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

 

 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, 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."  My study Bible comments that, since the term Son of Man refers to the Messiah (Daniel 7:13), it is an expression of both His humanity and His divinity.  Here it's a reference to Jesus' human condition; in Matthew 25:31-33 it describes His divine authority.

 

 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 that Jesus is not negating the command to honor parents, but rather teaching us to put the things of the Kingdom as our highest priority.  Those who ignore this priority are spiritually 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?"  Similarly to His healing miracles, Christ's mastery over creation on display here is another sign that He is the Messiah and is divine.  Jesus issues commands to the sea and the waves; my study Bible comments that such can only be issued by God (Job 38:8-11; Psalm 66:5-6, 107:29).  It further notes that Jesus was asleep because, as a human being, He needed rest.  In His Incarnation we see that Jesus assumed all the natural actions of human flesh, of which sleep is one.  This image of Christ and His disciples in a boat is traditionally used to illustrate the Church.  My study Bible concludes that God both permits storms and delivers us through them, so that we can see God's protection more clearly.  Christ's rebuke of this storm is also an illustration of His calming the tempests in the human soul.  

 

Who can this be, indeed?  This is the question we are supposed to ask (see Matthew 16:15).   In yesterday's reading and commentary, we discussed the question of authority.  Christ has no earthly sign of authority in the sense that He is not a well-known rabbi, not a Levitical priest, not a member of the Sanhedrin or ruling Council.  He comes from a humble background (the carpenter's son), from a seemingly small and not noteworthy town (Can anything good come out of Nazareth?).  So authority on worldly terms is not something Jesus commands.  And yet, He speaks with authority and astonishes people in so doing (Matthew 7:28-29).  We might call it, from a human perspective, a surprising paradox.  One without authority speaks with authority (even as Judge), heals with authority, and here commands even the wind and the sea.  He acts with authority.  Yesterday we read about the centurion, a clear image of worldly authority, yet who has greater faith than any Christ had found in Israel.  In that reading (see above), it was Jesus' turn to marvel.  And yet, in today's reading, He speaks about the cost of discipleship.  He says, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  He even speaks of leaving family behind -- even family obligations -- when necessary to do so for the Kingdom.  "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead" is a command He gives indicating the first priority of the spiritual life; perhaps indicating this is particularly true if what is left behind is spiritually dead.  But all of this indicates putting the spiritual life first, as first priority, as my study Bible says.  It is this perspective that we need on our worldly lives, and for making our choices in our lives.  Let's note that almost everything Jesus does calls for courage.  This is not only true for Jesus but also for His disciples, those who follow Him.  The story of crossing the stormy Sea of Galilee teaches us this quite vividly.  This is not to say that faithful Christians should take unnecessary risks or avoid thoughtful planning in what they do.  But it does teach us than when our faith calls us to something, then that becomes first priority, and faith must carry us through even the risks we encounter.  Most of all, we call upon Christ in prayer, even when God feels to us to be "sleeping."  Our faith rests upon that guidance, and in the case described in today's reading, it is Jesus who is leading these seasoned fishermen across the sea, even though they fear for their lives.  Perhaps our faith journey will take us through many difficult passages of life, in which we fear loss to ourselves in one way or another.  Jesus Himself has no home; this is something human beings universally have need of and fear to lose.  The man who must leave family obligations behind to follow Jesus will fear the loss of family connections, also a universal need in human beings.  But this "natural" fear of human life in these cases runs contrary to where the spiritual life is calling, and so faith must be the resounding answer, and the risk taken in faith.  Jesus' crossing the Sea of Galilee speaks clearly to this point, when Jesus asks the disciples, ""Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" We are reminded once more in today's reading that authority is practiced appropriately when it is reflective of the qualities of the authority we find in Christ; and above all we know that God is love, God heals on all levels (for this also includes salvation and redemption), and God leads us to become more like God -- to reflect our true nature.  That is, God's image and likeness (Genesis 1:26).  As we will see in the following reading, this journey across the tempestuous sea is for a reason, heading toward a particular and spectacular healing, and spiritual battle.  Let us follow Him in faith in our own lives.  We will always be challenged by the perspective of the worldly and authoritative without Christ; our faith is to live His priorities first.