Calming the Storm
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
Horsham, 28th May 2024
There is so much I want to say about this story.
It appears in very similar form in both Matthew (Matthew 8:23-27) and Luke (Luke 8:22-25).
We have already seen several dramatic miracles performed by Christ, all of them directed at individuals. A man has been cleansed of a spirit. A paralytic, a leper and many others have been rescued from sickness. Here we have an extraordinary account which demonstrates Christ’s power over the very forces of nature.
I want you to see the journey across the lake as symbolic of our own journey through life. We have times of calm, and we have times of unexpected and sometimes dramatic challenge. For followers of Jesus, he is present in both. In Matthew’s version, he emphasises that it is Jesus who gets into the boat first (Matthew 8:23). In our journey through life, Jesus goes before us.
In this post, I want to focus on the three rebukes. The Disciples, one of them at least, rebukes Jesus for being asleep during the height of the storm. Jesus rebukes the storm, which immediately becomes calm. Jesus then rebukes the disciples for their lack of faith.
I’ve been in a storm at sea, although always on a boat many times bigger than the disciples were using. It can be a very scary place. No wonder these guys, even the experienced fishermen, were frightened. The waves are crashing over the boat. The boat is filling with water. They’re losing the battle to survive. Yet somehow in the middle of this, Jesus is asleep in the back of the boat. I can hear the panic in the voice… ‘Teacher! Don’t you care if we’re going to drown…’ This is the rebuke that says, ‘don’t you care that we’re sinking! Get up and start bailing out!’. The first rebuke.
Jesus gets up. His response comes to us in English sounding pretty gentle. ‘Peace! Be Still!’. Yet the phrase used is the same as when Jesus rebuked the demon in Mark 1:25. It’s a strong rebuke. In a word, it means ‘STOP!’. The wind drops. That’s a miracle. An even greater miracle is the calming of the sea. When the wind stops blowing, it can take hours for the energy in the waves to dissipate. Not here. One word from Jesus and in an instant, the wind stops and it’s completely calm. The second rebuke.
The Disciples are somewhere between absolute relief and sheer terror. Jesus turns to them. “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” The third rebuke.
Let’s touch base again with our own journey through life. Scripture says Jesus goes before us. He is always with us. During the calm times, we can easily forget he’s there. We get out of practice of relying on Jesus. We get out of practice of telling him about our lives. As if he’s asleep in the back of the boat.
That becomes an issue when we hit the challenge. Our default is to try to deal with the problem ourselves. Only when we run out of options, when our boat is overwhelmed and sinking, do we remember he’s there. Then we shout. ‘Don’t you care that I’ve got this exam…’ ‘Don’t you care that I’m broke and I’ve got this bill to pay..’ ‘Don’t you care that someone I love is sick..’ ‘Jesus! Don’t you care?’ The First Rebuke.
Of course, we’re great at telling him what he needs to do. We’ve been dealing with the problem – we know what we need him to do. We’re sinking – bail us out! But this is the Christ who is capable of doing much more than we would have thought or believed (Ephesians 3:20). This is the Christ of supreme power. This is the God who sees the big picture and delivers what we really need. This is the God who helps us to confront the challenge in His strength, although his solution is not always what we expect. This is the God who rebukes the wind and calms the raging storm. The second rebuke.
This the Jesus who looks our own suggested solutions and sees far beyond them. He looks at the constraints of our perspective and smiles. Learn to trust me! Practice depending on me! Think bigger! ‘Where is your faith!’ I, the Son of God, am here with you. “Why are you afraid?” The third rebuke.
41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
There really is so much I want to say about this story.