Today, a cracking story. I love this story. Jesus and friends set off across the lake, presumably in Peter's boat. But even with experienced fishermen on board, things aren't going well. It's surprising how panicky they got - surely they had been in storms before.
Meanwhile, another surprise, Jesus has settled down for a nap, and is sleeping like a baby. Do we find this believable? That fishermen would be scared silly, and Jesus remain unconscious?
I find it strange that Peter allowed this story to be told. What an embarrassment for him! Perhaps this is a story that has been stretched at both ends - the disciples have become extra dumb, and Jesus has become extra cool.
Because he really is amazingly cool, isn't he? Roused from his slumber, he simply stands up, tilts his head back and gives the weather a bawling out. And amazingly, extraordinarily, phenomenally, the murderous storm abates.
The disciples, still shaking, ask each other, "Who is this man?" Who can do something like this? Who can even command the elements?
Who indeed?
This isn't the coolest part IMHO. I've always seen this part of Luke and the next section as inexorably linked. I believe the storm to have been driven by supernatural opposition to what Jesus was going to do next (of course this wouldn't bother Jesus himself, because he knew he had authority and he knew God's sovereign plan for his ministry).
ReplyDeleteBut look what happens following this passage... Jesus drives "Legion" out of the Gerasenes demoniac... and then in the narrative he comes straight back across the lake again.
That says to me that his only purpose in crossing the lake, was to set one man free. One man. He went out of his way and made all that effort for one man. It's one of those passages that displays Christ's love for the individual and not just the collective... and that is reassuringly awesome.
You make a very good point, Nick. It's a problem with reading Luke's gospel in small chunks, that I miss out on the links between one section and the next. I'll need to factor in what you said when I do my next post on Monday.
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