Who is this?

Matthew 8:27 - And the men marveled saying, "What kind of man is this that even the winds and the sea/lake obey him?"

I find this question interesting considering that in the story that precedes it, they clearly trusted him to do something or they would not have requested his help. In fact, they cried, "Save us!" What did they think he would be able to do? And how did his actions change their thinking?

How did his actions change our thinking? This is one of those stories where the truth of the action is not as important as what the story is trying to say. Last time I wrote about Jesus calming the storms of our lives. IF he ever did calm actual storms, it doesn't seem that he does so any longer. Possibly, the things we think of as "storms" are really just a few raindrops? Although, the disciples were experienced fishermen - at least some of them - and they would have known what to do in the event of a storm. So, the storm in the story was clearly life-threatening.

What kind of man is Jesus? This is not just a question for our intellect. It is also a question for our hearts. Our answer should affect the way we live our lives. If we think Jesus is God, then following him means following his actions and God's commandments. Again, it means going beyond the negativity of the commandments into the positivity of life-affirming actions. That was the kind of man Jesus was: someone whose actions were consistently life-affirming and healing.

Go thou and do likewise.
B