He said to them, ”Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?” Luke 8:25
There are two questions in this verse that, I believe, are two of the most important questions ever asked. We have the scene of a group of avid fisherman in a boat, in a sea, in a storm, terrified. This was a huge deal. They wake the “Master” and He rebukes the storm. Everything becomes calm.
Now you would think that Jesus would say something encouraging like “It’s ok” or “Come, let me give you a hug”. Instead he, rather pointedly asks “Where is your faith?”. This is the question Jesus asks? Now?
He was, as he always was, getting at the deepest levels of who we are. What or whom is our trust in? These men had just seen the miraculous healing of the centurion’s servant and the dead man in Nain. They had heard the teachings of Christ, yet they still didn’t get it. Our faith is only as good as what we put it in and we, like the disciples, have so much history to look at when it comes to Christ, yet we put our faith in frivolous things. Our bank accounts, our health, our government, our military. Rarely the one whom even the winds and waves obey.
Which brings us to our next question. “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water and they obey Him?” Now this is the crux. Who is Jesus? A good teacher? A prophet? A lunatic? Our answer to this question says everything about us. It is the most important answer we will ever have to give. Make no mistake Jesus left no room to be a good teacher, he is either the Messiah or he was crazy.
If we truly know who Christ is, if we esteem Him as he ought to be, if we would put our whole faith in Him, the storm no longer matters, only the one riding out the storm in the boat with us.
Where is your faith? Who is this that even the winds and waves obey Him? How we answer these two questions will dictate whether or not we weather the storm.
