On the day that Jesus taught parables from a boat to crowds on a Galilean shore, He, at evening, got into a boat with His disciples to cross to the other side. They were accompanied by other little boats (Mark 4:35-36). As they crossed, one of those notoriously sudden and violent storms arose on the Galilean Sea. It is called a “windstorm” in Mark 4:37 and Luke 8:23, but a “tempest” in Matthew 8:24 (NKJV). The word for tempest there is related to the word from which we get seismology. Seismologists measure earthquakes—monumental events. This would have been a monumental storm.
The disciples become afraid. Many of these had been professional fishermen (Mark 1:16-20), but the storm still scared them. The accounts give no more mention of the other ships or what happened to them, but for two millennium, followers of Christ have known what happened in this disciples’ boat.
The fearful disciples went to wake up Jesus. That’s right, they went to wake up Jesus. Many people cannot sleep through a storm on land—even when in a brick house with a solid foundation. Jesus was being tossed about by the sea, and He was sound asleep (Matthew 8:24; Mark 4:38). He had apparently fallen asleep during the journey, probably before the windstorm struck (Luke 8:23). It is incomprehensible how He could have slept. Waves were beating into the boat (Mark 4:37). “They were filling with water, and were in jeopardy” (Luke 8:23). Yet, “He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow” (Mark 4:38). Remember, this Son of Man had no usual place to lay His head (Matthew 8:20). He just had to rest wherever He happened to be.
It is still difficult to imagine Him asleep. Some have suggested the stern would have been higher than the sides of the ship in the middle where the waves would have first beaten into the vessel. Perhaps the Lord thus stayed dry. Perhaps, though, just perhaps, His restfulness can be attributed to two factors—two factors in which He was the only being to have them intertwined.
Jesus was fully human on earth, taking upon Himself the form of a man (Philippians 2:5-8). The demands upon Him as the Master Teacher must have been overwhelming. He taught the multitudes on a mount (Matthew 5-7). He healed—sometimes on individual occasions and sometimes, even after a day’s activity—many in the crowds who relentlessly came (Matthew 8:16-17; Mark 1:32-34). He dealt with lepers and demons, the lame, the blind and the deaf. Sometimes, He tried to escape for prayer, but the crowds caught up with Him (Mark 1:35-39). In His humanity, He must have been well beyond the point of total physical exhaustion.
Then, He was Divine. He had created the laws of nature (Colossians 1:16-17; John 1:1-3). He knew how they worked. He also knew when, exactly, it would be time for Him to leave this earth. He knew when His hour had not yet come (John 2:4; 7:6-7). He knew when His hour had come (John 12:27; 17:1). He would have known that He would not perish in this storm.
Yet, the disciples were afraid. They urgently entreated Him, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” (Matthew 8:25). He rebuked them for their little faith (Matthew 8:26; Mark 4:40; Luke 8:25). Did they not realize they were with the Master who could speak to the winds and have them stop, and to the sea and have it—inexplicably, miraculously, superseding the laws of nature—be immediately calm? “Peace, be still!” (Mark 4:39).
We serve the Son of Man who knows humanity’s frailty and temptations (Hebrews 2:17-18). We serve the Son of God who has the power to calm every heart in every storm. He may not take away our storms, but He provides sufficient grace (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). “I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8).
