Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Luke 8:22 - 8:25
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
The Storm on the Sea.
v. 22. Now it came to pass on a certain day that He went into a ship with His disciples; and He said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth.
v. 23. But as they sailed, He fell asleep; and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy.
v. 24. And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, Master, Master, we perish. Then He arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water; and they ceased, and there was a calm.
v. 25. And He said unto them, Where is your faith? And they, being afraid, wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for He commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey Him.
See Mat_8:23-34; Mar_4:35-41. It was at the close of a strenuous day that Jesus embarked in a boat with His disciples, and He gave the command to sail across the sea to the other side. The disciples, some of whom were expert navigators, having spent a large part of their life on the lake, immediately launched forth, setting sail for the center of the lake. Jesus was a true man, with all the physical needs of a true man. So now, fatigued as He was with the strain of teaching and probably also with the sultriness, He fell into a deep sleep, though there was no comfortable couch aboard. Suddenly a tornado-like storm came down upon the lake, accompanied with such a turbulent upheaval of the waters of the sea that they rushed in upon them from all sides, filling the boat and placing them all in the greatest peril of their lives. And yet Jesus slept. The powers of nature are in His hand. They may storm and threaten, but they cannot harm Him. Note: If a Christian has Jesus with him in all his work and in all his play, then he is secure in spite of all threatening of the enemies. Not a hair of his head may be harmed without the will of his Lord. The disciples were at their wits' end. They rushed over to Him, they awakened Him with the anxious call that they were perishing. And He heard their frantic cry and gave them such an exhibition of His almighty power that they must have felt the greatness of their unbelief on this account more than by the reproving words of the Lord. For He arose at once and threateningly spoke to the wind and to the surge of the waters. And they paused in the midst of their fury. At once their unleashed fierceness was replaced with an absolute calm. And then came the rebuke from the mouth of the Master, chiding their lack of faith. The effect upon the disciples, who had seen quite a number of wonderful deeds at His hands, was peculiar. They were filled with fear in the presence of such evidence of almighty power. At the same time they wondered that He who ordinarily appeared a mere man, who had but a few minutes ago lain in their midst in the sleep of utter exhaustion, could command the winds and the water, and exact absolute obedience from them. Jesus, true man, is at the same time the mighty God from heaven, the almighty Creator of the universe. People that trust in Him are assured of safety in the arms of Him whose providence governs even the death of a sparrow.