Jesus Calms The Storm

Rembrandt's The Storm on the Sea of Galilee

I've been browsing the interwebs for great songs about the resurrection. Easter is about a month away, and I love finding songs that move me to really reflect on the beauty of the story of the Resurrection.

In the process, I  found the song Rescue Me by Selah, and it got me to thinking about the story where Jesus and the disciples are in the boat on the sea, and a storm comes up and Jesus calms the storm. You've all heard the story, right? It's a popular one in Sunday School. But sometimes I think we become so desensitized to the miraculous nature of these stories because we've heard them so many times. Allow me to tell you the story again, with some of my thoughts sprinkled throughout.

Background: Jesus and the disciples (and others in other boats, according to verse 36 in Mark) get into a boat to sail across the sea after a full day of teaching and ministering to others. Jesus had taught some of his most famous parables that day, namely The Seed and the Sower, and the parable of the Mustard Seed.

So Jesus is understandably tired (I always find it tiring to be with people all day long. Have you ever wondered if Jesus was an introvert or an extrovert? ) and lays down in the back of the boat with a pillow while they set out.

As they are sailing, a storm comes out of nowhere. It sounds like the disciples try to navigate through this storm for a while, as it says that the boat fills with water. I'm assuming that doesn't happen immediately. Either way, Jesus sleeps through this whole event in the back of the boat.

Now, remember, this is a boat. Not a cruise ship or an ocean liner. I'm guessing he wasn't below deck, camped out in a plush cabin. I'm assuming that he was getting cold and wet, but still slept through it. Which makes me think of two things. 1)He must have been very, very tired. 2)He must have had an amazing amount of trust in the Father. He knew the Father wouldn't allow him to die before he had accomplished the purpose for his time on Earth, so he didn't waste time worrying about drowning in storms. Seems like something I could apply to my life.

So the disciples are now certain that they are going to die. And they are in amazement that Jesus is still sleeping! They go and wake him up, with the plaintive question "Jesus, don't you care about us dying?" The question, by the way, is reminiscent of Martha's question "Jesus, don't you care that I'm the one doing all the work?" Of course Jesus cares.

Jesus immediately gets up. I love that about Jesus. He always responds immediately to us. We ask for peace, for comfort, for love, and he's always there.

He rebukes the wind. Rebuke means to express sharp disapproval or criticism. This part makes me smile. I love the idea of Jesus scolding the wind. The wind! Everything really is under his control. He says "Peace, be still." And.It.Does.

By the way, living in Rochester, I know I've rebuked the wind and the rain plenty of times, and all I get for my efforts are a colder, wetter face. I'm just forced to put up with it. But Jesus? Nope, he says "knock it off" and the wind is like "yes sir! so sorry sir! never again, sir!"

This is the amazing part. The storm literally disappears. Living in Rochester, we've experienced more than our fair share of storms. I've never been in danger of dying, but there have definitely been some storms that make me nervous. I'm trying my best to imagine myself in one of those storms, with Jesus by my side. I'm trying to imagine him standing up next to me, and saying "Peace! Be still!" and the storm instantly disappearing.

I've always wondered, by the way, how Jesus said those words. Did he bellow them out so that his voice boomed above the storm? Did he speak them quietly and matter of fact? Clearly he spoke them authoritatively, with every assurance that he would be obeyed.

So now the storm is gone, the danger has passed, and Jesus turns to his disciples. And what does he say to them? "Why were you so afraid? Where is your faith?" That's a mind boggling question. If I had been there, I probably would have said something brilliant like "um, Jesus? Did you not just see that we were about to die? That's some scary stuff!"

And that's really the crux of the matter. Jesus admonishes us over and over throughout Scripture to NOT be afraid. We are not to live in fear. We are not to make decisions out of fear. We are not to find ourselves crippled with fear, wondering what will become of us as we look at our circumstances, certain that we are about to die.

Ironically, when he says this to the disciples, they are more afraid. It says that they were exceedingly afraid, wondering what kind of a man can make the wind and sea obey him. I'm not saying their reaction isn't understandable. What I am saying, is that we can learn from this story, that we all learned in Sunday School, that Jesus is always in control, and there is truly nothing to be afraid of. Nothing at all!