Are You Of Little Faith?

Are You Of Little Faith

Please stand with me as we go over our current memory Scripture:

Titus 3:3-5

“At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”

And our memory Scripture “refresher” verse is:

Galatians 2:20

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Today we will be reading from Matthew 8:23-27

I have never known anyone who has died from drowning but when I think about it, it gives me an unsettled feeling.

Back when I used to travel in a Christian singing group we used to frequently use a road that ran along a river and if we were coming back from a concert late at night and another guy in the group was driving and we were all tired I would have that same unsettled feeling about going off the road and into the river.

I don’t know how you feel about drowning but I vote against it for myself …

With that in mind let’s go ahead and read Matthew 8:23-27

(Prayer for help)

Can you blame the disciples for being afraid?

Andrew, Peter, James and John were fishermen. That is how they made their living. Thomas, Nathaniel and Philip may have also worked as fishermen, for they were all together and fishing when Jesus appeared to them in John 21:2-8, following His resurrection.

They were used to boats. They were used to the Sea of Galilee. They were also used to the violent storms that could come up on that body of water due to the surrounding terrain.

I read that even on that small lake the waves could get as high as six feet.

Most likely they had friends and possibly family who had drowned.

There were no safety regulations in those days. No life jackets. No emergency radios to call in the Coast Guard. They did not have a powerful motor that would enable them to face into the waves.

Andrew, Peter, James and John were very aware of the danger of the situation.

But what about Matthew the tax collector?

What about Simon the zealot, a political trouble maker?

What about Judas, the treasurer of the group, also a thief?

How would you have reacted if you were in that boat?

How would I?

What about Jesus? He’s asleep!

We don’t know how long the disciples waited before waking Jesus up but by the time they did, they were desperate!

“Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” Matthew 8:25

“Teacher, don’t You care if we drown?” Mark 4:38

“Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” Luke 8:24

Well, the fact is that Jesus DID care. What did He do?

First Jesus addresses the disciples saying, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”

Why did He take the time to ask that instead of just calming the sea?

Let’s take a look back and see what was going on before this.

Way back in the end of Matthew 4 we see Jesus calling His disciples.

Matthew 4:23-25 says,

“Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and He healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed Him.”

Did anything jump out at you from those verses?

What about this phrase? “He healed them …”

The disciples had seen Jesus healing, “every disease and sickness among the people … those suffering with pain, the demon possessed, those with seizures and the paralyzed.”

Huge crowds start following Jesus and then He goes up onto a mountainside to preach what is likely the most famous sermon ever written!

When He comes down from the mountainside in Chapter 8 He heals a man with leprosy.

Then He heals the paralyzed, terribly suffering servant of a gentile Roman Centurion by “remote control”! Jesus did not even have to go where the Centurion’s servant was; He just said the word and the servant was healed!

Then He heals Peters mother-in-law, and, “When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to [Jesus], and He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.” Matthew 8:16