“ ‘Where is your faith?’ he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, ‘Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him” ’ (Luke 8:25).
Jesus was in the middle of the Sea of Galilee with His disciples when a storm came up, threatening to sink the boat. Some of the disciples were fishermen who had spent their adult lives fishing on the Sea of Galilee, yet the storm was so fierce they were frightened, too.
This is another example of Jesus’ power over circumstances. We read this now and wonder at the disciples. Didn’t they know that the boat won’t sink if Jesus is in it? Maybe they thought that before the storm came up but it’s different when the wind is blowing hard and the waves are breaking over the boat. They were frightened and thought they were going to die. If that wasn’t enough, Jesus was asleep on a cushion. Jesus, of course, calmed the storm after they awaken Him.
The question the disciples ask at the end of this scene interests me. “Who is this?” If anyone knew who He was it was these twelve men. They had seen miracle upon miracle. They had witnessed His power. Still, somehow they had unconsciously placed Jesus in a box and when He stepped out of their preconceived limits they realized that they didn’t know everything about Him that there was to know.
That is our experience as well. Just when we think we’ve figured Him out He explodes out of the restraints we have unconsciously placed around Him and we scratch our heads and think, “Who is this anyway?” He’s more wonderful than we imagine Him to be. He can handle any storm that comes our way. He is the Almighty Son of God!
