Luke 8:22-25

Butler's Comments

SECTION 2

In The Elements (Luke 8:22-25)

22 One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, Let us go across to the other side of the lake. So they set out, 23and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a storm of wind came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, amd were in danger. 24And they went and woke him saying, Master, Master, we are perishing! And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25He said to them, Where is your faith? And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, Who then is this, that he commands even wind and water, and they obey him?

Luke 8:22-23 Peril: The beautiful Sea of Galilee is 685 feet below sea level. It is surrounded by hills rising 2000 feet high which make the area resemble a huge cup. Jesus apparently decided to go across the sea, away from Capernaum, in order to bring some moderation to the intense popularity of His ministry. The opposition to His popularity was becoming vicious and murderous. Jesus wished very much that the people would not seek Him simply for the physical things such as healing and bread and fish (cf. John 6:26 ff). So He went away from Capernaum to let that attitude cool. He also knew it was not His time to die at the hands of His enemies so His retirement to the region of the Gerasenes (Luke 8:26) was to temporarily postpone that crisis.

As they were out on the sea, a storm of wind came down on the lake. Luke's use of the word down is minutely accurate! Storms to this day come down upon the Sea of Galilee because of its unique topography. Matthew, describing this same storm, uses the Greek words seismos megas, meaning great shaking (we get the English prefix mega and the noun, seismograph from these Greek words). Seismographs register the intensity of earthquakes. This must have been an awesome storm. Mark and Luke use the Greek words, lailapsi megale anemou, meaning literally, a hurricane of great driving wind. Anyone who has ever been in a storm at sea in a large ship knows how utterly awesome and terrifying an experience it is. Jesus and his disciples were in a small fishing boat which could hold twelve men but not a large catch of fish. These boats were wide and solid, but not very fastnot much larger than a life-boat on modern sea-going vessels. The waves were already swamping the boat and it was dangerously close to sinking with all aboard. Luke indicates Jesus went to sleep almost immediately after they set sail, and He slept on while the storm raged. He was at perfect peace with His Father and had no fear whatever. But the disciples were terrified. Mark records that they woke Jesus and said to him, Teacher, do you not care if we perish? Luke tells us the disciples addressed Jesus, Master, Master. (Gr. epistata, epistata, means, commander, commander,). How could they doubt Jesus-' concern? How could they doubt their eternal safety with Him as their commander? It is easy to believe in one's safety as long as one is safe! The test of faith comes when one faces death and all human power is useless. Of course Jesus cared! He had demonstrated His care for fearful, suffering, dying humanity many times over already. He demonstrated His power to do whatever He wished about any human predicament. So, as Matthew records, when Jesus was awakened He said, Why are you afraid, O men of little faith? Matthew uses the Greek word oligopistoi for little faith. It could be more accurately translated brief faith. Faith is not measured so much by quantity as by quality. The faith that pleases God is steadfast, enduring and stable. Faith that is here today and gone tomorrow or that vacillates with circumstances, emotionally up one day and emotionally gone the next day is unacceptable to God.

Luke 8:24-25 Power: All three of the synoptic gospel writers used the Greek word epitimao to express Jesus-' action in rebuking the wind and the sea. Epitimao means to lay honor upon. In other words, Jesus laid His honor (power and authority) upon nature and it obeyed Him immediately. As co-Creator (John 1:1-18; Colossians 1:16) and co-Sustainer (Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3) He exercises His sovereign authority over the elements and they do His will. Jesus was not scolding nature: He was simply ordering it to do His will. Luke, like Matthew, indicates Jesus wondered where the faith of the disciples had gone, for he reports Jesus asking, Where is your faith?

Whereas before they were afraid at the raging of the storm, now they were awe-stricken with the power of Jesus over the elements. With simply a word He gave orders and was obeyed immediately. There is no possibility that this was a hoax. These men were fishermen by occupation. They had sailed this sea hundreds of times. They knew what storms were like. This was no ordinary stormand it was real. The storm was stopped suddenly (not gradually) and at its apex. So these men said, Who is this, that he commands even wind and water and they obey him? Who is He indeed! He is Lord of all creation! What have you decided about Jesus? If we stand in awe before the almost unbelievable powers of nature (even of atomic power) how much more must we bow our wills to the absolute authority of His word!

Applebury's Comments

Stilling the Tempest
Scripture

Luke 8:22-25 Now it came to pass on one of those days, that he entered into a boat, himself and his disciples; and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake: and they launched forth. 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. 24 And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. And he awoke, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And being afraid they marvelled, saying one to another, Who then is this, that he commandeth even the winds and the water, and they obey him.

Comments

on one of those days.Crowds gathered around the Master wherever He went. On one of those days He got into a boat with the disciples and said, Let's go to the other side of the lake. And as they crossed the lake, the Master of ocean and earth and skies fell asleep, relaxing from the pressures of His busy ministry. On another occasion, He said to the disciples, Come ye apart into a desert place and rest a while (Mark 6:31).

His desire to go to the other side of the lake reveals a perfectly normal human desire, for He was the Son of Man; but His command to the winds and waves that obeyed His voice just as clearly reveals Him as the Son of God.

and there came down a storm of wind on the lake.The Sea of Galilee is some 682 feet below sea level; sudden storms on the lake are not uncommon, The disciples knew what they were facing and cried out to Jesus, Master, we are perishing. They were sure that they were about to lose their lives in the storm. At the command of Jesus, the winds ceased blowing; the waves stopped tossing; a calm set in.

Where is your faith?They had willingly followed Him. They had carried out orders even when they were against their own better judgment (Luke 5:5). But they had not yet learned what it meant to be in the presence of the Son of God who upholds all things through the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3). But there came the time when they did trust Him even in the threat of death (Acts 5:40-42).

Who then is this, that he commandeth even the winds and the water?Their question was not one of unbelief, but one of beginning faith that led them to acknowledge Him as the Son of God.