Calming the Storm
TRANSLATION
(35) On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” (36) And, leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats went with him. (37) And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was filling (with water). (38) But he was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are (in danger of) perishing?” (39) And he got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still.” And the wind (immediately) died, and there was a great calm. (40) And he asked them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” (41) And they were even more fearful and asked one another, “Who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
OBSERVATIONS
The evening had started out in a routine fashion with the disciples transporting Jesus across the Sea of Galilee in their boat, at home on the body of water where they had spent their lives working as fishermen. So tired was Jesus from the day’s ministry that he had fallen asleep on a cushion in the stern. By the time the evening was over, the disciples had witnessed a miracle they would never forget. In the midst of a storm so violent that they thought their boat might capsize, they had roused Jesus to plead for help. They watched him rebuke the storm and instantly restore the calm with the simple command, “Peace, be still.” Their fear of the storm then turned into an even deeper fear as they realized what this miracle revealed about the passenger who was with them in the boat.
Several repetitions help us uncover the essential message of this passage. “Boat(s)” occurred four times (in vss. 36 & 37). “Wind” and “windstorm” are found four times (vss. 37, 39, & 41). “Sea” occurred twice (vss. 39 & 41). Both “afraid” and “fearful” are found in the final two verses (vss. 40 & 41).
OUTLINE
I. Jesus and his disciples began to cross the Sea of Galilee in calm weather. (35 & 36)
II. In a sudden tempest, the fearful disciples woke Jesus who then calmed the storm. (37-39)
III. The disciples were filled with even greater fear as they realized what this miracle meant. (40 & 41)
IDEA STATEMENT
We need fear nothing if we are trusting the one who can calm all our storms.
APPLICATION
The disciples’ question that closed the segment, “Who then is this?,” is precisely the question that everyone reading this account should ask regarding the awesome power Jesus displayed that night on the Sea of Galilee. There can only be one answer. The one who commanded both wind and waves could only be the Creator. While Jesus may have looked and acted like a man during his earthly ministry, he was far more, namely, Immanuel, God with us, God clothed in human flesh.
Understanding this truth should revolutionize the way we think and act. If the one whom we follow is truly God, we need not fear anyone nor anything other than offending him with our lack of faith. When the disciples panicked in the midst of the storm and aroused Jesus with the rude question, “Teacher, do you not care that we are in danger of perishing,” they were close to insulting the only one who could save them. When we likewise panic amid difficulties and frustrations and question his wisdom, we, like the disciples, are in danger of insulting the Savior with our doubts. When will we learn instead to fearfully trust the One who can calm whatever storms arise in our lives? When will we realize that if we truly fear Jesus, we need not fear anything or anyone else?