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 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 marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"

- Matthew 8:18-27

Yesterday we read that when Jesus had entered Capernaum (after healing a leper), a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented."  And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."  The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof.  But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.  For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.  And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."  When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "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."  Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you."  And his servant was healed that same hour.  Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever.  So He touched her hand, and the fever left her.  And she arose and served them.  When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed.  And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses."

 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."   The Son of Man is a term found in the book of Daniel (Daniel 7:13); it is used to refer to the Messiah.  It expresses both Jesus' humanity and His divinity.  Here He refers to His human condition.   Elsewhere it describes His divine authority (25:31-33). 

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."  My study bible says here that Jesus is not negating the command to honor parents, but is rather teaching us to put the things of the Kingdom as the highest priority.  Those who ignore this priority are spiritually dead.  In both examples of the scribe, above, and this disciple, it is the things of the Kingdom which come first; even as Incarnate Son, Jesus finds Himself as One without a place to lay His head.

 Now when He 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 marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"  Here Christ's mastery over creation is another sign that He is the Messiah and is divine, my study bible tells us.  A command to the sea and waves could only be issued by God (Job 38:8-11; Psalm 65:5-6, 106:9).   We also see Jesus' full humanity expressed here.  He was asleep because, as human being, He needed rest.  In His Incarnation, Jesus assumed all the natural actions of the flesh, which of course includes sleep.  This image of Christ and His disciples in a boat is one traditionally used to illustrate the Church.  My study bible says, "God both permits storms and delivers us through them, so that we can see His protection more clearly."  His rebuke of the storm is also a spiritual illustration of calming the storms in the human soul.

Each of the stories contained in today's reading give us illustrations of the fearlessness asked of us that is a quality of discipleship.  That is, the natural human fears and worries that accompany the journey of discipleship, of faith, are those things we must acknowledge but not allow to hinder or stop the journey.  There is a quality of fearlessness that is also asked of us, regardless of whatever else is going on.  In putting the things of the Kingdom as first priority, there may be all kinds of ways in which we are asked to break through, override, or transcend our personal fears and concerns.  We're asked for courage in faith. Jesus first challenges the scribe to an understanding that even He has no place to lay His head, preparing him for discipleship and the sacrifices that may be asked by following Him.  He then tells a disciple that the concerns of home and family life left behind may be things of the past not required by the present path of discipleship, and left to those who still live that life.  We may not all have such stark levels of challenge to deal with, but we will all face challenges of life in learning a deeper faith.  This can apply to any number of things that we leave behind in our own faith journey, ways of life and even social concerns or former duties which are no longer top priority.  We note the vivid detail of the journey across the sea.  Jesus has commanded the disciples to go forward, even across this sea which is home to the several fishermen among the disciples.  But for them it is still strange territory; they are going to the other side, and are no longer in home waters.  The boat was covered with the waves.  Sometimes it seems that waves are all that we can see!  Our following of Christ may lead to great waves in our own lives, where all we seem to do is to make waves, to be in unfamiliar and uncharted territory, with even hostility around us.  This is a far cry from the idea that by following Christ we lead charmed or magical lives in which all goes the way we assume it "should."  Faith leads us to new places, instead.  It takes us where we likely would not have gone before.  But faith -- not our own good intentions or resolutions -- has a way of rendering us secure.  A life of prayer is that which roots us to this ship, even when we feel that Christ is asleep or not responding to us.  We anchor ourselves to this place with Him and renew our faith even when everything around us looks like it's against us.  It's a teaching that the one thing that is firm and upon which we hold as a foundation is Him.  He teaches us that it is faith, His love for us and our trust in Him, that roots us to what is truly secure -- even in a world that offers little real security in fact.   He has nowhere to lay His head; even those who are dear to us may pass and the things we thought important may take second place.  All kinds of things will arise to seemingly oppose our faith, but there is one place, one relationship in which we may take hold and place our faith and trust.  The journey will teach us greater faith, but to get there we need to face and go through our fears.   The only way to do this is through His guidance and safety, allowing His word and commands to lead the way.