The God-Man
Today in Sunday School class we continued our study of Luke’s Gospel. We had lots of great conversation, but it was the following verses that really struck me this week.
Luke 8:22-25
Now on one of those days Jesus and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they launched out. But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. And He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?”
I know this is just another case of, “I’ve read this before, but where did that come from?”
Still this simple text brought great personal realization and humility to me this week.
In the verses and chapters prior we have seen Christ traveling, teaching, preaching, healing, giving, …working. He and the disciples have been working hard and now they have a moment of peace and calm as they sail to their next destination. So what does Christ do… He finds a secluded place on the boat and goes to sleep. In this moment we see a clear picture of Christ’s humanity.
He was just like you and I, flesh and blood, weary, and in desperate need of rest. He submitted Himself to the same physical limitations you and I have. He confined Himself to the same temporal, decaying, mortal tents we live in everyday. He felt adrenaline, fatigue, achiness, and most of all pain. Jesus fully knew what it meant to human.
But then in a matter of minutes we equally see His Deity manifest itself in all its magnificent glory. He rises from His sleep and with the utmost authority commands Creation to cease its uproar. Without hesitation or second guess He rose above the confines of this world and took His rightful place as Creator God.
This dichotomy of 100% God and 100% Man is found only in the person of Jesus Christ. No one else in the history of the World has had that experience. No one else in the World ever has or ever will accomplish what He accomplished as the God-Man. His victory over sin as the Son of Man, and His victory over death as the Son of God simultaneously changed history for all of eternity at the hill called Mount Calvary.
The same God-Man status that redeemed all of creation is the same God-Man status that the disciples were witness to over and over again during their earthly ministry with Christ, and it is the same status that inspires us to trust in and follow Him today.
–Wholly Surrender!