Matthew 8:26 Commentary and Bible Study

Although the disciples have little faith, they have at least some faith. They have faith enough to come to him and wake him and ask him to help them, even though their faith has many weaknesses mixed in with it. They do not know what he can do, but they believe he can do something, otherwise they would not have cried out ‘Save us.’ Yet their response to what he does shows that it had never entered into their minds that he had such power. The Lord finds fault with them. It is as if he has been watching them all along, even while he lay there asleep. He was genuinely asleep, and yet because he is the Son of God he knows all things, and he knows the heart of each disciple. He watched their wavering faith and saw its smallness, as it hesitated in its trust in him. He does not call it no faith, but he calls it little faith. No faith would not have come and woken him at all; no faith would not have said, ‘Save us.’ So he reproves them. ‘Don’t you think I can keep you safe without you having to wake me up? You have seen the nobleman’s son healed; you have seen the demon cast out; you have seen the centurion’s servant healed.’ Maybe they didn’t think he had power over the elements. They believed in him, but as a limited Lord, one who could heal the body, but not control the wind and the seas. After all, what man has ever done such things? But he also rebukes the wind and the sea. It is as though he was a parent over the wind, and the mighty storm that terrified the disciples was just like a naughty child to him and he could rebuke it, which he did. In the kingdom of heaven, no element of nature will be allowed to pose any threat to the children of God. Because of the curse, God has allowed death to come into the world, and harm to come from the created world, but that will not continue forever.Mark records, ‘‘And [he] said unto the sea [heaving as it was], Peace, be still.’ Literally in the Greek, ‘be muzzled, be silent’ and that mighty storm instantly ceased. It is marvellous, the way it is translated. He is speaking to the mighty heaving seas, like an earthquake, walls of sea coming at that vessel. ‘Be still’, and to the howling gale, ‘Be silenced’, and the wind ceased, and there was a great calm straightaway. Christ puts forth his power, and they are astonished and ashamed surely, as they see how much they have underestimated him. There is nothing that he cannot do. The winds, which blow where they please, obey his voice. How far beyond their understanding are such things!. The waves which crash against the shores and threaten their vessel obey him. How many times since the creation of the world have people imagined what it would be like to have control over such things, but they have put away such ideas as foolishness, just as King Canute told his followers that the attempt would be vain. Some of them had been on the sea many times before when the winds had been strong. They had never attempted to talk to the winds, for the winds would mock their voices. But now they see his power with their own eyes. He rebukes the wind and the waves, and instantly there is an unnatural calm, a supernatural calm. Never before had any of them seen the waves go from threatening the integrity of a vessel, to the calm of a millpond, in moments. They know this has resulted from his command. They have heard his words because he has deliberately spoken out loud. They have rightly connected the two. and they have seen the inanimate elements obey him. Who but the Creator himself could do such a thing? Who is this one who they thought they knew? Their minds are thrown into confusion by the miracle, and they have a new awe for him, for they cannot deny the evidence of their collective eyes.Mark records – and Luke also mentions this – that at this point he repeats his question spoken before the miracle: ‘Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?’ Those words too would have had a profound effect upon the disciples. Faith would have seen something in him which they have in fact failed to see. Faith would have known him better than they knew him. Faith would have responded differently to this great miracle. Why are they afraid? Because they do not know the power of the one who is with them. This now was no longer a fear at the storm – that was a natural fear; this was a fear at the miracle and at the one who had done this miracle who was in their presence. How could they be familiar with him as they thought they were, with one who had such power? In so many ways he looked like an ordinary man – he ate, he walked, he talked, he slept – but this was no ordinary man, and in some respects it was deeply uncomfortable to be in his presence. Yet they could not go away from him. He was the source of all their good, and he was their eternal hope, and they must overcome their fear and draw near to him. God’s people, who see his great power, thank him that that power is for them and not against them.