Monday of Pentecost 18

October 5, 2009

The text for today follows on yesterday's reading from Matthew 8. Today we read verses 18-34 which recount Jesus' teaching about following Him (18-22), Jesus' stilling of a storm (23-27), and Jesus' healing of two men possessed with demons (28-34).

After the healings of yesterday's reading a scribe came up to Jesus and told Him that he would follow Jesus wherever He might go. Jesus' response is troubling, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." In other words, Jesus tells this man that to follow Him means a life of struggle, hardship, the cross. One wonders what this scribe did after that. Scripture doesn't tell us but I wonder how long this brief interchange haunted his thoughts.

After that Jesus got into a boat and a great storm arose and He and His disciples traveled across the Sea of Galilee, but Jesus was sleeping. These seasoned fishermen were scared out of their minds and woke Jesus. He then calms the storm with His Word and the disciples are astonished with the result that they ask themselves "What sort of man is this, that even wind and sea obey Him?" This is the key question. They have seen Him heal people of all sorts of maladies and diseases but to speak to the wind and the sea and they obey...that is something altogether different! It shows exactly who Jesus is, the Son of God in human flesh.

Finally, the last section tells us what happened when Jesus and the disciples get to shore once more. There they are met by two demon-possessed men. They ask Jesus if He has come to torment them before the appointed time and they ask Him not to drive them out back to the pit but into a herd of pigs. This Jesus does setting the two men free from their demon possession. Again Jesus shows He has power over demons and yet the people of the region ask that He leave.

Up to this point Jesus has been shown to have power over sickness, winds, sea, and demons and yet He is not welcome anywhere He goes. Those who follow Him likewise are left without house or home. They have been called to follow Him, but who is up to the task? Apart from Christ none are up to the task. Including Christians. We rely upon Jesus to forgive us for clinging to our earthly securities and not to Him alone. Thank God we are not saved by what we give up but by what Christ gave up on our behalf!