(Matthew 8:18-27)
Here we see that as the crowds began to press upon him as his fame grew and word of mouth got around that miracles were being performed. After seeing these things the people began to press around him wanting to be close to him and seeking more. Under such circumstances he was unable to rest and nor would the people be able to rest.
He showed this when a scribe said to him that he would follow Jesus wherever he went. This is not unlike high profile people today who are hounded by the paparazzi and constantly being followed. Jesus made this point in vs. 20 saying,”Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.” There was no place he could go at that time where he would not be followed and thus not be able to get a break from the people. We must remember that although he was the Son of God, he was here as a man and suffered all the issues a man suffers including being tired and exhausted.
Jesus needed to move on & he needed to get some rest. He said to his disciples to get into a boat to go across the water. As they went a great storm arose and he boat was being swamped, but Jesus was so tired he slept through it all. The disciples with him though were in great fear thinking they would perish. They still had not the faith to know that they had the Son of God with them and he would protect them from all dangers. When you consider for a moment that he could raise people from the dead it becomes evident that a storm should have been of little concern to the disciples.
At this stage though they did not have that faith for it was still early in Jesus ministry and they were young in Christianity. They had not learned they needed to trust in the Lord and know that he is watching over them and us. So fearing disaster they woke him up saying, “Save, Lord, we are perishing.” His response was simple and showed their lack of faith, “Why are you afraid, O men of little faith?” This was a simple enough position. They had seen the miraculous works he had just done, but their faith was still not strong enough to recognise that Jesus was God and could do anything. So he spoke to the storm and rebuked the wind and waves and it became calm. He showed them his power is unlimited. The disciples were shocked and amazed because it was unheard of that anyone could speak to the weather and change it by a word.
Through these proofs he showed the disciples that there is no need to fear the storms of the world, nor the storms of life. Whether physical matters, such as sickness, spiritual matters, like demon possession, or other things that may cause us to be afraid as they feared the storms, there is nothing that Jesus cannot and will not bring under control when the time is right.
We need not fear these things either for the Lord showed in all these scriptures that he protects and he will control these things. When we do have issues though, as the disciples feared being swamped, we need to call out to the Lord for help and he will save us. As we go through the storms of life we need to remember that we can call on him for help and that He has the power to save us from any and every situation.
Hi! I’m John, the owner, author, and editor of this site. Over the past 50+ years as a Christian I have been teaching, preaching and writing about the Bible to help Christians gain a deeper insight into the scriptures that are easily understood. I also answer specific Bible related questions, so feel free to contact me.
