The Question Every Christian Eventually Asks
An Introduction to Matthew 8:18–9:8
Can Jesus really be trusted?
It’s easy to answer yes when life is going well. When the sun is shining, the bills are paid, the relationships are healthy, and God seems close. Of course we trust Him then. That kind of trust costs us very little.
The real question surfaces later. When obedience leads somewhere uncomfortable. When the storm arrives at exactly the moment you thought you were doing everything right. When you look at the darkness in the world, or in your own heart, and you find yourself quietly wondering: is He actually in control of this?
That’s the question Matthew has been building toward since chapter 8. And in this passage from chapter 8:18 to 9:8, he gives us four scenes, four different kinds of pressure, and four answers that build on one another.
The journey begins on a shoreline, moves into a boat in the middle of a violent storm, crosses into Gentile territory where two men have been utterly destroyed by darkness, and ends inside a crowded house where Jesus confronts humanity’s deepest problem. Each scene is more intense than the last. Each one presses the question a little harder.
And in each scene, Matthew points to the same answer. Jesus is the Son of Man — the figure Daniel saw in a night vision, the One given everlasting dominion and authority over all things. Not merely a great teacher. Not merely a compassionate healer. The One to whom all authority has been given: authority over disciples, over creation, over evil, over sin itself.
Can Jesus really be trusted? Matthew says yes. Over the next four blogs, we’re going to see why.