Discipleship and the Scary Power of Jesus (Matthew 8:23-9:8)
Matthew proceeds to tell us three stories in quick succession, all about the power of Christ: His power of nature, His power of the supernatural, and His power over the religious worldview—sin and the way to be right with God.
It is clearly helpful and important, in understanding the Gospel story, to know about Christ’s power. However, as Matthew is telling us these stories to teach us about discipleship, it helps to see them through the eyes of the disciples and the people around Jesus. And, when it comes to the power of Christ, the common reaction is fear.
The disciples are afraid of the storm, but also marveled (an aspect of fear?) at Jesus’ power over the storm. Next, the people on the other side of the sea are so afraid of Jesus that they send Him away. But one can imagine how scared they were of Jesus considering He had just overpowered two scary, demon-possessed men! Finally, when Jesus shows He has the power to forgive men’s sins and make them right with God, we read that the crowds were afraid.
It seems to me that discipleship involves a lot of fear. Fear of God in the Biblical sense of respect and awe. But it also involves a healthy amount of good, old-fashioned fear as well. When we know who Jesus is and the implications that go along with that, it inspires a healthy chill down the spine! Faith involves trust—the “leap of faith”—and who needs trust if the leap isn’t a scary thing?
In order to be a disciple of Jesus, we need to have a faith that overrides the fear we feel. And if you don’t sense any fear, you might want to ask yourself, “What am I missing?” You may never have really seen who Jesus is, or you might have never realized the leap you are being asked to make.
It is clearly helpful and important, in understanding the Gospel story, to know about Christ’s power. However, as Matthew is telling us these stories to teach us about discipleship, it helps to see them through the eyes of the disciples and the people around Jesus. And, when it comes to the power of Christ, the common reaction is fear.
The disciples are afraid of the storm, but also marveled (an aspect of fear?) at Jesus’ power over the storm. Next, the people on the other side of the sea are so afraid of Jesus that they send Him away. But one can imagine how scared they were of Jesus considering He had just overpowered two scary, demon-possessed men! Finally, when Jesus shows He has the power to forgive men’s sins and make them right with God, we read that the crowds were afraid.
It seems to me that discipleship involves a lot of fear. Fear of God in the Biblical sense of respect and awe. But it also involves a healthy amount of good, old-fashioned fear as well. When we know who Jesus is and the implications that go along with that, it inspires a healthy chill down the spine! Faith involves trust—the “leap of faith”—and who needs trust if the leap isn’t a scary thing?
In order to be a disciple of Jesus, we need to have a faith that overrides the fear we feel. And if you don’t sense any fear, you might want to ask yourself, “What am I missing?” You may never have really seen who Jesus is, or you might have never realized the leap you are being asked to make.
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