As Jesus got into a boat, his disciples followed him.
We would guess that the boat of Jesus would be a safe and protected space. But it was not so protected to prevent a violent storm from shaking the faith of the disciples, nor so safe as to avoid the danger of the waves entirely.
but he was asleep.
Impressively, the one with nowhere to lay his head was able to sleep in this situation. Maybe it was a brief respite from the demands of the crowds which he didn't want to waste.
They came and woke him, saying,
“Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
The disciples saw Jesus sleeping and assumed that he was either indifferent to the danger or ignorant of it. From a human perspective it seemed that an overworked teacher finally succumbed to the need to rest. It felt like he was ignoring them to fulfill his own needs. But this was not what they were meant to see in the figure of the sleeping Jesus. Even if he was asleep he was not ignorant or unconcerned about them.
Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep (see Psalm 121:4).
Jesus awoke in order to tend the storms within the disciples more so than those that surrounded them. He calmed the external storms to show them he was the Lord even over the winds and the sea, or any other difficult circumstances that might arise, and therefore put deeper inner doubts to rest.
He said to them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?”
Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea,
and there was great calm.
We can experience "great calm" no matter the forecast if we receive this revelation that was given that amazed the disciples and made them say, "What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?" When we receive this revelation we recognize how Jesus uses storms to bring a greater good, revealing his divine nature to his disciples.
You rule over the surging sea;
when its waves mount up, you still them (see Psalm 89:9).
When we experience storms in the future and find Jesus apparently asleep we no longer need fear that he does not care that we are perishing. It is precisely so that we learn to trust in his power over the elements that he permits these storms. We may still awaken him because in the midst of storms we do need his divine assistance. We are not meant to face the storms alone. But even before we wake him, the sleeping Jesus in our boats can allow our spirits to have peace in him. His power can calm the storm within even while it yet rages around us. We need this sort of peace in the world to persevere during the apparent slumber of Jesus during his three days in death. We need this peace in the boat of the Church as she is tossed by the waves of this world. It only seems like Jesus is not in control. But by this theophany of his power over the wind and the waves we are able to trust that he is in fact making all things work for the good of those who love him (see Romans 8:28), even during the most threatening of storms.
Let us not waste the storms in our lives. Let us not try to face them as though Jesus was not in our boat, nor as though he were a mere human being who was with us. Let us learn to see his power over all things, and therefore learn to trust him.
I brought upon you such upheaval
as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah:
you were like a brand plucked from the fire;
Yet you returned not to me,
says the LORD.
It is unwise to waste the grace of theophany, but it is possible, so we join with the psalmist in pleading, "Lead me in your justice, Lord."
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