IF men failed to recognize their Creator when He condescended to tabernacle here in flesh, creation acknowledged His presence and power. The storm described in Matt. 8:23-2723And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. 24And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. 25And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. 26And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. 27But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him! (Matthew 8:23‑27) took place at the close of the day on which the seven parables of chs. 13. were delivered. Tired with His day’s labor, the Saviour slept, a touching proof of the reality of the humanity which He had assumed. Presently one of Gennesaret’s sudden storms burst upon the little boat, to the dismay of the disciples, who, though believers, but feebly realized Who it was that was voyaging with them. Had they considered that He was the Creator of the universe, would they have experienced a moment’s alarm? Was it not He Who, ages before, shut up the sea with doors, and made clouds the garments thereof, and Who said, “Hitherto shalt thou come and no further; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?” (Job 38:8-118Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? 9When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it, 10And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, 11And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed? (Job 38:8‑11)). Would, or could, the sea engulf its own Lord and God?
Alas for the poor human heart! Mark, with his customary observance of details, tells us the disciples roughly awoke their Lord, crying, “Master, carest Thou not that we perish?” It is painful to transcribe the words; how cruelly they must have wounded the tender susceptibilities of the Saviour! “Carest Thou not?” Had He not cared for the children of men, He would have remained in His own glory; the Bethlehem manger, the Galilean boat, and the cross of Calvary would never have been His lot. Yet, so gracious is He, no word of censure escaped His lips for the heartlessness of their speech; He merely said, “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?” Well has it been said, “Never man spake like this Man.” But how painful to Him to find such feebleness of faith amongst the special objects of His favor after His experience of the splendid faith of the Gentile centurion!
His voice sufficed for the stilling of the elements. “Peace, be still.” Long before His incarnation the Psalmist wrote of Him, “Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, Thou stillest them” (Psa. 89:99Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them. (Psalm 89:9)). Not a single attribute of Deity did He lay aside in becoming man. Omnipotence and Omniscience shone forth in Him whenever occasion called for their display. Demons, disease, death, winds and waves all fled before His word. No human mind, however richly taught of God, can unravel the mystery of the union of the divine and the human natures in His person. Reason finds insoluble difficulties here; faith finds instead material for adoration and praise.
The miracle brought the disciples to His feet in wonder, not unmixed with dread. “What manner of Man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” The answer is simple and plain. He was God manifested in flesh, on His way to death for the eternal blessing of all who believe. But in His humiliation, as now in His glory, He had power to dispel every danger that could befall His people. Storms of various kinds may burst upon us during our passage through this world, but none can destroy us while Jesus lives. Our part is just to confide in Him.