12. Amazed with Jesus in the Stormy Sea
12. Amazed with Jesus in the Stormy Sea.
“Life without wonder – radical amazement – is not worth living. It is the beginning of our happiness. Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement… get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible. Never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.” (Abraham Joshua Heschel).
I Stand Amazed | Celtic Worship ft. Steph Macleod
Jesus Christ engaged in a ministry of amazement, astonishment, wonder. Everywhere He traveled, He left people astounded and in awe. He caused a big stir wherever he went, and people left in His wake were amazed at who He was and what He was able to do, whether from His unusually wise teaching, His authoritative exorcisms, His unprecedented healings, His clever and insightful conversations, His dramatic miracles. It seemed everyone marveled at Jesus, despite His best efforts sometimes to be off the radar. There are three Greek synonyms that mean complete astonishment or radical amazement: ekplesso, thaumazo, and existemi. The differences between these three words, though, are fascinating. Are those of us who follow Jesus now, are we also amazed and astonished with Jesus?
“And the people were astonished (“ekplesso”) beyond measure, saying, ‘Everything He does is beautiful (“kalos”), and is done with excellence!” (Mark 7:37).
(1.) ASTONISHED: “ekplesso”; a strong Greek word for astonished; amazed; dumfounded; awestruck; overwhelmed at something extraordinary; struck out of one’s senses; takes your breath away, even to the point of panic. There were at least fifteen gospel events in which the Greek superlative “ekplesso” was used to communicate a radical amazement, astonishment, wonder at Jesus. Jesus was met with overwhelming astonishment after His Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 7:28); by His hometown friends as they rejected Him (Matt. 13:54); after His teaching on the inadequacy of wealth (Matt. 19:25); after His conversation with the Sadducees about heaven and the resurrection (Matt. 22:33); at His synagogue exorcism (Mark 1:22, 27); after His healing of the deaf and mute man (Mark 7:37); after He whipped the moneychangers in the Temple (Mark 11:18); at His brilliant level of understanding with the rabbis at just 12 years of age (Luke 2:48); after casting out a demon with just a word (Luke 4:32, 36); at the exorcism of a demon-possessed boy (Luke 9:43).
“And behold, a man from the crowd shouted out, ‘Master, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child! A spirit seizes him and suddenly he screams out and it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth! It mauls him and will scarcely leave him!’ Jesus answered, ‘Bring your son here to me.’ And even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him down to the ground and completely convulsed him. But Jesus severely rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the child, and then restored the boy to his father. And all were completely astounded (“ekplesso”) at the evidence of God’s mighty power, His majesty and His magnificence. While they were all marveling (“thaumazo”) at everything Jesus was doing…” (Luke 9:38-43).
(2.) MARVELED: “thaumazo”; another strong Greek word that means… marveled at, astonished by; amazed at; filled with wonder to the point of being bewildered; being awestruck in admiration. There were forty-four passages in the gospels in which people were greatly amazed by Jesus, astonished to the point of awed by Him. Included in the group of people who were completely amazed, “thaumazo’d” by Christ: the shepherds, Mary and Joesph, the disciples, the Pharisees, various crowds during His ministry, and even Pilate himself was astonished by Jesus and marveled at Him. People were amazed by everything from the angelic baby announcement, to various prophecies in Jesus’ young life, to the calming of the storm and the withering of the fig tree; from His miraculous exorcisms and healings to His teachings that always were on point and what were needed at the time.
“Then a blind and mute man under the power of a demon was brought to Jesus and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. And all the crowds of people were overwhelmed with astonishment, stunned with amazement and practically out of their minds with wonder (“existemi”), and said, ‘This cannot be the Son of David, the Messiah, can it?” (Matt. 12:22-23).
(3.) FLABBERGASTED: “existemi”; an extreme word that means to be out of one’s mind with amazement; crazy with wonderment; a stunned astonishment so strong that one is beside oneself; to be overwhelmed so as to be bowled over; literally, to remove from a standing position. This word is used seventeen times in the gospels, including when Jesus healed and forgave the paralyzed man dropped through the ceiling of Peter’s house; when Jesus raised a young girl from the dead; when Jesus calmed the storm and casually climbed into the boat with His disciples; on the road to Emmaus when the disciples heard about the empty tomb from the women. Existemi is also used when the family of Jesus thought He was crazy, going out of His mind.
I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous)
“Now when evening had come, the boat was out in the middle of the lake, and Jesus was by Himself on the land in prayer. Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves. Having seen that they were troubled and tormented in rowing, at about three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. Jesus acted as if He intended to walk right past them. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were greatly troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in a deep throaty shriek of terror, filled with fear and dread. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer and take heart! The I AM is here! Stop being so alarmed and afraid!’ And Jesus climbed up into the boat with them and the wind ceased, as if exhausted by its own turbulence. And the disciples were stunned out of their minds with amazement, struck out of their senses (“existemi”).” (Mark 6:47-51; also refer to Matthew 14:27 and John 6:19).
CONTEXT
A Huge Crowd. Jesus and His disciples had just crossed the Sea of Galilee, or the Lake, and found themselves on a hill where they could sit down and relax. A huge throng of people was trying to find them because He had just finished a healing session with many sick folks. There was even a larger group of people than usual because of all the pilgrims on the way to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. Estimates were in the 5,000 range, and that was just the men in the multitude. There could easily have been twice that if you counted all the women and children.
The Obvious Need for Food. Since they were in the middle of nowhere, with the closest village being miles away, the question of food was raised. Jesus, upon seeing this vast sea of humanity and their obvious hunger for sustenance, accepts the fact that nothing but a spectacular miracle would be sufficient. So, He has everybody sit down on the grassy slopes of the hill, and He accepts a little boy’s meager lunch of five little barley loaves of bread and two fish. Everybody is wondering, what good will that do with this gigantic crowd?
The Miraculous Meal. Jesus then provides a dramatic preview of the Eucharist sacrament. He took the bread and broke it; He gave thanks to God for the food; He distributed the bread to all those gathered together; the multitude partook of the broken bread. Somehow, the bread in Jesus’ hands just kept appearing. He’d break a little loaf, and more would appear. He kept multiplying fresh bread to the gathered thousands until all had eaten and were satisfied. Jesus then had the disciples gather all the remnants, all the leftover bread and fish, and put it all in baskets… twelve baskets, one for each disciple. There miraculously was an abundance of bread left over, much more than was originally given by that little boy. Jesus created a lot from a little, as He can do with whatever we offer to Him in our meagerness. Fresh bread from the Bread of life, from the Hidden Manna that comes down from heaven.
The New Moses? The multitude was electrified by this dramatic, unexpected miracle. In their messianic enthusiasm, though, they became misguided, and exclaimed that Jesus is indeed the Prophet foretold in Deuteronomy 18:15-19. They were convinced Jesus was the man prophesied by Moses, the Great Teacher that they all have been expecting. But their vision of the role this Prophet took was different than that of Jesus. They mistakenly thought that Jesus had arrived on the scene to overturn Roman rule, that He would bring the much-needed political change in Israel through His messages from God. They were expecting a heavenly prophet for an earthly revolution. They wanted a free nation, and not a personal transformation. Their Teacher, in their mind, was to be a king. Jesus picked up on the fervor to make him a different kind of king than what He wanted, and this was unsettling for Him. So He slipped away from the crowd to a nearby mountain to be alone. In that mass of people, it was easy for him to escape the confusion and be by Himself.
THE STORM
Impatience. While Jesus was on the mountain, no doubt praying and thinking and decompressing, the disciples grew impatient to row to the other side of the Lake. So they hopped into a boat and they began rowing across. The evening was falling, they wanted to get to the other side before it was totally dark, and Jesus seemed to be taking His time on the mountain.
The Sea of Galilee is 150 feet deep and surrounded by hills. So it is often subjected to sudden severe windstorms that would cause huge waves. These storms were frightening even to veteran fishermen, since the boats could easily be overcome in the turbulence. The disciples found themselves in just such a storm when they were only halfway across the Lake, about three or four miles from shore. The waves were tremendous, and they were understandably feeling vulnerable in their boat.
A Ghost! What seemed to terrify the disciples even more was that they thought they saw a ghost walking on the water towards them. Between the strong winds and the apparition walking on the storm-tossed water, they were out of their minds with fear. After watching the multiplication of the wonder bread for thousands of people, maybe it shouldn’t have been so unexpected to see Jesus walk on the water as well. But it’s easy for us to say that, since we already know what happens.
“Jesus called out to them, ‘Don’t be afraid! The I AM is here!’” (John 6:20).
The Great I AM. It is at this dramatic point, with powerful winds blowing and a ghost standing on the rough waters, that Jesus identified Himself as I AM. Jesus decided to use the Divine Name that He loves to use in reference to Himself. He appropriates this term when He wants to point to His co-equal status with God, Yahweh, the Great I AM, from Exodus 3:14. There in the middle of the storm, Jesus confirms that He is Yahweh in the flesh. As He balances Himself on the choppy waves near the boat so the disciples could hear Him, Jesus says, “Don’t be afraid! The I AM is here!” One translation put it, “Fear not! I AM!” He is telling them right then and there that He is the unique Son of God, and that He has control of nature, of all of creation. Nonetheless, the disciples were out of their minds with astonishment with what just happened. They were completely overwhelmed with amazement, struck out of their senses, stunned with a fearful wonder.
The Identity of Christ. Jesus loves to claim kinship with Yahweh, I AM What I AM, I Will Be What I Will Be, at all kinds of moments… with the frightened disciples, and with the high priest; with a mob ready to arrest Him, and with a Samaritan woman at a well; when He is teaching a crowd, and when He is arguing with the Pharisees; before the Resurrection, and after the Resurrection. In fact, there are, in the gospel of John alone, 23 different times Jesus claimed to be I AM, assuming the personal name of God. I AM was an important part of His identity, and so it was a verbal name tag He liked to wear. “Have no fear! The I AM is here!”
Profound Relief. The disciples in the boat were satisfied with Jesus’ self-identification, and so they were eager to let Jesus climb into the boat with them. They were greatly relieved, so they welcomed Him to join the group. In Matthew and Mark’s version, the storm immediately died down. And in John’s version of the events, a strange thing happened once Jesus accepted the invitation to climb into the boat. John reports that they instantly, immediately arrived at their destination across the Lake! They were somehow transported in the blinking of an eye. What happened here? Did Jesus use the powerful wind to hydroplane three or four miles in an instant? This is one of those whimsical events that have no explanation. This miracle gets very little attention, and was probably mentioned for our enjoyment.
My Presence is Enough. It’s interesting in the Gospel of John that Jesus didn’t calm the storm! He would say things like “Peace, be still!” in other storm stories, but in this case, He didn’t calm those surging waves. He instead walked on those waves and let the storm continue. Sometimes Jesus doesn’t calm our storms. Sometimes He provides His presence, enables us to survive the storm and then helps us make the best of it instead. Perhaps this dramatic scene is an echo, a confirmation for us of the truth of Isaiah 43:1-5: “But now, thus says Yahweh, your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel. Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name. You are mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; Do not fear, for I am with you.”