Jesus: Just An Ordinary Man

HERE IN THIS VERY FAMILIAR STORY, A VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION HAS BEEN RAISED. VERSE 41 SAYS 41And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? TODAY, I WOULD LIKE TO FOCUS IN ON THIS QUESTION, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him. AND SPEAK TO YOU FROM THE SUBJECT: JESUS: JUST AN ORDINARY MAN.

THIS PARTICULAR STORY IS RECORDED IN ALL THREE OF THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS, IT CAN BE FOUND IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 8:23-27 VERSE AND ALSO IN THE GOSPEL OF ST LUKE 8:22-25. BUT I’M GOING TO TALK TODAY ABOUT MARK’S VERSION OF THE STORY FOR A COUPLE OF REASONS, FIRST, MARK WAS THE FIRST GOSPEL THAT WAS WRITTEN, AND UNLIKE LUKE’S GOSPEL, ALTHOUGH IT IS THE TRUE GOSPEL, LUKE RECEIVED MUCH OF HIS INFORMATION FROM SECOND, AND MAYBE SOMETIMES THIRD HAND ACCOUNTS. AND THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW ON THE OTHER HAND, ALTHOUGH MATTHEW WAS ONE OF THE TWELVE THAT WERE WITH JESUS, AND ALTHOUGH HE WAS ON THE SHIP THAT NIGHT, MATTHEW WAS NOT IN JESUS’ INNER CIRCLE OF DICIPLES.

JESUS INNER CIRCLE OF DICIPLES CONSISTED OF PETER, ANDREW, JAMES AND JOHN. SO IN THE WRITING OF THE GOSPEL OF ST MARK, MARK RECEIVED A GREAT DEAL OF HIS INFORMATION FROM PETER, AND PETER WAS NOT ONLY PART OF, BUT HE WAS THE LEADER OF THAT INNER CIRCLE OF DICIPLES, AS WELL AS THE LEADER OF THE REST OF THE DICIPLES. AND NOT ONLY THAT, SINCE PETER, ANDREW, JAMES, AND JOHN WERE FISHERMEN, IT IS A VERY GOOD CHANCE THAT THE BOAT THEY WERE ON, BELONGED TO ONE OF THEM.

I ALSO LIKE THE GOSPEL OF MARK BECAUSE ALTHOUGH IT IS THE SHORTEST OF THE GOSPELS, IT IS A BOOK OF ACTION, BY THAT I MEAN THAT MARK STARTS OFF WITH JESUS GETTING BAPTIZED BY JOHN THE BAPTIST, AND FROM THERE ON, WE FIND JESUS ON THE MOVE MIRACLE AFTER MIRACLE, BLESSING AFTER BLESSING, PARABLE AFTER PARABLE, FROM HIS MINISTRY TO HIS RESSURECTION, THE GOSPEL OF ST MARK IS PACKED WITH NON STOP ACTION.

YOU MAY BE WONDERING THIS MORNING WHY I AM CALLING JESUS JUST AN ORDINARY MAN. AND I CAN SAY THAT I DO CONSIDER THAT A LEGITIMATE QUESTION. I MEAN, AFTER ALL, JESUS IS OUR LORD AND SAVIOR RIGHT? I MEAN, AFTER ALL JESUS IS GOD IN THE FLESH RIGHT? SO WHY WOULD I SAY THAT JESUS WAS JUST AN ORDINARY MAN?

WELL, IN ISAIAH 55:8-9 THE LORD SAYS, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

SO WITH THAT IN MIND, WE AS SAINTS OF GOD NEED TO REALIZE THAT WHAT IS ORDINARY TO GOD, MAY SEEM EXTRAORDINARY TO US. AND WE MUST ALSO BE MINDFUL OF THE FACT THAT WHEN GOD MOVES, HE WILL USE ORDINARY PEOPLE TO ACCOMPLISH EXTRAORDINARY TASKS.

FOR EXAMPLE, GOD CHOSE NOAH, WHO WAS JUST AN ORDINARY MAN, TO BUILD THE ARK. GOD CHOSE ABRAHAM, WHO WAS AN ORDINARY MAN, TO BEAR THE SON OF THE PROMISE WHEN HE WAS WELL INTO HIS 90’S, GOD CHOSE JACOB WHO WAS AN ORDINARY MAN, TO BRING FORTH THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISREAL.

GOD CHOSE MOSES, WHO WAS JUST AN ORDINARY MAN, TO LEAD HIS PEOPLE OUT OF EGYPT. GOD CHOSE DAVID AND SOLOMON BOTH AT VERY YOUNG AGES, BOTH VERY ORDINARY MEN, BUT HE BLESSED THEM WITH EXTRAORDINARY ABILITIES TO HELP THEM TO LEAD HIS PEOPLE.

YES THE GOD THAT WE SERVE , CAN TAKE THE ORDINARY, AND USE IT TO DO THE EXTRAORDINARY. WITH THAT SAID, WE, WHO ARE SAINTS OF GOD, AND FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST MUST REALIZE THAT WHEN WE SEE THE POWER OF GOD WORK IN OUR LIVES AND THE LIVES OF OTHERS, ALTHOUGH WE MAY BE HUMBLED, ALTHOUGH WE MAY BE IN AWE AND WONDER OF HIS AWESOME, AND POWERFUL WORKS, WE MUST REALIZE THAT TO GOD, THIS WAS JUST THE ORDINARY.

FOR GOD, CREATING THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH WAS JUST ORDINARY, SAYING LET THERE BE LIGHT, WAS JUST ORDINARY, PARTING THE RED SEA WAS JUST ORDINARY, THE DELIVERANCE OF THREE HEBREW BOYS FROM THE FIREY FURNACE WAS JUST ORDINARY, FOR GOD.

SO THE QUESTION MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, THAT NEEDS TO BE ASKED IS THIS, WHAT CAN WE AS BELIEVERS AND FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST EXPECT IN OUR LIVES WHEN WE ARE FOLLOWING A GOD WHERE THE EXTRAORDINARY TO US IS ORDINARY TO HIM.

I BELIEVE THIS MORNING THAT WE CAN TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT OUR TEXT TO FIND AN ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION. LOOKING AT OUR TEXT VERSE 35 SAYS: And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.