Request your free, three-month trial to Tabletalk magazine. You’ll receive the print issue monthly and gain immediate digital access to decades of archives. This trial is risk-free. No credit card required.
Try Tabletalk NowAlready receive Tabletalk magazine every month?
Verify your email address to gain unlimited access.
Luke 8:22–25
“[Jesus] said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’ And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, ‘Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?’ ” (v. 25).
Our Savior traveled throughout Galilee during His ministry, but He also ministered outside the region. At one point, as we see in Luke 8, He did some work in the “country of the Gerasenes” (Luke 8:26), which encompassed the area immediately east and southeast of the Sea of Galilee. Today’s passage describes our Savior’s journey by boat and what happened along the way.
Jesus one day set out to cross the sea with the Twelve and possibly the women who helped support His mission financially (Luke 8:22; see Luke 8:1–3). The Sea of Galilee is at a lower elevation than the hills and mountains that surround it, and the air above the sea is warmer than the air in the higher regions. When this cool air descends and comes into contact with the warm air above the sea, fierce squalls and storms can rapidly develop. This happened as Jesus and His followers were crossing the sea, and water began filling the boat (Luke 8:23). Jesus was asleep when the storm began, and this is instructive for us. He was unconcerned about the possibility of stormy weather and was confident enough in God’s protection that He could take a rest, and He did not find it hard to sleep even amid the rough conditions. He embodied David’s words in Psalm 4:8: “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” We should have such trust in God as well.
Jesus’ companions were terrified by the storm and the prospect of death that came with it. They woke Him up, but Jesus did not share their terror once He saw the horrid conditions. Instead, He rebuked the storm and everything became calm. He then spoke against the disciples’ lack of faith, and they marveled at His power and became afraid (Luke 8:24–25). They could not fathom what had taken place.
It is easy to understand why the disciples marveled at the display of power, but it might seem odd that they were afraid, since Jesus had ended the terrifying weather conditions. Things become clearer when we understand that ancient Jews associated storms and the sea with the forces of chaos that only God could defeat (e.g., Ps. 74:12–14; Rev. 21:1). That Jesus could command the storm and the sea indicated that He shares the Creator’s power and is more than a mere man. The disciples were afraid because they were beginning to see that when they were with Jesus, they were in the presence of God. John Calvin comments that Jesus’ “divine power was sufficiently proved by the fact that the wind and the sea obey him.”
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
The miracles of Jesus do not exist simply to show that He is more powerful than other men. They are there to show us that He is God incarnate. The proper response to reading His miracles is to fall down and worship. We are then compelled to tell others about His miracles and call them to worship Christ.
for further study
- Psalm 107:23–32
- Isaiah 51:9–11
- Matthew 14:22–33
- Hebrews 11:29
the bible in a year
- 2 Samuel 12–14
- Luke 20:1–26