In Matthew =
8:26 we see Jesus, awakened by His disciples as He slept in the midst of =
a violent storm on Galilee. He said to =
them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” =
Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great =
calm.
Preached many =
times on this scene of Jesus rebuking wind and waves, and how He can =
calm our stormy seas. But focus on the question Jesus asked: =
“Why are you =
fearful, O you of little =
faith?”
Jesus rebuked =
their fear and unbelief, not for waking Him up or for asking for help. =
We shouldn’t think that Jesus was in a bad mood from being =
awakened. He was troubled at their fear, because fear and unbelief go =
together.
In fact, Jesus =
dealt with His disciples before He dealt =
with the storm! Relatively speaking, the storm was easy to deal with. =
Attention needed to be given to the disciples =
first.
Jesus rebuked =
their fear because they actually had many reasons to have faith, even =
reasons for great faith.
– They =
had just seen Jesus do significant miracles, showing great power and authority.
– =
They had seen an example of great faith =
with the centurion who trusted Jesus to heal his =
servant.
– They had Jesus with them in the boat and they saw =
Jesus sleeping; His peace =
should have given them peace.
Maybe you have =
some genuine reasons to be afraid. For the disciples, the storm and the =
threat from it were real. But here’s the truth: whatever your =
reasons for fear, God has =
given you even greater reasons for =
faith.
~~
Dr Bob Griffin =
[email protected] =
www.grif.net
"Jesus =
Knows Me, This I Love!"