Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20090513.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Luke: Jesus, The Son Of Man For All Mankind
Part XXIX: Christ's Identity As God's Savior By Calming The Storm And Sea
(Luke 8:22-25)
  1. Introduction
    1. If Jesus is God's true Savior of the world, then the words He spoke should themselves be as truthful and powerful as were the effect of His words in those who heard and obeyed them!
    2. After giving an extensive report of the discipling effects of Christ's words in Luke 7:18-8:21, Jesus displayed the divine truthfulness and power of His words themselves in calming the storm and sea in the Luke 8:22-25 event (as follows):
  2. Christ's Identity As God's Savior By Calming The Storm And Sea, Luke 8:22-25.
    1. One day, Jesus led His disciples to get into a boat, telling them: "Let us go over unto the other side of the lake," Luke 8:22 KJV. In other words, Jesus had verbally asserted that everyone in the boat, including the boat they were to board, would reach the other side of the lake! He left NO room in this statement for anyone to conclude that they would perish in the middle of the lake!
    2. As they left shore and began to cross the Sea of Galilee (cf. Luke 8:26), Jesus fell asleep in human physical exhaustion, and a sudden, fierce storm arose, Luke 8:23a; Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 226.
    3. Consequently, the boat began to fill with water, jeopardizing the lives of the men on board, Luke 8:23b.
    4. Though several of the disciples were experienced as fishermen on this same body of water (cf. Luke 5:1-11), they awakened Jesus, crying, "Master, master, we are perishing!" (Luke 8:24a).
    5. Having been awakened out of a dead sleep, when Jesus was humanly in a state of weakness, He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging water, producing a calm with both the storm and sea, Luke 8:24, 25b.
    6. This miracle exposed the supernatural power of Jesus' words (as follows):
      1. Jesus had merely spoken to the squall and the sea in a state of human weakness, having been raised out of a deep sleep, so the only power that could have calmed it all would have been God's power.
      2. Jesus did not call upon God to calm the wind and seas as would a merely human prophet, but He Himself ordered the storm and seas to be quiet since He had the authority to make them obey Him!
      3. Not only was the storm quieted, but the seas were greatly calmed, actions that required enormous force!
      4. Jesus had not struck the sea with a mantle like Elijah nor had he swatted at the wind with His hand: He had merely spoken, and the storm and seas had immediately fully obeyed His WORD !
    7. Jesus then directed His disciples' attention to the importance of His word in this experience, Luke 8:25a:
      1. He asked them, "Where is your faith?" (Luke 8:25a)
      2. If we check back to Luke 8:22b (see II,A above), we recall that Jesus had verbally claimed the boat with all its men had been predicted by Him to cross to the other side of the lake ! He hadn't said the boat would sink in the middle of the lake and drown them, so the disciples had failed to believe His prediction that they would successfully cross the lake in the boat, Ibid.!
    8. The experienced fishermen who heard Jesus' question were afraid, and wondered, "What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him." (Luke 8:25b KJV) Thus, these EXPERIENCED FISHERMEN were ASTON ISHED that the MERE WORDS of Jesus could STILL such a GREAT SQUALL and its DANGEROUS EFFECTS on THAT SEA!
Lesson: In calming the storm and sea in a state of human weakness by His WORDS to the awe of the fishermen experienced on that sea, Jesus showed His WORDS had DIVINE power, that He was GOD!

Application: (1) May we TRUST the POWER and AUTHORITY of Jesus Christ to be GOD due to the DIVINE POWER and FAITHFULNESS of His SPOKEN WORDS! (2) May we take EVERY WORD of our Lord SERIOUSLY, for HE MEANS what He SAYS, and He SAYS what He MEANS as GOD! (3) G. Campbell Morgan ( Luke, 1931, p. 112) suggested that since Satan can cause storms (Job 1:12, 18-19), this sudden storm was instigated by him to kill Jesus and His disciples, thereby voiding the cross and the Church, and thereby to thwart God's plan. However, God's plan cannot be thwarted by Satan, so we must rely on the WORD of GOD if countered by Satan for VICTORY over him, 1 John 2:14b.