Title: Jesus Calm the Winds
35 That same evening, he said to his disciples, "Let's cross over to the other side." 36 They left the crowd and took Jesus as he was in the boat, and went along with the other boats. 37 A great storm arose, and waves crashed into the boat, and the boat was full. 38 As Jesus was sleeping on a pillow in the stern, his disciples woke him up and said, “Teacher, do you not see that we are dead?” 39 Jesus awoke and rebuked the wind, saying to the sea, “Be still, be still.” The wind blew. After that, there was a very calming down. 40 Then he said to his disciples, Why are you so afraid? 41 And they were very afraid, and said to one another, "Who is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?"
1. Words that begin
There are people who make waves all over the country if they say they are determined. Life is not so peaceful as if sailing in the wind. There are natural winds and waves in life and artificial ones. There are two types of artificial wind waves: self-generated wind waves and wind waves caused by others. People don't want wind and waves, they want a life that is peaceful and harmless as if sailing in a tailwind, but everyone has no choice but to meet them.
2. Wind and waves according to obedience
At sunset on the day Jesus was teaching in parables, he asked his disciples to cross over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. It seems that the intention was to escape from the public and to find a new missionary field to rest and relax.
As Jesus said, the disciples were on their way to the other side with Jesus in the boat, when suddenly a great storm blew and waves crashed into the boat and the boat was full. Because the Sea of Galilee is about 212 meters below sea level in the Mediterranean Sea and surrounded by high mountains on all sides, the weather often changes. It was not uncommon for so-called gusts of wind to scare the fishermen on small fishing boats.
It was not because of the great storm that only the other ships that did not carry Jesus were flooded with water and were in danger of sinking. The ships of the disciples who were obeying Jesus' words, and even the ships of the disciples on which Jesus was riding, were in danger of sinking due to the great storm.
This is also a lesson in that we can meet strong winds of tribulation and persecution even when we walk with the Lord or obey the Lord's word. This is the time when we desperately need the knowledge of Jesus who became flesh and is with us. In such cases, it is essential to have faith in the love and power of God working through Jesus. However, in reality, there are not a few church members who are anxious like those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus at such times. There are not a few church members who fear and resent the Lord Jesus, like those who do not know Him.
3. Disbelief of the disciples
Such problems have already appeared with the disciples. However, Jesus, who was in danger of sinking due to the great storm, was sleeping peacefully on a pillow at the back of the ship because he absolutely trusted God the Father, who is in charge of life and death, even in the midst of such an emergency. When the disciples saw this, they were not ashamed of their unbelief, but awoke Jesus and criticized him with grudges. “Teacher, do you not see that we are about to die?”
The fact that even the disciples, who were fishermen, were afraid of dying, shows how great the storm and storm they met. From a rational point of view, we can think that the disciples' fear and cry are extremely natural. However, we must seriously consider whether God would think so. The question of whether the Lord Jesus will approve the judgment and actions of his disciples must be seriously considered.
Did he really die according to the judgment and words of the disciples? It never is. What caused you to die? Although the boat was full of water, it did not sink. Even if the ship sank, it was still a long way from death. Even if the ship is wrecked, as long as you can swim holding on to even the fragments of the ship, you will certainly have plenty of time to die. They may be thrown to the seashore due to strong winds and live. The storm may pass before you drown, and the sea may become calm. In fact, no one knows whether the disciples will die or not. Moreover, when we think of the Lord Jesus who was with them, the disciples' judgment that they were about to die must be absolutely wrong.
Humans have a bad habit of exaggerating their unhappiness. There are far more people who fall because of the habit of exaggerating their misfortunes than those who fall because of misfortune. Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you will think, judge, and act based on your trust in the Lord Jesus, not with human habit. Please open your spiritual eyes, the eyes of faith that see the love and power of the Lord Jesus more than any other storm. Even if they die, is there any other place for believers to go except to heaven?
4. Jesus calmed the wind and rebuked the disciples
The good news for the disciples was that they had the faith to turn to the Lord Jesus for help, albeit in a small way. In Jesus' eyes, faith was not enough, but anyway, the disciples asked Jesus for help.
After waking up, Jesus rebuked the wind and commanded the sea to be still and calm. At that moment the wind stopped and the sea became calm. With just one command, the raging winds and waves calmed down. This marvelous work was the manifestation of the divine power of Jesus. Jesus, who was known as a great person who exercised divine power to exorcise the evil spirits that ruled over people and to heal the sick, through this event, revealed that he was the Messiah with divine power to provide for Mother Nature.
The Lord Jesus, who performs divine power, is able to save any human being in any circumstance or situation. Sometimes it feels like Jesus is sleeping without interest to those who suffer from the storm. Clearly, Jesus also hides himself as the Messiah. Jesus leaves those who are struggling with the storm to a point where human strength can no longer help them. Then, by delivering him, he realizes and believes that Jesus is the Messiah, not a great person, so that he can have eternal life.
After calming the wind, Jesus looked at the disciples and said, “Hey, the boat is going to sink! Yeah, how surprised are you? Don't worry. I'll fix it." He might have comforted him, but he didn't. Instead, he rebuked them, saying, “Why are you so afraid? Why do you have no faith?” Humans think that the disciples' fear is very natural, but Jesus rebuked them for their fear. The fundamental reason was that their fears stemmed from a lack of right faith in Jesus.
Jesus' primary concern is not how severe our storms are, but how firm our faith in Him as the Messiah is. Everyone, even if there is a storm that seems to devour the world, please believe that the power of Jesus' love as the Messiah will be able to calm the storm and deliver us. For church members who cry out and pray with such faith, the storms of life are an opportunity to know the love of the Lord Jesus more deeply, and to experience the power of the Lord Jesus more clearly.
When the disciples saw Jesus who had calmed the wind, they were in great awe and said to each other. “Who is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?” The exclamation "Who is he that even the wind and the sea obey him" is not a simple question. It expresses the amazing awareness of the messianic identity of Jesus, who makes even Mother Nature obey him. There is nothing better than the storms of life to deepen your realization that Jesus is the Messiah of divine love and power.
5. Conclusion
Living in an active Mother Nature and a world that is twisted and against the wind, life is not as peaceful as it is sailing in the wind. Instead of wind and waves, people want a life that is peaceful and peaceful as if sailing in a tailwind, but everyone has no choice but to meet them. Members of the church believe that if they follow the Lord Jesus and obey the Word, they will be peaceful and safe as if sailing in the wind, but this is not always the case. The important thing is to have faith in the Lord who is with you in the storm. When we cry out and pray with that faith, we will come to know the love of the Lord more deeply and acquire the power of the Lord more clearly, and our faith will become stronger.
I hope that all of us will not be people who cause storms in our own lives or the lives of others, but people of faith who, with the help of the Lord, can calm the storms in our own lives or the lives of others.
(Poongseong Methodist Church. Book: Complete New Testament Commentary Series/ Interpretation of difficult scriptures/ Prayer of Prosperity/ Salvation Before Jesus Came/ Sermonbook 18. 426-3051)