Rest through Jesus
Series: Welcome home | Bible text: Matthew 8:23–27
We do not find true rest through a method, but through a person. Jesus wants to give us his rest.
The summer holidays are just around the corner. A time when we wish to come to rest, recharge our batteries and escape the stress of everyday life. And with that comes the question of how exactly that works. In any case, I ask myself this question again and again. «How do I find peace? How can I switch off and recharge my batteries?» The disciples probably asked themselves a similar question when they were with Jesus on the Sea of Galilee. But they were confronted with a completely different restlessness – they were sailing in the middle of a storm.
We learn about this in Matthew 8: 23Thereupon Jesus got into the boat; his disciples followed him and they set off. 24Suddenly a violent storm broke out on the lake, so that the boat was almost buried by the waves. But Jesus was asleep. 25The disciples rushed to him and woke him up. «Lord,» they cried, «save us, we are lost! 26But Jesus said to them, «Why are you so afraid, O you of little faith?» Then he stood up and put the wind and the waves in their place. There was a great silence. 27But the people asked in amazement, «Who is this, that even the wind and the waves obey him?» (Matthew 8:23–27)
We don’t normally experience anything like that. Most of the turmoil we experience is internal. A challenge at work that we can’t get out of our heads. An important decision that we have to make but don’t know how. A mountain of tasks that would have been best completed yesterday. A grade point average that needs to be achieved but is out of reach. A conflict in the family that is causing us sleepless nights. Even if our turmoil is quite different, we can derive a lot from this story.
Question by person
At the end, people ask: «Who is this that even the wind and waves obey him?» I find this question enormously fascinating! Mine would have been more like, «How does this person calm the waves?» But I think that the question about the person is much more important than the question about the method.
During my apprenticeship as a physics lab technician, I experienced a very impressive example of this. I was given the task of developing a sample holder for high-temperature applications. No one in my research group really knew how to do it – and certainly not me. So I just started in one place and sketched various ideas. Soon it was clear that we would have to weld a lot of things. But there was one big problem: I really didn’t know anything about it. I was like a donkey on a mountain. Pure overload. I didn’t know how it was supposed to work – but I knew who could help me. Through a bit of vitamin B, I took
I got in touch with Markus, the head of welding. He was very helpful and invited me to a meeting. I printed out my drawings, marked all the ambiguities and met with him. The sheets were overflowing with question marks. But I was with the right person. After about an hour, all my questions were answered and many problems solved. I didn’t know how – but I knew who. And suddenly the problems almost solved themselves.
It is much more important that we ask about the person rather than the method. The question is: «Who can give me peace?» instead of «How do I find peace?»
Response in Jesus
If we look into the Bible, we also find an answer. Jesus himself says in Matthew 11:28: «Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden! I will give you rest.» So we find a person to our question: Jesus. Just as he was able to calm the troubles on the lake, he also calms our inner troubles. With him we find real peace.
And with that, our line of vision also changes. We no longer ask ourselves how we can come to rest and how we can refuel. We no longer revolve around ourselves. When we start asking the question about the person, we look away from a method and towards Jesus. Even when it is restless and stormy around us, Jesus gives us peace. That is the genius of him: his peace and calm enters us. His peace enters into us. That is why we find real peace not through a method, but in a person. In Jesus.
