Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was.
Taking Jesus with them "just as he was" was the right approach. We often try to change Jesus in some way before we let him use our boat. We often prefer a Jesus who is more 'as we are' than as he is, and allow our preferences about him to obscure the reality of his person. But isn't it really the real Jesus we want, rather than the one we invent? Because if it comes down to us and our ideas and our cleverness won't this just be one more thing that comes up short, like so many good ideas before it?
A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat,
so that it was already filling up.
Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion.
Life with Jesus does not promise an absence of storms. But although the disciples who encounter storms in the Scriptures are never that far from Jesus he doesn't ever seem to be where they expect him to be or do what they expect him to do. This leads to confusion, which is OK, but not to despair, which wouldn't be. The storms in our own lives will probably be in some way similar to these Scriptural storms. Jesus will be present with us throughout, but not in the way that we would have guessed or that we would have found most comfortable.
Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?
This was a question very close to despair. But that would have been a slightly different question, more assured of its own insight, 'Teacher, why don't you care that we are perishing?'. Rather, they left open the possibility in their minds that he did in fact care and that there was in fact still good that could come from the difficult situation.
Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified?
Do you not yet have faith?”
We begin to wonder how many times we're going to have to ask ourselves this question after Jesus proves himself trustworthy again and again. It is almost as though the Enemy tries to prevent us from remembering past victories such that each new problem feels completely overwhelming. No, wait, that is in fact what is happening. If we aren't careful to be thankful and treasure the Lord's blessings in our hearts we will be back to the drawing board for each new difficulty.
They were filled with great awe and said to one another,
“Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”
A cynic would say that Jesus should have prevented the storm in the first place. But had he done so they would not have experienced this invitation to a deeper faith. The were beginning to see in Jesus, not only a miracle worker, but even God himself in human form. And that, like it or not, is sometimes something we can only get by going through the storm with him.
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