Transcript
Speaker: The following podcast is a Jill dev Divine Media production.
Speaker: Thanks for hitting play on this week's episode of Normal Goes a Long Way. We are getting ready to cover chapter 24, Ordinary no ordinary man All right, hey, dear friends in Christ, good morning to you. I'm glad that you have come today. It's always more fun when you're traveling with someone.
Speaker: ah You see, you and I are on a journey. Since January, with a couple of rest stops in between, we've been cruising through the greatest story that's ever been told. This morning, we find ourselves in chapter 24 the story.
Speaker: of ah story Jesus is in his ah second of his three years of earthly ministry. ah The first year can be called the inauguration.
Speaker: Last week, we took in how Jesus' ministry began. He is baptized. He is tempted by Satan in the wilderness. He is gathering disciples. ah Jesus is working some miracles.
Speaker: But as he does so, he's he's kind of secret about it in this first year. ah Many times in the first year, Jesus will heal someone or he'll do some other miraculous thing and then he'll say, shh, keep it to yourself.
Speaker: Don't tell anyone. Just go home and praise God. You see, Jesus didn't want the word to get out just yet because he has so much to do. But that's year one.
Speaker: Now, Jesus' final year, the third year, ah that could be called the year of opposition. That's next week, by the way. The religious leaders are following him around. They're challenging him at every turn.
Speaker: they're They're plotting. They're scheming behind his back. They're working against him. And it is, of course, the year of the cross. ah Today, however, we find ourselves in year two.
Speaker: This could be called the year of his popularity. The crowds just can't get enough of this guy, Jesus. They are amazed at the things that he does.
Speaker: They are blown away some of the things that he says. Jesus never disappoints them. Now, they don't quite understand him,
Speaker: but they love him. They'd make him their king if he'd let him. Most everyone is a Jesus fan. Team Jesus all the way.
Speaker: It's obvious. Jesus is no ordinary man. Here, let me show you. Matthew chapter eight. Then Jesus got into the boat and his disciples followed him.
Speaker: Without warning, 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.
Speaker: and he replied, oh you, you of little faith. Why are you so afraid? then he got up and he rebuked the wind of the waves. And it was completely calm The men were amazed, and they asked, what kind of a man is this?
Speaker: Even the wind and the waves obey him. You see, this story is actually the very first part of a three-part story, and Matthew is telling us that Jesus is no ordinary man.
Speaker: Jesus is all-powerful, okay, the It's a three-part story. So the part about Jesus still in the storm demonstrates that Jesus has power over the world.
Speaker: ah He can control nature itself. And we'll come back to that story in just a little bit. Now, the second story comes right after Jesus and the disciples, they get out of the boat.
Speaker: When Jesus arrived on the other side, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs, creepy, met him, and they were so violent that no one could pass their way. "'What do you want with us, Son of God?' they shouted.
Speaker: "'Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?' Now some distance from them was a large herd of pigs was feeding. The demons begged Jesus, if you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.
Speaker: And Jesus said to them, go. but So they came out and and of the men. They went to the pigs and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water.
Speaker: Those ten of the pigs ran off. They went to town, reported all of this, including what happened to the demon-possessed men. That's story number two. Fascinating.
Speaker: Everyone's scared of these guys. But not Jesus. Oh, no. ah He restored these men by commanding the demons to leave. Just one word, in fact, go.
Speaker: Jesus is no ordinary man. And what Matthew is telling us is that Jesus has power over the devil. Story number three, immediately ah following Jesus' demon encounter. So you got the boat.
Speaker: Yeah, you got the demons. Now here's what comes next. Matthew records that Jesus heals a man who was paralyzed. The guy can't move. He is lowered down through the roof by four really good friends.
Speaker: And Jesus will heal the man. And that man's going to stand on his own two feet. He's going to pick up his mat. He's going to skip all the way home. But that's not the most important part of the story. You see, before Jesus heals the man's body, he heals the man's soul.
Speaker: First things first. Here, take a look. Some men brought to him a paralytic lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, cheer up.
Speaker: Take heart, son. Your sins are forgiven. And at this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, this fellow's blaspheming. Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, why do you entertain such evil thoughts in your hearts?
Speaker: How come? Why? Which is easier to say, your sins are forgiven, or to say, get up and walk? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, he said to the paralytic, get up.
Speaker: Take up your mat and go home. at this, the man got up and he went home. And when the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe.
Speaker: And they praised God who had given such authority this man, Jesus. That's right. They were filled with awe because Jesus had the authority to forgive sins. You see, that's very, very big, most important, because only God can eliminate sin.
Speaker: Three stories back to back to back showing and telling that Jesus is no ordinary man. Even the wind and the waves obey him.
Speaker: He's no ordinary man. ah When he speaks, the demons have to run. Jesus is no ordinary man. He heals people from the inside out. He erases sin to back to back.
Speaker: ah back Jesus has the power. Jesus has authority. He has full control over the world, over the devil, and yes, even sin itself.
Speaker: Whoa. Jesus is no ordinary man. all right, let's get back in the boat. Everybody settled in? Good. Good.
Speaker: but hang on. Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake so that the waves swept over the boat.
Speaker: Nice. No! The Greek word that Matthew actually uses here, you could take this one at home and impress your friends. It's seismos. Seismos, you've heard of that. Same word used for earthquake.
Speaker: It was an earthquake of a storm. The waves in this earthquake were so high that the boat was hidden. This was a storm deluxe, 10, 20-foot wave action. The waves dangerously tip the boat downward. It must have felt like when you're on that roller coaster, you know, you get right up to the top of the hill there when you're on that roller coaster, and you just kind of look down. You know you're staring straight down, right? You know that feeling, right? Okay, now get rid of the seatbelt.
Speaker: Right, kind of a scary ride, scary stuff. Water was flooding the deck, and these seasoned, tough-guy fishermen were more than worried.
Speaker: It was enough to scare the pants, excuse me, scare the robes off of these guys. Everything was just out control. so with fear in their eyes and water on their faces, they ran over to Jesus, and they wake him up.
Speaker: That's strange.
Speaker: That Jesus is all curled up, snug as a bug in a rug, in the stern of the boat taking a little siesta. Isn't that weird?
Speaker: Mark records that Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. I like that detail for some reason. He's sleeping on a cushion. Like, why did he add on a cushion? Like, oh, I like it.
Speaker: Amazing. How could Jesus be peacefully sleeping at a time like this? And the disciples cry out, they say the most absurd thing now we look at it.
Speaker: Teacher, don't you care?
Speaker: Don't you care if we drown?
Speaker: And Jesus got up. All right. Okay. Yeah. And he rebuked the wind and the waves. You guys aren't behaving.
Speaker: I mean, really, he rebuked the wind and the waves. Like he would rebuke your dog or you know rebuke maybe your child. They still do that anymore, rebuke your children?
Speaker: They did what I was a kid.
Speaker: Quiet. Be still.
Speaker: And the sea became instantly calm, instantly like glass, not a ripple. And Jesus turned to his disciples and he asked the question that we should probably ask ourselves.
Speaker: Why are you so afraid?
Speaker: you still have no faith?
Speaker: So, why are you?
Speaker: Why am I so afraid?
Speaker: Don't we have faith?
Speaker: How come we're so afraid?
Speaker: Well, here's why. because you and I live in a stormy world. ah Your daily newsfeed will tell you that. Storms all over the world.
Speaker: and Storms right here close to home. There storms at work and storms at school. There are storms in your family. There are storms in your very own heart.
Speaker: You and I live in a stormy world, and there are storms that are just breaking out all the time. ah soon as one storm kind of calms down guess what?
Speaker: Here comes another storm.
Speaker: You either just got out of a storm or you're in a storm right now, but get ready for the next storm.
Speaker: All around us in hospital rooms, funeral homes, hearts are breaking all over the place and fear just comes at us and it rocks our lives and we feel out of control.
Speaker: The fear of death, fear of failure, ah fear of the future, and certainly the world, The devil and even our own sin make us feel afraid and we we get to wondering, Jesus asleep?
Speaker: Doesn't he care if we drown?
Speaker: Shh. Be still. why
Speaker: Your Savior is no ordinary man. He is God, and he is good. Be still.
Speaker: Jesus has power and authority over all things.
Speaker: But do not be afraid. The world is no longer in the hands of the evil one, but in the hands of a good and a loving and a very willing and a very capable good shepherd.
Speaker: And in the end, everything will be all right. Nothing's going to harm you permanently. no no suffering is forever.
Speaker: No loss is lasting. No defeat is more than just temporary. No disappointment is final. Lift up your eyes, I love this Psalm 121, it's my favorite. Lift up your eyes to the hills.
Speaker: Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. He who's not gonna let your foot ah slip. No, he who watches over you will not slumber. He's not sleeping on the job.
Speaker: He who watches over you will neither slumber nor s sleep. The Lord watches over you. The Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun will not harm you by day nor the moon by night.
Speaker: The Lord will keep you from all harm. He is watching over your life. The Lord will watch over your coming and your going both now and forevermore. And he tells us nothing's going to separate us.
Speaker: Nothing's going to separate us. Not troubles, not worries, not persecution, danger. Not lack of food, not attacks or evasions. There's absolutely nothing in life nor in death that will ever come between you and my love. That's what he tells us. I've got you.
Speaker: Be still. And know that I am God. Be still. If you could only be still. If you could only be still, I could help you out of this mess.
Speaker: Oh, I'm so glad. i hate to call people out, but not really. Jerry Gilbert, I see you in the back there. I'm so glad that you are here today because I'm going to tell you a story that you're really going to appreciate.
Speaker: If you could only be still. I could help you out of this mess. I said that to an owl one day. True story.
Speaker: It was about this time a year, 12 years ago, ancient history. But there was an owl that was caught in our soccer net out front there.
Speaker: A big, beautiful bird, but what a mess. He was all just tangled up every which way, and he was upset, to say the least. And the more he struggled, the worse it got.
Speaker: Well, I knew what I had to do. went and got Jerry.
Speaker: ah Jerry, he jerry he used to be in charge of a lot of things of Messiah, including, you know, building and grounds. And oh this one seemed to me like this was a building and grounds matter, you know, for sure, right?
Speaker: So I went and found Jerry and Jerry found some thick gloves. And I, being the true pastor that I am, I grabbed a cup of coffee and I followed Jerry out to the soccer field so I could watch him release the owl. And believe me, this owl, oh, he was a ripper If ever there was one, a three, four footer at least, frightening.
Speaker: Jerry grabbed the entrapped creature with both hands and that really made Mr. Owl mad. And he retaliated by wrapping one of his immense claws around Jerry's thumb and he squeezed hard.
Speaker: Jerry let out a pitying yelp. That's when I jumped into action and took control of the situation. I sprang forward by employing Jerry's miniature scissors from his Swiss Army pocket knife, and I began cutting the net from under the vicious beast's neck and wings. And with lightning speed, he struck me with one of his razor-sharp talons, and the blood began to flow.
Speaker: Undeterred, I freed the monster from the clutches of his netted prison. And with a sigh of relief from having a manly job well done, Jerry bruised, eye bleeding, we stepped back and we watched as this s mighty warrior of the sky turned his head, not his body, just his head toward us.
Speaker: And he winked. And he flapped his wings.
Speaker: And he flew heavenward just up over the rainbow into the sun toward home. True story, right? All right. Maybe be embellished a little bit.
Speaker: But here's my point. Here's my point. I do have a point. If that big bird could have just kept still.
Speaker: over the years, I've kind of thought about this this scene out there, the soccer field. What Jerry and I were trying to do, we were in the saving business that day. We were rescuing
Speaker: But what we intended for good, that owl interpreted as bad. That silly bird had no idea what we were up to. We were being kind.
Speaker: He thought we were being cruel. If only could have known that we were there to help. If only that bird would have just been quiet.
Speaker: If only that bird could have just waited If only that bird would have stopped struggling.
Speaker: It could just be still. Now, okay, maybe I'm overdoing it a little bit with the owl, but I'm certainly not overdoing it when it comes to Jesus.
Speaker: Now, he is no ordinary man. oh we put our trust in him.
Speaker: not go fearful. He's not going let us tumble out of the boats. came so that we would have life to rescue us so we can live it to the full. Jesus has power over the world.
Speaker: Jesus has power over the devil. ah Jesus, most importantly, has the power of over our sin. he's the only one that can save us.
Speaker: Be still.
Speaker: Look at the cross.
Speaker: Actually, today I'd like you to look at three crosses. You know, that there were three crosses on that lonely hill, that Good Friday. Jesus is in the middle, ah hanging between two thieves. And there's a tradition about the thief. I guess we call this thief the good thief, right? There's a good thief and a bad thief.
Speaker: It's not in the Bible, okay? But tradition says that this good thief... yeah He had a name, and his name was Dismas, D-I-S-M-A-S, Dismas. And the story goes that he was a terrorist, he was a womanizer, he was a boozer.
Speaker: And like I said, I don't know if that's true, ah but we know he must have done something pretty bad to be hanging on a cross like that. But there he hangs next to Jesus,
Speaker: this terrible sinner. And yet, I think Dismas... if that's his name, I think that guy might be one of the most courageous human beings who ever lived.
Speaker: For he calls out to the sinless, perfect, stainless, all-powerful Son of God, and he boldly asks, and it's not even a question.
Speaker: If you look at the words, it says, Lord, remember me. He's telling Jesus what do. Whoa! Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
Speaker: What an outrageous confidence this guy had. He who has no business at all, zero, of asking God for anything. What guts, what confidence. And Jesus answers, I tell you the truth.
Speaker: Today you are going to be with me in paradise. In a lifetime of sin, just gone, wiped away. completely erased.
Speaker: Don't be afraid. And dismiss, if that was his name was given heaven just a moment.
Speaker: But heaven has been promised to you as well. Jesus said the same to you.
Speaker: You'll be with me in paradise.
Speaker: Jesus' victory from the cross and the grave means that you and I have nothing to fear, not sin, not the devil, not the world, not even death. See, ours is not a little faith.
Speaker: We are a new creation, and our victory is secure. Our ultimate destination is set. do you You know. You remember what he told us.
Speaker: Remember, do not let your hearts be troubled.
Speaker: Trust in God. Trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. I'm going there to prepare a place for you.
Speaker: if I go and prepare a place for you, I'm gonna come back and I'm gonna take you to be with me so that you also may be where I am. You know? You know where I'm going. You know the way? I am the way. I am the truth. i am the life.
Speaker: And we could take Jesus at his word. It's truth and it's life.
Speaker: Now that your hearts be troubled, be still. Do not be afraid.
Speaker: Well, you know, I bet they'd do it again.
Speaker: they would. I really think they actually would. my talk ah Here's what, ah in his book, In the Eye of the Storm, Arthur, Max Licato makes this interesting claim, and I totally agree. He writes, they'd do it again.
Speaker: i bet the disciples would have. I'm confident they would have. If they were given the chance, I'm sure the disciples would get into the same boat and ride through the same storm.
Speaker: They'd do it all over again in heartbeat. Why?
Speaker: They had been saved. That's why I think they'd do it again.
Speaker: They would endure the storm another night, a thousand other nights because they had been saved. Dear friends,
Speaker: so have we. We have been saved.
Speaker: Saved. Saved from the world. Saved from the devil. Saved even from sin. And therefore,
Speaker: do not be afraid. For God is with us and we are in his very good and very capable hands.
Speaker: Be still. And know that Jesus is no ordinary man. is God.
Speaker: And he's got you even in the storm. Amen. As we enter into these final chapters of the story, I encourage you to head to normalgoesalongway.com and check out some resources that we have for you, including some questions to help you go a little bit deeper.
Speaker: And then I invite you back on Thursday, Miss Hannah and Miss April will present to you this week's episode in kids form in normal goes a long way for kids.
