“Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.” (Matthew 8:24)
Sometimes a single word or a short phrase catches my attention in a bible passage. Reading Matthew’s account of the storm on the open lake that was stilled by Jesus’ rebuke, the phrase ‘But Jesus’ provided just such a moment for me. It was undoubtedly a dangerous situation and the disciples feared they were all going to drown, ‘But Jesus…’, roused from His sleep, spoke to the wind and the waves and all was completely calm. What a lovely thought: they were immersed in chaos and fear ‘but Jesus’ brought safety and calm.
That two-word phrase set me off on a Scripture tour. To the desperate father with a possessed son whom the disciples failed to exorcise, who then appeared to have died: ‘but Jesus’ raised him (Mark.9:27). To the man with the shrivelled hand in the synagogue one sabbath, at risk from hostile authorities eager to condemn: ‘but Jesus’ healed him (Luke 6:8). To the extreme and enduring enmity between Jews and Samaritans, and the zealous disciples who saw only a violent resolution: ‘but Jesus’ brought peace (Luke 9:55). To the arrest of Jesus in Gethsemane that threatened to become a bloodletting: ‘but Jesus’ de-escalated and healed (Luke 22:51). To a woman caught in adultery, surrounded by a mob ready to stone her: ‘but Jesus’ brought deliverance (John 8:6). And these were just some of my stops on the way.
In so many situations – violence, fear, chaos, aggression, anxiety, death – the presence and the intervention of Jesus changes the outcome completely. So whatever we might be facing just now, we can take heart. It may all look hopeless, but Jesus…