Storm chasers

Yesterday’s message was on some lessons learned from looking at two instances where Jesus calmed the storms. They are from Matthew chapter 8 and Matthew chapter 14. Both incidents took place on the seas of Galilee. Both incidents involved Jesus and the disciples, Both took place in the night. It’s probably also a universal conclusion that Jesus is teaching the disciples about trust both times.

Earlier this summer I had heard a sermon on the radio wherein the pastor preaching pointed out that Jesus sent the disciples on the boat into the storm. It’s by no means hidden from us. It’s just there: a subtle fact that sits in front of us as we read these passages but does need to be pointed out to slow thinkers like myself. Jesus sent them out on the boat: that means He knowingly sent them into the storm. The huge difference is that while both storm encounters start out with Jesus sending them into the storm, the second one finds the disciples going into the storm without Jesus aboard.

So the first instance in chapter 8 isn’t too hard to take because Jesus went into the storm with them. He was on the boat when the storm came up and was conveniently there to take care of everything. But the second time around, in chapter 14 he stayed behind.

There’s a few things I would have been thinking about if I were boarding the ship going into the storm the second time. I would have been the one saying, "Hey guys, doesn’t anyone remember the last time we sailed on the Galilee at night? Don’t you think it would be a good idea to just wait for Jesus?” Or maybe I’d be saying, “Feels like a good night for a walk, I’ll catch up with you guys in a couple of days. I’ll wave to you from the shoreline.” Well Bob wasn’t one of the 12. Jesus sent them and they all obeyed and went.

Scripture says the storm hit them around sundown but Jesus didn’t come to them until the fourth watch which would have started at 3 AM. That means He left them struggle in the storm for a minimum of 6 hours and maybe as much as 9 hours or more depending when sundown was that day. In the Gospel of John it says they had rowed against the wind for 3 to 31/2 miles. That’s kind of like walking the wrong direction on a people mover at the airport. So to actually cover 3 miles they might have had to row enough to cover 2 or more times the distance had they been in calm waters. That’s a lot of rowing! And I’m sure although there were a few fishermen among them, nobody was a member of the Jerusalem U crew team. They had to be well beyond the point of exhaustion by the time Jesus got to them and probably already beyond hope of being saved.

So in the second storm Jesus let them struggle significantly before he came to them. Now that’s an observation in life we can all relate to: Jesus doesn’t always seem to show up to rescue us at the first sign of a struggle. Sometimes he waits until we have exhausted all our own resources and are ready for him to do the rescuing. Sometimes Jesus intentionally let’s us struggle in the storms of life so he can have our full attention! But no matter where we are in the storm he has not abandoned us and has always had his eye on us.

Now we know that many people actually have lost their lives at sea and in many other disasters in life. So how do we handle that? Well what Jesus did for us on the cross saved us from the worst storm: death. If we understand that we are created for eternity, Jesus has already saved us from the biggest storm we’ll ever face.
Because he died for us, we have the opportunity to live for ever if we trust in Him for our salvation.

One closing side bar remark. We should never assume that every storm we encounter in life is one we were sent into by Jesus. Some times we create our own storms. I don’t know if in the end that really matters. The important thing is that Jesus will never leave us or forsake us whether it’s our storm or His.