35On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side." 36Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. 37And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. 38But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"
39Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. 40But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?" 41And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!"
The first time I read this I was dismayed to hear the disciples reprimanded for being concerned that the boat was sinking. I don't think I could be very calm either if I was sitting in a sinking boat during a great storm. But as I read this now, I don't think he was reprimanding them for their fear of the storm, but for their doubts about Him. They were accusing Jesus of not caring that they were all perishing!!
But Jesus does care. He knows what is best for us, even more so than we do. If we just have faith, knowing that what is best for us will happen, then we really have nothing to fear. This is not always easy to do, especially in the face of calamity. We too are tempted to accuse Jesus of not caring.
Here Jesus took care of their immediate fear: the storm. And what was the result? Did it relax their fears? Did it strengthen their faith? No, it generated new fears for them. Now they wondered even more who Jesus was. They now "feared exceedingly". Without faith, fears will reign. Even if Jesus were to remove everything that causes us fears, we would still find more to fear if we lack faith. But if we hold onto our faith, we will find our own calm even in the presence of the storm.
Another point I see in this passage is more proof that Jesus can perform miracles. He can directly intercede for anything, even controlling the wind and the wave. We can ask him to intercede for us. He may or He may not do as we desire, as He knows what is best for us. We have to understand this through faith. But if we look around through eyes of faith, we will see that miracles happen all the time. Some big and some small. Many to our benefit. They are all miracles. But without faith, we may not even recognize the miracles around us. Jesus is asking all of us to have faith.
God's Kingdom is like the mustard plant. It is strong and can provide the shelter and comfort that we need.