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"And behold, there arose a
great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being
covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep.
And they came to He and woke Him, saying, -‘Save us,
Lord; we are perishing!’ He said to them, -‘Why do you
fear? Where is your faith?’ Then He got up and rebuked
the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm."
Matthew 8:23-26
Jesus and His disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee
when this great storm arose. This tiny sea is only 8
miles wide and 14 miles long and is subject to sudden
tropical storms because it is 700 feet below sea level. Though
small, the Sea of Galilee can be a dangerous place.
Jesus used this incident to teach His disciples to
release their faith. The Bible says that every person
has been given a measure of faith. Jesus once said that
even little faith, as tiny as a mustard seed has the
power to move a mountain.
Fear is a choice. When
Jesus asked, "Why
do you fear?" He
was making the point that they had received this emotion
by choice. We cannot prevent the initial feeling of
fear, but we can choose to not receive it. Fear
must be met on the same battleground as the temptation
of sin. Jesus
connects fear with missing faith and the Bible says that
without faith it is impossible to please God. The writer
of Hebrews tells us that we must believe that God will
do exactly what He has promised.
Jesus often told His followers to fear not, and in our
text here He asks them why they were afraid. The second
question, -"Where is your
faith?" gives
us important insight to the problem of fear. Jesus was
teaching His disciples that they were in fear because
they were not standing in faith. Where faith is in
charge fear cannot do its work.
On His last Passover Jesus spoke tenderly to His
disciples saying, - "Do
not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe
also in Me." After
the resurrection the Lord appeared to His disciples and
each time said, "Peace
be to you." Where
there is fear there can be no peace so Jesus could have
just as easily said do not fear. Let us learn not to be
troubled by trouble and stand in faith without fear.
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