That evening Jesus told his disciples to go across to the other side of the lake. Leaving the crowd behind, they took him in the boat as he was. Other boats went with them.
The journey began in response to Jesus’ direction. As darkness approached, the boat carrying Jesus and the disciples moved away from shore toward the other side with the other boats nearby.
A fierce wind arose and waves began breaking into the boat, but Jesus was asleep on a cushion in the stern. The rising water and the sleeping Jesus were now part of the same danger confronting the disciples.
The wind did more than make the crossing uncomfortable. Waves repeatedly broke over the sides, and water accumulated inside the boat. The danger had reached the point where the vessel was filling faster than the disciples could ignore.
The disciples woke him and asked whether he cared that they were about to die. Jesus got up, rebuked the wind, and told the sea to be still.
His command was directed separately to the wind and the sea. He rebuked the wind and ordered the water to be silent and still. The storm did not merely diminish while they waited; the wind stopped, the waves ceased, and the lake entered a great calm.
Once the danger had passed, Jesus questioned the fear that had controlled them. They had awakened him because they believed he could respond, yet they had not understood what his presence in the boat meant. He asked why faith had still not replaced their terror.
The disciples were filled with great fear and asked one another, “Who is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him.” The storm had ended, but what Jesus had done left them facing a larger question about the one who was in the boat with them.