Storm


Luke 8:19-25
19Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. 20And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” 21But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” 22One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, 23and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. 24And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

As Jesus journeys around the Galilee teaching and preaching He continues to clarify what it means to live in His Kingdom. His own earthy family members provide an opportunity for instruction when they come and ask for a moment of His time. He uses this request to redefine His family ties. While not denying that they are indeed His blood relation, He is actually here to establish a much larger community; a new community that comes not through bloodlines, but by faith.

The Word of God, heard in faith, creates this new family of God, which will be the Christian church. Jesus consciously overturns the OT kinship laws that defined one’s identity as a member of Israel through genealogy and family relationships. In the old covenant, one’s lineage determined such things as one’s tribal land, or even one’s vocation as a priest or Levite. But Jesus now says that in the kingdom he brings, family is not by natural birth, but through rebirth by the life-giving Word.
Just, A. A., Jr. (1996). Luke 1:1–9:50 (p. 355). St. Louis, MO: CPH.

This brief event is followed by Jesus taking His disciples and heading out onto the Sea of Galilee. As was often the case, a fierce storm engulfs the lake and Jesus and The Twelve are caught in the storm. It is so fierce that the disciples fear for their lives, certain the boat will capsize and they all perish. Remarkably, Jesus is sleeping. You can always sleep peacefully when you are certain that everything will be alright and of course Jesus has no fear; sleep comes easily.
Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1632)
For the people living at that time the chaos of churning waters represented evil and the consequences of sin. When the disciples cry, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” we see that their faith has been tempted by fear and they have succumbed. When Jesus calms the wind and waves, he transforms turmoil into tranquility and chaos into paradise, for He is the Master of all.

This painting by Rembrandt is possibly one of the most famous renditions of this particular story. The details are stunning and telling. If you look closely, you will see that all 12 of the Disciples are present and are all reacting in different ways. Some of them are exhausting all of their energies trying to set the boat right in the heart of the storm. They are doing all that they can. Of course, those efforts have little if any impact. Then there are a few of the disciples who are looking intently at a very calm Jesus. They know they have no resources at their disposal that are going to help in any way. Jesus will of course calm the storm but the aftermath is painful. He questions their faith. At this point, they still aren’t even sure who Jesus is, but all of this serves to teach them. At least their eyes are opened to the possibility that Jesus is truly from God and capable of saving them.

We love this story. We all know what it means to walk through a storm. Each storm causes us to question where we are going to look for safety; our own resources or the Master of all things, Jesus Christ. Hopefully, we too are on the path of deepening understanding as we daily learn how to look at Jesus rather than to ourselves.

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