What Manner of Man Is This?
David W Palmer
(Luke 8:22–25 DKJV) Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said to them, “Let us go over unto the other side of the lake.” And they launched forth. {23} But as they sailed he fell asleep; and there came down a storm of wind on the lake, and they were filled with water and were in jeopardy. {24} And they came to him and awoke him, saying, “Master, master, we perish.” Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water; and they ceased, and there was a calm. {25} And he said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, “What manner of man is this! for he even commands the winds and water, and they obey him.”
When Jesus’s disciples saw what he did to the wind and the waves, they exclaimed: “What manner of man is this? (Mat. 8:27 KJV).
At least four of his disciples were professional fishermen—very experienced in boating on this lake. They fully understood the danger and power of the sudden storms that could arise. When this one with gale force winds engulfed them, their own professionalism—which had instilled great fear of storms—caused them to believe that not even their experience and skill could save them. Suddenly, Jesus—a preacher or carpenter at best—stood up to deal with it. He didn’t use sailing or boating skills; he wasn’t a trained meteorologist either; Jesus used his words: “He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea.” (Note: “rebuke” means to censure or admonish, that is, to tell off.)
The power in Jesus’s words must have absolutely astounded everyone: his disciples, angels, demons, and every molecule, atom, thermal current—even the laws of physics and thermodynamics. Most of them had never heard anything with such authority before, and for others, not since they heard God say, “Let there be light!”
Jesus was a man of words—God’s living Word in action. He used his words under the great anointing of the Holy Spirit, and spoke them with absolute authority through holy lips to:
Jesus’s words:
Today is the perfect day to receive a word from Jesus. He promised: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27 KJV). You can hear his voice today.
Elijah heard the “still, small voice” of God in his “cave” (1 Kings 19:12–16 KJV). The word he heard in his private, secret place brought his whole nation a revival: it drove out the wicked government, and removed false worship; it anointed a new generation of leaders. What can Jesus’s living words do through you?
Remember: “Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4), God watches over his word to perform it (Jer. 1:12), and that no word of God is void of power (Luke 1:37). He is the anointed, resurrected, all powerful, all knowing, living Word of the living God—the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
“What sort of man is this?”
