In our weekly Bible study, we discuss Jesus calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee – a wonderful, well-known, and beloved story (Matthew 8:23-27). This event is so ingrained in our knowledge of the Gospels that it might be lost in over-familiarity.  With each reading, we have the opportunity to dig deeper and see anew.  Our prayer is always the words of the blind man (Luke 18:41): Lord, that I may see.  We don’t just want to read; we want to look, truly see, and listen.

Jesus and his disciples were sailing in a typical fishing boat of that time on the sea to the other side. They were probably somewhere in the middle, far from land, when a violent storm broke out.

This was a very common scene on this life-giving freshwater body in a dry land.  The Sea of Galilee (it is actually a lake) is small, only 20km from north to south and 13km from east to west at its widest point.  The Jordan Valley forms a deep rift in the earth’s surface, and the Sea of Galilee is part of that rift.  It is 207 meters below sea level, with a climate that is warm and favourable for farming but also dangerous.  The hills and valleys form a large trough, and when the wind blows through it, a storm bursts on the water – very suddenly and very fiercely.

The word in Greek is very descriptive.  The storm is called a seismos, which is the word for an earthquake.  The waves were so high that the boat disappeared into the funnels of the waves while the crests of the waves towered over them.

Jesus was sleeping.  In their moment of fear, the disciples woke Him up. He stood up and commanded the wind and the waves to subside.  The storm calmed down.

This means that in the presence of Jesus, the most terrible outburst of nature settles down.

What strikes me most is the calmness and fearlessness of Jesus.  He was completely relaxed.  This is evident from the phrase: Jesus was sleeping.  It is quite something to sleep while such terribly noisy violence of nature rages around you.  The waves were crashing over the boat.  There was quite possibly a threat that the water in the boat could become dangerous, and with the huge waves, they couldn’t bail out the water quick enough. Everyone had to hold on and not fall overboard in the darkness of storm clouds.

The disciples did what all of us must and probably do in storms.

They cried out to Jesus.  Their cry was panicky and full of fear.  In Mark’s  version of this event (4:35-41), their cry was accompanied by a reproach: Don’t you care that we are perishing?

The storm broke out despite the presence of Jesus in the boat.  As a child of God, one might think that the storm shouldn’t have been a threat at all. Why didn’t Jesus’ presence fend off the storm?

Our life is in the “boat” with Jesus on the “water” that symbolizes life.  The boat symbolizes the Kingdom of God.  We are not swimming aimlessly in the stormy seas of life.  We are in the boat, with our God and we are going to the other side, in spite of the storm.  

We “row” and work to get somewhere, and just as suddenly as that day on the Sea of Galilee, a storm breaks out, and the waves throw water into the boat, so that our life is threatened with destruction and even death.  Whatever strikes us, we must always know our Savior sleeps peacefully there with us in the boat.

Just a cry made Him rise and act.  Quite humanly, I could think that they wanted Jesus to rest and handle the storm themselves.  The storm overwhelmed them.  It was then that the desperate cry and reproach came. Why wouldn’t He wake up and avert the crisis Himself?  He waits for them to cry out.

How did they think He would handle the storm’s effects on their boat? Maybe there wasn’t time to think about what needed to happen.  What is clear is that the wonder of the storm calming down overwhelmed them as much as the storm itself.  The answer to prayer comes with great bewilderment.  How could the forces of nature submit to this man?

It is clear that the way the storm was calmed was not envisaged in the prayer. Our cry to God in panic and confusion is an open invitation for God’s way, God’s methods – what a blessing!

Jesus says to them when they cried out: “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?”

He describes their faith as lacking confidence or trusts too little.  Jesus used the word in various situations as as kind criticism or an educative reproach (6:30; 8:26; 14:31; 16:8; Luke 12:28). Another way to term it is “underdeveloped faith” as opposed to outright unbelief or distrust (apistis).

The most incredible thing about miracles is that they happen, says G.K. Chesterton.  And further: The believers in miracles accept them (rightly or wrongly) because they have evidence for them. The disbelievers in miracles deny them (rightly or wrongly) because they have a doctrine against them.  

Were the disciples amazed at the way they were saved? How should it have happened? The grandeur of the wind and weather, over which no one on earth had control, obeying Jesus and becoming calm at His command, was in the moment of deliverance greater than the storm itself.

Was there any doubt in their hearts? The mere fact that they arrived alive on the other side of the sea was evidence of the miracle. This was very clear from the retelling in all three synoptic Gospels.

“Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see.” – C. S. Lewis

There is calm and comfort in the presence of Jesus Christ.  When the storms of doubt try to uproot the foundations of faith, there is steadfast assurance in the presence of Jesus.

It is not difficult to look around and see the “storm.”  It is also very possible that the surging waves overwhelm you and create panic you.  Your Savior sleeps beside you – cry out.  Nature and all other life disasters are subject to Him.  Just like the song says: “The wind and waves still know His Name.”

We can look a little further into the meaning of wind.  In Revelation, wind is often symbolic of disaster and destruction, though it is not always used that way in the Bible.  Jesus compares the Holy Spirit to the wind (John 3) to explain the sometimes obscure workings of the Holy Spirit.  On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended like the sound of a mighty, rushing wind.  It was clear that no one could ignore the sound.

In Revelation (7:1,2), four angels stand at the corners of the earth, holding back the winds so that the children of God can be sealed against the destruction of the disasters.  

“Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”

One hundred forty-four thousand are sealed – twelve times twelve – the tribes of Israel multiplied by the twelve apostles – the perfect cube with room for all believers.  This is the New Jerusalem, the (invisible true) Church, the Body of Jesus.  The New Jerusalem is the city without a temple because God dwells in the whole city. That is us.

We are the children of the Kingdom, bought with the Blood of the Lamb and following the Word as He sits on the white horse, with clothes dipped in blood. (Revelation 19:11-16).  We are the hosts with fine, bright, white clothes fighting the wickedness of this world.

How will we overcome?  By the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. (Revelation 12:11)

We can never think that things will only change with Jesus’ second coming. We have everything necessary to change the whole world – NOW.  The power of the Gospel is all that is needed to resolve and redeem the mess of this world.

Jesus has come.  On the day of Pentecost, He came to dwell in all of us. He is here.  He promised He would be with us for time and eternity.

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)

He is with us in the boat of life on the stormy sea of our lives. He calms the wind and quiets the waves.  He is here and He is the Almighty, the Most High God, Creator and Ruler of the Universe.

We, like the disciples, can only stand in awe at the wonder of the answer to our prayers.