Many impressions in the Bible have to be studied by the way of contrast. This is the case with the five examples mentioned above. Other examples show similarities, and one has to put them together to form an integrated picture.
Matthew 8:23-27 speaks of the instance when the Lord Jesus crossed the sea with the disciples. Suddenly a great tempest rose up in the sea. The Lord was asleep, and the disciples were afraid. In Matthew’s record the disciples said, “Lord, save us; we are perishing!” (v. 25). But Mark 4:38 has something more to say: “Teacher, does it not matter to You...?” That means that they questioned how He could sleep so soundly. The Lord Jesus rebuked the wind and the waves, and they were stilled; then He turned and rebuked the disciples for their little faith. (Notice the order of events according to Mark and Luke. Before the Lord rebuked the disciples, He rebuked the wind and the waves.) The Lord had a basis for rebuking the disciples because He had said that He would cross to the other side. Since He had said it, it must be so. There was no need to worry even if there were winds, waves, or whatever along the way. The Lord Jesus was teaching them the lesson of faith. What were they putting their faith in? They should have trusted in the Lord’s word: “Let us go over to the other side” (Mark 4:35). With the Lord having said that they would go over to the other side, it was not possible for them to end up at the bottom of the sea. Yet the disciples did not have faith in this. This is the reason the Lord rebuked them.
It is interesting that we never find the Lord apologizing to anyone. Under normal circumstances, the more lessons a man learns before the Lord, the more he has to apologize to others. The more disciplined a person is, the more he discovers others’ dissatisfaction with him, and the more frequently he will need to apologize to them. The Lord Jesus is unique in that He never had to apologize to anyone. It seems as if the disciples thought that they were right and the Lord was wrong. The winds and the waves were fierce, and the disciples were perishing. Did this not matter to the Teacher? But the Lord did not wake up to apologize. The absence of an apology is an expression of His glory. He knew that He did not oversleep, and He knew that He was not wrong. When He said to cross to the other side, He meant that they would cross to the other side. There was not one wasted word in Him, and no one can make Him apologize for anything. This shows the glory of our Lord!
In Mark 5 we have the story of the woman with the flow of blood who came to touch the Lord Jesus. Here we find the same principle. When the woman touched the Lord, He turned around and asked who had touched Him. The disciples said, “You see the crowd pressing upon You and You say, Who touched Me?” (v. 31). This was said in somewhat a rebuking tone. The Lord did not say, “I am sorry; I asked the wrong question.” Instead, He turned around to see who was touching Him. He was, in effect, saying, “Someone is touching Me, but you do not know it. Your eyes are on the pressing ones, but My eyes are on the touching one.” Outwardly speaking, the Lord appeared to be wrong; it seemed as if the disciples were justified in their indignation. But in reality the mistake was with the disciples, not with the Lord. The Lord never apologized once to anyone. This is most glorious, and our heart cannot help but worship Him.
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