Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?

And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

Now when he got into a boat, His disciples 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 marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"

- Matthew 8:18-27

In yesterday's reading, we read about Jesus being approached by a centurion. He was concerned over his young servant, who was violently and terribly ill, "dreadfully tormented." Jesus said that He would come to heal him. The centurion replied, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed." He was also a man of authority, like Jesus, and had soldiers under his command. What he commanded, they did. Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." He told the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you."

Later, in verses that we have skipped in our readings, Jesus also healed Peter's mother-in-law, in Capernaum. In the evening, many brought to Him those who were demon-possessed. The Gospel tells us, He cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.” My study bible points out that Jesus' healing miracles are very diverse. But, as the quote from Isaiah indicates, all of Jesus' miracles manifest His redemptive ministry on behalf of ailing humanity.

And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead." To depart to the other side means to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Then we get a couple of examples of those who would be His disciples, and in His response Jesus tells us something more about what is required in discipleship. To the scribe, He points out that He has no place, no position, no worldly authority, not even a home. His ministry requires great personal and social sacrifice in the dedication it calls from us. Regarding the term Son of Man, my study bible says, "Since Son of Man refers to the Messiah (Dan. 7:13), it expresses both His humanity and divinity." Here it refers to Jesus' human condition, while later reference in Matthew will describe His divine authority as Judge. Next, Jesus is asked by another if he may go bury his father before departure. But Jesus replies, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their dead." Again, the Gospel speaks to sacrifice on the part of disciples, and it is once more a sacrifice of the social order. We trust there are others to bury this man's father. My study bible points out this is not a command against honoring parents, but that nothing ought to be more urgent than the things of the Kingdom. "Those who ignore heavenly priority are spiritually dead." Discipleship asks of us to place first the kingdom of heaven in our personal priorities; this is teaching of personal sacrifice. The social and worldly life of position and status comes after discipleship, the life of the kingdom. Just as the centurion in yesterday's reading was a man of courage, so discipleship must bring out courage in us all, sometimes asking us to make very difficult personal choices and sacrifices we may never have expected.

Now when he got into a boat, His disciples 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 marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?" Again, the Scripture today speaks to courage, the courage involved in discipleship. This is a courage for each one of us, sometimes very personal, in ways no one else can really know how powerfully its meaning impacts in our lives. A tempest is a great metaphor for all the challenges of life, especially those that stir up our fears and emotions and pull us in all directions, ones of great meaning to us personally. Jesus' answer, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" tells us what we need to know. We don't let our fears stop us. It doesn't matter what they are, how they impact us. There is a choice to be made. Here, Jesus commands that they go to the other side, the other side of the Sea of Galilee, into unknown and Gentile territory. In tomorrow's reading, we will see what they find there.

Jesus' command and rebuke tells us about our journeys on the sea of faith. Where He tells us to go, we go. Sometimes this will demand a great personal sacrifice. If you ask me, the Cross will often compel us to make choices in our lives. What comes first? So often, even the things we cling to most deeply and prize most highly will have to be second place to the kingdom, to the places Christ asks us to go in faith, when we "Follow Him." At least, this has surely been my personal experience. And it does take courage to do so. This courage comes via faith -- as Jesus' answer clearly shows us. Faith is a trust in Him, a trust that where He takes us is where we need to go in our lives. We may not always have great physical or material experiences we can point to and show others our courage. Often it is something of great meaning to us, a sacrifice only we and Christ -- who knows our hearts -- can measure. But we can be sure that the Cross speaks to us of trust, in faith, that we follow Him just as He followed the Father. We don't know what's on the other side of the sea. We may even be covered with the waves, our little boats afloat seemingly threatened with turning asunder and sinking. Sometimes the sacrifice we make may be giving up all our certainties of life, our social understanding. But we have the power of His faith and even His rebuke. "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" We trust in where He takes us. This is what discipleship asks. It is the courage we need for the good fight of faith.