Matthew 8:18-9:8 | Psalm 29:1-4
The Sea of Galilee is something to see. It’s a beautiful lake. The ministry Jesus does below is all around or on it. Capernaum - where Matthew told us Jesus settled - is on the very northern shore of the lake. These healings are great, but we are beginning to see some fall out of favor with Jesus, even this early in the story.
Matthew 8:18-9:8
Now when Jesus saw the crowd, he ordered his disciples to go over to the other side of the lake. A legal expert came and said to him, “Teacher, I’ll follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens, and the birds in the sky have nests, but the Human One has no place to lay his head.”
Another man, one of his disciples, said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
When Jesus got into a boat, his disciples followed him. A huge storm arose on the lake so that waves were sloshing over the boat. But Jesus was asleep. They came and woke him, saying, “Lord, rescue us! We’re going to drown!”
He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you people of weak faith?” Then he got up and gave orders to the winds and the lake, and there was a great calm.
The people were amazed and said, “What kind of person is this? Even the winds and the lake obey him!”
When Jesus arrived on the other side of the lake in the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed came from among the tombs to meet him. They were so violent that nobody could travel on that road. They cried out, “What are you going to do with us, Son of God? Have you come to torture us before the time of judgment?” Far off in the distance a large herd of pigs was feeding. The demons pleaded with him, “If you throw us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”
Then he said to the demons, “Go away,” and they came out and went into the pigs. The whole herd rushed down the cliff into the lake and drowned. Those who tended the pigs ran into the city and told everything that had happened to the demon-possessed men. Then the whole city came out and met Jesus. When they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.
Boarding a boat, Jesus crossed to the other side of the lake and went to his own city. People brought to him a man who was paralyzed, lying on a cot. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man who was paralyzed, “Be encouraged, my child, your sins are forgiven.”
Some legal experts said among themselves, “This man is insulting God.”
But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, “Why do you fill your minds with evil things? Which is easier—to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But so you will know that the Human One has authority on the earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“Get up, take your cot, and go home.” The man got up and went home. When the crowds saw what had happened, they were afraid and praised God, who had given such authority to human beings.
Psalm 29:1-4
You, divine beings! Give to the Lord—
give to the Lord glory and power!
Give to the Lord the glory due his name!
Bow down to the Lord in holy splendor!
The Lord’s voice is over the waters;
the glorious God thunders;
the Lord is over the mighty waters.
The Lord’s voice is strong;
the Lord’s voice is majestic.
Prayer
God, thank you for this day.
So it seems that water is pretty important, both in the story of scripture and in our lives. Jesus was always doing something near or on water - making it into wine, walking on it, being baptized in it, sailing on it, calling fishermen by it, eating breakfast on its beach, asking for it in Samaria…it even poured from his pierced body on the cross.
Thank you for water, God. In the beginning, you put it in its place. And our bodies are made to require and demand it. Do not let me take for granted the opportunity and responsibility of drinking good water. Even today.
It’s remarkable how the same substance is the source of life and can also be so very destructive. Help me find and learn the lesson in that, Lord.
By your Spirit and in Christ, Amen.