Where is Your Faith?
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
One of the scenes in The Pilgrim’s Progress has the main character, Christian, having to cross a narrow pathway. There’s a deep ditch on one side and quagmire on the other. He had heard from others about how awful this path was, but he was determined to go on. By the time he reached it, it was night and it would be the darkest night of his life it seemed. He could not even see directly in front of him. It felt that path was so narrow that it was almost inevitable to fall into the ditch or the mire.
Bunyan wrote, “Thus he went on, and I heard him here sigh bitterly; for besides the danger mentioned above, the pathway was here so dark, that ofttimes when he lifted up his foot to go forward, he knew not where, or upon what he should set it next.” All he knew was what he heard. There were dreadful noises all around him from both sides of the way.
At one point in this journey, Christian began to have thoughts that were not his own.
The Pilgrim’s Progress The Fourth Stage
I took notice that now poor Christian was so confounded that he did not know his own voice; and thus I perceived it. Just when he was come over against the mouth of the burning pit, one of the wicked ones got behind him, and stepped up softly to him, and whisperingly suggested many grievous blasphemies to him, which he verily thought had proceeded from his own mind. This put Christian more to it than any thing that he met with before, even to think that he should now blaspheme Him that he loved so much before. Yet if he could have helped it, he would not have done it; but he had not the discretion either to stop his ears, or to know from whence these blasphemies came.
But those blasphemies were combatted by another voice that seemed to be just ahead of him. “Though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.” Three things got Christian through the darkest night: believing there were other people on the valley with him, that God was with them and so why not with Christian as well, and that they would eventually meet up.
Eventually, as morning dawned, Christian reached the other side. He looked back to see what he had been through. “Also now he saw the hobgoblins, and satyrs, and dragons of the pit, but all afar off; for after break of day they came not nigh; yet they were discovered to him, according to that which is written, “He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.”’
This morning, we are looking at a similar instance in the lives of the apostles. They too are going through one of the darkest and most frightening nights of their lives. And as we read, remember Luke’s objective in writing this bios of Jesus. He is writing so that Theophilus can have certainty of the things he has been taught about Jesus. In other words, he has investigated and written his findings so we know who this Jesus is.
And as we go through this passage, we see three responses to the events that transpire that help to focus our attention so we know who this Jesus is. The first response comes from the disciples and is a Fear-filled Response. The second response comes as Jesus responds to the disciples fear. It’s a Rebuke-filled Response. Finally, we see the response of the disciples as they see and hear what Jesus has done. It is an Awe-filled Response.
Fear-Filled Response
Rebuke-Filled Response
Awe-Filled Response
One 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,
and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger.
And 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.
He 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?”
The Fear-Filled Response
The Fear-Filled Response
The first response that we see this morning comes from the disciples. We’ve read the text and can see why they are full of fear, but let’s just do some quick background work.
The lake that is being talked about here is the Sea of Galilee. It’s also called Sea of Gennesaret or Lake Gennesaret. It is really more of a large lake than an actual sea. However, it is located about 700 feet below sea level and is surrounded by large hills/mountains. It’s easy for stormy weather to get trapped in between the mountains. You may remember Hurricane Harvey hitting Houston back in 2017. It took 80 lives and cost $180 billion dollars in damage. Much of that was because it just stalled once it hit land, moving about 5 mph. That’s kind of how storms can be on the Sea of Galilee. They just stall and the rain pours and the winds begin to swirl as if in a wind tunnel.
And this one that is talked about here, seems to be have been particularly bad as four fishermen were helpless to ride through the storm and get everyone to safety.
And here is Jesus with the twelve setting sail. It should have only taken a couple of hours to get across. Within that short amount of time two things happened: Jesus fell asleep and a massive storm blew in.
While Jesus sleeps, the waves are crashing all around the boat! Which is simply amazing! How does a guy sleep through that!? The next time you are tempted to forget about Jesus’s humanity, just remember how tired he must have been to sleep while on a boat that was filling with water.
And the boat is filling! The Greek actually gets a bit more descriptive. The boat was being swamped with water. You can almost see the disciples sloshing around the boat trying to do everything that they can to make it to safety. Yet, as we see, they were endangered by the amount of water swamping the boat. Did you know that a cubic foot of water is 64 pounds!? Every crashing wave across the deck is adding up to a hundred pounds to the boat!
And how do the disciples respond? They respond in fear. They wake Jesus up. “Master, Master,” they say. Now, fear is a natural response. It’s an understandable response. I was reminded by Pastor Mattosian, at the Good Friday service, how the sea is often used in the Bible to show chaos. And that is exactly what is happening this night. It is complete chaos and as everyone over the age of 5 has experienced, lack of control brings about quite a bit of fear. It’s a natural reaction and understandable reaction.
But that fear can bring us to conclusions that feel true, but aren’t necessarily true. Like Christian going across that narrow path had thoughts of blasphemy that seemed to seep into his mind, so the disciples had falsehoods seep into theirs.
In their fear, the disciples come to Jesus, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Perishing! That’s the Greek word “ApOllymi”. If you’ve ever seen or read the Left Behind Series, you may remember one of the books entitled, Apollyon. It means “Destroyer.” This is the verbal form of that word. We’re being destroyed. We’re perishing. It’s the same word in John 3:16: “whoever believes in him shall not perish.” This is a strong word that the disciples are using.
And I do not doubt that this is the way they felt. You’ve probably been there as well. Things are getting too chaotic. You’re being swamped by wave after wave. Your life is filling up with the unexpected and its weighing you down, and you feel like you’re literally sinking. One more wave—one more thing—and you’ll perish. I’ve been there.
It’s natural and understandable to feel that kind of fear in those kinds of situations. And we can almost commend the disciples for going to Jesus at this time. I say almost, because we have to follow Jesus’s lead here. He doesn’t commend them.
The Rebuke-Filled Response
The Rebuke-Filled Response
This leads us to the second response. It’s Jesus’s rebuke-filled response. The disciples have awakened him in fear, and so he got up himself up and rebuked the wind and sea. We aren’t told by Luke what the words were, but we know from Mark he said, “Peace. Be still.” As if to the wind he said, “Peace,” and as if to the crashing waves he said, “Be still.” And they obeyed.
This idea of rebuke can often be misunderstood. So it’s important that we understand what a rebuke it. A rebuke is a correction. And it is used by those who have the authority to rebuke. In the New Testament, this word is used 29 times. Only three of those times are used by someone other than Jesus or God/God’s word: The crowd that rebuked those crying out to Jesus for mercy, the disciples rebuking the mothers bringing their children, and the second thief on the cross rebuking the first. Two of those three times, the crowd and the disciples were then shown that they had no authority to rebuke. So in essence, there is one time in the entire New Testament that a rebuke was warranted by someone other than divine. And the one person who did it rebuked a man for his blasphemies and testified to Jesus’s innocence. In essence, he was given a pass.
Why? Because no one has such divine authority. For Jesus to rebuke the wind and water shows his divine authority, which we’ll get to in a moment. But it wasn’t just the wind and waves Jesus rebuked. You see, rebuke comes in various forms. Rebukes can come as commands. When Jesus charges people not to speak of him, the same Greek word is used. It’s a command. It’s not a harsh message of rebuke. It’s just a command; he’s correcting by command their inclination to tell. The same word is used when demons are rebuked. Again, it’s a command. Perhaps a bit harsher, but not necessarily. When one has authority, one need not be harsh. Even a gentle word is enough. But sometimes that rebuke can come in the form of a question. It’s a correcting question rather than a correcting command. And that’s what we see with the disciples.
Jesus has the authority to question what’s going on in the hearts and minds of his followers. “Where is your faith?”
It’s a rhetorical question, meant to prick the heart and help them to see more clearly. But we can find probably three answers.
Their faith may have rested in their boat. Think about it for a moment, this boat had to have held at least thirteen men, one of whom was sprawled out sleeping. This wasn’t a tiny boat. Peter, Andrew, James, and John would not have allowed the Master and the apostles to go across on some rickety boat. The boat, for all intents and purposes, would have been a trustworthy—seaworthy—vessel. I’m not saying they thought it was the Titanic, but it is likely that they figured it could get them across safely, even if a storm came.
It could have been that they trusted in their abilities. Again, four of the thirteen men had been fisherman their entire lives. They had faced storms before. They knew what to do in case of wind and waves. It wasn’t until they believed that they were perishing because the waves were swamping the boat and endangering their lives, that they finally turned to Jesus.
Lastly, but least likely here, is that it could have been in Jesus, but not in the way we would like to think.. Jesus’s question pretty much puts this one on the outs. The disciples came to Jesus, and that seems right and good. But they came seeking his power because his presence was not enough for them. That’s what gets to the heart of Jesus’s question.
Where is your faith? Is it in the presence of Jesus or in the power of Jesus? And that may seem like a distinction without a difference, but there is a major difference between the two. If we are looking for the power of Jesus rather than the presence of Jesus and he does not respond in power, where do we go from there? What happens to our faith? Is your faith in Jesus the same for when he is silent and still as when he displays his strength?
Very often, in fact too often, sermons and studies on this passage or the passage of Jesus walking on water, get it wrong. Those who preach or teach these passages will say things like, “Jesus will calm the storms in your life” rather than “Jesus can calm the storms in your life.” That’s a major difference. Jesus has the ability to rebuke the wind and water. But that doesn’t mean that he will. More often than not, we’re going to have experiences more like Christian’s than the disciples. We’ll have to walk through the darkness and not be given the peace of light. Paul tells us that he had been shipwrecked three times! And one of those he was adrift at sea for a night and a day. If you and I are merely looking for Jesus’s power rather than be contented with his presence, we will be greatly disappointed throughout our journey.
You see Jesus was there, but he was asleep. His was present and that presence ought to have been enough. Think about if Jesus had been awake. How different would their response have been? Chrysostom, the golden-mouthed preacher of the fifth century, believed that they would have responded in three different ways: no fear at all, they would never have sought his help, or they would not have even thought to seek help in the first place. In other words, if he had been awake, his presence very well would have been enough. But though he was present, as he slept, it was as if he wasn’t present at all.
Ever feel that way? We know Jesus said that he’d be with us to the end of the age. We know the promise that he would never leave us or forsake us. He is present and yet being unseen by us is like him being present but being asleep to the disciples; it can seem as if he is not even there. If only we’d remember that Jesus is Jesus in his stillness or his strength.
If only we’d remember the lines of William Cowper who wrote:
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
The Awe-Filled Response
The Awe-Filled Response
In this case, Jesus showed his strength, but only after displaying stillness in the storm. He did not have to do so. It was a grace of his to still the storm, but the fact that he was present would have been enough to get them through it. But to see that power displayed in such a way, led the disciples to respond in a way most appropriate. The first response they had was fear-filled, leading to Jesus’s rebuke-filled response. But now we see the disciples’ awe-filled response.
He 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?”
I find it somewhat ironic that Jesus’s power calms the sea but frightens the disciples. Think about it for a moment. Which is more frightening, a powerful storm or the man who is more powerful than the storm? Which is more frightening: a storm that can pop up and threaten to sink your ship or a man who can wake up from a dead sleep and say three words and end the entire threat? Who is in this boat with them!?
At this point Jesus has healed just about everything you can imagine. From a fever to demon possession, from leprosy to a withered hand. He’s healed a paralytic and has even brought a young man back from the dead. But all of that has to do with people. This isn’t just a man who has command over humanity, but has command over earth as a whole!
No wonder they were afraid and marveled at the same time! No wonder they were in awe. And they could not help but ask the question: Who is this? The wonder! The majesty! The authority of this man to command inanimate objects and they listen to him. They obey him! There is nothing that does not fall under his authority.
As Abraham Kuyper said way back in 1880: “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” From a fever to a storm, from sickness to disease to death, Christ is sovereign. Who is this? This is Jesus and he is mighty to save.
Conclusion
Conclusion
It is why he came to earth. He came to save. John tells us that Jesus came for specific reasons: to put away sin and to free us from the works of the devil. Jesus himself said that he came to seek and to save those who were lost.
In this display of power, Jesus showed what he was capable to do, but it was not what he ultimately came to do. He ultimately came to save the soul, not the body. He is certainly capable of saving the body, but he specifically and purposefully came to save the soul. The body itself will be saved at our resurrection. But a saving of the body without the saving of the soul is call damnation, and Jesus came to save the condemned.
This is why we are here this morning, celebrating Resurrection Sunday. But let’s be honest. It’s why we are here every Sunday. Every Sunday is a resurrection Sunday! Every Sunday we come together to praise and uplift the risen Savior.
As the hymn states:
“He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way.” It may sound a bit sappy, but it’s still the truth. How we long for the commands of “Peace. Be still.” But how often he whispers just ahead of us as we walk: “Though you are walking in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I am with you,” and it is enough.