OUR FATHER WHOSE SON MODELLED THE LIFE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD FOR THOSE WHO WOULD BELIEVE

Mathew chapter 8 verses 23 - 27 captures an incident that occured on the sea of Galilee as the Lord Jesus and His disciples crossed in a boat.

23 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. 25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”

26 But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

As they sailed across the open water, a sudden and violent squall struck the boat that caused huge waves to engulf it.

At the time, Jesus was asleep in the boat and His disciples, in a panic, woke Him up to get Him to save them because they were certain that they would not survive the storm.

The Lord, having been teaching His disciples about the ways of the kingdom of God, awoke to find them stricken in terror.

He asked them why they were fearful. After all, he had been teaching them not to worry and that their Father in heaven cared for them more than any other creatures and would protect them.

He had also shown them the power of faith by demonstrating the power to heal and evict demons but when they were subjected to the test of the storm, the disciples had lost their composure and frantically awoke the Lord.

The Lord was about to show them that the way of the kingdom was one of power over the elements and He rebuked the winds and the sea and the storm was immediately quelled and calm was restored.

Witnessing this, the disciples had to revise their understanding of who Jesus was.

His sphere of control (which up to that point had touched on healing and deliverance),  now included the forces of nature and they were astounded.

The scope of the kingdom of God was larger than they had comprehended but they would have to expand their understanding to include all of creation because, as Romans chapter 8 verse 19 says;

For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.

Amen.

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