Who Then Is This?

We all confess that “Jesus is my Lord.” We just did so publically, in the words of the Nicene Creed. Yet our lives often display inadequate evidence of such a faith. This is due to our flesh always warring against our spirit, as well as the fact that Jesus’ lordship in our lives is largely veiled. That veil is revealed and uncovered in today’s Gospel reading. With the world of nature howling against the disciples, then and now, Jesus discloses His lordship. As a result, we, like the disciples of old, exclaim, WHO THEN IS THIS?

Jesus is the Lord of Nature

Jesus Created Nature

His Word and Spirit were the agent John 1:1-3; Genesis 1:1-3; Proverbs 8:22-31.

He is the firstborn and head of creation. Colossians 1:15-20.

Jesus Redeemed Nature

He tasted death for everyone Psalm 8:4-5; Hebrews 2:6-8.

His blood was sprinkled on earth for an atonement to free nature from captivity to sin and mortality Romans 8:19-23.

Jesus is the Provider for All

Jesus gives sunshine and rain in due season to all Matthew 5:45.

Everything depend on Christ Jesus for sustenance Matthew 6:25-33.

Jesus intervenes to muzzle storm and sill the seas Mark 4:39.

Jesus is the Lord of Scripture

Jesus discloses Himself in grace to believers.

Though seemingly asleep, He does hear and respond Mark 4:38-39.

His hiddenness instills fear Mark 4:39.

He rescues by rebuking faithlessness and revealing Himself as the Master of the elements (“silenced” and “muzzled” with Mark 1:25, “demon muzzling.”

Jesus is the fulfiller of all Scripture.

He is the prophetic end and the shaper of all Scripture and history Revelation 1:4; Revelation 1:8.

All Scripture is witness to His suffering and glory John 5:39; 1 Peter 1:11.

He unveils His real glory in the Scriptures and in nature Colossians 1:15-16

Let me for you how inconceivably BIG our God is. He spoke the universe into being. He breathed the stars into existence. This star-breathing, universe creating God ALSO knitted our human bodies together with amazing detail and wonder.

Friends, we can trust that the God who created all this, also has the power to hold it all together when things seem to be falling apart … how our loving Creator is also our sustainer.

There isn’t anything that He didn’t create. Laminin is just one of many.

They are a family of proteins that are an integral part of the structural scaffolding of basement membranes in almost every animal tissue. You see … laminins are what hold us together … LITERALLY. They are cell adhesion molecules. They are what holds one cell of our bodies to the next cell. Without them, we would literally fall apart. Laminin is the glue that holds us together — ALL of us.

Listen to this from Colossians 1:15-17

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth , visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things HOLD TOGETHER.”

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Thousands of years before the world knew anything about laminin, the Holy Spirit had St. Paul pen those words. And now we see that from a very LITERAL standpoint, we are held together…one cell to another….by the cross.

You would never in a quadrillion years convince me that is anything other than the mark of a Creator who knew EXACTLY what laminin “glue” would look like long before Adam even breathed his first breath!!

Is Jesus Your Lord?

You see, Jesus unveils His power daily, especially in the midst of peril. (The early Christians remembered this account of Jesus stilling the storm tossed sea in their persecution).

He releases His grace in daily forgiveness 1 John 1:7.

He disciplines His believers, often with affliction, to keep us as His own Hebrews 12:5-11.

We can only confess His Lordship through the Holy Spirit 1 Corinthians 12:3.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the times in which we live the faith we confess is constantly put to the test. Does your faith match your practice? Do you listen to Christ when the storms of life come your way, or do you listen to other people? In other words, your daily life is a mirror of what you believe.

The disciples were afraid when the storm starting tossing them about in the boat, causing great fear for their life to overcome them; and our Lord Jesus called them on the carpet for their lack of faith.

Today’s Gospel reading began with Jesus telling the disciples, “Let us go across to the other side.” I’d like to suggest that you view this statement as a foreshadowing of when Jesus crossed the brook in the Kidron valley.

In the case of today’s reading, Jesus crosses the lake in preparation to preform the miracle of stilling the stormed tossed sea. In the case of Jesus crossing the brook in the Kidron valley, the crossing was in preparation to atone for the sins of the world.

In both instances, Jesus crosses because He cares that we not perish — not perish from a storm that today’s reading is about, but that we not perish from our sins, which is why He crossed the Kidron Valley to enter Gethsemane where He would be betrayed and arrested.

Who then is this, that even the wind and the waves obey Him? And, who then is this, that even sin and death bow down before Him.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.