Understanding the Dominion Of Jesus Christ: Luke 8:22-25
“22) 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. 23) 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. 24) 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. 25) 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?”” Luke 8:22-25
This story is held in common by Mathew, Mark and Luke. It is the story of Jesus falling asleep in the boat as they were crossing the Sea of Galilee.
The disciples were confident that they were in control. Four of them were seasoned fishermen. They were most likely in one of their own boats. They were within their natural dominion. They were master seamen.
But suddenly, they were caught in a fierce storm. The boat was in danger of being swamped. They recognized that they were caught in a life threatening situation. Fear gripped them. But Jesus was peacefully sleeping through the storm.
What a contrast. Peace and panic are on opposite sides of the emotional spectrum. So are faith and fear.
As a last resort, they woke up Jesus and said; “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Do not minimize this story. They were facing eminent disaster. Jesus used it the teach them a huge lesson about His dominion.
They got it right, He was “The Master!” But the looming question was, “How far does His Mastership extend?” They knew he had authority over sickness, disease, demons and even death; but what about the forces of nature? This story was about to stretch their understanding of Jesus Christ.
Think about it. We throw the word master around loosely. We have master plumbers, master electricians, martial arts masters and even servants who refer to the head of the house as master. But in each case their dominion is very limited.
We might assume when they said, “Master, Master” they were hoping He was the Master of all Masters. They were hoping his dominion extended to the winds and the sea. Indeed, if He could handle their present crisis, it would put Him in a very unique category.
Watch what happened next. Jesus rebuked the wind and the surging waves and it became calm. Does that sound odd? He did not pray, rather He issued a command. He had authority to command the winds and the sea, because He had dominion over them!
He then questioned the disciples, “Where is your faith?” We might ask, “What is faith?” From the story of the centurion in Luke 7:1-10, we are forced to conclude that faith involves understanding authority and how it works.
From this story of Jesus calming the sea, we now have to expand our definition to include understanding the full dominion of Jesus Christ. How far does your understanding of the authority and dominion of Jesus Christ extend?
Notice the conversation among the disciples after Jesus calmed the raging sea; “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?” (Vs 25) They were forced to connect the identity of Jesus with His authority and dominion.
But something else was happening in this story. When Jesus asked them; “where is your faith”, He was prodding them. He had given them His authority, it appears that He was wondering why they did not use it in this situation?
The simple answer is that they didn’t understand that His delegated authority extended to their present situation. They had limited understanding of the extent of His dominion.
I confess, this story stretches me. I can no longer ignore the growing revelation of the authority and dominion of Jesus Christ as it builds in story after story through the gospels. I now see it as very intentional progressive revelation about Jesus Christ.
Jesus wants us to understand His identity, authority and dominion and live in it as sons of the kingdom. When the Promise of the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost, He added “power” to the mix.
The distinction of the early church is that they embraced these truths and walked in His dominion. They stepped into their identity “in Christ” and lived in His authority and power.
That’s why the book of Acts and the balance of the New Testament became an extension of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. His signs and wonders continued through His church. He was building His kingdom.
He is still building His Church and His Kingdom. He wants us to know and embrace His identity, dominion, authority and power just as the early believers did. We are living in the same biblical epoch or age as they. Nothing has changed!
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
Sent from my iPhone
“22) 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. 23) 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. 24) 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. 25) 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?”” Luke 8:22-25
This story is held in common by Mathew, Mark and Luke. It is the story of Jesus falling asleep in the boat as they were crossing the Sea of Galilee.
The disciples were confident that they were in control. Four of them were seasoned fishermen. They were most likely in one of their own boats. They were within their natural dominion. They were master seamen.
But suddenly, they were caught in a fierce storm. The boat was in danger of being swamped. They recognized that they were caught in a life threatening situation. Fear gripped them. But Jesus was peacefully sleeping through the storm.
What a contrast. Peace and panic are on opposite sides of the emotional spectrum. So are faith and fear.
As a last resort, they woke up Jesus and said; “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Do not minimize this story. They were facing eminent disaster. Jesus used it the teach them a huge lesson about His dominion.
They got it right, He was “The Master!” But the looming question was, “How far does His Mastership extend?” They knew he had authority over sickness, disease, demons and even death; but what about the forces of nature? This story was about to stretch their understanding of Jesus Christ.
Think about it. We throw the word master around loosely. We have master plumbers, master electricians, martial arts masters and even servants who refer to the head of the house as master. But in each case their dominion is very limited.
We might assume when they said, “Master, Master” they were hoping He was the Master of all Masters. They were hoping his dominion extended to the winds and the sea. Indeed, if He could handle their present crisis, it would put Him in a very unique category.
Watch what happened next. Jesus rebuked the wind and the surging waves and it became calm. Does that sound odd? He did not pray, rather He issued a command. He had authority to command the winds and the sea, because He had dominion over them!
He then questioned the disciples, “Where is your faith?” We might ask, “What is faith?” From the story of the centurion in Luke 7:1-10, we are forced to conclude that faith involves understanding authority and how it works.
From this story of Jesus calming the sea, we now have to expand our definition to include understanding the full dominion of Jesus Christ. How far does your understanding of the authority and dominion of Jesus Christ extend?
Notice the conversation among the disciples after Jesus calmed the raging sea; “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?” (Vs 25) They were forced to connect the identity of Jesus with His authority and dominion.
But something else was happening in this story. When Jesus asked them; “where is your faith”, He was prodding them. He had given them His authority, it appears that He was wondering why they did not use it in this situation?
The simple answer is that they didn’t understand that His delegated authority extended to their present situation. They had limited understanding of the extent of His dominion.
I confess, this story stretches me. I can no longer ignore the growing revelation of the authority and dominion of Jesus Christ as it builds in story after story through the gospels. I now see it as very intentional progressive revelation about Jesus Christ.
Jesus wants us to understand His identity, authority and dominion and live in it as sons of the kingdom. When the Promise of the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost, He added “power” to the mix.
The distinction of the early church is that they embraced these truths and walked in His dominion. They stepped into their identity “in Christ” and lived in His authority and power.
That’s why the book of Acts and the balance of the New Testament became an extension of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. His signs and wonders continued through His church. He was building His kingdom.
He is still building His Church and His Kingdom. He wants us to know and embrace His identity, dominion, authority and power just as the early believers did. We are living in the same biblical epoch or age as they. Nothing has changed!
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
Sent from my iPhone