"And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” (Mark 4:41).
Sometimes we get a distorted view of God’s holiness by considering this to be the primary trait of God the Father but not of God the Son. But the holiness of God applies to the Son as much as to the Father. That Jesus walked among us, washed our dirty feet, ate with sinners, does not mean He did not separate Himself from that which was unclean. He remained holy and pure because He remained sinless. His power and His glory remained intact, even though they were veiled for a time. Time and again Jesus revealed that He was different from others. This difference caused the Jews to be filled with envy and jealousy, but in those who followed Christ, it evoked a sense of awe and fear.
We find this reaction among the disciples when Jesus calmed the storm. As the stormed mounted, the disciples became afraid. Once they finally turned to Jesus who calmed the sea, you would think they would have been comforted—and in a way they were. But their fear remained, not fear of the storm, but fear of Christ’s power. This power was vastly different from anything the disciples had ever witnessed.
The Pharisees did not have the same reaction of fear and humility because they exalted their own authority over Christ’s. They had such highly esteemed views of themselves that they did not recognize the transcendent holiness of Christ when confronted with His miraculous power and His teaching of God’s truth. Those who rely on their own righteousness, who pridefully exalt themselves, will not love to be in Christ’s presence. But those who are humbled before God and who confess their unworthiness to stand in His presence will follow after Christ, delighting in His holiness. This is because they realize how much they need Him, how their own “good works” are nothing in the presence of the Holy One.
Even though we fear the power and holiness of God, we are welcome in Christ. By His grace we, who are not holy, can stand in His presence. That is the essence of Christianity—grace in Christ; and the essence of Christian ethics is gratitude. Instead of hating the holiness of Christ, the manifest transcendence of His character, we love Him and long to be like Him in every area of our lives.
Sometimes Christians fail to respond properly to Christ’s holiness because they focus on His humanity and fail to recognize His divine majesty. They prefer to see Him as friend instead of King. To guard against this unbalanced perception of Christ, meditate on Revelation 1:9–18; 19:1–16 today and humbly worship Him as your King.
