The One Who Commands the Sea

At the end of a long day of teaching, Jesus tells his disciples to cross to the other side of the lake. A furious squall comes up, waves break over the boat, and it is nearly swamped. Jesus is asleep in the stern on a cushion. The disciples wake him, asking whether he cares that they are about to drown. He gets up, rebukes the wind and tells the sea to be quiet. The wind dies and it becomes completely calm. Then he asks them why they are so afraid and whether they still have no faith. Terrified, they ask each other who this is, that even the wind and the waves obey him.

Anyone who has just read Exodus 15 knows the answer. The one who parted the sea with a wind and closed it with a breath, the one of whom Israel sang that none among the gods is like him, is the one asleep on the cushion. The disciples' question is not really a question. It is the beginning of worship.

The lesson is twofold. The Jesus who is with you in the boat is the LORD of the exodus, and no storm is outside his authority. And his presence in the boat does not exempt you from the storm; it guarantees the other side. He said they were crossing over. They did.