Luke 8: 22-25 Calming of the Tempest

Luke 8: 22-25 Calming of the Tempest

One day he got into a boat with his disciples and said to them, "Let us cross to the other side of the lake." So they set sail, and while they were sailing he fell asleep. A squall blew over the lake, and they were taking in water and were in danger. They came and woke him saying, "Master, master, we are perishing!" He awakened, rebuked the wind and the waves, and they subsided and there was a calm. Then he asked them, "Where is your faith?" But they were filled with awe and amazed and said to one another, "Who then is this, who commands even the winds and the sea, and they obey him?"

This is a very famous passage - where Jesus calms the seas. This fills his disciples with a combination of fear and admiration. What sort of man is this they say, not who is this man. He is clearly taken to be someone outside of their usual experience, someone who commands the seas and the winds. Who else does this? No man they have ever known before. But, if not man, then what? They do not call him God, but clearly he is not just a nice guy. Jesus uses actions to clue his followers in to what’s going on. These actions far out strip any words he could speak.