A striking contrast is given in verses 19 and 21. When Jesus was about to depart to “the other side,” “a certain scribe came, and said unto Him, Master, I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest.” This man had been attracted by something in our blessed Lord, and desired to follow Him; but he saw no difficulties in the path, no refusal of self, and no cross, and besides this, he thought he could follow in his own strength wherever the Lord might go. He was instantly met by the presentation of the cross—of the character of the path, the rejection and loss it would entail. He disappears, is heard of no more. The second case is different. He did not shrink from the path, but he owned another claim. His heart was divided, and hence his request, “Suffer me first to go and bury my father.” Affection for his father was drawing him back; but “whosoever loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of Me.” The Lord therefore claimed his immediate and whole-hearted allegiance by the word, “Follow thou Me; and let the dead bury their dead.” He must learn that, if a disciple, neither the inclinations of his own heart, nor the impulse of the tenderest, affections, but the will of his Lord, must henceforward govern. his path.
After these instructions, “when He was entered into the ship, His disciples followed Him.” He had, indeed, taught them how to follow; and this gives the key to the connected incident. No sooner had they embarked than a great tempest arose, “insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves; but He was asleep.” We are here shown the character of the disciple’s path, that it is one “through waves and clouds and storms,” and as Such always attended with peril, because ire it the disciple has to meet the full brunt and opposition of Satan’s power. Besides this, it will often seem as if He were asleep, as if He were unacquainted with, not to say indifferent to, the peril of His followers. If, however, the danger of the path, and the temptation of the disciple are revealed, so also is his resource. “His disciples came to Him, and awoke Him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.” They cry unto Him in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses; for He intervened at once in answer to their cry, after chiding them for their timidity and their want of faith, and “rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.” He would have them learn, and us also, that He is all-sufficient for the dangers of the road, and that, however fierce may be the storm, all is under His control; and that the power therefore of Him who has called us to follow Him is more than equal to all our emergencies, and to conduct us safely through all trial and opposition to “the other side.” Thus, He glorifies Himself over every effort of the enemy, and confirms the faith of His disciples by the display of His omnipotent power.
E. D.