Week Five - Day Two: Holiness Has A Face
Holiness has a face!
Wow!
Holiness has a face!
You’ve got to be kidding me!
Not kidding! Holiness has a face! This is the clear implication of many of the things Jesus said and did. This is the clear implication of early Christian teaching. This is what the writer of the Hebrews meant when he said, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory, and the exact representation of his being!” This is what Thomas understood when he fell before the risen Jesus and said, “My Lord and My God.” This is what Paul meant when he said, “He is the image of the invisible God!”
This is why the Pharisees were so upset with Jesus and with his early followers. This is part of the explanation for why Christians were killed by the Romans. This belief explains why Muslims accuse Christians of being infidels and polytheists.
Holiness has a face!
To help us contemplate this reality today I’d like for us to look at my favorite New Testament story. This incident is recorded in Matthew 8, Mark 4 and Luke 8. I’d like us to look at two of those accounts right now.
Read Matthew 8:23-27 and Mark 4:35-41. These are two different accounts of the same incident.
Matthew 8:23-27
(23) Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. (24) Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. (25) The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"
(26) 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.
(27) The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!"
Mark 4:35-41
(35) That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." (36) Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. (37) A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. (38) Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"
(39) He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
(40) He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"
(41) They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"
Are you blown away? What do you think?
There are four kinds of miracle stories surrounding the life and ministry of Jesus: physical healings, demonic deliverances, resurrections, and nature miracles. This is the most outstanding of the nature miracles in my opinion – and perhaps the most outstanding of all of Jesus’ miracles.
The calming of the sea explained
So, let’s get a clear image in our heads. That will help us as we try to fully experience the profound implications of what happened here. The guys in the boat are professional fishermen. They know the Sea of Galilee – they know its waters, they know its fish and they know its storms. I understand that very violent storms can arise very suddenly on the Sea of Galilee. I also understand that these storms can be very dangerous, even life-threatening, for unprepared vessels. In the Ancient Near East, every vessel was basically unprepared. It was a part of life that these fishermen understood. You often could not predict the storms of the Sea of Galilee. Fishing there was dangerous business.
We also know that Galileans prided themselves on being hard-scrabble, people of the earth. An article from The International Bible Encyclopedia describes Galileans like this:
“But a fine type of manhood was developed among the peasant farmers of the two Galilees which according to Josephus were ‘always able to make a strong resistance on all occasions of war; for the Galileans are inured to war from their infancy … nor hath the country ever been destitute of men of courage.’”
Let’s just say these were probably not men prone to extravagant emotional displays. There were no Galilean Facebook fans of Celine Deon or Barry Manilow. So when they cry out for help, we can well imagine what they must have been experiencing.
“Jesus, there’s a storm! It’s a doozy! Look at those cresting waves! I’ve seen this pattern before only this time we’re too far out to sea! We’re not going to make it! The boat simply can’t handle this stress! Grab that line! Lower that sail! Jesus! Don’t you care! We’re drowning here!”
Jesus … wakes up … rebukes the wind and the waves … and the wind and the waves grow still! The storm subsides just as suddenly as it arose. Obviously I don’t have enough exclamation marks to communicate the drama here! This is either incredibly lucky timing or something amazing has happened.
Amazing is not a big enough word, is it? So, either Jesus has experienced the absolute best case of right time, right place in the history of the world or something incredible happened!
But incredible isn’t big enough either. This is amazingly, fantastically incredible. Or maybe fantastically, incredibly amazing!
Responding to holiness
Did you notice their response? The storm subsides; everyone is saved. And how do they react? Jubilant? No! relieved? Not really. In shock? Not exactly! According to Mark, they were terrified. Terrified! And Mark uses here the fiercest word that was available to him in the afraid-spectrum of his language.
They were terrified AFTER the storm subsided. Why? Because holiness has a face and they saw it scream! “Quiet! Be still!” it said to the storm. And the storm obeyed!
So here’s the punch line. Look at the end of Matthew’s account. Verse 27 reads, “The men were amazed and asked ‘What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!’”
Did you catch that? “What kind of man is this?” What they’re saying is: “ We don’t have a category for what we saw here! We don’t even know what to call this! This is utterly and completely unique. It’s unparalleled. We’ve seen teachers before – never with the authority he possesses but at least we have a category for teacher. We’ve seen healers before. We’ve known many Rabbis and holy men. But this! What kind of man can do this?”
An answer presents itself, doesn’t it? This isn’t simply the power of God – although this is an incredibly display of power. This isn’t simply the authority of God – although it’s difficult to imagine anything more authoritative. This is … in a category all by itself. This is holiness!
Do you believe this story? If so, be afraid – be very afraid!
Before You Start Your Day
- The Nicene Creed was written in 325 AD at the first universal church council in Nicaea, a city in what is modern-day Turkey. It was edited in 381 by the church council that met in Constantinople. It has been a standard for orthodox belief for centuries. Read it this morning as a way to test and affirm your own belief.
We believe
In one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man; he was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried, and the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father; from there he shall come again, with glory, to judge the living and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets.
In one holy catholic and apostolic Church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
- Consider writing out this creed on a piece of paper this morning and carrying it with you during the day. If you are able to do so, bring it out and read it whenever you receive a text.
- Let’s end our time in prayer this morning by simply expressing our amazement with Jesus!
Subscribe to RSSMost recent posts
- Week Twenty Six - Day Four: End of Day
- Week Twenty Six - Day Four: 5pm Text
- Week Twenty Six - Day Four: Noon Text
- Week Twenty Six - Day Four
- Week Twenty Six - Day Three: End of Day
- Week Twenty Six - Day Three: 5pm Text
- Week Twenty Six - Day Three: Noon Text
- Week Twenty Six - Day Three
- Week Twenty Six - Day Two: End of Day
- Week Twenty Six - Day Two: 5pm Text
- Week Twenty Six - Day Two: Noon Text
- Week Twenty Six - Day Two
- Week Twenty Six - Day One: 5pmText
- Week Twenty Six - Day One: End of Day
- Week Twenty Six - Day One: Noon Text
- Week Twenty Six - Day One
- Week Twenty Five - Day Four: 5pm Text
- Week Twenty Five - Day Four: End of Day
- Week Twenty Five - Day Four: Noon Text
- Week Twenty Five - Day Four
# To father; sire.
# To cause to exist or occur; produce. or to bring into being.
From the second definition, I now understand that Jesus was created by God, the same way He created the universe.
Jesus Christ is the second person of the Trinity. Jesus Christ is God and is one in essence or substance with God the Father.
If you look in John 1:1-3, it says: "In the beginning was the Word [referring to Jesus Christ], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him [ie through Jesus Christ] all things were made; without him [ie without Jesus Christ] nothing was made that has been made."
"In the beginning" refers to eternity as opposed to "from the beginning" which typically refers to the creation or as far back as humans have had experience. So it says that Jesus was/is eternal.