Jesus, Lord of Nature

There are two questions that need to be answered, both arising in v. 25 of our text. The answer to the second one we will tackle first, which should be considered primary, because it is the overarching question that Luke continues to escalate in his portrayal of Jesus—who is this?! The other question arises from the first: As we begin to understand that Jesus is Lord (over creation, and over demons, and over disease and death [this whole section in Luke 8]), then we ought to be responding in full faith—where is your faith?

Before we answer either of these, let’s review, for the sake of clarity, exactly what takes place in this situation.

Jesus & the Stormy Sea

Jesus gets into one of the fishermen’s boats and decides that they should sail to the other side. Mark places this on the evening of the day when Jesus told the parable of the soils; Luke is less specific. We also recall that it is near Capernaum in Galilee, where Jesus has become massively well-known and has been teaching and healing day after day.

He is understandably exhausted from ministry, and Jesus falls asleep in the stern (which Mark states specifically). - His sleeping is an indication not only of a lack of fear and but also of great fatigue, an element of his true humanity. He’s so tired that not even the storm wakes him.

Have you been so physically tired that you could sleep through anything?

The sea of Galilee, or the lake as Luke calls it, which is 696 ft below sea level and with mountainous regions nearby, “is subject to sudden storms” as “cold air from the heights is apt to sweep down through the precipitous gorges to the east and it can whip up the seas in a short time.” -Leon Morris, Luke: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 3, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 174.

A storm comes fast and it comes furious, so that they begin to take on water and the boat is at risk of sinking, and in a storm like this would likely spell death for her passengers.

On the evening of July 19, 2018, during high winds associated with nearby severe thunderstorms, a duck boat operated by Ride the Ducks sank on Table Rock Lake. The amphibious vehicle sank with 31 people on board, leaving 17 dead. - Wikipedia

Now these fishermen are undoubtedly accustomed to these storms sweeping in, but they would normally be closer to home, or closer to some shore, not in the middle of the lake at the time, with very little warning and nowhere to go.

Perhaps they tried to let Jesus rest, but the threat becomes so great that they rouse Jesus from his slumber: “Master, Master, we are perishing!” (“We’re about to die!”)

Jesus rebukes the wind and the waves, and they cease. - And although a storm would normally subside gradually, that is not what is pictured here. Jesus’ word immediately quiets the storm. The setting goes from a raging whirlwind and angry waves to an immediate ceasing and calm.

Jesus’ ability to rebuke the wind and the waves reveals that he has authority over nature, as God does. In their own religious tradition from the Old Testament scriptures, Jews understood that “the one who ruled the winds and sea was God himself (Ps 107:29).” -Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Lk 8:22–25.

Psalm 107:29 ESV

He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.

Because such power of nature belongs to God, “the surprise of the disciples at Jesus’ power is thus easy to understand.” -Keener, Ibid.

Eliana’s reaction as a toddler (barely older than a baby) to this episode of Jesus calming the sea. “God said, peace, be still!”

So then as promised we come to answer the questions in v. 25:

Disciples: “Who then is this?”

What we see in Luke, and in the other Gospels as they proceed in their portrayal of Jesus, is that “Jesus is more than a teacher and more than a miracle-worker. He has the authority of the Creator himself.” (Scott Redd)

Their awe at the Master’s power and authority to still the storm, asking this question, will lead on through the remaining evidences of Jesus authority right up to Peter’s confession in 9:20.

Luke 9:20 ESV

Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”

Who then is Jesus?

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” ― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

How should we respond?

The answer is faith in Jesus. The demonstration of Jesus’ power and authority should lead them (and us) to the conclusion that he can be trusted.

What is faith? Faith is having complete trust that God is who he says he is and does what he says he will do.

Faith that saves then is faith which recognizes that Jesus is God who came in the flesh to be our Messiah, but not in the way we expected him. Rather than ruling in the political sense in this first coming, he came to make right what humanity has gotten so wrong in rejection and rebellion against God. The King of Kings came as a suffering servant, as one who was himself perfectly innocent of any wrongdoing (sinlessly perfect), to then offer himself as a payment for our sin. And if you struggle with the truth of Jesus’ miracles, you’re really baffled by the culminating one. Jesus, God the Son who died on a cross to pay for sins that were not his own, also rose again to prove the sufficiency of the payment and to prove his ultimate power and authority over sin and death and the forces of evil, to continue as the only one capable of mediating between God and man. Through the payment that he made, and with his resurrection life, He offers us, if we receive it through faith in Jesus, forgiveness of sin and spiritual life, thereby granting us right relationship to God. To trust in him completely to accomplish that on your behalf is saving faith.

Now back to our immediate text. These ones who are with Jesus, who have committed to following him and doing everything that he says, can’t possibly yet have a full understanding of his primary purpose for coming and what that will ultimately accomplish. But they do have faith in the sense that others from the OT era had faith in God—that he is who he says he is and does what he says he will do. Whoever Jesus is, they have faith, at least, that this is God’s appointed man for a messianic task.

So then why does Jesus ask…

Jesus: “Where is your faith?”

In the context it seems obvious: The storm rages and they think their lives are at stake. Jesus in essence is asking, “You’ve grown in your trust of me thus far. Don’t you trust in me enough to believe that as long as I am with you no harm will come to you?” I mean, unless it’s the will of God that one of you should perish right now, then I’ve got this. You ought to know this by now.

In the parallel of Matt 8:26, Jesus says “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” - “(Gk. oligopistos) is not “no faith” (Gk. apistos), but “ineffective,” “defective,” or “deficient” faith -The ESV Study Bible, 1836. - What Jesus asks his disciples here is not so much about initial faith, “but an applied faith that functions in the midst of pressure.” (Bock, 763)

It’s like Jesus is saying, “If you claim to have faith in me, that faith must still stand under pressure… in the midst of trial.” Faith must persevere with patience… like the fruitful seed in 8:15.

(Similar to the disciples in the boat during this windstorm) Deficient faith is revealed when our fear of repercussions from the storm is greater than our confidence in the one who rules the storm...

When we face hardships and miserable circumstances, we have a tendency to ask “Where is God?” “Is Jesus sleeping when he should be saving?” He’s with you in this storm! - The key is faith in him with a full understanding of who he is!

We do not need to diminish the size of the storm to have less fear; by faith we elevate the strength and sovereignty of our God!

So… Alongside the ongoing proof that Jesus is something more than a great prophet and powerful teacher, “the account is designed to call disciples to realize that, however great the peril, Jesus is aware and is able to deliver. It maybe deliverance through trial, rather than from it, but one is to apply faith in such situations. Thus, the position of Jesus allows one to place trust in him. This is the lesson of discipleship that the stilling of the storm teaches.” (Bock, 764-5)

Before we end then, here is an opportunity to…

Take Stock of Your Faith

What you do when the storm rages, and what you do next (with what you’ve heard today), will reveal if you have no faith... or deficient faith... or mature faith (growing faith):

No faith means that you either outright reject God, outright reject that Jesus is Lord… or that you tinker with Jesus and his Church but have no real understanding of who he is.

Luke 9:18–20 ESV

Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” And they answered, “John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”

Deficient faith is when we know who Jesus is and have committed to following him, but when trials come, we allow fear and doubt to rule the day instead of trust and confidence in what we know of God. - The disciples, and understandably so, wigged out when the storm was ready to do them in. HOWEVER, to their credit, they did the right thing in going to Jesus, realizing (or at least hoping) that Jesus was not helpless in the storm. - Pray for God to strengthen your faith. - (Mark 9 [explain context***], “I do believe; help my unbelief!”)

Mark 9:22–24 ESV

And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

Those of mature faith are those who nurture faith, realizing our tendency toward deficient faith, and recognizing that knowing more of God is what increases faith. (Faith is having complete trust that God is who he says he is and does what he says he will do.) - Nurture your faith in God by knowing more of Him. That means feeding on the truth of his word about himself and his love and purpose for you, and exercising that faith according to his will and his promises. - A mature faith is a growing faith. It is a faith that puts into practice what Jesus has promised. It is a faith that remains patiently dependent on God when tested by storms, knowing that this same Jesus who saves us is sovereign over the very storms we face. We can trust him completely. Whatever you are facing, pray for your faith to hold and for your faith to grow.

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