describes this phrase (fell asleep) as:
Very graphic. (Implying that) He fell off (ἀπό) into (a deep) sleep. — WSNT
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The inclusion of this detail...
…may be more important than you think.
The reason is, simply because...
...it shows us that Jesus was tired!
Why was he tired?
Well, presumably...
It was later in the day...
And He had had a very busy and demanding day of ministry.
And so now, He crawls into the boat...
…and succumbs to his fatigue.
You may say…
“What’s the big deal about that?”
“Everybody gets tired”
That’s my point, exactly!
This detail is a testament to Jesus’ real humanity! . . .
...A notion that many people...
...in the period of the early church...
...struggled to accept.
But we must understand that He was...
A real, flesh-and-blood man...
...Who faced very real:
Pain
Fatigue
Exhaustion.
Here’s why that’s so important.
To fulfill all righteousness on our behalf...
…He had to be one of us
To stand in our place and bear the punishment for OUR sin:
…He had to be one of us
To represent us before God in Mediation...
…He had to become one of us!
The author of Hebrews reminds us:
Hebrews 5:1–2 (ESV)
1 For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.
2 He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness.
Now, Jesus isn’t ignorant or wayward...
…because those imply sinfulness.
But, he did experience real, human weakness.
Earlier in the previous chapter...
…the same author had written this:
Hebrews 4:15 (ESV)
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
He says that this is why we can...
Hebrews 4:16 (ESV)
16 ...with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Why?
Because our sympathetic Intercessor...
…has “passed through the heavens” (Been accepted by God).
-Now, that’s only one component of Jesus’ identity...
…in regards to mediation.
We’ll see the other at the end of our verses.
-But for now, Look back at Verse 23.
Luke tells us that...
Luke 8:23 (ESV)
23 and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger.
From what I can gather from commentators...
…this would be what sailors refer to as a squall.
Sproul explains that on the Sea of Galilee:
A violent wind can blow up suddenly, moving across the landscape and through the valleys that become wind-tunnels, compressing the air so that it comes swooshing across the lake without any warning, turning that calm and gentle body of water into a raging, tumultuous fury.
Many people have lost their lives as a direct result of these storms on the Sea of Galilee. — Sproul
This was no joke!
It was deadly serious.
Even for seasoned fisherman...
…Such as Peter, Andrew, James, and John!
But, notice what Mark says:
Mark 4:37–38 (ESV)
37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.
38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion...
Now, Commentators have a variety of opinions...
…as to how and why Jesus remained asleep:
Some say that He was just that tired.
Others say that this was an indicator of...
…his faithful resignation to the Divine Will of His Father.
In other words, that as a real human...
…he was faithfully embodying the principle in:
Luke 12:25–26 (ESV)
25 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?
-Now, I don’t think those two are mutually exclusive.
I think we can affirm them both without reservation.
But, I love the insight that Calvin has here:
First, it is certain that the storm which agitated the lake was not accidental: for how would God have permitted his Son to be driven about at random by the violence of the waves?
But on this occasion he intended to make known to the apostles how weak and inconsiderable their faith still was.
Though Christ’s sleep was natural, yet it served the additional purpose of making the disciples better acquainted with their weakness...
There’s such an important lesson in that!
He goes on:
...All this was arranged by the secret providence of God,—that Christ was asleep, that a violent tempest arose, and that the waves covered the ship, which was in imminent danger of perishing.
Here’s the lesson:
And let us learn hence that, whenever any adverse occurrence takes place, the Lord tries our faith.
If the distresses grow to such a height as almost to overwhelm us, let us believe that God does it with the same design of exercising our patience, or of bringing to light in this way our hidden weakness — Calvin
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Here’s why that’s actually a GOOD thing:
Because it brings us to the same place...
...that it brought the disciples to:
It brings us to the feet of Jesus!
Look at Verse 24:
Luke 8:24 (ESV)
24 And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” . . .
Notice the emphatic repetition
It shows great emotion
Matthew’s account says:
Matthew 8:25 (ESV)
25 . . . “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.”
And in Mark’s gospel we get a sense of an impatient desperation:
He recorded them also saying:
Mark 4:38 (ESV)
38 . . . “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
What all of these have in common...
…is that they show that they were brought to the end of their own abilities...
…and forced them to look to Christ with hopeful expectation!
We may not like it in the moment that it’s happening...
…but that is a great place to be in (in the end).
Empty, Broken, and at the feet of Jesus.
Why?
Because He is mighty to save!
Remember what Paul wrote to the church in Corinth?
2 Corinthians 1:8–9 (ESV)
8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.
9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
That’s the place we must be brought to!
That’s what we see happening in verse 24.
Look at it again with me:
Luke 8:24 (ESV)
24 And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves...
Mark includes the very words Jesus used:
Mark 4:39 (ESV)
39 . . . “Peace! Be still!” . . .
Only two words in the Greek
Each word is in the “imperative mood”
(Commands!)
This isn’t a genteel whisper.
This is an authoritative command!
-It may not sound as poetic...
…but I think the NASB has a more accurate rendering here:
It says:
Mark 4:39 (NASB95)
39 And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” . . .
Now, guess how the wind and the sea respond.
Luke tells us:
Luke 8:24 (ESV)
24 ...they ceased, and there was a calm.
No theatrics.
No showy display.
Just a verbal command...
…And the forces of Nature bow the knee in humble submission...
…And in that, His disciples are delivered from a great danger.
-But, there was something more dangerous...
…than the threat of imminent physical death:
Unbelief...
That, will result in spiritual death.
It’s a far greater threat than drowning.
And that’s what Jesus addresses in Verse 25:
Luke 8:25 (ESV)
25 He said to them, “Where is your faith?” . . .
Mark tells us more:
Mark 4:40 (ESV)
40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”
Even after all they’ve seen:
The incurably sick — healed!
The dead — made alive!
Even after all they had heard:
Him saying that they were going to cross the lake
The redemptive purposes of His earthly ministry via John (Baptist)...
…they still wavered in unbelief.
(SMH)
And I have to shake my head at myself...
…because I do the same thing!
“Oh, to grace, how great a debtor...
…DAILY, I’m constrained to be”
-Look at their response back in Verse 25:
Luke 8:25 (ESV)
25 ...And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”
Matthew says:
Matthew 8:27 (ESV)
27 . . .“What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”
That’s the question of all questions, isn’t it?
Let’s let the Word of God answer it for us:
Psalm 65:5–7 (ESV)
5 By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas;
6 the one who by his strength established the mountains, being girded with might;
7 who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples,
Who does this?
Psalm 104:6–9 (ESV)
6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At your rebuke they fled; at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.
8 The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them.
9 You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth.
Psalm 107:25–29 (ESV)
25 For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea.
26 They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their evil plight;
27 they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
29 He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.
Psalm 89:8–9 (ESV)
8 O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O Lord, with your faithfulness all around you?
9 You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.
-So, let’s ask and answer the question again:
Luke 8:25 (ESV)
25 . . . “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”
The JFB Commentary says this:
(Pardon the Old English)
Israel has all along been singing of JEHOVAH, “Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, Thou stillest them!”
“The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea!” (Ps 89:9; 93:4).
But, lo, in this very boat of ours is One of our own flesh and blood, who with His word of command hath done the same! — JFB Commentary
This is who He is.
He is...
Matthew 16:16 (ESV)
16 “...the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Let’s Pray