And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm.
Luke 8:24
Master: the title of a slave owner. We don’t like to think of Christ in that light, but it is what it is. Slaves obey their masters; it’s part of their job description. When Jesus told the wind and waves to cease raging, the elements immediately obeyed Him. He was their Master.
It is more politically correct to think of Jesus as a master teacher. The title would be more like an academic degree than the designation of a slave owner. But such is not the case. When a disciple vowed to follow his master, he voluntarily became an indentured servant, giving up his liberty; He had to obey whatever he was told to do. The master didn’t pay the disciple, but he’d provide for him and protect him. That is why when the disciples were in a sinking ship, they cried out to their Master to take charge.
In this analogy, if Christ is the Master, His followers are His slaves. It is not a bad comparison, because everyone is a slave to something. “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” (Romans 6:16).
A drug addict self-destructs, not because he or she has made a wrong choice, but because s/he has no choice. Anger, bitterness, grief, and depression are all terrible task-masters. The Lord Jesus would like to buy us out and change ownership. “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20).
What a wonderful truth this is! I can be enslaved by my passions, greed and pride, or I can serve Christ who gave His life for mine. It’s a no-brainer. I’ll go with the Master of the universe.
April 3
