Lord of the Wind and the Sea

The Sea Obeys Its Maker

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In the boat the disciples asked, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” (Matthew 8:27). The Old Testament had already given the answer. Only the Lord rules the sea.

The sea in the Bible. To people in Bible times, the sea was huge, wild and dangerous. Nobody could tame it. Sailors were afraid of it, and with good reason.

God made it. “The earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness” (Psalm 24:1). On the third day of creation, God gathered the waters together and called them seas (Genesis 1:9-10). The sea belongs to the One who made it.

God sets its limits. In the book of Job, God says that He shut the sea in with doors and told the waves how far they could come and no farther (Job 38:8-11). The proud waves have to stop where God says.

God rules its storms. “You rule the raging of the sea; When its waves rise, You still them” (Psalm 89:9). Raging means wild and angry. Still means to make calm.

Sailors in a storm. Psalm 107 tells about sailors whose ship was tossed so high and low that they did not know what to do (Psalm 107:23-27).

They cried to the Lord. “Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, And He brings them out of their distresses. He calms the storm, So that its waves are still” (Psalm 107:28-29).

Safe harbor. “Then they are glad because they are quiet; So He guides them to their desired haven” (Psalm 107:30). A haven is a safe harbor.

The Red Sea. When Israel was trapped between Pharaoh's army and the sea, God pushed the waters back so His people could walk through on dry ground (Exodus 14:21-22). “He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it dried up” (Psalm 106:9).

The same word. God rebuked the Red Sea. In the boat, Jesus “rebuked the winds and the sea” (Matthew 8:26). Jesus spoke to the sea the way the Lord had always spoken to it.

Footprints in the sea. “Your way was in the sea, Your path in the great waters” (Psalm 77:19). God goes where nobody else can go.

The answer. So who can this be? Jesus did what the Psalms say only God does. Jesus is the Lord God, who became a man.

Our sins in the sea. The God who rules the sea makes a wonderful promise: “You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19). Because Jesus died for us, our sins can be gone for good.

What we learn. Jesus is the Lord of the wind and the sea. Nothing in creation is out of His control.

What to do. This week, read Psalm 107:23-30 out loud. Each time you read the word Lord, remember that Jesus did these very things in the boat.

The disciples' question, “Who can this be?” (Matthew 8:27), had an answer waiting in their own Scriptures. Again and again the Old Testament says that ruling the sea belongs to the Lord alone.

A picture of chaos. In the ancient world the sea stood for everything wild and out of control. Israel's Scriptures teach that the sea is not a god; it obeys its Maker.

Genesis 1:9-10. On the third day God gathered the waters into one place and named them seas. From the beginning the sea has been under His word.

Job 38:8-11. God asks Job who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out. Then God describes Himself telling the waves: this far and no farther. Even the proudest waves have a limit God has set.

Psalm 89:9. “You rule the raging of the sea; When its waves rise, You still them.” The psalm praises the Lord as the one without equal in heaven or on earth.

Psalm 107:23-30. Sailors on the great waters see a storm lift the waves to the heavens and drop them to the depths. All their skill is gone (107:27). Then “they cry out to the Lord in their trouble… He calms the storm, So that its waves are still.” The disciples saw Psalm 107 happen in front of them: a storm, a cry to the Lord, a calm and a safe arrival.

Epitimao. The Greek verb epitimao (say: ep-ee-tee-MAH-oh) means to rebuke or sternly command. The Greek Old Testament uses it in Psalm 106:9: “He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it dried up.” Matthew uses the same verb for Jesus in 8:26.

Exodus 14. At the Red Sea God's command over the water meant rescue for His people and freedom from slavery. In Galilee, Jesus' command meant rescue for His disciples.

The conclusion. If only the Lord rules the sea, and the sea obeyed Jesus, then Jesus is the Lord. The disciples did not yet have all the words for it, but they had seen it.

Micah 7:19. “You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea.” The same Lord who commands the sea uses it as a picture of forgiveness. Through the cross, sin is buried where it cannot be found again.

Every knee. One day “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow” (Philippians 2:10). The wind and the waves already obey Him. Wise people bow now.

Application. When something in your life feels like a wild sea, remember who rules the sea. Pray Psalm 107:28 honestly: cry out to the Lord in your trouble, and trust Him with the outcome.

Two Sleepers in a Storm

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Jesus was not the first person in the Bible to sleep through a storm at sea. Long before, a prophet named Jonah did the same thing. The two stories are alike in some ways and very different in others.

Jonah runs. God told Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh and warn the people there. Jonah did not want to go. He got on a ship sailing the other way, to Tarshish (Jonah 1:1-3).

A great wind. The Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and a mighty storm came. The ship was about to break apart. The sailors were terrified, and each one cried out to his own god (Jonah 1:4-5).

Asleep below. Jonah had gone down into the bottom of the ship and was fast asleep. The captain woke him and told him to get up and call on his God (Jonah 1:5-6).

Thrown into the sea. Jonah told the sailors the storm was his fault. He told them to throw him into the sea, and the sea would become calm. They did, and the sea stopped raging. The sailors feared the Lord very much (Jonah 1:12-16).

Jesus sleeps. Jesus also slept in a boat during a storm (Matthew 8:24). But Jesus was not running from God. He was doing exactly what His Father wanted.

Two ways to wake. Jonah was woken and told to pray. Jesus was woken and asked to save. Jonah could not calm the sea. Jesus “arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm” (Matthew 8:26).

Nobody thrown overboard. To calm Jonah's storm, someone had to go into the sea. In Jesus' storm, nobody was thrown in. Jesus simply spoke.

Greater than Jonah. Jesus Himself talked about Jonah. He said that as Jonah was inside the great fish for three days and nights, the Son of Man would be in the heart of the earth for three days and nights. Then He said that someone greater than Jonah was here (Matthew 12:40-41).

A gracious God. Jonah knew what God is like. He prayed, “For I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger” (Jonah 4:2). Gracious means kind to people who do not deserve it.

Jesus went into the storm for us. Jonah went into the sea because of his own sin. Jesus had no sin, but He went to the cross because of ours. “The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).

Out of the depths. After three days and three nights, the fish spit Jonah out onto dry land (Jonah 2:10). Jesus “rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:4).

What we learn. Jonah needed rescuing. Jesus is the Rescuer. Jonah pointed ahead to someone far greater.

What to do. Read Jonah 1 with your family this week. Then talk about how Jesus is greater than Jonah.

Two men in Scripture sleep through a storm at sea: Jonah and Jesus. Jesus Himself pointed to Jonah (Matthew 12:40-41), so comparing them helps us see who Jesus is.

The runaway (Jonah 1:1-3). God sent Jonah east to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. Jonah went down to Joppa and boarded a ship heading west to Tarshish, as far from Nineveh as he could go.

The storm (1:4). The Lord hurled a great wind onto the sea. Jonah's storm came because God was pursuing a disobedient prophet. The disciples' storm came while they were obeying Jesus.

The sleep (1:5-6). Jonah slept in the lowest part of the ship while pagan sailors prayed. His sleep was the sleep of a man running from God. Jesus slept while obeying His Father. Many Christians see His sleep as the rest of a Son who trusted His Father.

The waking. The captain woke Jonah and told him to call on his God. The disciples woke Jesus and called on Him: “Lord, save us!” (Matthew 8:25). Jonah was asked to pray; Jesus was asked to save.

The calm (1:12-15). Jonah's storm stopped only when Jonah was thrown into the sea. Jesus' storm stopped when He spoke. One man was a sinner whose presence brought a storm; the other was the Lord whose word ended one.

The fear (1:16; Mark 4:41). After the calm, Jonah's sailors were filled with great fear of the Lord (Jonah 1:16). After Jesus' calm, the disciples also “feared exceedingly” (Mark 4:41). In both boats, the calm led to awe of the Lord.

The sign of Jonah (Matthew 12:40). Jesus said that as Jonah was three days and nights in the belly of the great fish, the Son of Man would be three days and nights in the heart of the earth. Jonah's rescue from the deep pointed to Jesus' death and resurrection.

Greater than Jonah (12:41). Jonah preached reluctantly and resented God's mercy (Jonah 4:1-2). Jesus came willingly to bring that mercy. He is greater in obedience, in power and in love.

A substitute. Jonah was thrown into the sea for his own sin, and the sailors were spared. Jesus had no sin of His own: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21). He went down into death in our place so that we could be brought safely home.

Jonah 4:2. Jonah confessed that God is “gracious and merciful… slow to anger.” Jesus is that grace in person.

Application. Are you more like Jonah, running from what God has said, or like the disciples, calling on Jesus in trouble? Either way, Jesus is the one who saves. Turn to Him.

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