The focus of our faith
As he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. Suddenly, a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves—but Jesus kept sleeping. So the disciples came and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to die!” He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him!” Matthew 8:23-27 “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6). Faith projects trust believing that God’s mighty power will be released in the life of a Christian (Hebrews 11:33-35). After the Lord Jesus Christ addressed those who were just curious and uncommitted, he now turned to His disciples. He addressed their lack of faith. From the text, the disciples were with Jesus on a boat at the Sea of Galilee. The sea was known for its unpredictable and sudden occurrences of storms. When the boat was swayed by huge waves, the disciples panicked. They were frustrated with Jesus for He seemed to be oblivious with the situation for he was sleeping. They have witnessed His power demonstrated previous to this when He performed several miracles. They have seen enough that they should have realized that Jesus alone could do something at that moment of crisis. This is how God build our understanding of Him so we will grow in our faith trusting Him to come through. He first rebuked the disciples before He calmed the sea. His rebuke of them having little faith showed that they still have some doubts and unbelief. His reprimand of the disciples demonstrated that they still were doubtful of His power. This despite the fact that they have been with Him and have seen the miracles, fulfilled already some of the prophecies referring to the coming Messiah and heard Him preached, yet still doubted Him. But as soon as they witnessed the power of Jesus over nature, they asked, “What kind of man is this?” The miracles cited in Matthew highlighted the fact that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. By these demonstrations of His supernatural power, He is calling His disciples and us to place our faith and trust in Him. Even when it seemed that His plan in our life is not to remove the crisis we are going through, He still wants us to have faith and trust Him that He is at work and He is with us.
Blessings,
Noel De Guzman
www.my-wbc.com
