"Who Is This Man?"

The disciples had just witnessed what they thought to be impossible. Mark recorded that on Jesus' instructions they had left out to go across the lake, and with Jesus asleep in the back of the boat, "Suddenly a strong wind blew up, and the waves began to spill over into the boat, so that it was about to fill with water" (4:37, GNB). Terrified, they woke and rebuked Jesus for not caring enough. We are then told, "Jesus stood up and commanded the wind, 'Be quiet!' and he said to the waves, 'Be still!' The wind died down, and there was a great calm. Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'Why are you frightened? Do you still have no faith?' But they were terribly afraid and began to say to one another, 'Who is this man? Even the wind and the waves obey him!' (vv.38-41).

Who is this man? According to Mark's account, from the start of Jesus' ministry, these men had seen a lot. They saw Him heal the man with the evil spirit in Capernaum (1:24-26); He had healed Peter's mother-in-law and "many who were sick with all kinds of diseases and drove out many demons" (vv.29-34); among others. Those they could accept, but to command the winds and the waves? That was something quite different. But as with Jesus' other miracles, they had a front row seat to this one! He had in fact commanded the winds, He spoke to the waves, and they obeyed Him! As The Message paraphrased their reaction, "They were in absolute awe, staggered" (v.41).

Before we rush in to chide them for doubting, how much different are we? We acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God, one who is able to do miracles, yet in the middle of our own storms, do we remain calm or do we become perplexed? Is it that despite what we profess with our lips, in the challenging moments of our lives we believe there are some things that are too big, even for God? In the person of Jesus Christ, the very image of God, we have one with whom all things are possible. He is everything the believer will ever need for every situation we will ever find ourselves in. John reminds us "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made" (1:3, KJV). If He made it, He has dominion over it; always have and always will. The child of God can rest assured that there's absolutely nothing that is outside of His control. Why not allow Him to speak to your situation?