A Little Faith in a Strong Jesus
Matthew 8:23-27
February 3, 2019 anno Domini – Redeemer
Jonah sleeps in the boat. Jesus sleeps in the boat. Jonah calms the sea. Jesus calms the sea. Jesus does all things for the faith of His disciples, for you. Jonah does everything for himself.
The Lord called Jonah to preach to the Ninevites. He hates the Ninevites. They aren’t going to believe him. They don’t deserve to hear God’s Word. Jonah flees from the storm of preaching to his enemies and thinks he has found calm. He’s booked passage on the S.S. Minnow for a three hour tour to Tarshish. He’s so relieved that he can sleep in the boat even as the storm of God’s anger begins to rage.
Jesus is asleep on His boat for a different reason. He’s exhausted. He has spent days teaching the faith to hundreds if not thousands in the Sermon on the Mount. The crowds followed Him down the mountain bringing the sick and dying and demon possessed to be healed and restored. You know what it’s like after a few days of wall to wall people with problems. You could fall asleep in a preschool classroom and a storm couldn’t wake you.
Jonah sleeps because he thinks he has escaped God. Jesus sleeps because He is true man, a man tired from preaching, teaching, loving, and caring. In a moment He will show Himself to be true God so that His disciples can believe this man is God and only He can give you peace.
Jonah runs from God, but he doesn’t find peace and calm. He found himself thrown into the sea. He found himself in the belly of a big fish.
We’re all like Jonah. God’s Word makes us uncomfortable. It is uncomfortable to trust God, to love your enemy, to go against yourself, to confess your sins and God’s righteousness. So what do you do when you’re uncomfortable? You run like Jonah. You seek peace in buying this, running there, leaving that behind. We’re always running but never arriving at peace and calm. Jonah would not have found peace in Tarsus. You will not find peace wherever you’re running – not in a bottle, not on your screen, not in a divorce, not in your money or purchases.
Jesus taught His disciples what Jonah learned in the belly of the fish – faith is not about you and what you are seeking. Faith is not something you do. It is not a commitment you make. It is not an expression of your strength or will. Faith is receiving what Jesus does. It is depending on Him alone. Saint Matthew doesn’t tell us how many disciples were in the boat with Jesus, but we know that four of them, Peter, Andrew, James and John were experienced fisherman. This was their lake. They knew the choice fishing spots, could judge the weather, and could sail like the Navy.
So they wouldn’t have even gotten into the boat if there was a whiff of a storm on the horizon. But they get in, with Jesus, who quickly falls asleep, and then the mother of all storms descends upon them. Their bravado is gone. Their skills are worthless. They have a little faith in one hope — Jesus is in the boat. “Save us Lord for we are perishing.”
This is what faith knows, believes, and trusts – Jesus is God in the flesh. He has come for one purpose – to help those who cannot help themselves. He has come to save us – not from the storms of life, but from the fury of God’s anger over our sin.
You see Jesus is more like Jonah than you can imagine. God wanted to save the Ninevites, so Jonah gets thrown overboard. God wanted to save you, so Jesus gets thrown overboard. That’s what happened at the cross. God the Father cast out His Son so He can pull you in. Jesus is thrown out of His Father’s favor, covered with our sins, so that you can be caught by forgiveness and drawn to faith in Christ. This is not something you see nor something you always feel. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. You may not be valued on earth, but God values you. He has paid the price of His Son’s blood for you. You may not be loved because of what you have done, but God loves you because of what He has done in Christ. You may not have hope because your life is a mess, but in Christ’s death and resurrection you have a certain hope of the resurrection, a new life, a new body, in the new heavens, and the new earth. I cannot make you believe that any more than a parent can make a child believe. I can only preach this truth – Christ Jesus had mercy on you. That’s what He did for His disciples on the boat. It’s what He does for you on the cross and gives to you through His church.
Faith believes in Jesus. We probably should never say, “I have a strong faith,” but we can most certainly say, “I have a strong Jesus.” Beliving in Jesus even a little faith, a weak faith is a strong faith. Faith forgives your sins. Consider all the ways you try to escape your sin – you leave your marriage, escape reality through alcohol or the internet, convince yourself you’re not that bad compared to others. Nothing can ease your conscience, but faith does. Faith conquers the grave because Jesus conquered the grave. You fear death. You want to escape it. You live for a quality of life and hope you don’t suffer and secretly consider “death with dignity” a good option. I’d rather die than suffer. You trust death more than God. Faith makes death a nap, a little rest in the casket until your resurrection. Faith controls and guides your flesh. Can you do that on your own? Can you love your enemy? Head to Nineveh and confess the Gospel of forgiveness to people you hate? Stop your flesh from running here and there searching for the latest pleasure? Faith does that because by faith in Jesus you get a new heart and new will.
Jonah had a strong Lord, whom he finally believed. Jonah went to Ninevah, preached the same sermon for three days and the whole city repented. The disciples had a strong Jesus, who stood up in the boat and calmed the sea. You have a strong Jesus, who takes away your sin, conquers the grave, and gives you power against yourself. We have a strong faith because we have a strong Lord, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Pr. Bruce Timm