What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him? (Matthew 8:27 NAS95)

“What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” (Matthew 8:27 NAS95)

I always wanted to be able to dunk a basketball. It never happened, and it never will. It seems to me that some people are built to run and jump and defy the laws of gravity, whether in basketball or gymnastics. Others of us have our feet firmly planted on the ground. Oh, perhaps, with practice and discipline I might have been able to to do it. Though I’m not sure.

But with Jesus it is different. The Gospel story from which our critical question is taken this week is the disciples “manning” the boat on the Sea of Galilee in the midst of a storm with Jesus asleep in the bow. They awaken Him, and he stands up and stills the storm. They respond with the question, “What kind of man is this?”

You understand that no amount of practice and discipline will ever allow you or me to still a storm. And we understand why. We are but specks on the earth, and great atmospheric pressure systems swirl about overhead, interacting with one another and stretching across the skies for hundreds, even thousands of miles. A front may sweep through and clear the skies, but the best we can do is to wait for it. We certainly cannot command it.

It stands to reason, then, that if Jesus possesses that kind of Creator- Authority over the systems of the globe, then He has other kinds of authority as well - authorities that we do not have and cannot gain. And Jesus demonstrated those authorities over evil spirits and diseases, and the little fish with the coin in its mouth. It isn’t magic. It is, as the hymn says, “Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of all nature.”

Now, if Jesus is that kind of man, being not merely man, but also Son of God - if that is true, and the Bible says it is -what kind of authority will He have in my life? And the answer at the present seems to be, as much authority as I allow Him to have. Which is a very short-sighted answer. Jesus could have stilled the storm at the beginning, or even before it began. But He waited to still the storm until when He chose to still it, and the storm was vanquished.

Jesus could exercise His authority in your life completely and immediately right now. But He waits, and then, He will. But in the meantime, he allows us by faith to recognize that authority, and to bow before it. That is, we accept Jesus for who He is, - no mere man, but Savior and God - and then we respond to Him with love and devotion and submission. And one day people might ask, “What kind of man is this, that even Christians obey Him?