On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side." Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"
Pause there.
These guys are fishermen. They know how to handle a boat. They know how to weather a storm. Have you ever seen the movie, The Perfect Storm? There's a point in the movie where they have two options: a) stay where they're at and let all the fish they just caught spoil, or b) go directly into the storm and get home in time to sell all their fish. They choose option b. It doesn't end well for them, but the point remains: a fisherman is not afraid of a storm.
Why are the disciples so afraid? Check out verse 37, "...the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling." These guys may know how to handle a storm, but they didn't know how to handle death. Their boat was filling with water. They were going to sink! That's how dire the situation was!
Normally when I think of this passage, I think of the time I took a boat out to the channel islands. It was kind of windy, so the water was pretty choppy. The swells were probably a few feet high. I was on the front of the boat. It was fun for me. It was like a roller coaster to go up and down on each swell. That's the picture I usuall have when I think of this passage, but that's not the reality of the situation.
Hardened fishermen were fearful for their lives.
The cover of the dvd case for The Perfect Storm has a picture of a boat climbing a giant wave. http://welmantimes.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/perfect_storm_1.jpg It's a literal wall of water. If the storm was enough to make those seasoned fishermen that afraid, it might have been because of a storm like that.
I hope you have in your mind how big this storm actually was. The reason I'm putting so much emphasis on the storm is because I want to put even more emphasis on Jesus.
Let's finish the passage:
Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?" And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be that even the wind and the waves obey Him!"
Do you have the picture of the storm in your mind? How big it was? How powerful? How seasoned fishermen were fearful for their lives because they thought they were going to die? Open up the Perfect Storm picture again if you want. Imagine the disciples on that boat freaking out.
"Where's Jesus?" "Oh, He's below deck asleep." "Asleep?! Well, go wake Him up! We're going to die!"
Jesus yawns, walks up to the front of the boat and in a loud voice shouts "Peace! Be still!" I know He's shouting because my Bible uses exclamation points. :)
Imagine the force a giant wave like that would have if it crashed into a city. There would be untold destruction. What would you need to stop a giant wave like that? An even bigger wall? I'm imagining a row of skyscrapers standing side by side on the beach. Except instead of buildings, it's just solid cement. A giant wall built with skyscraper sized bricks. Something like that would probably be enough.
Jesus stoped the wave with three words.
We serve a big God.
It's so easy to get caught up in circumstances. It's easy to see the storm and become afraid. But don't be afraid. Jesus is with you. He is there in your metaphorical boat. When times are tough, do what the disciples did in this storm. Run to Jesus!
Can you imagine what would have happened if they didn't go wake up Jesus? They probably would have sunk. Sometimes we have that mindset. Well, I have that mindset sometimes. I don't know about you. I think that because I'm a Christian that I can handle the storms. Nope. I still need to run to Jesus.
"Who can this be that even the wind and the sea obey Him?" He is Jesus.
I love that question. I love the answer more. :)
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