What kind of man is this?

intro me

As I’ve looked at the wider shape of this section of Jesus’ story, I’ve been thinking it’d be great for us to memorise a key verse to help us not forget the central theme as we work through these stories - and I’m wondering if this can become a bit of a pattern for us as a church as we keep working through Jesus’ story.

But I’m really not very good at memorising bible verses! My family and I have really been helped to do at least a bit of this through learning short, simple songs, though.

See, music has a special power to lock words in our minds and help us find our way back to them time after time, or to work from just a part we remember out to the whole: ‘amazing grace,...’ - and this power of music to help us remember - even down through generations - is something God makes use of - he instructs Moses in Deut 31:19-21:

Deuteronomy 31:19–21 (NIV)

“Now write down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it … this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants.”

So our amazing musicians created a special song - I have to warn you, it’s catchy! - and we’re going to sing it together every week for the next while as we try and memorise our summary verse together, reminding ourselves of the big theme of this whole section. And perhaps, if this works well, we’ll make a pattern of this going forwards.

I wanted to use one of the verses we would be directly teaching from but in the end I think we find the best summary by reaching ahead to the very end of Matthew’s gospel where Jesus states for us what we’re seeing again and again through this section: Mt 28:18

Matthew 28:18 NIV

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

So, let’s try and learn this verse together!

… memory verse song...

So where are we up to? Well, through the sermon on the mount, we saw Jesus teaching with authority and now as the story continues we’re watching him act with authority. Last week, Peter helped us think about Jesus’ hard teaching on the lifestyle and relational costs of following Jesus - you could think of that as bowing to his authority over your life. This week we’re going to see another dimension of his authority. So let’s dive right in!

Matthew chapter 8, starting at verse 23 and Michael’s reading for us this morning. Page 973 in these blue bibles - Matthew chapter 8 - big 8 - and verse 23, tiny 23. Page 973.

Matthew 8:23–27 NIV

Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

Thanks Michael.

So what have we got today? fearful fishermen; awesome authority; challenge and comfort. I’m really getting the hang of this alliteration thing! So let’s start with

Fearful fishermen

Now you might remember from earlier in Matthew’s telling of Jesus’ life story, or you might just know, that a bunch of his key 12 disciples were fishermen first before they were disciples. And notice in that first verse we read, they got into the boat rather than just a boat - this may well be one of these disciples’ own fishing boats that had been left behind earlier, repurposed as Jesus’ water taxi and a portable preaching platform.

I could imagine those fisher disciples might be pretty excited to get back into boat again, to cast off again, oars out or sail up - “A life on the ocean wave! a home on the rolling sea!” - this time following Jesus into fishing for people rather than just heading out fishing - but back on the water nonetheless.

But their reminiscing was over pretty quick - and that plain sailing comes to a sudden end with a ferocious storm. Now you’d like to believe these fisher disciples had seen a storm or two in their previous life so they’d be up to the challenge - but, so it seems from what’s written, this is no ordinary storm.

You could translate this more literally as a “A great earthquake in the lake” - the word used is seismos from which we get our "seismic" meaning "relating to earthquakes" - and everywhere else that word shows up in Matthew’s gospel, there’s an earthquake in view.

In fact, everywhere else it shows up in Matthew’s gospel, something absolutely epic is happening: there’s an earthquake at Jesus’ death Mt 27:54; one at his resurrection Mt 28:2; and there’ll be one as a sign of the end of the world Mt 24:7 - so this is most likely another epic moment - though it’s not immediately clear why.

I’ve wondered whether there could be something supernatural to this - for one thing, spoiler alert, Jesus is going to meet a legion of evil spirits on the other side of the lake. But also as Peter pointed out last week, Jesus is taking his first step outside of Israel as he crosses over the water - perhaps there’s something epic about him stepping out as the saviour of the world, not just the Jewish people - or supernatural opposition to exactly that, perhaps an attempt to actually sink the ship and stop the show.

We’re not told so it’s not the main point - but the fact that Jesus “rebukes” the wind and the waves which threaten the boat suggests they are doing something wrong, up to no good, and need correction. So it’s definitely fair to see some opposition here.

And we should see that this is absolutely a life-threatening storm, not just a spot of bother and a dash of rain. The disciples - including those experienced fisher disciples - think they are going to die. “We’re going to drown” - literally “we’re perishing”, “we are being destroyed”. They know the boat. They know the lake. They know its storms. And they think they are going down - in Mark and Luke’s telling of this same story, they are going down: the boat is filling with water.

You can bet they’ve tried every fisher thing they can think of: row harder. drop the sail. raise the sail. bail and bail. But the situation is desperate.

And then there’s Jesus - there with them. There in the storm-quake - but he’s asleep! How? Seriously, how? Confession time: when we were talking as a team about how to approach this passage, I had this idea of bringing a water pistol, picking on someone with droopy eyes, and squirting them to see if they can keep sleeping like Jesus up! But, you know, health and safety and all that.. How come Jesus is asleep?

Potentially it’s quite a large boat - the word’s very generic; elsewhere it’s used for a boat carrying cargo, crew and passengers - not the Titanic, perhaps, but a boat that’s big enough to have a lifeboat at least. So maybe Jesus is below deck, not getting slapped in the face by the waves sweeping over them - surely it must still be a rollercoaster, though?

Perhaps Jesus is just wiped out from all that healing and deliverance ministry. Perhaps Jesus rests well because he knows his safety is totally in God’s hands. Or perhaps he sleeps soundly, knowing the cross lies ahead, and no storm could stop him getting there. Either way, he’s asleep - but the fearful fishermen wake him with their urgent words: Lord! Save! We are Perishing!

And then the story suddenly turns - as we see Jesus demonstrate Awesome authority

And the first thing I want you to notice here is that Jesus demonstrates his own authority - just like he taught with his own authority. He doesn’t ask the Father to still the storm - he speaks to the storm himself. And the storm obeys.

“What kind of man is this?” they ask in response, amazed - and certainly this is no ordinary man. But I’m not super impressed because really they could have answered their own questions if they’d thought about it even just a bit.

The book of Pslams is the bible is the songbook of the Jewish people - and like we talked about as we got started, songs help us remember things. And some of what they could have - and probably should have remembered from the psalms speaks about this so clearly:

Psalm 89:8–9 NIV

Who is like you, Lord God Almighty? You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you. You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them.

sounding all familiar? Who rules over the surging sea? Who stills the waves when they rise up? The LORD, God almighty.

Psalm 107:28–29 NIV

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.

Again, who do they cry to in their distress? Who still the storm to a whisper and hushes the waves? The LORD.

So when Jesus demonstrates his authority and stills the storm, he again shows us his true identity. What kind of man is this? No mere man - he is the LORD!

Right back at the beginning of the Bible, when we read about the creation, we see God commanding and the waters obeying:

Genesis 1:6–10 (NIV)

And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so... And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so.

And obey him they still do - Jerome, a bible scholar and translator from about 400AD puts it this way: “creation recognises its creator”. Jesus’ exercise of this authority reveals him as God the creator - just as John’s gospel tells us right at the outset in it’s famous opening words:

John 1:1–3 NIV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

It’s beautiful, really: in this tiny story, just a few verses, we see the two critical truths - or doctrines - of Christ: his true humanity (he sleeps) and his true deity (he commands wind and waves).

In the Jewish mind, water’s a symbol of chaos, powerful and dangerous, the place of unspeakable monsters. And Jesus absolutely walks all over it. Figuratively here - but literally, too, in a few more chapters! Notice he doesn’t carry the disciples on, safe through the storm - he eliminates the storm entirely. His awesome authority isn’t just protection in it, it’s power over it.

So, fearful fishermen, awesome authority. Finally, Challenge and comfort

We can’t read this story without taking some time to reflect on Jesus’ words, as recorded by Matthew. It’s easy to picture Jesus as always nicey nicey gentle gentle, “wouldn’t say boo to a goose’ as we say - but these are sharp words - especially for people who have left everything to follow him, walked away from their old life which that boat must be reminding them of.

They’re facing this sudden, deadly and potentially even supernatural storm, and we might expect Jesus to have more compassion on his poor disciples - but it’s pretty clear Jesus is not impressed.

Matthew 8:26 (NIV)

He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”

And the words Jesus chooses here don’t leave us room to spin this into something more positive: Bruner, one of the commentators I read, translates this: “Why are you such cowards, Littlefaiths?” because the original words used are so strong! That might feel harsh given the disciples are perishing, but that’s what Jesus says.

Remember a couple of weeks back we were talking about the amazing faith of a centurion? Yeah well it’s clear the disciples don’t make that grade!

Now it’s important we don’t go too far here, and think that Jesus calling out his disciples should teach us fear is always a bad thing, something you should never find in his followers. Think about Jesus himself, in the garden of Gethsemane, facing the cross. Mt 26:37 he’s sorrowful and troubled. Luke 22:44 he’s in anguish, sweating like drops of blood.

Matthew 26:37 NIV

He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled.

Luke 22:44 NIV

And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

“Fear, in the ordinary sense, is not opposed to faith,” says Calvin. Being troubled about what’s ahead is not the same as lacking faith - that’s a fear that flows from counting the cost, recognising there is a price to pay - but one that faith walks through, doing it anyway.

It’s excessive fear that Jesus seems to be criticising here, a fear which swallows faith and defeats us. The sort of fear which overwhelms us, turning us back, causing us to flee - hence cowardly. The sort of paralysing, crushing fear which flows out of failing to truly grasp just what kind of man this Jesus is.

Have you been there?

Look, I’m not a man of impressive faith. If I was on a boat like that today, I’m pretty sure I’d be a terrified coward, too. A bit of a shower or even just some drizzle in my life is all it takes for me to start thinking I’m perishing, all it takes for me to forget who’s in this boat with me and think I’m going down.

But I shouldn’t settle for that - and neither should you. We should hear Jesus’ challenge here. We should seek to stretch our faith - Jesus will stretch our faith - to help us see more and more just what kind of man this is: the one who tells us he will never never forsake us and with us always even to the very end; the one who even the wind and waves obey, the LORD almighty himself.

Challenge - right - but also comfort. See, Jesus hears and helps those with little faith.

Jesus doesn’t reject their cry because of their little faith, shooting those cowardly disciples a yawn-y “come back later when your faith is stronger and I’ll help you” before turning over and heading back to sleep. Jesus doesn’t (as we’ll see he’s able to do in a few chapters time) walk off across the water in a huff, save himself, but dump these useless disciples and replace them with better ones!

Challenge and comfort. Jesus hears and helps those with little faith. Because even little faith is something. Even little faith still moves mountains, as Jesus will tell us later in this same gospel - Mt 17:20

Matthew 17:20 NIV

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Why? Because even that little faith is faith in this awesome Jesus, the LORD almighty.

Little faith still left their nets behind. Little faith still followed Jesus into the boat. Little faith will be sent out by Jesus to share his message. Little faith will follow him to the cross. Yes, little faith will desert him there in that last dark night - but Jesus will come back for little faith, pick it up, dust it down, and use it as the foundation of his church. Jesus hears and helps those with little faith - and he uses them, too.

Yes, we should have greater faith, more amazing faith, not disappointingly little faith in our great Jesus - but “have more faith“ is not the primary point of this story - it’s that Jesus saves the littlefaiths. Jesus is so powerful - and he’s so good.

So what?

Well, first, we should rub our noses in the answer to these disciples’ question, “what kind of man is this?”

Jesus is one with all authority - all authority on heaven and on earth. Nothing, absolutely nothing is outside of his command. Nothing, absolutely nothing, can resist his word, his will. And this very same Jesus is one who saves the littlefaiths. Bruner, that commentator again, says

“This story is passed on by these disciples because they want to encourage all subsequent disciples to place their confidence in a Lord whose measure of help is not the measure of disciples’ worthiness but the measure of the Lord’s grace.”

It’s His grace that sees us saved, not the impressiveness of our faith - or our works.

Second thing? We have little faith. And our faith should grow. Though I wish it weren’t so, truth is that faith often grows best in the storm, not the calm. Surely these disciples had faith a little larger when they reached the shore? Jesus could still every storm, could prevent them all in the first place - but sometimes he takes us right into the middle of them instead. He does that for our good - so we’re not left with a lifetime of littlefaith.

But at the same time, as we’ll see, growing our faith is the work of a lifetime - oven cooked not microwaved! Our faith journey will last a lifetime. In chapter 14 - which we’ll get to eventually! - we’ll see these same faces a little further along in the story. They’re back in the boat with Jesus.

We’ll see some progress, with Peter stepping out onto the water rather than cowering in the hull, terrified of it. But we’ll see the journey’s not yet over - we’ll see him start to sink - because of his little faith. This journey takes time - a long time - even when you’re walking around with Jesus himself. Even walking on the water!

Third and final thing? We should ask ourselves Jesus’ question: “why are you so afraid?” I know that fear -cowardice, even, respecting that stronger word - I know that sometimes - that often - it holds me back from doing what I should - even from doing what I want to do.

When it does, I’m going to try and ask myself Jesus’ question: why am I so afraid? And I want you to try that too.

I think it will show me that I have serious doubts about whether he’s really in that moment with me. That I often wonder whether he really cares about little old me at all: whether he’s even aware of me and my storms and struggles. That I often feel like he’s asleep or just busy somewhere else with something much more important - rather than here with me, ready in his grace to save the littlefaith.

I think it will show me that I have so much more to grasp about what kind of man this is. I think it will show me that I have serious doubts about his authority in this world, in my life, in the details of each day. That I fear this world is out of control instead - or worse still, under the control of someone else altogether - rather than the one with all authority on heaven and on earth.

Let’s pray

why are we so afraid?

help us remember what kind of man this is

thank you that in your grace you save the littlefaiths

please help us - please grow our little faith

Discussion questions

Where are you “so afraid” and why do you think that is?

Is there a story you can share of where your faith has grown?