When Jesus got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. So the men marvelled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” (Matthew 8:23-28)
Very few people today understand who Jesus is. If you knew my Jesus, you would want to know and serve Him. My Jesus is the most wonderful and glorious person in the world. But the problem is, people have the wrong idea of who Jesus really is. They don’t know the reality of Jesus. When I go into traditional churches, I see Jesus depicted in two different ways: sometimes you see Him in a beautiful painting as a baby in His mother’s arms. But I want to tell you, the Jesus of the Bible is no baby. He is a Man of power and authority. Then there are some other pictures and images of Jesus as a dead Man on a cross. Yet Jesus is not dead! I want to shout that out to the world today: Jesus is not dead. He is alive! Yes, He died on a cross, but death could not hold Him.
This story in Matthew is about real men. It is not about saints or angels. But men like you. Hard working men. Men who were used to an extremely difficult life fishing on the sea. Yet, when they came face-to-face with the real Jesus, a Man of power and authority, this was their comment: “We never knew He was like this”. In amazement they exclaimed, “What kind of Man is He?” When they saw what He could do, they were shocked, they were amazed. They bowed in worship.
The disciples marvelled at Jesus - they didn’t realise they had this kind of Man in the boat with them. He’s got so much power that the wind and the sea obey Him! He is the Lord of Heaven and earth, the Jesus who still works miracles today. He is the Son of the Living God!
You may be in a storm today, not an actual storm of wind and waves, but an emotional storm. We all experience powerful storms. That is why we need to know the Man who speaks peace and calms every wave. Jesus has promised, “you can be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)
O Lord God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your mighty hand, for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do anything like Your works and Your mighty deeds? (Deuteronomy 3:24)
‘We give You Glory Lord / Hosanna in the highest / Awesome God’ used by kind permission Vinesong.com