Luke 8:23

‘But as they sailed he fell asleep. And there came down a storm of wind on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy.'

As they sailed on, Jesus was lying in the boat exhausted from His labours, and fell asleep. In a boat such as this there would be a special seat at the stern which was the place of honour for any distinguished person aboard, where there would be a cushion and possibly a carpet. This was the place occupied by the exhausted Jesus. And then there arose a vicious storm the consequence of which was that the boat was filling with water and was in danger of sinking along with all on board. They were ‘in jeopardy'. Such storms were frequent on the Lake of Galilee because of the mountains and ravines surrounding the Lake, and the cold air of the mountains in contrast with the heat which hovered over the lake which was well below sea level. This at times caused and funnelled sudden strong winds onto the Lake. But these were experienced fishermen, and were used to storms at sea, especially on this sea which they had been sailing on for years. The situation had to be pretty bad for them to panic. The impression given by the story is that Jesus had expected just this situation. He had a lesson to teach His disciples.