Lenten Devotional - Week Two

Jesus is All-Powerful

 

Music and Art

Play the audio file and click on the image to enlarge it.

When you look at Rembrandt's painting and listen to the lyrics, ask God to remind you where He has shown His power in your life.

  • About the Artwork:
    The Storm on the Sea of Galilee (1633)
    Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn
    Oil on Canvas

    Citation
    Rembrandt, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

    About the Music:
    The Story I’ll Tell (2020)
    Maverick City Music
    Written by Benji Cowart, Alton Eugene & Naomi Raine

    Performed by Orchard Hill Music

 

As you read the scripture and poetry what is God placing on your heart?

Scripture

Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

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.

The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

Matthew 8:23-27 (NIV)

 

Poetry

When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?

You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor.
You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their feet.

Psalm 8:3-6 (NIV)

 

Devotional

By George Palombo

In this well-known passage, Jesus is exhibiting more than one lesson for us in calming the storm. As a true man, He is showing us His deep trust in His heavenly Father. Unlike the disciples who are in abject panic, Jesus can rest peacefully during a violent storm on the tiny fishing vessel.  

But we also see Jesus in this passage as the God-man. His omnipotence and authority (equal to the Creator) in silencing the storm and calming the waves are on full display. In the Bible, the sea and the storm are often associated with chaos and destruction. (Genesis 1:1-2; Psalm 69:1-2) Only God can control these elements. He alone sets their boundaries and stills their fury (Job 38:8-11). In this gospel narrative, Jesus possesses and displays the power and authority of deity by rebuking the elements and putting them in their place. 

The renowned orator and early Church Father, John Chrysostom wrote in his Homilies of the Gospel of St. Matthew that “Jesus in His sleeping showed he was a man. His calming of the seas declared Him to be God.”  

This experience shook the disciples to their core. They wondered, “What kind of man is this?” Today, we have the challenging opportunity of whether it is safe to put our trust in Christ based on the evidence of His power. This Jesus is not only a good man or a great teacher to follow but God in the flesh.

 

Reflect

What area of your life, or what circumstances are calling for you to set aside your own self-help measures and trust in the all-powerful might of Jesus during this Lenten season?