One of the new customs for the Christmas season is to read one chapter a day from the Gospel of Luke beginning on December 1. I was amazed by Luke 8, the chapter for Tuesday the 8th. It begins by telling us that women who had been healed and delivered were supporting Jesus and His Disciples. Then Jesus gives the Parable of the Seed and the Sower, along with a reminder that we are to be light for all to see. At one point, Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see Him but were unable to get through the crowd.
The part of the chapter that truly touches me begins in verse 22. After a long day of preaching and ministry, Jesus got in a boat with His disciples and told them to go to the other side of the lake. He was so exhausted He fell asleep and did not even awake when a fierce windstorm arose and threatened to swamp the boat. [Luke 8:22-25]
Finally, the disciples woke Jesus and told Him, “Master, Master, we’re going to die!” [vs 24 HCSB]
Jesus got up, rebuked the wind and the raging waves and they immediately obeyed Him, and the storm ceased. In its place was a great calm. Of course, that frightened the disciples even more than the storm did.
As I thought on that passage all of a sudden I saw the storm in our country that is going on right now, and I started to chuckle. Let me explain why I laughed. Every politician, from local mayors, to state governors, to congressional leaders, president, and president-elect think they can calm the storm with their proclamations, directives, and strategies. But they cannot. They think – in a way – that they have the power over the storm when they are really in the same boat as the disciples! “Master, Master, we’re going to die!”
Only Jesus has the power and the authority to stop the storm. Even when He was at a low point, exhausted from ministry, He only had to say a word and the cosmos obeyed.
After quieting the storm Jesus had one question for His own, “Where is your faith?” [vs 25 HCSB]
We might ask ourselves that same question!