Matthew 24:30 records Jesus prophesying a future time when
there will be a sign in heaven representing Christ Jesus. Then every person on
the planet will witness His return in glory and awesome power, from the sky, on
clouds. Christ’s words describing this future event are –
“Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And
then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man
coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.”
However, back some two thousand plus years ago Jesus was seen
as regularly arriving on and in a different cloud.
The Pharisees, Sadducees and religious leaders of that time were
already set against Jesus. Christ always seemed to be their dark cloud that rained on their parade because His
popularity was greater than theirs and they couldn’t have that, they valued
their positions more than having the possibility of the actual Messiah visit.
These many instances in Scripture, especially in The Gospels, when
the religious leaders frowned on the actions of Jesus are when He was involved
in people’s issues – physical, mental, cultural, spiritual and so on – as the
solution. Behold, He Comes In The Clouds, but He is The Answer.
A wonderful song that is part of the inspiration for this
topic is sung by Steven Curtis Chapman called “Sometimes He Comes In The Clouds”.
The lyrics to the chorus are –
“Sometimes He comes in the clouds
Sometimes His face cannot be found
Sometimes the sky is dark and gray
But some things can only be known
And sometimes our faith can only grow
When we can't see
So sometimes he comes in the clouds”
Two places in Scripture where the Holy Spirit reminds me of
this truth are John 9:1-3, where a man blind from birth receives healing and
John 11:4 where Lazarus is about to be raised from the dead by Jesus.
In the first reference, the passage states –
“As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His
disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his
parents, that he was born blind?”
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said
Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in
him.”
In the second instance, the report of Lazarus’ sickness and
Christ’s response says –
“So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you
love is sick.”
When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not
end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified
through it.”
Then later at the graveside of Lazarus, the prayer of Jesus to
Father God acknowledges the reasoning in this terrible cloud of life –
“So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and
said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that
you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing
here, that they may believe that you sent me.” – Jn. 11:41-42
Then Jesus raised Lazarus with His words, “Lazarus, come out!”
– Jn. 11:43
At another time when Jesus was with His disciples, in a boat, Jesus
was exhausted from the day, so He slept. When they were in the middle of the
lake a tempest of a storm came upon the group so that waves were overwhelming
the boat. Jesus was still sleeping. The disciples woke Jesus, Jesus rebuked the
winds and waves, calm and peace came upon the environment, upon the situation
and upon the disciples as they pondered - “What kind of man is this? Even the
winds and the waves obey him!” – Matthew 8:23-27.
I have heard teachings on this passage that submit the
spiritual forces of that area were behind the winds and waves attempting to
kill The Savior and His followers. Whether the squall was random or malevolent,
within the crisis Jesus was and is the answer.
On another boat ride, documented in Matthew 14:22-33, after
having a lengthy teaching day by the lakeshore, Jesus instructed His disciples
to take a boat to Genneseret on the other side of the lake and that He would “dismiss
the crowd” and catch up.
After dismissing the crowd, Jesus took advantage of some alone
time and found a solitary place on a mountainside to pray. This quality time
with Father God led into the night when Jesus ended His prayer-time and began
to journey to meet with His disciples by taking the shortest distance between
two points and walking across the surface of the lake.
Meanwhile, out in the middle of the lake, in this darkness,
Scripture says the disciple’s boat was “buffeted by the waves because the wind
was against it.” These guys were going nowhere, paddling or any effort was like
being on a treadmill but in the middle of a lake.
When Jesus walked close enough for the lights on the boat to
just reach out and frame Christ’s body through the natural disturbance, the
disciples thought they were seeing a ghost and called out in fear. But Jesus
heard them and calmed their anxieties - “Take
courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
Never having seen a man walk on the surface of any depth of
water especially this rather deep lake, Peter challenges the notion of Jesus’
identity as merely Rabbi to that of Son of God who could do this and empower
him to do the same. Peter says,
“Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come
to you on the water.”
“Come.” Jesus answered.
Verse 29 has Peter walking on the water toward Jesus. We don’t
know how many steps he took, but he was walking on water with the proper heart
and eyes of faith until the “But” of verse 30. Yes, Peter took his focus off of
Jesus and put it on the waves and wind. As a result, he began to sink and cried
out to Jesus. Christ’s answer sounds just like a parent – “You of little faith,
why did you doubt?” To me Jesus was saying to Peter – You did not have faith to believe it was me when you were in the boat and
now you do not maintain the faith after challenging me outside the boat. Why
did you take your eyes off of me?
Besides the lesson to Peter and Peter’s lesson to the
disciples and all of us, Jesus picked Peter out of the waves and wind and they
both stepped into the boat and really notice this –
“And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then
those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of
God.”
The first boat-ride was an awe-inspiring additional display of
who Jesus was trying to convey He was to the disciples. He was with them the
whole time and some teach in this instance might have been the reason for the storm
as well as the solution.
The second boat-ride, the disciples got it for they “worshiped
Him saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’” Here, Jesus literally came out of
the storm cloud, wind and waves to minister to His disciples.
The challenge is seeing Jesus in spite of the clouds or
problems that come with Him. Some Christians entertain the notion that when
they accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, their entire life from that point
on is a bed of roses or problem free. I do not know where this idea came from,
but this concept is not in Scripture.
Right off the bat, the Holy Spirit reminds me of two places
where Jesus makes the point that the Christian does not receive a “Get Out of
Issues Free Card” for being a follower of Christ, but they do get Jesus with
them throughout life and its challenges – never leaving them nor forsaking
them.
The first passage is John 16:33 and states –
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have
peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the
world.”
The second passage is Matthew 10:34-37 and says –
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth.
I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn
‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies will be the members
of his own household.’
Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not
worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy
of me.”
In addition, I encourage
myself and all believers - at the outset of our dilemmas, throughout the ordeal
and at the end - do as the song says, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in
His wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the
light of His glory and grace.” Then Christians will witness and proclaim His sovereignty
as the disciples did in their lives when we Behold, He Comes In The Clouds.
