A storm at sea is something very impressive. But there are storms that hit the lives of every person that are as impressive as the one found in the sea where Jesus and his disciples were. For in that sea He demonstrated his power, Jesus calms the storm to teach his disciples a lesson in faith.
(Mark 4:35-41)”That day, when evening had come, he said to them, Let’s cross over to the other side.” It raised a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the boat, in such a way that it was already drowning. And he was in the stern, sleeping on a bolster; are we perishing?” And rising up, he rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, Be still, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said to them, “Why are you so terrified? Why don’t you have faith? fear, and said one to another: Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?
What does storm mean?
In the original Greek the word used to describe the storm is seismós (σεισμός) from which the word seismo comes, when we refer to an earthquake. We also find that the word big, to refer to waves, comes from the Greek adjective mégas (μέγας), which suggests something enlarged a million times. Therefore, we can understand the magnitude of that storm, which had suddenly appeared with strong, noisy winds and caused gigantic waves to rise that seemed as if the boat was going to sink.
For this reason Matthew points out that the waves covered the boat, while Mark and Luke add that it seemed that the boat was going to be sunk: (Mark 4:37)“But a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, in such a way that it was already drowning.”
In the book of the prophet Jonah we find another story of sailors who were caught in a terrible storm: (Jonah 1:4-5, 13) “But the Lord caused a great wind to rise on the sea, and there was such a great storm on the sea that it was thought that the ship would break. And the sailors were afraid, and each one cried out to his god; and they threw the belongings that were in the ship into the sea, to unload it from them. But Jonas had gone down into the ship, and had fallen asleep… And those men worked to bring the ship back to land; but they could not, because the sea was becoming more and more raging against them.”
Possibly, the disciples like the sailors in Jonah’s story struggled to steady the ship, let’s not forget that most of them were experienced fishermen raised on the sea, but so great was the storm that their efforts failed. Curiously, we could find a parallel with the story of Job, where the sailors, seeing themselves afflicted, fought so that the ship did not sink while Jonah slept. Similarly, the scripture says that Jesus slept: but he slept. Then the disciples went into a great panic.
In Matthew it says that the disciples cried: Lord, save us, we are perishing! Marcos says that they shouted: “Master, don’t you care that we perish?” While Lucas says that they saying: “Master, Master, we perish!”, (Luke 8:24). Be that as it may, there must have been endless cries crying out for help to Jesus, to the point that they interrupted him from his dream.
Jesus calms the storm
(Matthew 8:23-27)“He said to them: Why are you afraid, you of little faith? So, getting up, he rebuked the winds and the sea; and he became a great bonanza. And the men marveled, saying: What man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him? ”.
Curiously, while this great chaos was taking place where the disciples thought the end had come, our Lord Jesus was asleep in the stern of the boat. “And he was in the stern, sleeping on a bolster” (Mark 4:38). The tense used in the original describes Jesus peacefully asleep. This offers us a beautiful picture that contrasts with the scene of the dejected disciples. He had worked hard and was very tired, since let’s not forget that He is a perfect man. Furthermore, it was not difficult for him to fall into a deep sleep, because his trust in the heavenly Father did not waver. Neither the roar of the wind nor the onslaught of the waves and not even the sudden and continuous rocking of the ship could wake him.
I suggest you read: Matthew 6:33 Seek First The Kingdom Of God And His Justice.
This is a true example that when we have faith, peace accompanies us even in the midst of the worst situations.
In the story of Jonah, the sailors wake up Jonah and when they cast lots they realize that the storm was due to the presence of the prophet on his boat and it was there that he declared that he was fleeing from the Lord and they asked him what they could do to remedy the situation. situation: “And they said to him: What shall we do with you so that the sea becomes calm for us? Because the sea was getting more and more rough. He answered them: Take me and throw me into the sea, and the sea will be still for you; for I know that this great storm has come upon you because of me” (Jonah 1:11-12).
However, this option did not seem good to the sailors, so they decided to continue fighting with their own forces: (Jonah 1:13)“And those men labored to bring the ship back to land; but they could not, because the sea was becoming more and more raging against them”.
Many people are like these sailors, who, when offered the path of salvation, decide to continue striving to solve their problems by their own strength, even in the worst situations of their lives. Finally the sailors realized that they had no choice but to obey the word of the prophet and so they did: “Then they cried out to the Lord and said, We beseech you now, Lord, that we not perish by the life of this man, nor put upon us the innocent blood; because you, Jehovah, have done as you have wanted. And they took Jonah, and cast him into the sea; and the sea was still from his fury” (Jonah 1:14-15). We can see how one man’s sacrifice saved the lives of all the sailors. Thus the sacrifice of Christ saves ours and gives us victory over all our problems.
You may be interested in reading: 7 Characteristics Of The Blood Of Jesus Spilled On The Cross And Its Meaning.
Returning to our original story, we see that Jesus is awakened from his sleep, and then rebukes them for their lack of faith: Why do you fear, you of little faith? Previously his disciples had witnessed the healings that Jesus had performed, but fear seized them.
Fear made them panic and they lost their cool. We also cannot say that they totally lost their faith, since by looking for Jesus and waking him up to save them, they expressed their confidence that he could really help them, and for this reason Jesus calls them men of little faith. The words little faith, in the original Greek, come from a single expression, oligópistos (ὀλιγόπιστος) and denote a lack of trust. The word fear is translated from the adjective deilós (δειλός), which can also be translated as coward.
This shows us that faith requires courage, trusting in God implies not being terrified by life’s difficulties or trials, and our firm trust in the Lord’s providence will bring upon us God’s peace even in the midst of the worst situations. As Christians we are all going to go through terrible storms in life which threaten to destroy us, but it is important not to be intimidated by them. Our trust must be firm, our faith must prevail, believing that God will perform a miracle on our behalf and Jesus calls out the storm that is attacking our lives.
this passage shows that Jesus calms the storm and then we present 4 important aspects that you should know about what the disciples and Jesus in the boat
1. “Teacher, don’t you care that we perish?”
When the storm raged with all its fury, those men became distressed; they felt like toys in the storm and in serious danger of drowning. Let us remember that at least four of the apostles who were in that boat were fishermen who had known the Sea of Galilee and its storms since their youth. This teaches us several things:
1. The Lord put his faith to the test in the sphere of his daily life.
2. The tribulations and tests of life show us our uselessness and incapacity even in what we think to “dominate” well.
3. Ultimately these situations take away all pride and self-sufficiency and serve to attract us to the throne of grace.
On the other hand, while they were fighting the storm to control the boat, the Lord was sleeping. They thought this was somewhat irresponsible, so they rudely woke him up amidst accusations. They must have been thinking: “How can you be sleeping so peacefully in the middle of the storm? Wake up and help us.” Sometimes we too go through difficult situations and we have the impression that God is not interested in our difficulties, that he does not answer our prayers. And we are almost tempted to think as Elijah told the prophets of Baal, “is not your god asleep?” (1 Kings 18:27).
But it is interesting how Peter understood and taught what he learned on this and many other occasions: (1 Peter 5:7) “Casting all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.”
2. “Why are you so terrified? How come you have no faith?”
It seems a bit strange to ask such a question to men who were in danger of losing their own lives. How could they not be frightened? Of course, the disciples’ fear was natural and instinctive; but where was his faith? The Lord put his finger on the wound with his question: “How come you do not have faith?” The greatest danger was not the wind or the waves but the obvious disbelief of the disciples. And so the Lord indicated something that happens very frequently: our biggest problems are in us, not in our environment.
The Lord hoped that after so many manifestations of power as they had seen from him, they should have already known that the ship where the Master was going could not sink. The Lord had said it at the beginning of the journey: “Let’s go to the other side.” This should have been a guarantee for them. But the problem was that they got carried away by their feelings and emotions instead of the word of the Lord (a really common trend in Christianity today).
3. “Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
But there was still another thing they had to learn: the man sleeping on the headboard was nothing less than God manifested in the flesh. When he got up, with a natural authority, he ordered the furious wind and the raging sea to be quiet and immediately there was a great calm.
Surely they would remember the words of the psalmist: (Ps 89:8-9) “You have dominion over the roughness of the sea; when its waves rise, you calm them.”
This incident opened the eyes and minds of the disciples to the majesty of Jesus….