Read Matthew 8 Devotional for Lent by Bp Tom Wright WEEK 1: THURSDAY Lets go on that boat and think what it was like. Its a small lake, as lakes go, but sudden storms come sweeping down from the hills. All of us in the boat know of people whove been drowned there, of whole boats that have been swamped and gone to the bottom, of sad homes back in Capernaum or Magdala where there are widows and small children dependent on relatives because the father and his sons didnt come home from a nights fishing. So we are right to be afraid, arent we? You cant deny that! And Jesus, who was doing such great things a minute ago on land, is . . . asleep. How can he do that? Doesnt he care? Should we wake him? Well, why not? If he cant help us, who can? Then it happens. He wakes up and looks at us, a bit cross but not, it seems, because weve woken him but because of something else. We havent got enough faith, he says. Well, weve sailed this lake often enough and we know that it isnt faith that gets you across, its hard work with the oars and sails! But then he is saying something again — this time, loud and clear, not to us but to the wind and the sea. Hes telling them to shut up! Who does he think he is? This is crazy! Only it isnt. The wind dies down. The sea becomes very, very still, like a screaming child suddenly pacified. And our question Who does he think he is? turns into a different question: Who is he? What sort of man is this? Weve heard the old stories about God telling the wind and the sea to open up a way for his people to pass over. Weve heard about Jonah, about Noah. We know the ancient, mysterious story about God making the world in the first place by replacing the waters of chaos with his new creation. Weve always wanted this God to come back to rescue us. But we never thought it would be like this. And we never thought wed have to wake him up to make it happen. But — wait a minute? Isnt that in the old scriptures, too? Didnt the Psalms some- times shout to God to wake up and sort out the mess? When we get to the other side, its someone else doing the shouting. A madman — actually, two of them; and theyre yelling at Jesus. Somethings got into them. We dont under- stand it but thats the only explanation. Maybe its because were off Jewish territory, this side of the lake. Thats why theres a herd of pigs over there; youd never get that in proper Jewish farms, of course. But now the men are begging Jesus — or rather, it seems to be the strange voices that are coming from the men — to send them into the herd of pigs. There must be evil spirits in there, doing the talking. And Jesus tells them to go. A sudden cold wind, and then its all stamping and snorting and off they go — over the steep hill and down into the lake. Not surprisingly, the lads in charge of the pigs take to their heels as well. For two pins Id go too; this is getting too scary for words. But the heart of it is this. Not only the question we felt on the lake: Who is Jesus? But the question we now cant avoid: Is this what it looks like when Gods kingdom begins to arrive on earth as in heaven? Does it mean that some sort of cosmic battle is now in progress, with the storm on the one hand and the evil spirits on the other trying as it were to attack Jesus, to stop him bringing heavens rule to bear on this dangerous and distracted world of ours? Whats that going to mean for us? Whats it going to mean for him? TODAY Lord of wind and sea, help us to follow you, whatever the questions, wherever you lead.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 06:13:34 +0000