Who is this? Luke 8:22-25

In video includes the story from Luke 8:22-25, and a personal testimony. 

In this story Jesus calls his disciples to follow him across the lake. So they obey Jesus and they sail out into the lake and into a furious storm. Jesus appears so unaware of the storm that falls into a deep sleep in the back of the boat. Jesus is able to find rest and is in such a deep sleep that even the turbulent seas and high winds don’t disturb him. For Jesus they were going to the other side of the lake and the journey was an opportunity to catch some much needed rest. Jesus wanted them to get into the boat and to cross the lake and they faithfully listened and set out in their boat to get to the other side.

Jesus must have been utterly exhausted. His messianic identity had been questioned by John the Baptist and his disciples. He had been mocked as being a glutton and drunkard and friend of tax-collectors and sinners. He had been shamed when Simon the Pharisee had invited Jesus to his house for dinner but gave Jesus none of the typical culturally acceptable greetings. He had become the object of the extravagant expression of devotion by a woman of questionable reputation and he had defended her actions to the dismay of Simon and his other guests. Evidently he was so emotionally and physically tired that he could fall asleep in a boat. Moreover, he could rest soundly in the midst of a violent storm with waves crashing against the boat and filling the boat. The wind is howling, they are sinking down and they and their boat is in danger of being swallowed up by the lake along with Jesus and all their aspirations.  

In Luke’s gospel Jesus had walked right through an angry mob that wanted to throw him down to his death (4:29-30). His disciples had seen Jesus heal many people and cure many of evil spirits (4:35, 40-41). Jesus had enabled them to catch two boat loads of fish with a net in the middle of the day (5:6-7). Jesus had healed a leper (5:13), enabled a paralyzed man to walk (5:25), a centurion’s dying servant to live (7:10), and a widow’s dead son was restored to life (7:15). They are in real danger of descending into a watery grave and with nowhere else to turn, they turn to Jesus. They turn in a panic to Jesus for their boat was being tossed back and forth by the wind and waves, and it was sinking down. How could this miracle working Rabbi who had called them to leave fishing business and everything else lead them into a storm only to drown in the lake. Jesus is at peace, but at their wits end they turn to Jesus.

His disciples rebuke Jesus, “Master, Master, we’re going to perish”! Jesus, having been disturbed from his rest by his panicking disciples, gets up and rebukes the wind and waves. This Rabbi who had told them to get into the boat to go to the other side, is now telling the wind and waves what to do! The wind and waves obey him and then Jesus rebukes his disciples saying, ²⁵ “Where is your faith?” But why did he rebuke them? Hadn’t they turned to Jesus and weren’t they calling on his name. Weren’t they looking to Jesus in utter dependency? Why does Jesus rebuke them saying, “where is your faith?” Well, in the storm their boat was in danger of capsizing and they thought they were going to drown.  Jesus had peace, but his disciples were in a panic and Jesus had wanted them to trust him in the storm.

Jesus gets up rebukes the storm and all his calm, and then he rebukes his disciples for not having faith. As fisherman they must have thought as fisherman they could handle the boat themselves. What does a ‘rabbi’ know about navigating a boat in the midst of a storm? Don’t bother Jesus, after all we’re fisherman… we know the lake! They wait until all else fails to wake Jesus. They may have only wakened him to help bail water out of the boat. Shouldn’t they have turned to Jesus before their boat was sinking down and they were about to drown?  The story tells me that following Jesus doesn’t insulate us from the storms of life! They followed Jesus and Jesus led them into a storm. They needed to trust Jesus in the midst of the storm. If Jesus says “let’s go over to the other side” that doesn’t mean lets go out into the lake and drown in obscurity along with all Jesus’ kingdom plans and purposes.

Jesus said let’s cross the lake, but he didn’t say it would be smooth sailing on the way. They were in danger of drowning, but why did they wait until they were afraid of dying before turning to Jesus. In their fear they turn to Jesus and when Jesus rebukes the storm and everything becomes calm, then they’re both afraid and amazed. They were afraid of dying, but when Jesus calms the storm then they’re really afraid! Simon’s guests had asked, “Who is this who forgives sins?” Now Jesus’ own disciples ask, “Who is this that speaks to the wind and waves and they obey him (Psalm 65:7, 107:27-29).

We can see this episode in the light of the parable of the sower from the previous passage in Luke. Jesus’ disciples are gathered around him in the boat, but what kind of soil are they? Will they listen to God’s word and produce a good crop? Will they trust Jesus in the midst of the storm and show themselves to be those Jesus calls his ‘mother and brothers’? God’s new family of those intimately related to Jesus consists of those who put God’s word into practice. The disciple’s lesson on the lake is the same for us. Will we exhaust all our resources before we discover we have nowhere else to turn but to Jesus? In our storms we must choose faith and trust Jesus. Luke uses this story to again ask the question, ‘Who then is this?’ At Simon the Pharisee’s house the guests ask, “Who is this that forgives sins?” Here we learn that the one who ‘forgive sins’ also has the power to ‘calm the wind and waves’. Following Jesus means facing storms and we're to trust him in the midst of the ‘storm’!