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Where Is Your Faith? Who Is This?

Where Is Your Faith? Who Is This?

Last updated on: September 25, 2024 at 12:51 pm by Rick Rice

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Where Is Your Faith? Who Is This? 2024-09-25T12:51:50-04:00 Rick Rice

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When the disciples told Jesus, “We’re going to drown!” He asked them, “Where is your faith?” That led them to ask: “Who is This?”

Scripture:

Ezra, chapters 2-3; Luke, chapter 8

Luke 8:22-25 (CEB):

One day Jesus and his disciples boarded a boat. He said to them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake.” So they set sail. While they were sailing, he fell asleep. Gale-force winds swept down on the lake. The boat was filling up with water and they were in danger. So they went and woke Jesus, shouting, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” But he got up and gave orders to the wind and the violent waves. The storm died down and it was calm.

He said to his disciples, “Where is your faith?”

Filled with awe and wonder, they said to each other, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him!”

Observations: Who Is This?

In Luke’s Gospel, the core disciples – Peter, Andrew, James, and John – come on the scene in chapter 5. After Jesus uses Peter’s boat as a platform to teach the crowds, he tells Peter to go out further into the water and catch some fish. “So they dropped their nets and their catch was so huge that their nets were splitting” (Luke 5:6). Peter responded by calling Jesus “Lord” and confessing his own sinfulness.

Following that miracle, Jesus

Healed a leper (Luke 5:12-14)
Cured a paralyzed man, and forgave his sins (Luke 5:17-25)
Healed a man’s withered hand (6:6-10)
Taught extensively about the kingdom of God (6:20-49)
Healed a centurion’s servant (7:1-10)
Raised a man from the dead (7:11-15)

More and more people followed him. After he raised the man from the dead, the people said, “A great prophet has appeared among us. God has come to help his people” (Luke 7:16).

That brings us to chapter 8, where Jesus calms the storm. The disciples ask, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him!”

Where Is Your Faith?

At least some of the disciples were experienced sailors and fishermen. They knew the Sea of Galilee well. When gale-force winds swept down on the lake, they understood the situation was serious. They were in danger – but Jesus was asleep. So they went and woke Jesus, shouting, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”

From a human perspective, their fear was reasonable. Waves crashed over the boat. The howling winds made it impossible for them to steer the boat. In their fear and desperation, they cried out to Jesus. Surely the one who healed so many people and even raised a man from the dead could do something!

He got up and gave orders to the wind and the violent waves. The storm died down and it was calm. Yes, Jesus could do something! And then he asked the disciples, “Where is your faith?” Does that seem fair? The storm was raging! Water was filling the boat! Did he expect them to just “keep calm and carry on”? Evidently, yes.

Application: Where Is Your Faith? In the Son of God!

Two questions: Where is your faith? and Who is this? Both questions lead to the same place – or, rather, the same person: Jesus, the Son of God. Our faith should be in Jesus, because of what He has done. Scripture tells us what He did when He walked among us; experience tells us what He does day by day. Jesus’ challenge to his disciples in John 14 applies as much to us: “Don’t be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me” (John 14:1). Trusting in God is trusting in Jesus, because God sent Jesus to us. Everything Jesus has done is consistent with what God has done.

Who is this? It’s Jesus! Where is your faith? It should be in Him!

Prayer:

Father, thank You for reminding us that our faith should be in Jesus. You sent Him to reveal Yourself to us. He displayed Your power over all of creation, and He displayed Your love by purchasing our forgiveness. Help us today to live by faith, trusting in both You and Him. Amen.

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