Jesus, the Creator (Matthew 8:23-27)
Notes
Transcript
Jesus, the Creator
Matthew 8:23-27
Sunday, September 29, 2024
Land O’ Lakes Bible Church
Scripture Reading & Prayer
Scripture Reading & Prayer
23 Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters; 24 they saw the deeds of the Lord, his wondrous works in the deep. 25 For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. 26 They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their evil plight; 27 they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits’ end. 28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. 29 He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. 30 Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.
Introduction
Introduction
There are those in current evangelicalism who plan their Sunday messages around world events and the news cycle. They labor to try and make the word of God relevant for their people. Yet, the irony is the majority of times with such an aim, the word of God is undercut as truly relevant. As many of you know, I labor to plan out our sermon series ahead of time with the occasional tweak to the series as needed. The reason for this is because all of God’s word is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. That means even the part we might be tempted to say is not relevant. That is one of the great beauties of expositional preaching, of working our way through whole books of the Bible, laboring out the main idea of those passages and then trying to communicate them clearly to give an understanding of what they actually mean and then laboring to rightly apply them. Of course all of this is dependent upon the LORD, his word, and the work of the Spirit.
Yet, even in such planning, time and time again, the LORD often shows through planned expositional preaching just how relevant his word truly is. For when a passage has been already planned, and yet it finds relevance with current events, it truly shows the power of God.
I believe this morning is one of those days. As many of you know at least by now since we have been praying about it throughout our service, on Thursday night, Hurricane Helen made landfall in the state of Florida. Through Friday, the hurricane continued its damage through Georgia, the Carolinas, and the northeast corner of Tennessee. The raging and furious storm has left houses destroyed, in fact at least one whole community in Northeast Tennessee is completely gone from the flooding damage. Now, Tennessee and the Carolinas are not unfamiliar with flooding. It happens quiet often. We are even use to road wash outs in that area as many roads are built over various water sources. However, to be familiar is not the same as being ready for every situation. And such a situation as this leaves us devastated, some even fearful.
And while we here in the Northwoods of Wisconsin did not feel the effects of this storm, some at least have family and friends effected by this storm. But odds are good that we will face some situation with similar implications. And so the question rises, will we fear or have great faith? That is what I want to talk to us about this morning from our sermon text of Matthew 8:23-27. So, if you have a Bible, I invite you to turn there with me. If you do not have a Bible, please take the Red Bible there in front of you and you can find Matthew 8:23-27 on page #967.
To help us as we prepare to read, we must remember our bearrings here in the gospel according to Matthew. Matthew has written his account of the gospel, the good news of Jesus for the purpose of showing that this Jesus is the one who has come to fulfill all the law and the prophets, along with the writings too. That Jesus has come to fulfill the promises made to both David and Abraham. That Jesus has come to fulfill that of being God’s son called out of Egypt. That he has come to fulfill being the one to bear our illness and disease. All of this for the purpose of saving his people from their sins.
Matthew has structured his gospel account to show these things in the form of a rotating narrative-discourse structure. Discourse meaning teaching. Matthew 1-4 being the introduction narrative, Matthew 5-7 being the first discourse, and now in Matthew 8-9 we are in the narrative. Therefore in Matthew 5-7, we see Jesus teach on the law and the prophets with authority, but now in Matthew 8-9, we are seeing the narrative of that authority at work.
We saw this authority in Jesus healing an unclean leper by touching him and not becoming unclean himself. We see that Jesus has authority to speak a word and heal a young Gentile servant in the Centurion’s servant, even with him far off. But with one in such authority, we are also being shown what it looks like then to follow one with such authority. And while we started that last week with the two who professed a desire to follow Jesus, we see that continued this morning with the disciples to stand in direct contrast with the two previously mentioned in Matthew 8:18-22. Where they would not count the cost and follow Jesus, his disciples follow him into the boat. (Read Text: Matthew 8:23-27.)
Main Idea: When our fears overwhelm our confidence that Christ is with us, we have little faith; great faith though is had when we remember that Christ is with us to the end of the age even in the midst of the raging storm. We are going to unfold this in 2 points. Point #1, The Great Storm covering verses 23-26a. Point #2, The Great Calm covering verses 26b-27.
Point #1: The Great Storm
Point #1: The Great Storm
Initial orders were given to the disciples to set sail across the sea back in verse 18, but a momentarily delay took place. As Jesus sought to escape the crowds, two emerged from the crowds and professed they wanted to follow Jesus, one was too eager and failed to count the cost. However, once he heard the cost, he did not follow. Another professed to want to follow Jesus, but not quick enough, he was not willing to forsake allegiance to his father in order to follow Jesus. But now, a group stands in direct contrast to these two. A group called disciples, that is students, learners from the teacher, Jesus. Disciples who upon hearing the cost will continue to follow Jesus. Verse 23.
Biblical discipleship counts the cost and follows our master wherever he goes. And so, the disciples follow King Jesus into the boat. They prepare to set sail with him across the sea, understanding that they may not have a place to lay their heads and forsaking allegiances, to career and at least two have left their father. But what comes next will expose a weakness in the disciples as they cross what is presumed to be the Sea of Galilee. Verse 24.
It was not uncommon for storms to pop out of nowhere on the sea. Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John who were all fishermen would have certainly been all too familiar with these storms. And yet, the ferociousness of this particular storm caused even those most familiar with these sea storms to fear.
Granted, this is no normal storm, we read here it was a great storm, or as another translation puts it, a furious storm. This storm was shaking the sea and the boat similar to how an earthquake would shake the land. The waters were swamping, they were flooding the boat. Yet while it brought fear to the disciples, Jesus was asleep in the boat.
Jesus who had been quiet busy with teaching, with healing all the sick who were brought to him, casting out demons, isolating alone to pray to the Father was tired in his humanity. A tiredness that lead him to sleep soundly in the midst of the storm. What a sweet reminder that Jesus truly did share in our humanity. A humanity that too needed rest. And though there are some who argue that Jesus was pretending to sleep to teach his disciples, I like Calvin think this is a silly argument. Jesus truly slept here in the storm in his tiredness.
But the tiredness of Jesus was not the only reason he rested. Jesus knew the Father’s plan, he knew his end. He had no need to fear or feel uneasy about the storm at hand. Jesus knew his path was a path of suffering. For he who taught that to follow him was a costly road, knew that the end for him would be the cross. A cross where he would lay down his life in exchange for his people in order to save them from their sins.
So Jesus need not be concerned about the great storm and its shaking and its swamping of the boat. Not to mention, he himself was over creation as the Son of God. More on that in a bit. But who Jesus is is forgotten by his disciples and this great storm exposes their weakness. Verses 25-26a.
The disciples recognized Jesus as Lord, they recognized that he could save them. This is why they go to him and wake him, they fear perishing and hope that Jesus will stop it. They do not turn here to the most experienced on the sea, but to Jesus. Which is the right place to turn. However, though they turn to the right one, their fear proves how small their faith truly is.
Jesus asks the disciples why they fear and ties their fear to the littleness of their faith. Now, let it be clear, the disciples here are not being placed in the place of the scribe wanting to follow Jesus, but recanting from hearing the cost or the son who did not follow in being called to give his allegiance to Jesus instead of his father. They have faith, but it is a little faith. A little faith that is overcome by fear instead of trust.
For though they have faith, though they turn to Jesus, their faith is shaky, their trust is shaky. Because if their great confidence laid in Christ to rescue them, why do they fear? One commentator writes:
Irrational fear resists comfort. It forgets the power and goodness of God. It extinguishes faith. Godly fear recognizes the threat at hand, but it is tempered by confidence in God. When dangers loom, we should remember that God masters storms. [1]
It is this irrational fear that the disciples had, forgetting the power and goodness of God. Their faith was strong enough to go to Jesus, but too weak to trust he had the authority to carry them through the storm, for they feared they were going to perish.
Friends, this is where the Sovereignty of God comes into play in our daily Christian lives, in the midst of trials, afflictions, and suffering, do we trust the goodness of God and his sovereignty over all things. And it is only in the midst of these where our faith is most tested.
You see, the LORD allows such affliction, trials, suffering to come upon his people for the purpose of taking them through a refining fire, a fire that will not destroy, but test and try and strengthen their faith, just like a fire is used to shape and mold a sword. This is why J.C. Ryle writes,
We never perhaps know the weakness of our faith, until we are placed in the furnace of trial and anxiety. Blessed and happy is that person who finds by experience that his faith can stand the fire, and that he can say with Job, “though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.” (Job 13:15.) [2]
Christian, we should take heart that it is in the moments of trials that we are being tested and taught time and time again to trust our Lord more and more. Even when our faith seems weak, we can take heart that our weak faith is being strengthened by our good God and will continue to do so.
Point #2: The Great Calm
Point #2: The Great Calm
We are to take heart even in the midst of our weak faith with our fear, because Jesus does not just rebuke his disciples for having little faith, his rebuke goes further. Verse 26b.
Jesus rebukes the winds and the sea in the midst of their shaking and ferociousness. And what happens? A Great Calm comes upon the sea. Not a steady calming, a great calm. The waters went from swamping to still. To quote Charles Spurgeon,
As it was a great tempest, now he gives “a great calm”: there was nothing little in the whole business, except the disciples’ faith. [3]
And just a great calming causes those with him to marvel about him. Verse 27.
Matthew here switches from disciples in verse 23 now to men. It is possible that the men here responding are not the disciples. For in Mark’s parallel account (Mark 4:35-41), Mark notes other boats were there. Therefore it is possible that Matthew here is referring to the men in these other boats.
However, it is more likely that the disciples are being called men in their marvelling being set in contrast to Jesus. For they wonder what kind of man is this that the wind and the seas obey Jesus. For such authority is only prescribed to God. We saw this earlier in our service, in our scripture reading from Psalm 107:23-30. Man does not control the weather and nature, but God does. For there in Psalm 107:25 it is God who raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. And then, 4 verses later, we read that the LORD made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.
Therefore it is one thing for these men to attribute these things to God, but another to see this man Jesus do this. Yet Jesus is no ordinary man. He himself though fully man is also fully God. He is the second person of the Triune God. Jesus, with the Father and Holy Spirit are powerful, powerful over creation. Yet there are not three gods, but one Almighty God. And here we are seeing that power at work through Jesus, the Son of God.
For the winds and the sea obey Jesus as the Sovereign Lord, as the one who rules over creation, because he is the one over creation and who holds it all together. This is flushed out elsewhere in the Bible.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
It is this Sovereign Lord, this one who brings the sea and the winds to obedience who then stands in the boat with the disciples. And it is because of who he is that is to cast away the fear of these disciples. They are to have faith not because the circumstances are favorable, but because of who he is and because he is with them.
Christian, one of the most neglected parts of our christian discipleship comes at the close of the Great Commission. We are hopefully familiar or at least becoming more familiar with the call of the commission:
Matthew 28:18–20 (ESV)
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
But now remember this last part. This last sentence.
And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Christian, our Savior has promised to be with us till the end of the age. He has promised to be there in the boat in the raging, shaking ferocity of the storm. He will be there in the midst of our suffering, our trials, our hardships. He will be there in our disease and afflictions, he will be there in the midst of our struggles, he will be there in the midst of our despair. He will be there in the midst of our sorrows. He will be there in the midst of our griefs. And not only will he be there, he is able in his power to strengthen us and carry us through. At times he will still the storm and bring us relief from our afflictions. But in others, he will give us grace and strength to endure as we learn to lean on him and trust him all the more.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, let us then consider what our present trials and sufferings and hardships are revealing to us about our faith, about the amount and strength of it. It is one thing for us to be stricken by fear because of the threat before us, but that fear cannot cause us to lack confidence and trust in our God. As one commentator put it, “we must remember that God masters storms.” [4]
Knowing who Jesus is helps us know that we can trust him and rest in him through the storm. So brothers and sisters in Christ, let our hearts not despise the storms that come, let us trust our good God in all his power to be with us and care for us in the midst of it.
But for a moment as we prepare to close, I want to turn the attention here to any who have not yet come to trust in Christ. Friend, as this shaking furious storm exposed the smallness of the faith of disciples, maybe your present trials are a means of God being gracious to you and showing you that you don’t have it all held together on your own, but a means of pointing you to him who has all authority, even over the wind and the seas. And that he is working to reveal himself to you where you too can enter his presence and have the same comfort of having one with you through it all. Friend, behold Jesus. Jesus who is no ordinary man, but the Son of God. He has come to save us from our sins if we will put our faith and trust in him and his sacrificial death on the cross as the payment for our sins. And because he has defeated death in his rising from the grave on the third day, we have the hope that we in our own deaths will do the same. That we too will one day stand with new bodies in a world where no more sin and sorrow and suffering exists. Why? Because he who has authority over the winds and the sea has already come and is already making all things new again! Friend, repent and believe today.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Jesus is the Almighty! We do not know what may lay ahead of us, what trials, sufferings, hardships may come our way as we take up our crosses daily to follow him. But we who have trusted in Jesus may take heart, Jesus has promised to be with us until the end of the age. A promise coming from he who has been given all authority in heaven and earth. Authority great enough to still the wind and the seas in the midst of the raging furious storm. Let us continue to learn to trust Jesus, our Savior, our Friend. Trusting him, knowing that he is with us, and will be with us to the end. O for grace to trust Him more!
Let’s pray…
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Endnotes
[1] Daniel M. Doriani, Matthew & 2, ed. Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani, vol. 1, Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2008), 349.
[2] J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1860), 79.
[3] C. H. Spurgeon, The Gospel of the Kingdom: A Commentary on the Book of Matthew (London: Passmore and Alabaster, 1893), 52.
[4] Daniel M. Doriani, Matthew & 2, ed. Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani, vol. 1, Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2008), 349.
