What Manner of Man?

What Manner of Man?

Matthew 8:23-27

Most of us are familiar with this story. It’s likely you have heard it preached many times.

Jesus and His disciples are in a boat.

An awful storm comes.

The disciples panic.

Jesus calms the sea.

Normally when we hear this story preached it is an appeal for us to have faith in the storms of life. There is certainly application that can be made concerning faith and trials. But that isn’t the overall point of the text. That’s more of a subpoint rather than the main point. The main point of this text is to show that Jesus has absolute power, even over nature.

After Jesus performed the miracle of calming the seas and stilling the storm the disciples ask a question among themselves. They ask, “What manner of man is this, that even the winds and sea obey Him?”

Luke’s gospel says when Jesus performed this miracle the disciples were very afraid of Him. They moved from one fear to another. They went from being afraid of the power of the storm to being afraid of the power of Jesus.

This was a life changing moment for the disciples. They were confronted with the fact that this wasn’t a mere man. They were Jewish men, brought up on the Word of God. They knew the Word of God says:

“Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.”- Psalm 89:9

And

“He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.” Psalm 107:29

Faced with the reality that God Himself was in their boat they trembled. When we look at this text our first thought should not be that we need to have faith to get through the storms of life. Our first thought should be of the glory of Jesus. He is a glorious Christ!

He has power over diseases (8:1-17)

He has power over disasters (8:23-27)

He has power over demons (8:28-34)

What if we began each day with this question: What manner of man is Jesus?

We would stand in wonder of Him.

We would stand in awe of Him.

We would stand in boldness because of Him.

This morning I want us to consider the question these disciples asked among themselves. I want us to consider “What manner of man?”

1. He is a Man who is worthy of our lives (23-24).

A. Jesus leads them into danger.

The disciples get in the boat because Jesus gets in the boat. They are following Him. In verse 18 Jesus had commanded that they cross the Sea of Galilee. This was Jesus idea and Jesus was the first in the boat.

The Sea of Galilee was known to be a dangerous place. It was 600 feet below sea level and surrounded by mountains that created a type of funnel for the wind to pass through. When the rising hot air mixed with the cool air blowing through that funnel it could produce violent winds. Fishermen knew this. Traveling across the sea could be dangerous.

The Sea of Galilee was between 7-8 miles wide and thirteen miles long. The disciples are traveling from Capernaum to the area of the Gadarenes. If you look on a map, you’ll see that the disciples would have to cross the Sea of Galilee lengthwise. Jesus is taking them into a dangerous sea and He’s taking them on the longest possible route across that sea.

We add to all this the omniscience of Christ. Christ knew the storm was coming. He was completely aware of the severity of the storm. To top it all off He puts the disciples in a boat. When you are in a boat there is no escape. You can’t run for cover. We’re afraid of storms when we’re in our homes. Imagine being in a boat.

This moment of Jesus leading the disciples into a dangerous situation is symbolic of the call He has placed on their lives. He has called them to take up their cross and follow Him. He leads, they follow.

He led Matthew to Africa where he was impaled and beheaded.

He led Peter to an upside-down crucifixion.

He led Andrew to a cross where he hung two days before dying.

He led James to be killed with a sword.

He led Bartholomew to be skinned alive and beheaded.

He led Paul to the chopping block.

In chapter 13 Jesus says His followers will be:

Scourged

Arrested

Killed

hated

John Newton knew about the dangers of following Christ. He penned the hymn Amazing Grace. One of the stanzas says:

Through many dangers, toils, and snares

I have already come.

'Tis Grace hath brought me safe thus far

And Grace will lead me home.

B. The danger these men faced was real.

Matthew calls it a great storm. The waves were coming over the side of the boat. The ship was being filled with water. These men were used to being on the water. They were not overreacting. This was a serious storm. They thought they were going to die.

This is the moment that I begin to think about those guys who didn’t get on the boat. Perhaps they looked over the Sea of Galilee, saw that storm and said, “I’m glad I didn’t get on that boat!” They probably thought it was good not to be on that boat. If they thought that, they were wrong.

Listen to me folks, we all face dangers. Those men on the bank without Jesus were facing a more serious danger than those guys in the boat with Jesus. I’d rather be in a storm-tossed ocean with Jesus than on a dry bank without Him.

The sad part is many people in our culture refuse to follow Jesus even though we don’t face many dangers because we follow Him.

Honestly, what danger are we facing because we follow Christ?

You’re not going to have as many followers on Instagram?

You’re not going to be popular with certain people?

I haven’t been in serious danger very many times because I follow Christ. But I do remember one instance. One of my last trips to Haiti was an extremely dangerous one. I had never been afraid before but this time I have to say I was concerned. We were surrounded by bandits with guns, machetes, bottles. They were demanding money. They had a big fire burning. They were screaming and yelling at us. The murder of a missionary in that country had happened recently and that didn’t give me any encouragement.

At that point I began to think about my wife and kids. I knew I was in a dangerous place. By God’s grace we were able to bargain our way out of the situation. Some may say its foolish to put yourself in harms way. The truth is when you follow Christ you should understand you are potentially putting yourself in harm’s way.

He is Lord.

He leads and we follow.

C. Christ faced our worst danger.

This is where we truly understand that Christ is worthy of our lives. When you read this story, you can’t help but see parallels with the life of Jonah. Jonah was in a boat and a storm came. He was asleep. He was awakened and told the men the only way the storm would stop is if he were cast into the sea. They cast him out, the storm stopped, he was swallowed by a fish and you know the rest of the story.

In Matthew 12 Matthew is going to show is that Jesus is the greater Jonah. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the fish Jesus will be in the heart of the earth. Christ wasn’t cast into the ocean to still a temporary storm. Christ was cast upon the judgment of God to atone for the sins of the world and calm an eternal storm of God’s wrath.

Danger Christ entered for us is far greater than any danger we could ever face. Let me ask you a question friend. Would you go to hell for me? I bet you wouldn’t. Would you pay for my sins? I bet you couldn’t. Christ is worthy of our lives because He has faced the great danger of hell for us. There’s no danger greater than hell. Christ faced our hell. What manner of man is this? He endured the wrath of God for us, so He is worthy of our lives.

2. He is a Man who worries about nothing (24-25).

A. The disciples were worried.

We would be too. But there was no reason for them to be worried. Let me give you a few reasons they should not have been worried.

1. Jesus had commanded them to go to the other side. What Jesus commands will come to pass. We’ll see that in a moment when He commands the storm to stop and when He commands the devils to come out of a man.

2. Jesus was in the boat with them. This is the Savior of the world. He’s not about to die at this moment. It’s been prophesied that He will die on a cross, not in a boat.

He will die outside Jerusalem, not on the Sea of Galilee.

His death will be intentional, not accidental.

He will be buried in a tomb, not at sea.

They are with the Messiah and their own Scriptures tell them He doesn’t die this way.

3. Christ had performed miracles before them. He’s already proven His power to them. Jesus had just commended the faith of a Gentile (8:10). Here he points out their small faith. Christ had already done enough to prove to these men His power.

These guys have forgotten everything they have learned about Christ. He called them to be fishers of men but now they believe they are fish food.

B. Jesus was not worried.

In the midst of this awful storm at sea Jesus is asleep. This is a deep sleep.

The waves don’t wake Him up.

The wind doesn’t wake Him up.

The water coming into the boat doesn’t wake Him up.

The disciples wake Jesus up. Why didn’t Jesus just wake up on His own?

First, He was tired. He wanted to sleep.

Second, He knew the boat wasn’t going to sink.

This is the only time Scripture records Jesus sleeping. The one-time Scripture records Jesus sleeping has great purpose. What we see is a pattern for the believer. If Jesus can sleep through the storm, we should be able to as well.

The Bible teaches that God does not slumber nor sleep. Christ, being God and man slept in His humanity. Yet He continued to rule the universe. He was aware of what was happening. He knew the outcome and therefore could rest despite the storm.

Throughout the Psalms we see the Psalmist crying out to God “Awake” or “Arise”. The Psalmist does this because he is anxious. He is worried. He believes that God should have already intervened. That was the case with the disciples.

Here is some advice for us. If Jesus isn’t worried, we shouldn’t be either.

Psalm 2 speaks of the entire world uniting together against Christ. They tell Him they are going to break free from Him. They threaten the Lord Himself.

How does the Lord respond?

The Bible says He laughs. The demeanor of Christ proves that He is God. What could worry the Lord?

World empires uniting against Him do not worry Him.

The devil and his demons do not worry Him.

The arguments of atheists do not worry Him.

The weather surely doesn’t worry Him.

C. Jesus rebukes the disciples for worrying.

It’s interesting that the first thing Jesus does when He wakes up is rebuke the disciples. You would think He would still the storm first. Let’s look at what He says:

He asks them why they are afraid. It’s obvious they are afraid because they think they’re going to die. The question is more of an accusation. He’s telling them they shouldn’t be afraid.

He tells them they have little faith. Little faith is better than no faith. But if they are going to have to strengthen their faith if they want to be great men of God.

The disciples should have settled down in the boat, trusted God and endured the storm. Sometimes it’s God’s will that we endure the storm to the end. The Lord isn’t going to remove us from every scary thing in this world.

Listen to me folks, the people of God should not panic. We should not be known as worriers.

We shouldn’t panic over a disease.

We shouldn’t panic over an election.

We shouldn’t panic over a failing economy

They said to Jesus “Save us or we perish!” There is truth in that. That should be a prayer everyone in this world prays. But as a child of God please know this: We may die but we will not perish!

“God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosever believeth in Him may not perish!”

As Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;”

We shouldn’t worry because we know that our trials will have an end. The worst-case scenario for the believer is heaven. Did you hear that? The worst-case scenario for the believer is heaven.

What we learn from this text is a simple yet convicting truth. It is un-Christlike to worry. Imagine if those disciples had let Jesus sleep. Imagine if they had endured the storm. When they made it to the other side, they would have rejoiced in passing a test. They could have praised God for the faith to endure. Every trial gives us the opportunity to do just that.

What manner of man is Christ? He is the type of man who worries about nothing.

3. He is a Man whom the wind and sea obey (26-27).

A. The courage of Christ.

Notice in verse 26 that Jesus arose in the boat. One of the most dangerous things to do in a boat that is being tossed about is to stand. Yet that’s exactly what Jesus does. He could have just as easily stilled the storm sitting down. But He stands. In this we see the courage of Christ. He has no life jacket; He’s not holding on to anyone’s hand. He stands to face the storm head on.

In this boat we have the Lion of Tribe of Judah.

He is fearless. It is a wonderful thing that we have a courageous Christ.

Courageous enough to stand against the religious elite who corrupted the Word of God.

Courageous enough to stand against devil and demon.

Courageous enough to be tied to a whipping post.

Courageous enough to be nailed to a cross.

Courageous enough to march to His own death.

Courageous enough to endure the wrath of God for sinners.

Can you see the storm raging?

Can you see the waves breaking over the boat?

Can you see the disciples holding on for dear life?

Can you see Christ standing?

The Lion has been roused from his sleep.

The Lion has come out of His den.

The Lion is about to roar.

B. The calming of the sea.

Mark says that Jesus said “Peace, be still!” Notice that there was a great calm when Jesus spoke. In other words, the storm stopped immediately. That’s not how it normally happens. Usually the wind gradually decreases. That wasn’t the case here. Immediately the wind stopped, and the water was calm. There was no doubt Jesus stilled the storm. This wasn’t a change in weather patterns. This wasn’t a coincidence. This was a miracle.

Jesus has sovereign control over nature. There’s an old saying

“Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.”

There’s a reason for that. No one can do anything about it. We can’t even properly predict the weather; we certainly can’t change it.

Christ has:

Power over hurricanes

Power over Tsunamis

Power over tornadoes

Power over tropical storms

Power over rain, wind and hail

I don’t know if you know this or not but for some time now Scientists have been trying to find a way to stop hurricanes. I won’t bore you with the details but trust me there is an effort being made to try and stop them. Google it. There efforts would be difficult and expensive.

Notice the ease at which Christ stops this storm. He simply speaks. He doesn’t need to drag glaciers to the Gulf of Mexico to cool the waters. By His word the storm stops.

C. The question of the disciples (27).

The disciples marveled. Agur asked in Proverbs 30:4 “Who has gathered the wind in His fists?”

What man can do that? No mere man can. Only the God- Man. Only Christ.

What manner of Man is Christ?

He is a Man worthy of our lives. We should willingly enter struggle and trial for Him. He gave His life for us; we should live our lives for Him.

He is a Man who worries about nothing. He is Almighty. He has no peers; He has no authority over Him.

He is a Man whom the wind and sea obey. He has absolute authority over everything. Nothing is more powerful than He is.

Do you marvel at Christ? You should. You should stand in awe of Him.

Does He have your life? Do you live for His glory even though danger may come?

Does He have your trust? Do you trust Him despite the wind and waves in your life?

Does He have your admiration? Do you stand in wonder of Him?