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Text: Matthew
8:23-27
The
author of this Gospel was a man named Matthew Levi. He wrote this gospel
specifically to the Jews. He wanted them to know that God had not withheld from them the promised Messiah. His intent was to show them that the prophets did not
error in their messages, and this man called Jesus was the fulfillment of that promise.
Matthew
begins his gospel by giving Jesus’
genealogy to show the Jews that He
is the descendant of both King David and of Abraham. In the first seventeen
verses a period of 2000 years and some 46 people make up the forty two
generation that preachers so often mention in their sermons.
Some
of the people in this genealogy were real heroes of faith like Abraham, Isaac,
Ruth, and David. Some of them had shady reputations like Rahab and Tamar. Some
were just ordinary folks like Hezron, Aram, Nahshon, and Achim. And other like
Manasseh, and Abijah were just plain evil.
God’s work in history is never limited by human failures or sins.
Human failures and sins will never stop God’s
plans. He works through the ordinary
and accomplishes the extraordinary. The evidence is that God used these kinds of folks to bring Jesus into the world. It is also on record that His birth did not go unnoticed.
First
the shepherds received the good news and later the wise men came and worshipped
Him. The Jews were waiting for the Messiah to appear, but when He was born they didn’t recognize Him. They did not recognize Him, because they were looking for a
different kind of King.
History
says, at the time Jesus was born all
of Israel was controlled by Rome. The presence of Roman soldiers in Israel gave
the Jews military peace, but the price was high. Under Roman influence they
suffered oppression, slavery, injustice and immorality.
They
expected their Messiah to be born
and given to them; and that the government would be upon His shoulders. His name
was to be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The Prince of Peace, whose
Kingdom would never end, and He
would rule in perfect fairness and justice from the throne of David. Yet when Jesus was born He was not recognized as the
Messiah.
In
the 8th chapter, Matthew mentions some of Jesus’ many miracles. The healing of a man with an incurable
disease called leprosy, the healing of the centurion’s servant, the healing of
Peter’s mother in law, the casting out of devils from the men in the graveyard
into a herd of pig, and the calming of the storm out on the sea of Galilee.
The
sea of Galilee, also know by the name sea of Tiberias and the Lake of
Genneasaret sits in the Jordan valley. It is seven miles wide, thirteen miles
long and approximately 150 feet deep. It’s surface is 680 feet below sea level, making it liable to sudden storms. The
cool air from the uplands rushing down the gorges with such violence, that it
tosses the water of the sea in tumultuous billows, with waves at times reaching
as much as twenty feet in height. Such storms are fairly frequent and
dangerous, especially to boats that get caught in them.
The
disciples had only set out for a three hour tour, but without warning, the
weather started getting rough; and that boat of theirs was tossed, and if Jesus had not been onboard that boat
would have been lost. Being experienced fisherman, they would not have dared go
out to sea knowing that a storm was headed their way. That wouldn’t make sense
now would it? No one in their right mind would ever set sail on the sea, in a
sailboat, knowing that a storm was approaching. But out there on Galilee’s
bosom, storms arise with very little if any warning at all. They come so
quickly so suddenly, so abruptly that the only recourse you have at times is to
call for help.
Like
the sea of Galilee, life is full of storms. You seldom if ever get a warning
when the storms of life are coming. Just like out there on Galilee, before you
know it, oops there it is. It can be devastating, debilitating, sometimes so
severe that it’ll turn you every way but loose. Life’s storms can hit you so
hard, and so fast that the only thing you can do in the situation is to call on
someone for help.
The
winds caused the storms on Galilee’s deep, but what or who causes the storms of
life? If you read the Book of Job; it wasn’t God, but Satan who caused the storms in his life. You can believe
as Job did, that it’s not God, but
Satan, causing the storms in your life.
The
Devil made me do it, was a popular phrase some time ago, just don’t give him
credit for everything that goes amiss. Don’t blame him when your car breaks
down or the appliances in your homes quit working. These are things made by
mans hands, and things made by mans hands never last as long as we would like
them to. They work while they can and they quit at the most inopportune time.
Satan is to blame for the sin condition. He authors confusion, accuses the
brethren, and he is the sower of discord among the same. He can make
Christians, who leave Sunday service, go home, get on the telephone, call the
gossip line, and gossip about everything that went on noticed or unnoticed in
the service.
Instead
of the gossip line, we ought to be on the prayer line, what prayer can’t do
just can’t be done. Prayer, in addition to thanking and praising, is the way we
tell God about our troubles and He will hear us, and He will answer. We need more prayer and
less gossip. Blame that on Satan. He is busy. His design is to keep your spirit
unregenerated, your flesh corruptible. His main objective is to make your life hell.
The
truly saved ought to know, anytime you are catching hell, it’s Satan creating a
storm in your life. You can be getting along alright, and suddenly without
warning, you’ll get a phone call from the hospital, or from the police
department, a relative or a neighbor, it might be local or it might be long
distant, but the news will toss you. Without warning you’ll find yourself in a
storm. And you know my brothers and sister, when you’re in a storm you don’t
need a gossip line, you need a prayer line. You don’t need irritation, you need
consolation.
When you know to look to the hills where your
help comes from, then you will know that all of your help comes from the Lord. Let the storm rise. It might toss
you and it may cause you to breakdown along life’s journey. But that’s alright,
every time Satan tries to break you down, God
will give you a breakthrough.
Out on the sea of Galilee, the
disciples were caught in a terrible storm. Their boat was tossed and driven, it
was battered by the angry sea. They did not need anybody to remind them how bad
the storm was, they needed help to get out of the storm. But the question is
how would they deal with this storm situation? Somebody said, go and wake up Jesus.
Tell Him that the tempest is raging. Tell Jesus that the billows
are tossing high! Tell Him that the sky is O’er shadowed with blackness,
and no shelter or help is nigh. Ask Him if He cares whether or
not that we are about to perish. Ask Him how can He lie asleep,
when each moment so madly is threatening, a grave in the angry deep. And about
that time as Jesus awaken out of His slumber He asked the
disciples a piercing question, Why are you so fearful?
In other words, what are you
afraid of? O ye of little faith. Don’t you know that the winds and the waves
obey my will, and He spoke to the wind and the sea, peace be still, and
there was a great calm So that all of the disciples marveled saying, what
manner of man is this that even the winds and the sea obey Him.
I’ll tell you what manner of man He is: He is God
and man; He is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, He’s
the lily down in the valley; the bright and morning star. He’s the Son
of David seed of Abraham, stone hewed out of the mountain a meek and humble
lamb; He’s bread when you’re hungry, water when you’re thirsty; He’s
money when you ain’t got a dime, He’s a doctor in a sickroom, a lawyer
in a courtroom, He’s shelter in time of storm; His name is Jesus!
God Bless You.