A Word about Controlling Creation on the Road to the Cross

Today I want to share a word about controlling creation on the road to the cross as I comment on Luke 5 and Matthew 8 and 14. Let’s begin by reading Luke 5:1-11. 

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Introduction:

Today, we will go sailing. We’re going to spend some time in boats today, and small boats at that.  As with many subjects, boats can cause people to have some strong emotions.  For example:

A man put an ad in an online dating site to try to meet a new girlfriend.  The ad said, “Looking for adventurous, out-doors oriented lady with boat and motor.  Send photo of boat and motor.” Of course, from the opposite perspective, one wife’s definition of a boat is “a hole in the water into which you pour money.”

All joking aside, one emotion that boats can cause is fear. This fear does not come from the boat itself, but from the way sailing is so dominated by the weather.  Even a minor storm can seem big in a small boat, and even the biggest ships are vulnerable to the overwhelming forces of nature. 

When the Great Lakes ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald was launched in 1958 it was the largest ship on the Great Lakes, and it remained so until 1971.  She weighed 13,632 tons empty and was 729 feet long.  Called “Big Fitz,” she regularly carried twice her own weight of iron ore to steel mills in the US.  She was so big and powerful she seemed to shrug off the forces of nature, that is, until November 1975. On the 9th day of that month, while bound for Detroit, MI with 26,000 tons of iron, Edmund Fitzgerald was overcome by a winter storm and disappeared with the loss of all 29 crew members.

If anyone has any doubts about the power of nature, they should go to the Mississippi gulf shore.  At the sea front they have a pole on which they have marked the height of the storm surge of the many large hurricanes that have come ashore there.  I had always heard about Hurricane Camille, and I was disappointed that the storm surge for that hurricane wasn’t marked, but I was wrong. Up near the top of the pole I finally spotted a mark that showed a wave of nearly thirty feet in height had crashed ashore there during that terrible storm.

The forces of nature are far beyond we mere mortals, but we will see today that they don’t even compare to the powers of Christ as He demonstrated the control of creation on the road to the Cross.

On the Road to the Cross Christ Controlled Creatures:

In our passage from Luke 5, we see Jesus as the Master of Creatures. 

No one likes it when people butt into their business. As the old saying goes, “Those of you who think they know it all really irritate those of us who do!” The truth is that some people think they know more than the experts. Just as often, these folks act on their “knowledge.” Usually when they do, disaster strikes. 

An example of this is a police department which took it upon themselves to install a temporary traffic light at an intersection without properly consulting traffic engineers. A fatal traffic accident was the result.

Jesus should not have known about fishing. Jesus was a trained carpenter and a religious teacher. This kind of fishing was not done by just anyone.

These fishermen were highly skilled and had long training. Catching fish with a net isn’t easy; it is an industrial process. Yet, Jesus did know more about these creatures than these expert fishermen did.

Jesus could control creatures because He is the Creator as we read in John 1:1-4:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Because Jesus is the Creator, we need to honor His knowledge.  We need to follow His instructions to have dominion over His world and to be good stewards of His world. If we violate His guidance we risk losing out on His abundance.

Next, let’s see how Christ controlled storms on the road to the Cross.

On the Road to the Cross Christ Controlled Storms:

Let’s continue by reading Matthew 8:23-27:

And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

In this passage we find our expert mariners and our supposedly landlubber carpenter on the Sea of Galilee, which was actually a very large lake. It was a lake, but that didn’t make it less dangerous. 

The terrain surrounding the Sea of Galilee is such that a funnel effect is created that causes very strong winds that can create severe storms, like the one which sank the Edmund Fitzgerald on another large lake. Though the dangers were real, the Sea of Galilee was key element in the economy and culture of northern Israel.  Without the Sea, it would not have been the same place.

The Sea of Galilee was a major transportation route, and Jesus and His disciples had sailed upon it to reach the other side, where Jesus had an appointment to meet with the Gadarene Demoniac, though the disciples did not know that yet. 

While on the way, a typical storm of great violence descended upon them. The disciples, who knew boats and the lake, were deathly afraid. Jesus, of course, was sleeping. Do you think Jesus didn’t know what was happening? Of course, He did, but He was not worried because He is the Creator of weather. 

When He was awakened, Jesus rebuked the Disciples for their fear. He then rebuked the wind and waves, and calm came over the sea. The disciples marveled the same way we marvel at a magician, but then being surprised by how simple the solution was, after it has been revealed to us.

In our next passage, we see Christ controlling physics on the road to the Cross.

On the Road to the Cross Christ Controlled Physics:

For experienced fishermen, it seems that the disciples had a tendency to get caught at sea in severe storms. The next time this happened, in Matthew 14:24-33, we learn that Jesus was the Master of Physics:

. . . but the boat by this time was a long way from the land beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night[d] he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear.  But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”  He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”  And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

God created our world, and He designed it to run in certain ways:

• He created the laws of biology. 
• He created the laws of chemistry. 
• He created the laws of oceanography.
• He created the laws of physics. 

Our belief in an intelligent creator prompted us to systematically study nature, because if there was a design behind the creation, we could discover it and discover how creation works. Even though some scientists now often seem to despise our faith, in truth, science came out of our faith!

God’s design was perfect, and it was only marred by human sin. The Laws of Physics are immutable for humans. They work the same way every time. We can use them for our own purposes, but we can’t alter them.  When we use the laws of physics properly, we can do wonderful things, like fly an airplane. When you do violate the laws of physics you pay the price. 

People often perpetuate the myth that bumble bees violate the laws of physics.  Nothing that flies can violate the laws of physics; however, if you jump off a building with an open umbrella you will violate them, and the results will be painful!

Jesus showed us in these verses that He is the Creator of physics. A man cannot walk on water, but Jesus could. And not only could Jesus walk on water, but He could also empower Peter to do so as well!

Jesus controlled creation on the road to the Cross in many different ways. These were historical events, and they did, in fact, occur. So, what does that mean for us today? It means Christ is in control of everything that can cause us fear.

As We Walk our Road Today Christ can Control our Fears: 

Because human sin has marred God’s perfect creation, the world is a dangerous place. This causes people to experience fear. 

People are often afraid of four-footed creatures, like the young lady who, when she was a child, had been knocked down by a dog who stole her graham cracker. Years later she ran away from a German Shepherd only to fall and hurt herself. 

People are also afraid of two-footed creatures, like the mother who would always call her daughter when a convict had escaped, or if the local police were looking for a fugitive. 

Jesus, of course, showed He can control creatures, and we need to give Him control of our fears about creatures as well.

People are often afraid of storms, too. Storms are violent and can cause destruction and death. I know a family whose home was once hit by lightning and caught fire. They never left their house totally empty again. Someone was always at home just in case lightning might strike in the same place twice.  Jesus, of course, showed He can control storms, and we need to give Him control of our fears about storms as well.

People also have what is called on social media FOMO or Fear of Missing Out. Like children who don’t want to nap to go to bed at night because they are afraid that they are going to miss out on something:

• We often think that God’s way is not the best way.
• We try to find ways around the rules of creation. 
• We try to find pleasure in ways God didn’t intend.
• We try to find power in ways that God didn’t intend.
• We rebel against His plan and when we do it costs us.

Jesus amply demonstrated His control of creation, and He needs to be in control of our lives as well. We need to seek His abundant life, not our false abundance.

Conclusion:

Jesus is the Creator. He created nature for our blessing, and He uses everything He created for our good. As Romans 8:28 reminds us,

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

The way we are most blessed is by allowing Him to be in control of our lives, too! He has called us, but have we answered? Have we yielded our lives to Him today? Or are we still trying to control our own lives? Surrender to Him today!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt