Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship

with his disciples: and he said unto them,

Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. Luke 8:22

 

        When I found out what was on the other side of the lake I was a bit surprised. It was not pretty picturesque land all around as one might expect. The other side of the lake was where the tombs were.

        Note I did not say cemetery. I did not want you conjuring up an image of manicured lawns, pretty memorial stones, and flowers. That isn’t what it was like back then. Tombs were caves with no visitors. They were deemed unclean. Surely Jesus knew this, yet He suggests they go. Surely the disciples knew this, but no argument was made.

        There was something else on the other side of the lake: a man in desperate need. It has been speculated that the devil used the storm to try to keep Jesus from getting to the demon possessed man. He lived among the tombs in nakedness. It was a violent storm and the disciples, most of whom were fisherman and used to storms were afraid. They woke Jesus up from His nap. It says He rebuked the waves; they calmed down and the ship made it safely to the other side. I get a chuckle out of imagining what Christ might have been thinking, Waves, I’m trying to sleep here. I’ve just come from a large speaking engagement, and I’ve got important work to do on the other side. Give me a break!

       Jesus said go and they went.                                                                                                                        He said it to the disciples.                                                                                                                              He said it to the waves.                                                                                                                                 He said it to the demons. 

    To anyone reading the Red Letters, He's still saying, "go!"