What Sort of Man?

Scripture:

Job 36:24–33

Elihu Proclaims God’s Majesty

“Remember to extol his work,
of which mortals have sung.

All people have looked on it;
everyone watches it from far away.

Surely God is great, and we do not know him;
the number of his years is unsearchable.

For he draws up the drops of water;
he distills his mist in rain,

which the skies pour down
and drop upon mortals abundantly.

Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds,
the thunderings of his pavilion?

See, he scatters his lightning around him
and covers the roots of the sea.

For by these he governs peoples;
he gives food in abundance.

He covers his hands with the lightning
and commands it to strike the mark.

Its crashing tells about him;
he is jealous with anger against iniquity. (NRSVUE)

Matthew 8:23–27

23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 A windstorm suddenly arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves, but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a dead calm. 27 They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?” (NRSVUE)

Observation:

Job’s friend Elihu is reminding him of the awesome power and majesty of God. Worthy of praise is the God who has authority over all creation.

The rains come—and God is there.

The thunderstorms roll in—and God is there.

The clouds spread across the sky—and God is there.

The oceans and seas roar—and God is there.

Surely God is great, beyond our ability to comprehend.

Then we come to Matthew’s Gospel and find the disciples in a boat on a roaring sea in the midst of a storm. They are terrified. Jesus, remarkably, is asleep.

“Lord, save us! We are perishing!”

Why are they so afraid? Perhaps because they still aren’t quite sure who Jesus is. They have followed Him into the boat, but they have not yet fully comprehended the identity of the One they are following.

Then Jesus gets up and rebukes the winds and the sea.

And there is a dead calm.

Could it be that the Scriptures themselves were helping them understand what they had just witnessed? Surely only God has this kind of authority over creation.

In the silence after the storm, the disciples are left contemplating the question that matters most:

“What sort of man is this?”

A midwest thunderstorm rolling across the plains.

Application:

The other day I was eating a very ripe peach.

It was absolutely delicious, and as I took one juicy bite after another, I found myself thinking about the power and creativity of God to make something as wonderful as a peach!

I love watching cooking shows. The chefs create all kinds of elaborate desserts, but that day, as I ate my peach, I thought there wasn’t much in the world that could compare with that succulent dessert.

Then my eyes wandered out the window.

I was up in the mountains, surrounded by God’s creation. Mountains, pine trees, grasses, rivers, and wildflowers painted a landscape more beautiful than anything a human hand could create.

And isn’t that the point?

No matter what we as humans can make or create, it pales in comparison with what God has made and continues to sustain all around us.

Rain.

Thunder.

Clouds.

Oceans.

Mountains.

Pine trees.

Wildflowers.

And even a perfectly ripe peach.

Then I hear the disciples asking:

“What sort of man is this?”

What sort of man has authority over the winds and the sea?

This is no ordinary man.

This is Jesus Christ, the eternal Son through whom creation came into being, who entered into His creation and lived among us. The One who made the winds could command the winds. The One who formed the seas could speak peace over the waves.