Matthew 8:23-27 Jesus Calms the Storm

Jesus and His disciples have finally made it to the boat. Jesus had been healing people all night. He was tired and wanted to get away from the crowd. They were followed all the way to the shore. Jesus steps into the boat and His disciples follow right behind.

I have heard that the Sea of Galilee is famous for unexpected storms developing. Were there storm signs when Jesus and the disciples reached the sea? My bible says Jesus got in the boat first. Were the disciples, many of which were seasoned fishermen, hesitant to get in that day? Just curious. Whatever the sky looked like, they set sail for the other side of the Sea.

Jesus fell asleep on the journey. I’m assuming He was tired from ministering to all those people just prior to setting out for the boat. The disciples weren’t sleeping though. Were they not tired? While Jesus was healing and ministering to the people, were the disciples resting or at least taking turns resting and helping? Did healing people physically drain Jesus of energy? I know personally that running around serving people is physically and emotionally tiring. Was that what Jesus experienced? Was that why He was sleeping? The rocking of the boat probably helped to put Him to sleep too.

The disciples were on duty. They were used to this sea. They knew how unpredictable it could be. They may have been relaxing in the boat too, but when the winds started to pick up they perked up. I wonder how long it took for the storm to reach critical level. Being experienced fishermen, they didn’t bother Jesus while they battled the storm. They had done this many times before.

Nothing the disciples do is working! They have exhausted their bag of tricks. They are staring death in the face. Someone looks over and sees Jesus sound asleep. How could He sleep through this? Doesn’t He know they needed all hands on deck? “Wake up Jesus! We are about to die! We need Your help!” What kind of help were they expecting when they asked for His help? Were they expecting Him to grab a bucket and help bail water? Were they thinking He would lend a hand in rowing against the winds? Were they expecting Him to pray to the Father to help them make land? What were they thinking He could do to save them?

The first thing they got was a shake of His head from Jesus because of their lack of faith. Jesus wasn’t worried about the storm killing them. He knew Satan was going to throw every trick at Him to try and kill Him. Jesus knew He still had work to do and that Satan was powerless to stop Him. Jesus knew what His end on Earth would look like and THIS was NOT it! Jesus also knew that these men with Him were under His protection and Satan couldn’t kill them either because of it. But the disciples didn’t know any of that.

So where was their faith? The disciples had just spent all day and all night walking with Jesus while He performed one miracle after another. The leper healed. The centurion’s servant healed. Peter’s mother-in-law brought back from the brink of death. MANY people healed and demons driven out. These are the things they had just observed with their own eyes! But the Sea was different! This wasn’t an illness or a demon they were facing. They were facing nature itself. The very hand of God itself!

Jesus did the TOTALLY unexpected. He remained calm in the face of certain death. Then He spoke to the wind and the waves. I wonder if there was a few second delay where the disciples could have been thinking, “What is He doing!?!” The wind stopped. The sea became quite. No mere man could control the wind and the waves. I wonder if during the calm they racked their brains for stories from the past about the prophets and the power that was displayed by God through them. I wonder if after everyone had calmed down Jesus commanded enough of a breeze to return so that they were able to sail to the rest of the way across or if they rowed on the quiet sea. I wonder how long this lesson stayed fresh in their minds.

God, even the wind and the waves obey You. Why not, You created them in the first place. You were, and still are, in complete control weather we recognize it or not. You still amaze me in how You answer my prayers. I also am in awe of Your perspective. I worry about the little bit I can see in front of me while You look at the whole picture. You are able to do far above what we can ask or think. Thank You for knowing ALL that is involved in bringing my life to the place You have prepared for me. I can surely trust You with all my needs. Help me remember to bring all my needs to You and not wait until I feel it is a life or death situation. Thank You that none of my situations catch You off guard or are beyond Your control. Continue to build my faith as You bring back to my mind all the other times You have shown Yourself to be in complete control. My past experiences of Your presence is the assurance I hold onto when facing future challenges with You.