Matthew 8:26, commentary and pictures

Caught at night on the lake in a fierce tempest that filled their boat and baffled even their skill as fishermen, the disciples in fear cried out while Jesus slept on board, and He questioned their fearfulness as little faith and then rebuked the winds and sea into a great calm.
His question shows that fear in danger with Him present reveals distrust and unbelief, self-reliance and forgetfulness that He was on board as their only hope.
He first reproved their fear and lack of faith and then stilled the storm, though those who hold the other order teach that He first rose to save when they cried helplessly and only then sorrowfully questioned them.
The sudden stilling displays His divine majesty and absolute control over winds and waves, the same power that held back hostile forces, faced demons without fleeing, opened a path through the Red Sea, and still holds back winds and waves by His angels.
For believers now the act pictures His power to speak peace to minds overwhelmed by Satan and tempests of temptation, so that those who remember He is on board and humbly call upon Him at once find He hears, helps, and brings them safely through with no need for fear.

Historical Setting

The stilling came in the evening after an eventful day beside the Sea of Galilee spent teaching the first parables of the nature of the kingdom and the manner of its establishment and healing the sick. Through that day crowds still pressed with scarcely time for food or rest, and constant malicious criticism made the labor severe and left Jesus utterly wearied. To gain retirement He bade the disciples cross with Him to the eastern shore, a comparatively desolate region with towns here and there, a more heathen than Jewish population, and little communication with Galilee. After dismissing the multitude they took Him into the boat just as He was and set off hastily, while other fishing boats crowded with people still eager to see and hear followed after.

After a calm pleasant evening the boat was overtaken on the lake by a sudden, fierce, furious night tempest. Wind swept down the mountain gorges of the eastern shore, billows heaved, and waves filled the leaking boat and threatened to engulf and sink it. Though the disciples were hardy fishermen who had guided their craft through many storms, their strength and skill availed nothing, hope failed, and even the experienced despaired. Jesus slept on board through it all and was wakened only by their despairing cry.

In their extremity, with only death seeming before them, they became absorbed in saving themselves and forgot that Jesus was on board at whose command they had set out and who was their only hope. Though He had conquered disease and demons and even death, when darkness hid Him and their cries seemed drowned by the tempest with no reply, doubt and fear assailed them. They questioned whether He had forsaken them, whether He was powerless to help His disciples now, and whether He was unmindful of them in their distress.

The tempest was stilled on the night before He met the demoniacs on the Gadara shore, so that by morning He and His disciples came to shore. Those who had crossed with Him told the Gadarenes of the peril of that night and the miracle, giving them visible evidence of His power and of the advantage of having among them One who could command nature, cast out demons, and heal the diseased by word or touch. But blinded by worldliness and looking only at the magnitude of their loss and fearing further loss of property, they refused to consider that evidence and sent Him from their coast.

Rebuke of Little Faith

Turning to the disciples He questioned their fearfulness as little faith, showing that fear in danger while He is present reveals faith not yet grown. Their fear proved distrust and unbelief in Him while danger threatened, self-confidence and trusting to save themselves by their own strength and skill, and forgetfulness that He was on board and was their only hope. He Himself had no fear for Himself but was anxious for them, resting by faith in the Father's care as believers are to rest in the Saviour's care, and only when in despair of self-dependence they turned to Him could He help them.

One telling holds the order as Jesus first rebuking the disciples for fear and little faith and then rebuking the wind and sea so that a great calm follows. In that order His presence and power were their hope when they believed they were about to perish, and the sudden calm displayed His authority over nature and showed that even the forces of nature obey Him.

Another telling holds the order as Jesus first saving and then reproving, when the disciples turn back to Him in helplessness crying for rescue and grasp their oars for a last effort. No such cry goes unheeded, for He rises in the midst of the raging tempest, lifts His hand so often used in mercy, and commands the angry sea to peace, so that the storm ceases at once with sinking billows, rolling clouds, shining stars, and the boat resting on a quiet sea, and only then sorrowfully questions their fear and lack of faith.

The rebuke means they should have called upon Him at the first appearance of danger instead of trying first to save themselves and forgetting He was on board, and He would have relieved their anxiety. It sorrowfully reproves unbelief and self-confidence, including the reproof for not seeking Him at the very beginning of trial.

Command That Calms Storm

He felt no fear for Himself, but was anxious for His disciples in their terror, and He rose in the midst of the raging tempest in divine majesty with calm and fearless countenance. He lifted the hand so often used in mercy, and with authority as Commander whose skill nothing can baffle He rebuked the angry sea and winds, commanding them to peace and beckoning the waves to rest. No cry for rescue goes unheeded, and as men grasp their oars for a last effort He still stands to save before He reproves.

At His word the storm ceased at once, the heaving billows sank to rest, the clouds rolled away, the stars shone forth, and the boat sat motionless on a quiet sea in a great calm. The other boats that had followed to hear His doctrine were delivered from the same peril.

The act is surrounded with glory and majesty in all His ways and shows absolute control over winds and waves, for He holds the winds in His hand and controls the waters, beholding at one glance the highest heavens and the midst of the sea. The sequence of nature is under God's jurisdiction, who works by His own laws as a God of order and ruler of nations, while finite beings are mere specks upon the broad deep waters, guarded by angels sent from His excellent glory in a wonderful work far above human comprehension. The same power that held back the impatient winds, controlled the tempests, and calmed the angry sea once rolled up the mighty deep, piled up walls of water to make a path for more than a million people delivered from Egyptian slavery, then released the waters to destroy Pharaoh and his host, and still shields from accident, lightning, tempest, and deadly waves when at His bidding mighty angels hold back winds and waves that they do not destroy and bring vessels safely to harbor. His rebuke brought hushed reverential awe and silence even upon impulsive Peter, and all on board wondered at One whom wind and sea obey. The scene was never forgotten and inspires reverence and awe in the children of God, standing as a reminder of Jesus and His mighty works beside that sea.

Divine Power Revealed

The sudden stilling was a miracle witnessed by those with Him on the boat, visible evidence of divine power and supremacy and absolute control over nature. The disciples remembered it as evidence that He was the Son of God. It strengthened their belief and their expectation that He could deliver Himself from His enemies, so that they struggled to believe He would die.

His power over nature displays divine authority extending over demons and every hostile power. Because He had met Satan before and conquered him, He stood calmly where the disciples fled in terror and did not flee before demons but faced their raging helplessness with command. He raised the same hand that beckoned the waves to rest to stop the two demon-possessed men from coming nearer and to hold back the demoniacs rushing from the tombs. His power over the storm thus proved His power to face demons without fear.

The same power that held back the impatient winds, controlled the tempests, and calmed the angry sea rolled up the mighty deep, piled up walls of water, and made a path for more than a million people delivered from Egyptian slavery, then released the waters to destroy Pharaoh and his host. The sequence of nature is under God's jurisdiction, who works by His own laws as a God of order and ruler of nations, holding the winds in His hand and controlling the waters while beholding at one glance the highest heavens and the midst of the sea, where finite beings are mere specks upon the broad deep waters. The same power still shields from accident, lightning, tempest, and deadly waves, when at His bidding mighty angels hold back the winds and waves that they do not destroy, guard the little boat careening over the waves, and bring vessels safely to harbor, a wonderful work far above human comprehension.

The One who commanded the elements and stilled the waves of the angry sea also offered Himself on the cross as a sacrifice, bearing sin and death out of love for humanity. Through Him believers enter into rest and heaven begins here. Responding to His invitation to come and learn of Him begins eternal life as a ceaseless approaching to God through Christ, and walking with Him in this life fills with His love and satisfies with His presence all that human nature can bear, with ever-increasing glory, knowledge of God, and happiness as a foretaste of the far greater bliss hereafter before the throne of God.

Peace for Troubled Hearts

Christ's absolute control over the winds and waves in stilling the tempest and calming the troubled sea illustrates His power to speak peace to minds distressed and overwhelmed by Satan. The calming on Galilee is a picture of the peace He gives the soul. People cannot control the raging passions of the heart any more than the disciples could control the storm, but Christ can quiet both.

Those who are helpless to quiet the raging storm yet turn to Him for rescue and cry to Him for help find deliverance. His grace reconciles the soul to God, subdues sin and strife, and quiets the strife of human passion. It brings rest to the heart even amid a fierce tempest.

Trust in Present Storms

The stilling of the tempest was wrought for present believers as well as for the disciples on the lake. When waves break over a sinking bark and destruction threatens, those in peril may remember that Jesus is on board, that He hears their agonizing cry, and that He will never forsake those who put their trust in Him. Though the danger is real, His presence and power are their hope, and trust in Him is the only safety. Even when winds blow and the vessel rocks, He is present and can speak calm and steadiness and bring His followers safely through the gale.

The storm pictures the tempests of temptation that gather in life, with flashing lightnings and sweeping waves. It pictures the trying scenes amid perplexity, danger, and storms of adversity when people battle alone and forget the One who can help them, trusting their own strength and skill until baffled, discouraged, and wearied in self-effort, hope is lost, and they are ready to perish. If then they remember Jesus and humbly call upon Him at once to save them, the cry is never in vain and He never fails to hear the earnest cry and give the help needed, delivering in the way He knows to be best. His rebuke of fear as little faith sorrowfully reproves unbelief and self-confidence, including the reproof for not seeking Him at the very beginning of trial.

Whether on land or on sea, sleeping or waking, if the Saviour is in the heart there is no need of fear, for living faith in the Redeemer smooths the sea of life. The call of faith always meets a response, and even those rebuked for coming only when baffled and wearied in self-effort will be heard, helped, delivered, and never forsaken when they put their trust in Him. Though He sorrowfully reproves their unbelief and self-confidence, He accepts their humble petitions and gives the help needed in the way He knows to be best.

God's people are weak because they have not made Him their trust and dependence but have laid their burdens on finite minds and human hearts and lost sight of God, and they should look to Him and go to Him for help. Christ is on board the ship as chief director who can command the winds and waves and will guide His bark into port. The cause is the Lord's and He directs its work and brings it safely to its goal, so His workers are only to obey His orders, rely calmly on God's promises without excitement or restlessness, and have no need to worry or be anxious or troubled. He calls those who hesitate to come to the Lord to trust Him to work for them, for He desires to manifest His power among His people as the great Physician for physical and spiritual healing.

The rebuke of the fearful as people of little faith applies to lack of faith in deciding where to hold camp meetings, when fear and inadequate trust lead to choosing the safer or cheaper course instead of acting in faith. It also applies to brethren who had lost much time in carrying forward sanitarium work.