It was not enough that the Saviour of mankind should have power to
grapple with disease and skill to search the hearts of men: He must be
Master not only of life, but of its environment too. That He is
becomes apparent before the boat which carries the little company
reaches the other side of the lake. One of those tempests which often
lash the Sea of Galilee into sudden fury has burst upon them, and the
little boat is almost covered with the waves. Here is a situation
beyond the reach even of the Great Physician, unless indeed He be
something more. He is something more. He is Lord of nature, Master of
all its forces!
Must He not be? He has come to reveal the unseen God of nature; must
He not then make it manifest, now that the occasion calls for it, that
winds and waves are "ministers of His, that do His pleasure"? Again,
it is no mere "miracle," no mere marvel which He works in the
salvation of His terrified disciples--it is a sign, an indispensable
sign of the kingdom of heaven.
The story is told with exquisite simplicity, and with all the reality
of manifest and transparent truthfulness. "He was asleep"--naturally
enough after the fatigues of the day, notwithstanding the howling of
the storm; for why should He fear wind or wave? Is there not a promise
here for all His followers when tempest-tossed: "So He giveth His
beloved sleep"?
His disciples let Him sleep as long as they dare; but the peril is too
imminent now. So they come to Him and awake Him, saying, "Save, Lord;
we perish!" Though no concern for Himself would ever have disturbed
His slumber, the first cry of His disciples rouses Him at once to
action. The resources of His human nature, beyond which He never went
for the purpose of meeting His own personal needs, had been completely
exhausted; but there is no diminution of His power to save those who
call upon Him. Without any trace remaining of weariness or weakness,
He hastens to relieve them. First,[8] He quiets the tempest in the
disciples' hearts, rebuking their unbelief and calming their fears;
then He stills the storm without, rebuking the winds and the sea; "and
there was a great calm." It reads like the story of creation. No
wonder the astonished disciples exclaimed: "What manner of man is
this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"