Luke 8:22-25 2And it happened on one day and he and his disciples got into a boat , 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 strong windstorm came down on the lake, and they were being swamped and were in danger. 24And after approaching they woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And after waking up, he rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and it became calm. 25An he said to them, “Where is your faith?” And being afraid, they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”
The next story highlights further the need to respond to Jesus in faith. Jesus purposefully set out across the Sea of Galilee, taking his disciples with him. Everything Jesus did was intentional. There are two implied purposes for this trip. The first is related to the disciples. Verse 23 hints at the doctrine of incarnation and Jesus’ humanity. He must have been exhausted from the heavy travel and time with people. The soft rocking of the boat and his fatigue were a perfect combination for a nap. The surprise is how he remained asleep as a windstorm swept across the lake. The geographical location of the Sea of Galilee makes it prone to such sudden wind storms, which can whip up dangerous waves for small fishing vessels.
The disciples felt their lives were being threatened by the bad storm. Not all of them were fishermen, and some of them may have rarely gone out on the water. Water makes many people afraid, and to be out on it in rough weather makes things even worse. Their cry to Jesus shows desperation and fear, although Luke does not use the word “fear” until verse 25. They deserve at least some applause for recognizing that Jesus was the answer to their desperate situation. After the disciples woke him, Jesus only had to speak, and the winds and waves stopped.
Verse 25 reveals the deeper message in this story. The disciples had faith Jesus could do something about the situation, but they should not have feared in the first place. Jesus’ question reveals their problem: Where is your faith? They had been following him for some unknown time, possibly even a year or two, yet, their faith in him was weak. They saw him do many impossible miracles for others, but when it came to themselves, they were slow to make the connection in their own hearts.
Their response to Jesus was mixed. On the one hand, they were afraid (phobēthentes). The form of this word implies being frightened. Luke does not give an object or cause of their fear, but the context and flow of thought imply that the whole situation, especially how Jesus calmed the storm, moved them to fear. They had faith, but it was hindered by their fear. Their fear, answered by Jesus’ miracle, left them marveling about the situation. Their question among themselves indicates that they did not really understand who Jesus was. It was one thing to heal people, but to see nature itself obey him put Jesus on a whole other level that was shocking to the disciples. Jesus was even greater than the greatest prophets of the Old Testament, even greater than Moses who parted the Red Sea. The story ends with the question unanswered and challenges the reader, Theophilus, to answer it for himself. Every reader of the Gospel of Luke is confronted with the same question. The required response is to answer that he is indeed the miraculously born Son of God.
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