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Lesson 13 Matthew 2020
Verses | Matthew 8:18-34
Key verse | Matthew 8:26

Jesus who calmed the winds and the waves.

"He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm."

Last week, we learned about Jesus who took up our infirmities and bore our diseases. It's not easy to deal with other people's weaknesses. There is a real sacrifice. That is love. When we realize Jesus, who took up our weakness, we can also take up other people's weaknesses. In today's verse, there is a correction of the disciples, Jesus who calmed the storm and cured two possessed people. Through today's verse, I pray that we will learn what Jesus, who rules the natural and spiritual worlds, is like.

First, discipleship(18-22). After Jesus healed the mother-in-law at Peter's house, he saw a crowd around him. Jesus’ popularity is increasing. Jesus gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake, leaving their cheers behind. Jesus did not live in pandering to the popularity of people. People's popularity is like a bubble. Jesus lived by guidance of God, putting His will ahead of man's demands and popularity.

Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” (19). A teacher of law is a person who writes transcripts from the Bible. They live with the Bible. They are religious leaders. Such a man has come forward to become a disciple of Jesus. From this, you can guess how popular Jesus was. Why did he want to be a disciple of Jesus? He must have been deeply touched by the Sermon on the Mount taught by Jesus. Jesus' words penetrated the spirit of the law. The word of Jesus had power of life. Jesus' words had the power to save and change people. He saw the amazing work of God through Jesus. He thought his future would be wide open if he followed Him. If the teacher of law becomes a disciple of Jesus, Jesus’ social position will become stronger.

But what challenging words does Jesus say to him? See verse 20. "Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”” Jesus saw through what the problems of this man were and said it. The purpose of following Jesus is not to master the Bible completely. It's not for academic achievement. It's not for religious success either. The purpose of following Jesus is to love him and imitate His life. In the field of life, it is to love God and your neighbors. This is not an easy task. It's going through the narrow gate. Jesus lived a life where there was no place to lay his head in this world. Jesus lived according to God's will. It was to proclaim the word, heal the sick and raise the disciples. And He must finally be crucified. Jesus came to this land to die. In order to follow Jesus, motivation must be pure. You must love the word of God and find joy in obedience.

Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” He wants to follow Jesus, but he says he will do so after he buries his father. Maybe his father's death was coming soon. As a son, he wanted to fulfill his human duty to his parents then follow Jesus. Which way did Jesus give him first? See verse 22. "But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”” The dead are spiritually dead. They are people who do not have faith. The dead in the last are those who physically died. Jesus says that the priority of disciples is to follow Jesus. You have to overcome your compassion and surpass history of your family. In 2 Timothy 2:4, Paul the Apostle says. "No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer." The disciple should put top priority on learning Jesus and not be bound to his life. There is one good thing about joining the military. You don't have to be tied up in the world. He who is called by God is the one who is bound to God. You must put your top priority on what makes God happy.

Second, who is He(23-27)? When Jesus got on the boat, his disciples followed him. Seven of the disciples were former fishermen. For them, the Sea of Galilee was a place of memory, and they knew it as if they were looking down at the palm of their hand. The Galilee Sea was where they could be confident. They were rowing the boat while singing, and the clouds gathered and the wind grew stronger. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. Jesus was sleeping in the back of the boat in this situation. Jesus could not sleep enough because He had many things to work and serve all night. So He slept for a while on the boat. Jesus' face was so peaceful. Furious waves could not wake Jesus from deep sleep. The disciples showed all their abilities for Jesus, who was sleeping tight. But as the waves grew higher and the boat was full of water, they couldn't stand it any longer. The disciples realized the limitations of their experience, knowledge, and skills. Fear began to surge into their hearts.

See verse 25. "The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”" The disciples acknowledged their limitations and began to beg Jesus. There are times when our knowledge, experience, money and power are useless in the face of great hardship. There is a moment when it is best for me to acknowledge my limitations and humbly ask the Lord.
Job lost his fortune and all his children through the sudden hardship. What did he later realize? “3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,    things too wonderful for me to know. 4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ 5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. 6 Therefore I despise myself    and repent in dust and ashes.””(Job 42:3-6) Job repented among the dust and ash through distress. He found himself deeply before God. There was a complaint from his friends that he was in distress for committing a crime, but God rebuked them. You may be in trouble, even though you are innocent. Job did not resent God in distress. "21 and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” 22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing." (Job 1:21-22) Job has earned faith as a pure gold through hardship. He became a more holy, spiritual, and whole man. After he had overcome the hardship, he had twice as much wealth and seven sons and three daughters again. But he couldn't forget the ten children he lost. In spite of these pains, he was honored to see the Lord with his eyes through hardship. Living in this world is like sailing in a stormy sea. But the most important thing in this world is to discover your sinful self, repent, love and know God.

Jesus woke up when He heard His disciples shouting. If you were a normal person, you would say, "I'm sorry I fell asleep." However, Jesus blamed his disciples. "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" It is Jesus who asked them to cross the sea. The disciples obeyed Jesus' orders and boarded the boat. Also, there is Jesus in the boat. Jesus is accompanying his disciples. The disciples have experienced many miracles so far. But in the face of the threat of nature, they thought even Jesus couldn't help it. They drew the limits of Jesus' help. Jesus blamed this for a small faith. Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. Jesus rebuked the wind and the sea as if he were scolding the dirty demon. Satan wanted to end the history of confinement by putting Jesus and His disciples at sea. Jesus rebuked the wind and the sea for obstructing the work of God's arrest. A word from Him calmed the raging waves.
See verse 27. “The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” In one word, Jesus is the Creator God who fulfilled the history through His Words that the waters of the world gathered in one place and the waters would be revealed. When this God spoke, the wind and the sea became very calm. The disciples realized anew who Jesus was. Jesus is the Almighty God who not only manages the spiritual world but also the world of disease and nature. Through the events that calmed the rage, the disciples' awe of Jesus was deepened.

Third, Jesus cast out demons at the expense of 2000 pigs (28-32). After Jesus calmed the wind, he went to the other side of Gadarenes, where two demon-possessed men came out of the tomb and met Jesus. The disciples were in a state of chaos after the storm, but they were surprised again. The two demon-possessed men were so violent that no one could pass that way. They shouted at people passing by and did strange things naked in front of them. Demons are dirty spirits. The demon-possessed person has full of dirty thoughts. Besides, the demons are the spirits of lies and the spirits that harms life. So how horrible would it be to see their eyes and appearances?

What did they ask Jesus for? See verses 29-31. “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?” Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, sends us into the herd of pigs.” As soon as they saw Jesus, the demons recognized him. What do you want with us, Son of God? The ghosts are asking if Jesus came to judge them before the time came. Demons will be judged on the last day and thrown into the abyss. The kingdom of God came as Jesus came and drived out demons. However, the final judgment has not yet come.

The demons asked Jesus. “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” There was a herd of pigs around. When Jesus said them to go, demons came out and went into the pig. A herd of haunted pigs rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. Because of Jesus' spiritual authority, the demons could no longer remain among the people. What Jesus does is to save people and keep people intact. However, the nature of the demons is to demolish and destroy life. They destroy human noble qualities and kill souls. They destroy our relationship with God and prevent us from serving God. They force us to work to live by being bound by sin. Because of this history of demons, numerous souls have been killed and are still dying.

If we look at the students who caused the N-room incident, they are young people. When they were fulfilled with dirty and evil thoughts, they created and distributed pornographic videos. Earned money through stimulating perverts and destroyed the lives of victims. Professor Soo-Jung Lee of the Department of Crime Psychology, Kyonggi University, analyzed the causes of serious digital sexual crime these days. “As children grow up playing games on the cyber without getting their parents' attention, they miss out on the chances of forming a normal personality. This is the reason why they can't feel the seriousness of the situation even after disseminating the sadistic video.” As people increasingly become unable to have a warm relationship with their families and friends, they are turning into Satan's henchman. Our society is going crazy because of obscene addiction, alcoholism, anger control disorder, etc.

However, Jesus came to the earth to subdue the demons and set the spirits free from them. It allows us to live according to God's creation. What we have to do is also to save souls who have been captured by demons through the power of the Word. Jesus sacrificed 2000 pigs to save a soul. This is equivalent to 600 million won market price. Even if they sacrificed two houses, they saved one soul. One soul is more precious than the world. There is nothing more precious and valuable than saving a person's soul. We must focus on saving souls at all costs and sacrifices. Life cannot be saved without sacrifice.

Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed man. The whole town went out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region. Jesus left the man healed when he left, and set him up as an evangelist by leaving him in Decapolis. Through this, the good news of salvation was preached to Decapolis.

We learned discipleship through today's Word. Jesus is the king of all kings who also rule over the natural world and the spiritual world. We are having a lot of trouble with Corona 19. However, even in this midst, God is protecting us and working on salvation. Corona 19 has made us humble and aware of human weakness. Also, we tried to repent before God. As we were suffering from various diseases and tribulations, we learned to fear God and put our strength into loving each other. Tomorrow I want to achieve a student union meeting. I pray that we will be able to focus on word study and discipleship during this summer vacation. Also, I pray that each of us will learn more about who Jesus is through the difficulties we face while sailing through life and become like Jesus.