Matthew 8:23-27 A Word from Jesus for the Anxious
Ernest Gordon was a captain in the 2nd Battalion of the 93 highlanders in Malaya when the Japanese descended on Singapore in World War II. By the time Singapore fell only 30 men remained out of the 1000 in the battalion. Ernest had been shot in the shoulder. He was captured and eventually sent to help build the 258 mile long railway through the jungles of Thailand and Burma. The prisoners of war were beaten and tortured and only given minimal portions of rice to eat. Ernest nearly died but some friends, who were Christians. including a man called Dusty Miller sacrificially rescued him. One Christian soldier, Angus McGillvray, gave all his own food ration to save a sick friend who did recover, but Angus then died of starvation. Dusty reminded Ernest Gordon of the Bible verse,
“My command is this. Love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13
The Christians became known for their self-sacrifice in helping others and this began to have an effect on the camp. Ernest Gordon was not convinced that the Bible was true arguing against Dusty’s faith, asking,
“Twenty young men are dying every day. Why doesn’t God do something, instead of just sitting on his big white throne in heaven?”
Ernest was scared and saw no answer.
Then, one day, the wretched prisoners passed through a village where the villagers, instead of shunning them, gave them food, money and medicines. They learned that those villagers had become Christians out of Buddhism through the influence of a missionary. Ernest began to ponder whether there was more to Christianity than he had understood. Then, out of the blue, an Australian sergeant asked Ernest if he would lead a Bible study with the object of finding out whether what the Bible taught was true. To do this he had to understand what the gospels taught. Over the following months Ernest, and many others, committed themselves to following the Lord Jesus. The whole attitude of the camp began to change. On Christmas Day 1943 over 2,000 men attended a Christian service. Ernest was freed at the end of the war and later was ordained. He wrote the best-seller ‘Bridge on the River Kwai’ describing much of what happened to him and others. Those prisoners were terrified but God changed that.
This section in Matthew is a passage where God asks,
“What are you afraid of?”
So much of what people face in the world can be scaring. Look at the earthquakes, the tsunamis and the devastation of war shown every day on television. There are some who cannot even watch the news as it reminds them of what they may have to face. When one of these problems face us we are powerless. Some can close their minds to such disasters affecting others but then they hear of a friend or relative or themselves in whom nature has gone awry. Some rogue cells have lost control and a cancer has started or a car-driver loses control of his vehicle and it crashes into a crowd of people: such things do happen.
We try to keep out of harm’s way. We think the best but even the some issue, such as the death of someone close to us, will remind us all too clearly of our own fragility and the precarious path we are all on.
Matthew 8 so far
In chapters 5-7 we heard of Jesus’s authority in his teaching here it is obvious for all to see his supernatural power. In Matthew 8 we read of the remarkable authority of Jesus in action. He healed a man of leprosy, which represents our sin, he has healed a man of paralysis simply by his word, and he has healed sickness and demon possession which were understood to be related. It is not surprising that the crowds flock to him. It is not difficult to fill an arena or church if you offer people what they would like to see.
However Jesus then pointed out what it really means to follow him.
“The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” Matthew 8:20
Jesus suggests that his followers will face similar problems
“Let the dead bury their own dead”. Matthew 8:21
Jesus wants followers whose first commitment is to him even before their family.
Such radical commands seem so foolish. If we throw in our lot with Jesus it seems there will be even more to fear than before. Is it really worth the risk?
The disciples face a deadly problem
The theme of discipleship is still being discussed:
“Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him.” Matthew 8:23
Jesus is leading his disciples into a tough experience. So often, in the gospels, there is a deeper meaning than the obvious. The disciples ‘followed him’. To follow Jesus is always to live a life of service and obedience to him. Jesus said to his disciples elsewhere:
“Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honour the one who serves me.” John 12:26
Suddenly a great storm arose. The Sea of Galilee is notorious for such storms. As the disciples did their best to keep the boat afloat, Jesus was fast asleep:
“Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.” Matthew 8:27
Those disciples were not casual day-trippers, they were well-trained, hardened fisherman who knew the Sea of Galilee well and yet this storm really worried them.
On 25th October 1859 it began to rain in Pembrokeshire in Wales. By mid-afternoon the rain and wind became much heavier. By evening the whole coast was facing a ferocious storm. The intensity of the wind and waves increased even further during the night - they were unrelenting in their intensity. A steamer called ‘Royal Charter’ was returning to Liverpool from the Australian goldfields with an estimated 450–460 passengers and crew and this ship was battered by a Force 12 hurricane. Her anchors snapped, and she was driven onto the rocks of Porth Alerth (near Moelfre), where she eventually broke in two. At least 459 people perished. Many passengers, returning miners, drowned under the weight of gold in their belts and pockets. All women and children aboard died. Only 39 people (21 passengers and 18 crew members, all men) made it to shore. The loss of the ‘Royal Charter’ sparked widespread public shock. Charles Dickens famously traveled to Anglesey to report on the catastrophe. The disaster is also historically significant because the scale of the storm (which wrecked around 200 ships in total) led to the development of the UK's first gale warning service by the Meteorology Office.
The disciples were similarly terrified, they thought they would die. But there was Jesus - fast asleep. He was obviously not worried. We can imagine the disciples shaking him in desperation,
“The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” Matthew 8:25
The first thing Jesus does is to ask his disciples a question. His priority was always to teach his disciples God’s concerns and about the way he wants his people to live. He longs for us all to know the purpose of our lives. You can imagine the disciples questioning Jesus’ priorities:
“Jesus, this is not the time for one of your riddles or a teaching session. Can’t you see that we are in dire peril? Can’t you see the wind and the waves?”
Jesus, however, knew what really mattered:
“He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Matthew 12:26
Fear
Jesus often addresses this issue of fear as it can paralyse people from living as he wants. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus has had much to say on worrying about what might happen in the future:
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? . . . So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:25-34
This is in line with other passages in Scripture:
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
“I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” Psalm 34:4
“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.” Proverbs 29:25
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10
“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:7
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” 1 John 4:18
The disciples problem is that they had ‘little faith’ (Matthew 8:26). This is striking. They had left their homes to follow Jesus and had cried out to him, ‘Save us’. They had witnessed his power. They knew he was their only hope but this knowledge was shallow, he still was not much of a hope!. Did they really think that Jesus could do much about this terrifying storm? Jesus responded to their fear:
“Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.” Matthew 8:26
Whether or not the disciples understood all Jesus had said is questionable, but the winds and waves certainly did. What a lesson - the forces of nature are under the control of God. This is yet another a staggering display of Jesus’ authority. The effect on the disciples should be one that everybody asks:
“The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” Matthew 8:27
Who is Jesus?
No mere man could do such a miracle. Mere humans are powerless in such a situation, but not Jesus. He was much more than a man. Can you imagine the discussion later when the disciples sought out an answer to their own question, ‘What kind of man is this?’ (Matthew 8:27)
When the world was created, God said to the land and seas. It is a recurrent theme in Scripture that God only has to say a word for things to happen:
“Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.” Genesis 1:9-10
God told the waters where it was to go and they obeyed. On the Sea of Galilee, God told the waters what to do and they again obeyed.
Psalm 107 describes the plight of four groups of people. The first group were lost in a wilderness, another were chained in a prison dungeon, the third group were rebels and suffering as a result and the fourth group were sailors on a turbulent sea. Each group recognised that they desperately needed the Lord’s help. Four times in this psalm we read:
“Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.” Psalm 107:6, 13, 19, 28
The wording of the fourth group parallels what Jesus is trying to teach his disciples then and ourselves now. We will similarly face all sorts of problems in life but the remedy is always to turn back to God and trust him. This psalm reads:
“Some went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters.They saw the works of the Lord, his wonderful deeds in the deep. For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves.They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away.They reeled and staggered like drunkards; they were at their wits’ end.
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.He stilled the storm to a whisper: the waves of the sea were hushed.
They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven.Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.” Psalm 107:23-31
We will all face storms in life - it is the Lord God and we alone can trust and now we are asked by Jesus to trust him in the same way. If Jesus is the embodiment of God then all that is needed to bring nature back under control is his word.
The disciples are being taught that if they believe Jesus to be God’s eternal king then they need not be afraid. Clearly a mere life-threatening storm could never threaten God’s son, his Messiah, his chosen king, who not only created the universe but has authority over it. The Bible contains several direct references that attribute the creation of the earth and the universe to Jesus:
“. . . but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.” Hebrews 1:2
“For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.” Colossians 1:16
“Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” John 1:3
If the disciples were trusting Jesus, they would know that there is no safer place to be than alongside Jesus. Matthew recorded this account for us so we can learn the same lesson.
An important question is whether we accept that this story is true. It is recorded by all three synoptic gospel writers. Do we believe that there was life-threatening storm in full force on Galilee and that Jesus stood up and said, ‘Peace, be still’. Were the disciples subsequently convinced enough to give their lives in the service of Jesus? The next question then is ‘Are we convinced?’
If we believe this about Jesus it will transform our lives. This story has a practical spiritual message too. All around us are people who are terrified about what the world is or might throw at them. Jesus is not promising us an easy life, plain sailing. Storms will come, health concerns, strained relationships at home, in church and at work. There will be opposition - if we take following Jesus seriously. Such problems can seem overwhelming and beyond our control but Jesus remains in control. He wants us to trust him and follow him wherever this leads. Nothing threatens him.
This is why we pray. God may not seem to do what we ask for but he has a plan that is more important in mind. Jesus came to earth to do God’s work and to save a people for himself, and even a life-threatening storm is powerless to prevent his completing what he came to complete. The same should be true for us.
Today Jesus is still gathering his own people, training them, bringing them safely home and nothing will prevent this. All of us can be included. The only thing that prevents our inclusion is our refusal to align ourselves with him.
BVP
