Master and Commander

While reading in the Psalms, I came across a passage that reminded me of a particular New Testament narrative. See if you see the same thing. Psalm 107:28-30 says, “Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven” (NIV). Does that Old Testament passage not remind you of when Jesus calmed the storm?  

“Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, ‘Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!’ Jesus responded, ‘Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!’ Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm. The disciples were amazed. ‘Who is this man?’ they asked. ‘Even the winds and waves obey him!’” (Matt 8:24-27 NLT)

Jesus’ ability to use merely words, just to speak to the wind and waves, and they immediately obeyed obviously greatly affected those who witnessed this event. Not just anyone can speak and expect the ocean to obey them. Not just anyone is the Master and the Commander of creation. The disciples who witnessed this asked themselves, “Who is this?” They lived Psalm 107:28-30, a passage that says “they cried out to the Lord” –they cried out to Yahweh –and Yahweh stilled and hushed the wind and waves.

Do you think it’s possible that the disciples may have recalled Psalm 107 (part of the Hebrew Scriptures) and its similarities to what they witnessed, and come to the realization that Jesus is God? Maybe they didn’t come to this realization in the midst of this overwhelming event, but maybe they did later while reflecting on what happened. Maybe they thought about it sometime between this event in Matthew chapter 8 and a similar event in Matthew chapter 14.  

The disciples were in the midst of another storm. This time, Jesus was not sleeping, but came to them walking on the water. This time, when the storm died down, instead of just asking themselves “who is this," Matthew records that “those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God’” (Matt 14:33 NLT). When they saw Him calm the storm for the second time, they acknowledged that He is God and they worshipped Him.

Their faith and their understanding obviously grew between chapter 8 and chapter 14, but on both occasions, Jesus asks why they have so little faith, why they doubt. Just how many storms do we need to see Jesus calm before our faith is strong enough not to doubt Him as the Master and Commander over all things? Oh, if we could cast out all fear when storms rise and immediately cry out to the Lord, to our Master and Commander, to the One who can still the storm with a whisper and hush the waves of the sea –the One who makes our hearts glad when He brings the calm and guides us to our destination. May we “praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for [us]. Let [us] exalt him publicly before the congregation and before the leaders of the nation” (Ps 107:31-32 NLT).