Questions and Answers

And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”   
Matthew 8:23-27

Recall the beautiful words at the beginning of John's gospel that describe the Word made flesh, the creator coming to live among his creation. After those glorious phrases and powerful words that can bring us to our knees in worship of this amazing God who chose to become flesh and live among us, we find one of the saddest statements: He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. (John 1:10-11)

I believe we get a tiny glimpse into this reality in the passage from Matthew's gospel above. Even those who were to become Jesus' closest friends and followers did not (yet) recognize the truth that Jesus was Emmanuel, God with us. The men who are part of the inner circle of Jesus' ministry, after witnessing Jesus' authority over the wind and waves, ask the question, "What sort of man is this...?"

The passage above, from chapter 8 in Matthew, describes the early days of Jesus' ministry. Jesus is in the process of gathering together the men who will become his 12 closest followers. (Early in the next chapter, we read about Jesus' call to Matthew, the tax collector, to follow him.) These followers are in the early days of their own life-changing encounter with the Messiah. They will come to know for themselves who this man is and what "sort of man" he is as they witness miracle after miracle, hear teaching unlike any they've heard before and witness the death, resurrection and ascension of their Teacher.

On that first Pentecost, they will be filled with the power of the Spirit, empowered and equipped to go and proclaim the truth of who Jesus is and the gift of salvation he has given us. They will suffer hardships and danger in their own lives - persecution, arrest, martyrdom. But unlike the storm and accompanying fear described in the passage above, these "storms" will be overcome by the Good News that they have been privileged to share, the knowledge and conviction of the love, power, authority and sovereignty of God - the deep, abiding truth that nothing and no one can separate them from the love of God.

These men who once cowered in the storm-tossed boat, wondering among themselves about this man who calmed the wind and the waves were transformed into followers who understood the powerful truth that Paul put into words in Romans 8:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who  did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,  

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am  sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I'm thankful that we have the examples of these men to encourage us. We, like they, have questions, doubts, lack of understanding and knowledge; but we also have the example of their transformed lives, their bold witness and their faithfulness. We too are sent into the world to testify to the Good News, to share how Christ has transformed our lives, to witness to the power of the love of God and his presence in us and with us as we walk out our own 'faith-stories'. And we, like those early followers, can trust in the same promise:

"And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”