John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Christ Jesus! The Very Glory of God – in the flesh: a son of man, the Son of God!
And the man, Jesus, was witnessed by many men and women from all walks of this temporal life; yet in some places the glory of God was witnessed personally by a few and written as the good news of the Gospel for the generations of these last days.
The glory of God and of Christ is recorded in the Gospels.
John 2:
On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”
… 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
Certainly every miracle, healing, casting out of evil spirits from the flesh of men, and many other acts of Jesus could only be attributed to the power and glory of God.
The Disciples, after having witnessed many of these public miracles, would also witness Jesus on more than two occasions from fishing boats. They could not fathom the glory of God as they would see in their friend and Teacher, Jesus.
Matthew 8:
18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side.
19 And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 21 Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”
23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him.
Here is witness after Jesus has healed many. Crowds… Paparazzi… amazed spectators, witnesses of the glory and power of God in this Son of Man.
Jesus gets into a boat to escape the spotlight. His Disciples join our Lord in the boat and they depart for another place without crowds; where, by the way, Jesus will cast out evil spirits from a man under the power of Satan.
24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?”
Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”
Jesus’ Disciples witnessed a glory of God from a wind-battered boat on the Sea of Galilee and they could only marvel that even the winds and the sea obey the Command of Christ Jesus.
In another time on the troubled sea their witness was of another even more glorious appearance of God in the Person of their friend, Jesus. But first, just a reminder from Scripture the Apostles would know well:
Genesis 1: In the beginning,
God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters…
6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so…
9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good…
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea…
And Jesus’ Disciples wondered in awe: ““What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”
Genesis 3: 8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day…
Who IS this God who walks with man as a friend? Who IS this Jesus who commands creation?
Yet another witness of the glory of Christ Jesus:
Matthew 14:
3 Now when Jesus heard this [of the beheading of John the Baptist], he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick…
22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray…
Time passes. The Disciples again are in a boat on the Sea of Galilee, a familiar place for these fishermen. Jesus goes to a quiet mountain place to be with God the Father in prayer, a familiar place for the Son.
When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night [between 3 a.m. and dawn] he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear.
27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
… 32 And when they [Peter and Jesus] got into the boat, the wind ceased.
33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
To be continued…
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