Epiphany 4
Dear friends in Christ. In this Epiphany season, we have seen Jesus revealing Himself, showing Himself to be who He really is, showing who that Baby born of Mary truly is—the holy God Himself. The Epiphany season is full of accounts in which Jesus shines forth His divine glory and majesty. Today’s Gospel account is no different. In it, Jesus shows that He is the Lord of nature, the God of creation, the very God whom nature must obey. Our Gospel closes with the disciples’ amazement and exclamation: “What kind of a man is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!” The sainted psalmists of the OT record of the Lord and marvel at His power and might [Ps. 89.9; 65.7]: You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, You still them; and are certain of the Lord’s ability to help: By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us, O God of our salvation…You who still the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves. Jesus’ miracle of calming the storm on the sea shows Him, beyond doubt, to be the true God, the Creator of heaven and earth and thus the One whom it must obey. And here we see the truth of what St. John says about Jesus at the beginning of his Gospel [1.3]: All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made; and we pick up this statement and confess in the creed about Jesus: by whom all things were made.
But, interestingly enough, today’s Gospel account also shows the humanity of Jesus, that He is also true 100% man. What do we see Jesus doing? But Jesus was sleeping. Just as we need rest after a hard day’s work, so also as true man, Jesus needed rest. He was exhausted from His day’s traveling and preaching. As true man, Jesus was truly tired and was sleeping soundly. Here we see the truth of what the apostle writes of Jesus [Hb. 2.17]: He had to be made like His brothers in every respect... And that included also work and getting tired from that work. Jesus was and is a true human being who has gone through and shared in every part of our human life and existence—except sin.
That’s why Jesus could be our Savior. He, the true God, the Son, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity became one of us, lived on this earth and suffered and endured all that we do. He even placed Himself under the Law of God to keep it for us in our place, as our Substitute, doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves but what God demands and expects of us—living a holy and perfect life free from sin. Here in this account of Jesus sleeping in the boat, we truly see that Jesus was like us in every way; He is one of us; He is our brother.
But remember what this account clearly shows: Jesus is true God, the almighty Creator of heaven and earth. Yes, Jesus is true man; yes, He is our Substitute in keeping God’s holy Law. But what gives His work that great, infinite value and worth for us is the fact that He is also the almighty God Himself. Remember, Jesus is our Substitute not only under the law of God but also on the cross, under the wrath of God. Jesus’ sacrifice for us on the cross where He took on Himself the sins of all people is good for the sins of all people because of exactly who it was who suffered and died on the cross—the very God Himself, Christ Jesus. Why did Jesus’ death on the cross bring you forgiveness and reconciliation with God? –Because it was the very blood of God Himself that was shed. As true man, Jesus could be and is our Substitute before God in life and death; as true God, Jesus’ work is sufficient, more than sufficient for all people.
That’s the great comfort we find in our text which teaches us both Jesus’ true humanity, that He is our brother—But Jesus was sleeping—and His divinity—Then he got up, rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a complete calm.
It also does us well this Epiphany season to look at the only direct quote of our Lord that the Holy Spirit saw fit to have St. Matthew record from this account: “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” These words do not only apply to the disciples in the boat with Jesus that day, but Jesus also asks each of us today: “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?”
Our text: When he got into a boat, his disciples followed him. Suddenly a terrible storm came up on the sea, so that their boat was covered by the waves. But Jesus was sleeping. They went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to die!” For the disciples that day, it was very clear what they were afraid of: they thought they would be killed in the storm. But Jesus also asks each one of us: “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” What is it that you are afraid of? Is it health concerns, work concerns, concerns about children or grandchildren, fear of what the future holds, etc.?
The simple fact of the matter is, is that we will always have fears—be they real or imagined. Think back to the words of the Collect we prayed earlier. It states our situation: we are set in the midst of so many and great dangers. And then our Collect hits the nail on the head: by reason of the frailty of our fallen nature we cannot at anytime stand upright. “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” The reason for our fear—the frailty of our fallen nature. We are sinners; we look more at the situation, at what is around us and in us, than we do at the Lord. We fear much because we don’t trust the Lord much. That is the lot of all Christians. Even the disciples that day too succumbed to this sin; they feared the wind and the waves even though they had just heard Jesus preach to the crowds and had seen His many miracles healing people. As much as we as Christians want to trust, by the frailty of our fallen nature we don’t. As sinners we cannot even keep that First Commandment to fear, love and trust in the holy Triune God above all things.
For that sin of fear, that is, not trusting the Lord, let us truly and heartily repent. Let us search our hearts and lives and by the power of the Holy Spirit root out this sin of distrust of the Lord; let us look more at our Lord, the almighty Creator of heaven and earth whom even the wind and the sea obey than we do the great and many dangers we are surrounded by.
But, dear Christian, you are still a Christian; you still have faith in Jesus that the Holy Spirit created in your heart in Holy Baptism and strengthens through the word and Holy Communion. That day, the disciples, too, were still Christians; they still had faith. What did Jesus say to them? “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” He didn’t say “you faithless ones.” With the disciples that day, we see a picture of us, of all Christians: faith is mixed with unbelief. Our faith isn’t always perfect and strong. It is more often than not weak and wavering. What Christian doesn’t daily or need daily to pray: Lord, increase my faith!? What Christian doesn’t daily or need daily to pray [Mk. 9.24]: “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” All this is saying that as Christians we are at the same time both total saints and total sinners.
We see a clear example of this in our text: Suddenly a terrible storm came up on the sea, so that their boat was covered by the waves. But Jesus was sleeping. They went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to die!” The disciples were in dreadful fear; they only saw the storm and death. Like we do in times of trial, they had forgotten God’s promise never to leave nor forsake them, never to send anything but that which ultimately serves their eternal good. But their faith—as weak and imperfect as it may have been—still shone through: Jesus is their one thought in greatest danger.
In grace upon grace, what did Jesus do? Did He reject them/ their plea for help because their faith wasn’t 100% strong? Because it wasn’t up to a certain level? Wasn’t 3/ 4 bars? No! Or, does He say, “Oh, that’s OK. It doesn’t matter!?” No, He does neither! He chides their weak/ lack faith; He criticizes the weakness of their faith but He does not reject them. “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?”
In the same way, let us hear Jesus chide/ criticize our weak faith and let us sorrow and repent of it, but let us also not despair of our weak faith, let us not turn away from Jesus in shame but remember that in all our fears, as we go to Jesus, He answers and helps us in the best way for us.
It is that Spirit worked faith, though weak, that led the disciples that day and us today to Jesus. These are glorious words both of chiding and praise—chiding because our faith is weak; praise because faith is there: “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” In times when you feel your faith is weak, remember a weak faith is still faith. We read of the disciples that day whose faith was shown to be weak: When he got into a boat, his disciples followed him. They followed Jesus. You are here in His house to hear His word, to receive His forgiveness and His body and blood. In faith, be it even a weak faith you cling to Him as Your Savior and call to Him in times of trial: “Lord, save us! We’re going to die!”
And the glorious news here? Jesus does not reject you! Through the prophet Isaiah God prophesies of the Savior, His Son Jesus [Is 42.3]: A bruised reed He will not break, and a faintly burning wick He will not quench. Notice the gentleness of the Savior. Those who come to Him in faith—no matter how weak—He will not turn away. Don’t let unworthiness keep you from going to Jesus. In fact, He Himself promises [John 6.37]: whoever comes to Me I will never cast out; and invites [Mt. 11.28]: Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
After coming to Him, we will never be the same. Then he got up, rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a complete calm. The men were amazed... Our faith in Jesus is never in vain. By coming to Him that day, Jesus’ disciples experienced a most glorious help and answer to their weak faith’s pleas: Then he got up, rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a complete calm. This strengthened their faith. Was it always strong after that? Hardly! We see other times in the Gospels where faith was far from strong—like when they all ran away from Jesus at His arrest in Gethsemane. Our faith, too, will have its ups and downs in terms of strength. But especially when it is weak, go to the Lord in your fears and see the marvelous way He will grant you help and rescue. In fact, didn’t the Lord really allow this storm to come upon them that day precisely to strengthen their faith in Him? This storm revealed the faith of the disciples. Yes, there was faith; but it was weak and needed to be strengthened by the Lord. And this storm and Jesus’ rebuke led them to see how much unbelief was mixed with their faith; and by Jesus calming the storm He led them to see that He is both merciful and powerful to help and so strengthened their faith.
He works the same way in our hearts and lives with the trials He allows to come upon us; He is leading us to examine our faith to see how strong it is. We can easily talk big about our faith, but its true character is shown in trial. When we are humbled by our weak faith, by the frailty of our fallen nature, we rejoice that we do have faith and that Jesus welcomes us as we come. And hearing Him chide us for its weakness, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” we repent of our weak faith.
We dare never content ourselves with a weak faith since a weak faith still receives all of Jesus’ gifs and blessings; a weak faith is like a weak hand of an infant or a shaky hand of an old person. Let us ponder our text and marvel at the gracious way Jesus helped the disciples that day in the boat and as He helps us in our fears and needs. Let us see who Jesus really is—true man and true God. Pondering that and receiving Him in the Blessed Sacrament, may our faith be strengthened and weakness purging out from it. INJ Amen.