St Matthew, Chapter 8, verses: 26 - 27, The Gathering Storm.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The storm on the lake) Part 3. 

Christ arose from his sleep and rebuked the disciples for having such little faith.  They have been with him for some time.  They have seen the miracles that he has performed.  They know that he is a great prophet with great powers but they have yet to believe.  Christ demonstrates who he is when he performs yet another miracle.   Then he arose and rebuked the wind and the sea, and there came a great calm.   

This miracle was unmistakable.  Christ spoke to the wind.  Christ spoke to the sea.  He spoke as though he was speaking to children playing, making too much noise.  He told them to be quiet.  He told them to be calm.  He restored peace.  The disciples were awed.  They did not know what to make of this miracle.  They did not know how to accept what they saw.  They did not know how to understand what had just happened.  And the men marvelled, saying, "What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

The disciples marvelled.  They did not understand.  They did not know, yet, who Christ really was.  The demonstration of his power was not for his benefit.  This demonstration of power was for the benefit of his disciples.  They needed to know.  They needed to believe.  They needed to understand the person of Christ.  The same is true today.  We need to know.  We need to believe.  We need to understand the real person of Christ. 

Christ was preparing his disciples for their leadership role in his absence.  He is preparing us today for our leadership role in the world.  Those who read these passages are being prepared for their future in Christ.  In the whole of Chapter 8, Christ has taken us on a journey of faith.  He has demonstrated to us and to the disciples the power of faith.  He calls upon them to have faith.  He calls upon us to have faith.  He teaches them the importance of faith in their lives.  He teaches us the importance of faith in our lives today. 

What is faith?  The dictionary defines faith as belief in something that is not based on proof.  The disciples were being asked to believe that Christ was the Messiah.  They were being challenged to believe that Christ was from God.  They were being asked to believe that Christ was God made man.  And they were being provided the proof through his works, just as we are provided the proof through the wonders of his creations. 

How do you provide proof that God is God.  If he stood before you and performed all kinds of miracles, would you believe?  If he cured the sick, healed the lame, caused arms to grow, caused legs to straighten, caused diseases to disappear instantly, would you believe?  If he walked on water, caused hurricanes to cease,  made volcanoes stop erupting, would you believe?  Even with all this evidence one could still think that there is another being that might be greater.  The simple fact is, there is nothing that can provide proof that God is God except our own desire to believe.  We have to want to believe.  Our desire to believe that there is a God opens our hearts to him.  Our desire to believe opens our minds to his wonders.  Our desire to believe opens our eyes and allows us to see the things that he does.  Our desire to believe opens our belief and allows it to become faith. 

Christ wants you to have faith.  He wants you to know that you are.  Have faith and believe in him.
   

St Matthew, Chapter 8, verses:25 - 26, The Gathereing Storm.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The storm on the lake) Part 2.  

Christ is sleeping in the boat and the waves are overflowing into the boat causing it to sink.  The disciples are in a panic and do not know what to do.  So they come and wake him from his sleep and say to him, "Lord, save us! we are perishing! "   Christ has just performed miracles before their eyes.  He has cured a leper.  He has healed a servent grieviously ill in bed.  He has banished a fever from Peter's mother-in-law, and performed other miracles, casting out demons and curing all that were brought to him.  Yet the disciples were affraid.  They feared for their lives.

We, in similar fashion, face perils and hardships calling upon God to save us.  When sickness comes we call upon God.  When disease comes we call upon God.  When disaster strikes we call upon God.  When death is knocking at our door, we call upon God.  When the bills are coming faster than we can see income to pay for them, we call upon God.  When doubt comes in, having us question our faith, we call upon God.  LORD save us, we are perishing!!!  We call upon God.  Where is the knowledge of his wisdom within us?  Where is the belief in his love while we are holding his hand?  Where is the security of his protection when we are under his guidance?  Where did our courage go when we see peril approaching?  Do we not believe?  Do we not have faith in his power?  Do we not trust in his wisdom and his love and his protection for us?

Christ awoke from his sleep and spoke to his disciples saying,  "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"   Why do we fear, if we are with Christ?  Why do we not have faith if Christ is in our lives?  Do we not believe?  Do we have to call upon God for every little incident that comes into our lives?  Do we have to pray for every sickness that comes upon us?  Do we have to call upon him when the waves of the world seem to overtake us?  Or do we have faith?  What is faith if we do not have it?  Really,  W H A T   I S   F A I T H  and do we really have it?  

Christ has taken us on a journey of belief.  He has demonstrated to his disciples in his miracles those who had faith.  He has pointed out incidences of great faith to us and to his disciples.  Then, he provides us with the written test to see if we will pass.  He provided the disciples with their lack of faith when he slept in the boat and the waves of the sea seemed to overtake them.  He gave them a grade and they did not pass because they had not grasped the simple principle of faith. 

Do we have faith today?  Have we passed the written test that he has given us?  Have we failed to demonstrate that we have faith?  Christ is preparing his disciples for the time when his mission will end and he will take his rest with his father in heaven.  He is running them through the obstacle course to build up their faith.  He is training them on the basics of faith and how they should use it.  Are we paying attention when we read these passages, so that we will also be trained in our faith?   We are week human beings but faith makes us strong in him who is the source of all strength.  "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  
   

St Matthew, Chapter 8, verse: 23-24, The Gathering Storm.

Our paragraph topic is: (The storm on the lake) Part 1. 

23 Then he got into a boat, and his disciples followed him.  24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was covered by the waves;but he was asleep.

Christ ordered the disciples to go across the sea when he saw the great crowds gathering.  The word had spread of his  popularity and all the crowds came to see him.  And out of the woodwork came all who wanted to be near him.  The groupies wanted to follow him.  His disciples made excuses to leave him.  And he had no place to rest.  He got into the boat and set sail for the other side of the lake.  Christ slept while they were traveling across the lake.  Matthew tells us that a great storm arose on the sea and the boat was covered by the waves.  But Christ was asleep in the boat.

Christ had just spoke to a groupie telling him that the Son of Man had no place to lay his head.  He had no place to move away from the gathering crowds of people.  He was like a movie star that draws crowds wherever they go.  He had to have people to protect him and to be around him at all times lest he is mobbed by the people.  Yet he was God made flesh like all other humans and required rest for his human body.

And the world raged on around him.  The seas churned, the waves lashed against the boat, and the waters began to wash into the boat, filling it to near flooding.  The disciples were panicking.  They did not know what to do.  They tried to bail out the water but it was too much for them.  They were lashed about by the waves.  They were thrown hither and yonder by the winds.  They fought for their lives under the overflow of the waves.  They were afraid.  They feared for their lives.  And Christ was asleep in the boat.

How often we face the same situations in our lives where turmoil surrounds us.  We see our lives going down in destruction.  We fear the worst for ourselves when change comes about that threatens our livelihoods.  The waves of tribulation flood into our boat and we are lost not knowing what to do.  We frantically try to bail out the water without any success.  The waters of destruction overwhelm us leaving us frustrated and fearful.  We panic.  We live in a state of stress.  We are angry at what has happened to us.  We seek answers and find something to blame.  We live in the past constantly reliving what we could have done to change our current circumstances.  We do everything that we know to do, relying on our human strength to bring about a change.

In the previous paragraphs Christ has given us examples of authority, miracles of restoration, and opportunities of faith to lead us along the path.  He is traveling somewhere and wants us to follow.  He tells his disciple to follow him.  He tells him to let the dead bury the dead implying that the living should be with him.  And now in the mist of the worldly storm he sleeps.  Should we sleep also following his example?  Should we place our trust in him and not worry about what we see around us?  Should we believe in his authority that will protect and guide us to safe shores?  Or should we see the gathering storm and fear?  Should we panic and use our human powers in an attempt to deliver us from the storm?  Christ is asleep in the boat.  Shouldn't we also rest with him?  Shouldn't we also be at peace with him? 
   

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