Questions at Sea
Jesus had a big crowd gathered on the seashore to hear Him preach He climbed up in a ship and used it as a platform so the people could listen to him. After a long day, Jesus told the disciples to shove off and head to the other side of the sea, and they set sail. Sometime along the way, a great storm blew in. The wind and the waves became so fierce that the experienced sailors feared for their life. The boat was taking on water to the point it seemed she would go under. One of the men, in a panic, went for Jesus but was more than a little shocked when they saw him lying on a pillow fast asleep.
They woke him and asked, “Don’t you care that we are about to die?!” So, he arose, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “peace, be still.” If they were shocked that the Lord was sleeping through the storm, they were probably more shocked that he planned to chastise the storm and tell it to stop. But if that didn’t drop their jaw, the fact that it worked undoubtedly did. Jesus told the sea to calm down and the wind to stop blowing, and it did just that. My son and I were swimming in the ocean a while back and sat about chest-deep in the water and told the wave to stop before it got to us. It didn’t listen. Jesus asked them, “Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?” They had no answer. It appears that Jesus left them alone because they started talking to one another and asked, “What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
In this story, there are four questions but no answers. Jesus asks two questions, and the disciples ask two, but we are the ones left to think about it, and we are supposed to answer them ourselves.
Did Jesus care? This was a harsh accusation because Jesus wasn’t acting like them or doing what they thought he should be doing. No one cares for His own like the Lord Jesus. Yes, Jesus cares (1 Peter 5:7).
Why were the disciples so fearful? They thought they would die and were without help and hope.
Why did they have no faith? They needed to have rightly understood who was on the boat with them. The men should have known they were safe with Christ, believed that He was in control, and trusted in Him to keep them.
What manner of man was this? Jesus didn’t calm their fears by calming the sea. They were more afraid. They were in awe. He was more than a teacher and a miracle worker. Jesus did something only God could do He is the Lord of Glory. The Son of Man. The Christ. The Saviour. The Word made flesh, truly God and truly man, who came to save His people from their sins.