The Fountain of Life Church: Jesus Rebukes the Storm

If it’s not about Jesus, it’s not about anything

Motto of the Fountain of Life

In January, following the Epiphany, the liturgical calendar features Jesus’ activity on the Sea of Galilee where he calmed the winds and waves. During our last visit we looked at the turn the world upside down statements made by Jesus at the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-6-7

SPS: To follow Matthew’s chronology beyond the Sermon on the Mount and see if he had an organized purpose to it. To provide background of the events and people involved in Matthew’s presentation.

The Sermon on the Mount, as reported in Matthew chapter 5-7 may well have taken place on a gently sloping hill a little south of Capernaum. St. Matthew presents chapters 8 and 9 together as a continuation of the action which followed the Sermon event. It is not important to St.Matthew if the events were simultaneous or not. He puts them together for a purpose to present Jesus as the Messiah to the Jewish readers and hearers of his evangel.

In the sermon on the mount, Jesus uses a rabbinic formula “You have heard it said.” Then the rabbi would comment on the saying. However, Jesus does not comment on a saying. He says, But I say to you. “And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine. For he taught as one having authority, and not as the scribes” Matt. 7:28-29.

The beatitudes radically overturn the law concept that the punishment must meet the crime. Again, Jesus takes the common acceptable attitude and turns it on its ear. Go the extra mile, turn the other cheek, love your enemies. Jesus is turning upside down all the respected, accepted modes of behavior.

His sayings are unlike anything ever heard. And when he leaves the mouth of the Beatitudes, “great multitudes followed him. Matt 8;1. At the least, Jesus aroused their curiosity. But what are people to make of these new teachings of the young rabbi from Nazareth? Are they just nice thoughts or nice sentiments of a nice man? St.Matthew crafts his gospel story to prove that the words of Jesus are far more than just another philosophical or moral system. There is weight, there is power behind Jesus’ words. Jesus is not just a nice young rabbi. He is the Christ, the King of Israel, the savior. And as such, his words are the words of the Christ that the entire Old Testament pointed too and to the Christ that nation of Israel was called to expect as a son of Juda, the promised son of David.

After giving this manifesto of the kingdom in chapter five and six, St.Matthew records Jesus working a dozen or more miracles in chapter 8 and 9. These manifestations of power are not those of a nice young rabbi. They are the manifestation of the Christ of God, the son of David, the long-awaited savior of Israel.

We will look at the first six of these miracles and comment somewhat on the calming of the storm. We review them from the perspective of the multitude who followed Jesus down from the mountain. And we are faced with a crisis in our lives when we come face to face with the real Jesus. Can a nice young rabbi do these things? Who is he? Who can do these things? We have heard the word; we now see the power. Our crises is that of recognizing who he is and accepting him or not.

1. Healing the leper: Jesus touches him. This was considered beyond the pale. People fled from them. Lepers themselves hid their faces from people. They were unclean. It you touched one, you were unclean had had to present yourself to the priest. It was beyond human disease at its worse. It was un-clean. Yet He touched him. Jesus did not become unclean. He reversed it and, the leper became clean after the touch of Jesus. Healing is for the outcast.

2. Healing the centurion’s servant. This was done from a distance. There was no laying on of hands. Jesus’ healing is not limited by distance. Healing is for the slaves. His power is over the physical.

3. Healing Peter’s mother-in-law. He touches her. Healing is for the free.

4. Casting out demons: The former healings were physical. This is the supernatural realm of spirits.

His power is over the supernatural.

5. Calming the storm: This is the realm of nature and natural forces. His power is over nature.

6. Casting out demons from the two demoniacs at Gergesenes. Jesus’ commands, his power cannot be outnumbered or opposed.

Jesus displays his power in all these areas. St.Matthew does not list them in a chronological order but in a logical order showing easy movement from area to area; a movement which is impossible for an ordinary human.

Jesus calms the storm: Background

The Sea of Galilee is about 13 miles long and 8 miles wide. That is somewhere near 64 acres. It was known for sudden and raging storms. It was a major source of fish, much of which was processed, cured and sold as far away as Rome. Possibly seven Apostles were fishermen. Scripture identifies St.Peter, and St.Andrew, St.James and St. John. Multiple sources indicate that thee other Apostles made their living on the sea. St.Nathaniel, St.Philip and St. Thomas. They were very familiar with the intricacies of life and labor on the Sea of Galilee.

During Jesus’ time, Galilee may have had between 2 to 3 million inhabitants. But they were far from all being Jewish. The Israelite population was carried away in captivity to Assyria by Tiglath-pileser and replaced by pagan immigrants. The predominant mixture of Gentile races eventually changed the worship of Judaism and for the same reason the Galilean accent and dialect were noticeably different than that of the southern Jews.

Galilee itself produced some of the most tenacious opposition to Roman occupation. The Zealots were founded by Judas the Galilean of Acts 5:37. Galileans were unpopular if not outright distasteful to the Roman rulers. But the Jews of Judea to the south found Galileans extremely repugnant. The Jews of Judea held that Galilean interpretation and practice of Jewish law made Galileans not much better than apostates. Galileans held the Pharisees to be moral policemen and them battled them over the use of olive oil, dietary laws and the celebration of festivals. Southern Jews viewed Galileans as ignorant, uncultured, earthy and crude. Jesus no doubt spoke with the Galilean brogue, as did St. Peter Mark 14:70. Jesus’ accent most likely intensified the dislike which the Jews of purer blood and purer orthodox tradition had for Galileans in general.

Matt 8:23-27: "And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea: and there was a great calm. But the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?"

They were fearful of the storm. Since they were seasoned sailors It must have been bad.

They were astonished at the calm. They had never seen such a change in the weather. It was not natural. He slept as a human does. It was real sleep. Not pretend. The disciples did not know what to do. They faced the storm with the best of their natural ability, yet that was not enough. They had seen Jesus perform several miracles. It seems natural that they would turn to Him for salvation. How does he save? He commanded as a god does. There was no prayer, there was no request for intercession. He commanded. He addressed the elements, the wind the waves and he commands them directly…and they obey. Whatever the disciples expected Jesus to do to save them, perhaps that was not it. Elijah and Elisha worked miracles, great miracles. Yes, even Jesus worked prior miracles. But a demonstration of power on this scale had never been seen since Moses parted the Red Sea. Moses predicted that one day Israel again would see a profit like Moses. It is absolutely no wonder that the apostles marveled [Mark 4:41 adds that they feared exceedingly] and asked “What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey hum?”

The storm at Galilee shows Jesus so very clearly as the God-Man. The storm at Galilee and the other miracles show that Jesus has the power to enable the ethic of the Sermon on the Mount. This is so important to our salvation. The storm at Galilee show what Jesus does. God is what He does. Knowing Jesus as God can be as simple as seeing what he does. The Nicene Creed as amended in A.D. 381 at the First Counsel of Constantinople reads: "Jesus Christ…true god of true god…(He) was made flesh by the Holy Ghost, of the virgin Mary: and was made man.”

Conclusion: Adam as our corporate head led all humanity into sin. Jesus is God. God, the creator of all has the power to forgive the sins of all his creatures. Jesus, the new Adam, led all humanity into righteous. Amen.