The stilling of the storm: That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "let us go over to the other side"  leaving the crowd behind they took him along just as he was in the boat, and there were also other boats with him.  A furious squall came up and the waves broke over the boat so that it was nearly swamped.  Jesus was in the stern sleeping on a cushion.  His disciples woke him and said to him " teacher don't you care if we drown?"  He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves " quiet be still" then the wind died down and it was completely calm.   He said to his disciples " why are you so afraid, do you still have no faith?"  They were terrified and asked each other " who is this, even the wind and the waves obey him?" 

Two themes emerge in this passage; Jesus is the hero of the story, and fear and faith are juxtaposed

The setting is important as well. Many important actions and teachings in the Gospels all take place either in a boat or by the Sea of Galilee. The comparison to Psalm 46 is intriguing as well though the waters roar and foam – God is a very present help in trouble

Several elements of the story are quietly intriguing. First Jesus is seen sleeping on a cushion while the boat is taking on water. How often do we feel God is seemingly indifferent to the troubles that we are experiencing?

We sometimes gloss over the fact that this is a miracle of the first magnitude – Jesus is demonstrating command and control over creation in the raw. His deity is unveiled for a flash a twinkling of the eye but then again hidden from his disciples. It is the same with us - often we only recognize God's complete sovereignty and power in a moment of time and we live largely by what we see around us on a daily basis

There is an unanswered question that lingers: why are you so afraid, do you still have no faith? The disciples reaction is intriguing who is this? In the beginning of the passage they referred to him as Rabbi – but now understand him to be much more than that. The word play is important and so are the Greek words in the original passage they were  filled with great fear

What are the implications of Jesus questions. To the disciples and to us

We mustn't overlook the question teacher, don't you care if we drown? Many times during troubling events we question whether God really cares about what is going on in our lives. We feel forsaken. We have a savior who knows what it is to be forsaken, and he assures us he will never leave us or forsake us – no matter what the circumstances may appear, Our God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble some 46, he is our bulwark Psalm 91