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From: Matthew 8:23-27

The Calming of the Storm

[23] And when He (Jesus) got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. [24]
And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being
swamped by the waves; but He was asleep. [25] And they went and woke Him,
saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” [26] And He said to them, “Why are
you afraid, O men of little faith?” Then He rose and rebuked the winds and the
sea; and there was a great calm. [27] And the men marvelled, saying, “What
sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey Him?”

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Commentary:

23-27. This remarkable miracle left a deep impression on Jesus’ disciples, as
can be seen from the fact that the first three evangelists all report it. Christian
Tradition has applied this miracle in various ways to the life of the Church and
the experience of the individual soul. From earliest times Christian art and lite-
rature have seen the boat as representing the Church, which also has to make
its way around hazards which threaten to capsize it. Indeed, very early on,
Christians were persecuted in various ways by Jews of their time, and were
misunderstood by the public opinion of a pagan society—which also began to
persecute them. Jesus’ sleeping through the storm has been applied to the fact
that sometimes God seems not to come to the Church’s rescue during persecu-
tion. Following the example of the Apostles in the boat, Christians should seek
Jesus’ help, borrowing their words, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing”. Then,
when it seems we can bear it no longer, Jesus shows His power: “He rose and
rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm”—but first rebuking
us for being men of little faith. Quite often Gospel accounts are meant to serve
as examples to us: they epitomize the future history of the Church and of the
individual Christian soul.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.