An Unexpected Tempest
“Now when He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him, and suddenly a great tempest arose in the sea, so the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep.” Matthew 8:24
Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Whichever house He stepped into He brought peace. He often visited the houses of the sick and healed them, thus removing every motive of sorrow and grief. He brought the promise of His kingdom to those who would accept the invitation and a peaceful joy would take possession of those who believed and received the gift of salvation. He still knocks at people’s hearts and peace overflows as we open the door and bid Him welcome.
“Now when He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him, and suddenly a great tempest arose.” This scene seems to contradict our previous declaration. Here Jesus enters a place, gets into a boat, and a tempest arises. Suddenly, the peaceful sea becomes turbulent, a threatening place; the soft wind that would gently push the boat to its destination turns into a whistling gust that threatens to tip the boat and its human cargo into the deep blue sea. How can this be possible?
If we take the fishing boat as a symbol of our life sliding smoothly over the sea, following a certain route and seeking a certain goal, heading toward a certain harbour after having had a certain catch, and we allow Jesus to step into it, we shall soon understand the spiritual meaning of this verse. “A tempest arose on the sea.” The elements become enraged at Jesus’ presence, the new set of principles He brings, the new goal He sets before us. The new demands He has stir up the fleshy nature in us or in those who surround us and we risk being swallowed up by the waves that beat against the fragile wood of our human frame. That wood has not yet been overlaid with gold because, although it knows and accepts the law of God as the utmost expression of His love for humanity, it has delayed its preparation to contain it. It hasn’t yet followed the faith fully. These things only will have the power to hide the wooden structure under a layer of pure gold—a material that can suffer no harm, a material that if it is beaten will not offer resistance but will endure and humbly bend to the strikes of the hammer, a material that, if put on the fire, will melt and flow and give the Master Artisan the freedom to do with it whatever He wants.
“The disciples followed Him “, they observed Him from close up, admired Him, felt secure and protected in His presence, but they did not yet live His life so they lacked the strength to have faith against the elements which “suddenly” arose against them—the wind and the sea, symbols of war and multitudes. Only Jesus knows how fragile a human being may feel before a ravenous mob asking for His crucifixion, and He is the only ONE who can rebuke the wind and bring great calm.
Tempests often arise suddenly, but they have had a long time of preparation and incubation. Before an earthquake shakes the foundations of the ground where we stand, the different layers of earth and subterranean rocks have broken and shifted under a certain pressure. There are forces constantly at work underneath the surface that mold the outer layer of the earth. The same thing happens with tempests in our lives, with war, with persecution, with accusations. Tongues and ears have been busy for a long time preparing the foundation for a storm, for an earthquake. Sometimes we are surprised that in a wonderful spring morning, when the sun shines brightly, fluffy white clouds like flakes of cotton cleave the skies, and a flock of birds flies to and fro delighting our eyes and at the same time awakening in our heart the desire of being so free and above the ground, suddenly the earth moves under our feet. We were not aware of what was going on in secret. We were not naive to thank the Lord every evening for the calm around us and the apparent peace and harmony, and “suddenly” this unexpected storm. We turn to Him but He does not seem to hear us, He is asleep. We are absolutely alone in the middle of the storm and we know we are not handling things right because He rightly says: “Without me you can do nothing.” Then we look for human help, exchange opinions, ask for advice, try to find solutions, but nothing works.
“Then the disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying: Lord save us! We are perishing!” (Matthew 8:25)
Completely aware that every human attempt for improvement is a guaranteed failure, we go to Him without any fear of disturbing Him, because we know quite well that even if He is able to getting quite angry at our unbelief, He will never pay a deaf ear to the call of one of His children who is sunk in loneliness and helplessness. We have enough experiences with Him to know that He is always ready to enfold us in his loving arms, and suddenly, in the same way that the tempest arose, peace comes into our heart and life. It is because again, as it happens in the underground preparation for an earthquake, a secret process takes place in our spirit that was once touched by His, and like the pieces of a puzzle, past experiences, remembrances of His faithfulness, His personal promises made to us, very special moments come all together in our subconscious world and bring, as a result a deep joyful peace and a hymn of gratitude to our lips.
Thank you Lord that you allow trials that bring us back to you after long periods of wandering on our own and dwelling on earthly and carnal demands trying to look for a solution without you! Thank you that you make us once again take time to lift our eyes to heaven, early in the morning, as the day breaks, and see how the moon shyly and humbly watches the magnificent awakening of the sun in a sky tinted in different hues, to disappear finally and let the source of light master during the day. Thank you for teaching us, through this object lesson how you expect us to depend on you so that we may hold our peace! Thank you Lord, thank you Prince of peace!
“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials”” (James 1:32) and remember “that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. ” (Romans 8:28)
AMEN