One evening, after giving a sermon to a huge crowd, Jesus decided to cross the sea to another town. He told His disciples, “Let us go across to the other side of the sea.”
The disciples were used to travelling with Jesus to different lands to spread the word of the Lord. They knew that Jesus was going to teach people there. They were happy that they could spend some time with Him in the boat.
Jesus and His disciples got into a boat and started sailing. Jesus went to the back of the boat and fell asleep. The journey was good. Everybody was in a joyful mood.
But, midway during the journey, the sky suddenly became dark. A thunderstorm broke out. Lightning flashed across the sky and the rain lashed. The sea became rough. Huge waves started hitting the boat.
The frightful storm turned the Sea of Galilee into a fury. The winds were very strong and the waters were very rough. This kind of storm could cause a shipwreck! Everyone on the boat was scared.
The frightened disciples fought the storm by letting down the sails and rowing hard with the waves. They soon realized that they had never experienced this kind of storm.
The waves were so high that the water started spilling into the boat. The disciples tried to remove the water from the boat, but all in vain. The more they removed the water from one side, the more it entered from the other side.
All this while, Jesus was at the back of the boat, sleeping soundly with His head on a pillow. He was undisturbed by the fierce storm. The disciples had not disturbed Him till then, as they thought He must be tired walking all over, teaching and healing hundreds of people.
Finally, when the boat started filling up with water and was nearly sinking, the disciples began to panic. They feared for their lives. They woke Jesus up and pleaded with Him, “Master, please wake up! We are going to be drowned; please save us!”
Jesus woke up. He looked around, calm as He always was. The disciples were amazed to see that He was not at all worried about the fierce storm and the rough sea. They asked, “Master, don’t you care that we might die?”
Jesus said to His disciples, “Why are you frightened? Have you still no faith?” He meant that the disciples had been with Him for a long time and had seen the miracles He had done. Yet, they had no faith and were afraid.
Then, Jesus stood up and commanded the wind, “Be quiet!” The wind died down and there was a great calm. Then He said to the waves, “Be still!” The sea stopped churning. Jesus ordered and the wind and the sea obeyed.
To the disciples’ utter amazement, Jesus had to speak a few words only, and the storm died down! The sea became calm and peaceful as it was when they had set out for their journey. The disciples whispered, “What kind of a man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey Him!”
The obedience of the storm to Jesus’ command gave further proof that Jesus was God’s Son. Jesus brought peace where there had been chaos. This showed that Jesus was not just a normal man. Though He was in the boat in the midst of the storm, He was above Nature.
Jesus used the storm to teach His disciples in order to understand who He was. Jesus allowed the storm to rage, so the disciples could see for themselves that they did not have faith in Him as yet.
Then Jesus stopped the storm to show that He was in control. He could control the raging Nature. He was above everything. This was one of the important teachings of Jesus about faith. Jesus wanted faith in His disciples. This miracle of storm made the disciples believe in Jesus even more.