Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” (John 1:43)
Professor James Wallace writing about the Gospel lesson of Jesus calming the storm at sea (Matt 8:18-27 and Mark 4:35-41), believes the story is also about discipleship, which means how we follow Jesus. He writes:
… Matthew says, ‘And when He got into the boat, His disciples followed him‘ (… Mt 8:23) – exhibiting the proper relationship between the disciples and their Lord. Thus Matthew 8:18-27 as a unit serves not just to recount a miracle but to teach about and illustrate discipleship.
Too often we read the miracles of the New Testament and think they are the main point, so we can gloss over them. Wallace reminds us there is more to the story than immediately meets the eye.
… ‘being a disciple means “following” Jesus, and following Jesus means separating from the crowds, ultimately finding oneself on the “other side” of the people.’ Moreover, . . . the “other side” will be Gentile territory where Jesus and his disciples will meet two demoniacs, so the call to discipleship may mean going to places and reaching out to people whom the ‘crowd’ views as alien, undesirable, and unclean… following Jesus is an urgent but extremely risky act, one fraught with dangers.
The disciples follow Jesus into the boat which Jesus directs towards the far shore, the Gentile side of the lake. The disciples follow Jesus into what can be hostile territory for them. They will have to mingle with people they don’t like or who don’t like them. In this case they also meet a demoniac, someone not in his right mind (in the modern world, we don’t have to have a mentally ill person for this, it might simply be a rabid follower of politics we hate). The disciples no doubt felt endangered by the demoniac. We might feel threatened today by those with whom we disagree politically or spiritually, but who have real power.
‘Lord, save, we perish.’ This brief statement is a prayer relevant for any believer at any time. This is, indeed, our constant prayer – it is not confined to one episode long ago; it represents a more universal cry for Christ to rescue us. (SEEKING CHRIST IN SCRIPTUES, pp 135-137)
Fraternized 