PrintTwo Men In A Boat (3)
Two men in two boats. Two boats in life-threatening storms. Each man sound asleep while the storm raged around them. This brings me to my third comparison between Jonah and Jesus.
How could Jonah have slept at such a time? I've only been caught in a savage storm on a lake on one occasion in my life and the last thing I wanted to do (or could have done) was sleep!! Was Jonah simply exhausted? It seems that it takes a lot of physical, emotional and spiritual energy to try and run from the presence and call of God.
Perhaps Jonah was so de-sensitized by his disobedience that he no longer cared what happened to him or his traveling companions. I think he failed to recognize the enormous implications of his decision to run from God. I find that it is sobering to realize that my decisions concerning God's will for my life have far-reaching implications – positive and/or negative – for the significant others in my life.
But I must ask the same question concerning Jesus. How could He sleep at such a time? (Mark 4/38). Perhaps He was exhausted. John 4/6 records another occasion when Jesus was weary and tired so this suggestion is not beyond being a possibility. I rather think that, along with this natural and understandable weariness, Jesus slept in the security of knowing the will of God and also knowing that it had not yet been completed in His life. The words "It is finished!" would not come from His lips until His sacrifice on the Cross was complete.
I look back over 66 years and I realize again that life is not all smooth sailing. Even now there are some threatening clouds on my life's horizon and I suspect they are coming in my direction. How shall I react? How did the traveling companions of Jonah and Jesus react? More about this next time
