January 30, 2022
4th Sunday After Epiphany
Matthew 8 26 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea,
and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled,
saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”
Who is this? What sort of man is he. So wondered the
disciples. That question is central to the Christian message, the Gospel. In
fact, when the disciples come to sufficiently answer that question, for that
matter, when you or I or anyone else on earth can know the answer to that
question, “What sort of man is this?” then we and they can confidently put our
trust in this sort of man.
He sleeps. It shows he is a man. He controls the
elements of wind and wave. It shows he is God.
Who is Jesus? God and man. What sort of person is
this? A person with 2 natures, a Divine nature and a human nature.
The Christian Church joins together in answering
the question Who is Jesus? When we confess our creeds and sing our liturgy and
pray our prayers. Lift up your hearts and rejoice when you say the creed and together with the whole
Christian church confess: one
Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God
of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one
substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for
our salvation came down from heaven and
was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man.
The Son of God, made man is our salvation and
hope.
At his conception and birth, the Son of God became
incarnate, that is, he became human. So we have Jesus, our God and Lord, a man,
like one of us. Susceptible like us. Susceptible to the kinds of things we are susceptible
to--the weaknesses of the human flesh. In
this Gospel reading today, we see that Jesus was susceptible to exhaustion. His
ministry was really getting going. He was traveling around to different towns
and villages in Galilee, healing many. Starting before dawn in prayer, preaching
and healing and walking everywhere. Just prior to this Matthew records a
conversation between Jesus and a Scribe who came to him and said, “I would like
to follow you.” Jesus seems to warn him, it won’t be easy. He says, ““Foxes
have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to
lay his head” (Matthew 8:20). You can sorta hear that our Savior is
tired. Little wonder he falls asleep on the boat ride across the Sea of Galilee.
Jesus, the Son of God become Son of Man was susceptible to
exhaustion. He was susceptible to pain. Vulnerable before his enemies. And eventually
he shows he is susceptible to death, just like each of us. But notice, he must
not have been susceptible to fear. The wind and waves that stormy afternoon scared the living daylights
out of the disciples, but for the Lord, the wind and waves rocked him to sleep.
This is not to demean the disciples. They were hardened fishermen. They had the
experience enough to determine when a situation was dangerous and upsetting. The
waves were coming over the side and the bottom of the boat was filling up. This
is how sea travelers get lost at sea. But Jesus teaches them and us by his
example, we can pray like in Psalm 46: God is our refuge
and strength,
a
very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore
we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though
the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its
waters roar and foam,
I said at the start that when we can answer that
question, “What sort of man is this Jesus?” then we can confidently put our
trust in this sort of man. Here’s why, as the disciples witnessed, “Even the
winds and sea obey him.” He can tell them what to do and they must listen. That
which would harm or kill us, must listen to the Lord Jesus, who is at the same
time, God and Man, at the same time our fellow Suffer and our Savior.
Romans 8:22 says “Creation groans,” as it awaits
deliverance and redemption from God. Things aren’t right in the world. We groan
about it, we notice creation groaning about it. Through many dangers, toils and
snares we must go, longing for God’s amazing grace to lead us home. So we cry
out with our little faith, Save us, Lord; we are perishing.”
Jesus lifts his voice. He rebukes the wind and the
sea. And the elements of the earth obey him. The Greek word for obey that the
disciples are using here has the root word /akou/, which means hear, like
acoustics. The wind and sea obey Jesus. They hear him. They listen to him.
There is great comfort for fears and help for our
troubles in Jesus and the powerful word that He speaks. You know who Jesus is:
True God and True Man. So you hear what He says, and obey. True God, He speaks
with the voice of the Creator. True Man, He speaks to us with words we can
hear, understand and believe.
He speaks. All creation must listen.
He speaks. You listen. You believe. You obey.
He speaks and says, “Why are you afraid? You faith
is little. Repent of your worries and fears and remember that I have all things
in my control.” He says, “don’t be afraid of life or death.” “Trust in me each
moment.”
The storm of sin within us each doesn’t want us
to hear the Word the Lord speaks or to obey it. In sin and rebellion our first inclination
is always to see the storm and expect that the Lord is just going to sleep
right through the danger.
Out of the storms of life, your Lord and Savior speaks. He says
turn from your sins. Turn from your doubts and fears. Turn to me, hear my word and
believe. Amen.
