April 28, 2023

Today's Reading:  

Daily Lectionary: Exodus 39:32-40:16, Luke 8:22-39

“He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”” (Luke 8:25 ESV)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The identity of Jesus can be a confusing thing.  In our reading for today the demons are the only ones that seem certain about who Jesus is. They call him “Son of the Most High God”.  Jesus’ own disciples who have heard His teaching and witnessed His calming of the storm are left with the question, “Who then is this, that the commands even winds and water, and they obey him?” The Geneserates, when they hear how Jesus freed the man from the demons, respond in fear and ask him to depart. They fear that the demons will come back in force and don’t believe that Jesus is up to that kind of challenge. You can almost see the public relations team telling Jesus that he needs to work on his brand if he wants to be successful.   

This confusion continues even today in the ivory towers of some academic biblical scholars. They will tell you that the Jesus we meet in Luke’s Gospel is presented to us with a low Christology, which is a way of saying that Jesus, as Luke presents him, is fully human and not divine. The divine part of Jesus’ identity, they will tell you, comes later and is not part of the faith of the earliest believers. These guys not only get Jesus wrong, they also get Luke wrong. There is nothing ‘low’ about the Christology of Luke’s Gospel. He presents to his readers a Jesus who is fully human and fully divine. He presents to his readers a Jesus that is truly both God and man. 

Look again at how our reading ends. Jesus tells the man who had been freed from the demons to declare how much God had done for him and he goes away proclaiming all that Jesus has done for him. Who is this that the wind and water obey? Who is it that has authority over demons? There is only one answer. In other words, Jesus is God. The one who can tame creation is the Creator. 

The God who created the world became flesh and entered into His own creation to save it.  He comes to you in water and Word to recreate you. He feeds you with His own flesh and blood in communion.  His death is your death and His life is your life. What Jesus has done for you is what God has done for you.  Knowing the true identity of Jesus means that you know your own identity.  In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

He who the sea And wind obey Doth come to serve the sinner in great meekness. Thou, God’s own Son, With us art one, Dost join us and our children in our weakness. “O Jesus Christ, Thy Manger Is” LSB 372, st 2

-Pastor Grant A Knepper is Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Modesto, CA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Jonathan Lackey is an LCMS seminarian.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.