0661. Master (Gr. Epistata), One Set Over
Master (Gr. Epistata), One Set Over
"Now when He had left speaking, He said unto Simon Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto Him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at Thy word I will let down the net" (Luk_5:4-5).
Jesus Christ is Master of the elements. He, it is Who made all thing’s, and in Whom all things are held together. It was nothing for Christ to fill the nets of the disciples full of fishes, for He is the Master of the seas.
In Luk_8:24, Peter approached the sleeping Christ and said unto Him, "Master, Master, we perish." The word translated Master, is the same Greek word, as in the key verse. The waves were about to swamp the ship, but Christ arose and rebuked them and suddenly there was a great calm.
"Master, the tempest is raging!
The billows are tossing high!
The sky is o’er-shadowed with blackness,
No shelter or help is nigh;
Carest Thou not that we perish?
How cans’t Thou lie asleep,
When each moment so madly is threat’ning
A grave in the angry deep?
The winds and the waves shall obey Thy will,
Peace, be still! Peace, be still.
Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea,
Or demons or men, or whatever it be,
No water can swallow the ship where lies
The Master of ocean, and earth, and skies;
They all shall sweetly obey Thy will,
Peace, be still! Peace, be still!"
We live in a universe of law, but these laws are ordained of God. He who made the laws, can certainly restrain them. Jesus Christ can send forth a storm to overtake a fleeing Prophet; Jesus Christ can safely guide His servant Paul for twenty-one days through tempestuous seas and land him safely upon an island, called Miletus; or, Jesus Christ can walk the waves and mount the ship and say, "Peace, be still!" In any and all events, Jesus Christ is Master of the elements.
Illustration: A woman, terrified by the lightning and the storm was shrinking timidly back. Her husband saw her fright–he was a soldier. He quickly drew his sword from its sheath and started as if to stab her. She looked at him and laughingly said: "You would never do it, because you love me." Her soldier husband replied: "And He Who holds the storms within His hand, does He not love you, too?"
The One Who is Master, the "One Set Over," says unto us: "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God in Whom I will trust." "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him." Thank God that Jesus Christ is Master of the elements.
Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR