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The story of Jesus calming the storm is famous and appears in all 3 synoptic Gospels.  Luke's account is briefest and concentrates simply on the bare facts.  Luke's chief concern is that we should see more and more clearly who Jesus is.  The final sentence is the disciples' stunned, "Who is this?  He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him."  It also shows to serve how weak the disciples' faith was even at this stage."  It's also full of practical instruction for anyone who is eager to live the Christian life, especially when the storms of life come.

We can divide the story into 4 episodes: beginning, crisis, resolution, end; setting out, hitting problems en route, problems overcome, conclusion; andante, presto, allegro, andante.

1.  Sleep & storm

The story begins with Jesus saying to his disciples one day, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake."  The first disciples were fishermen, as you know, so they knew all about boats.  They were the ones who took Jesus to his destination.  However, Luke tells us, it was Jesus who gave the command for this particular trip.  Because Jesus spoke, they got into a boat and set out.

More than one commentator has observed that the boat is typical either of the church or of our lives as Christians.  We're living our lives out like a boat travelling on life's sea.  If we're Christians we have Christ with us.

A.  Jesus asleep in the boat

By comparing Luke's account with what we read in the other Gospels, it becomes clear that on this particular day Jesus had been very busy.  He'd been involved in doing miracles, teaching his disciples, preaching to the crowds, and disputing with his opponents all day long.

It was now evening and as Jesus was 100% man as well as 100% God, he understandably felt very tired and, soon after embarking, fell asleep.  "As they sailed, he fell asleep."  No doubt he was keen to gather his strength for what lay ahead too, as they were about to enter Gentile country across the lake.

This pictures well the situation for many believers.  They're out on the high seas; danger lurks on all sides but all's well, for Jesus is sleeping in the boat with them.  Is he with you?  Are you aware of his presence?  When he's there, there's never need for alarm.

B.  A storm comes down

The next thing we read, however, is that, "A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger."  The Sea of Galilee is situated to the north of the Jordan Valley.  It's about 13 miles long, 7½ miles wide.  It's about 680 feet below the sea level of the Mediterranean, and surrounded by hills - especially on the east where there are high cliffs.  When cool currents rush down from Mount Hermon to the north (over 9000 feet), they are forced through narrow passages between Galilee's steep hills and collide with the heated air above the Lake's basin.  There is a strong down rush and water is whipped up, causing high waves that threaten to swamp any vessel out on the water.

Such storms can whip up very powerfully quite suddenly and this is what seems to have happened.  Humanly speaking it seems that they were in great danger.  Of course, they weren't really.  Jesus was with them.  There was no way that he or they could come to an end until God's purposes for them were fulfilled.

Again, by way of application, we can think of our Christian lives as travelling on life's sea.  Sometimes storms come.  They can appear as if from nowhere.  No matter how skilled at piloting our craft, and even though Jesus is with us, dangers always exist.

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2.  Panic & prayer

What happens next is that the disciples are seized with a mixture of panic and prayerfulness.  "They went and woke him, saying, 'Master, Master, we're going to drown!'" They could see how ferocious and wild this storm was turning.  It was perhaps something quite out of the ordinary.  As irrational as it was in truth, they were afraid that the waves were going to swamp the boat and that they were all going to die.  Jesus, of course, appropriately, was still fast asleep.

There was a good side and a bad side to the disciples' attempt to wake him.  It was a mixture of faith and unbelief that prompted them - unbelief in thinking that they were going to drown, and faith in that they called on the Saviour.  It was panic and prayer combined.  The repeated, "Master, Master", reveals the alarm and the looking to Jesus.  So often we react with such a mixture, don't we?

A.  Panic

We hit trouble and we're filled with irrational fears about our safety, about the future of the cause of Christ, etc.  Somehow we must learn not to panic.

You notice that, when Jesus awoke, he didn't panic.  He remained perfectly calm.  When one is woken from sleep it often takes a moment to adjust.  Imagine Jesus waking to see the storm, the disciples in panic and fear.  Is he phased?  Does he panic?  Act irrationally?  Is he terrified?  No way.  What grandeur, what purity, what nobility.  Whatever troubles come he's untouched.  He remains above them.  Look to him and you can too.

B.  Prayer

The right element here was their turning to the master in prayer.  Whatever trouble or crisis we face, this is always the right reaction.  We should never waste a moment thinking, "Should I pray about this?"  The answer's always "Yes".  Nothing's too trivial, nothing's too great.  All should be brought to him in prayer.  Call out to him - not in panic and certainly not with words of reproach as some certainly used.  However, to pray is always the right thing.  It's the Christian's native breath.  We perish when we cease from prayer.

Oh, when will we learn to pray more readily, more willingly, more often?  Go to Jesus.  His ears are always open to hear our cry.  He'll hear and heed the faintest cry.  We're his people.  Our king will hear.  We're his sheep.  The Good Shepherd hears our cry.  He's our great High Priest.  He has us on his heart.  He's not far from anyone of us.  He's here in the boat with us.  It only needs a call from one of his own to wake him.  The storm couldn't rouse him, but the cry of his disciples did.  It's like a mother hearing a cry from one of her own babies.  So it is when we pray to the Lord.

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3.  Rebuke & reprimand

So what follows?  Well, a miracle.  That's what follows.  Or perhaps we can speak of two rebukes, two reprimands, two words of reproval.  First, Jesus addresses the storm and then the disciples.  Here is a pattern that we ought to note.

A.  The rebuke to the storm

"He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm."  First, Jesus dealt with the problem.  One moment, he seemed to the disciples so helpless and hopeless - a sleeping man about to drown.  But then he wakes and in a moment he's dealt with the storm that was causing them so much distress.  You notice that immediately both wind and waves became calm - not the wind and then eventually the waves.  What a demonstration of power.

As to himself, he was exhausted and slept but, when it came to helping others, he rose, and he acted to deal with the trouble.  As a man, he slept; but now, as God, he rises and speaks to the wind and waves he created, and bids them be still.  We can't speak to the elements like that; or, if we do, there'll be no reaction.  He is all powerful, however, and when he speaks there's a reaction.

That's why we should always go to him in prayer.  Whatever it is, he's able to deal with it.  We're not saying that as soon as we go to Jesus he'll remove the problem.  That's not always his purpose.  However, he has power to deal with whatever confronts us.  He can deal with it in a moment if he so chooses.

B.  The reprimand to the disciples

The reprimand: "Where is your faith?"  As we've said, there was an element of faith in their crying out to him, but there was also a measure of unbelief.  It's the unbelief that Jesus reprimands.  It's gentle and loving, but it is a reprimand.  They should have trusted him even when he was asleep.  "Where is your faith?"  It's a little like a sergeant saying to a soldier, "Where's your gun?' or a school teacher saying to a child, "Where's your pen?"  They should be at the ready.

Our faith should be like that.  These men had faith but it wasn't "at the ready" and so they were found wanting.  Their alarm revealed a lack of faith.  Our alarm and worry reveal ours.  It would seem that the disciples were still afraid even after Jesus had calmed the storm, and it may be that he's rebuking both their past fear and their present fear.  Our capacity for fearfulness is very great and unless we look to Jesus we will go on in fear.  Too often fear drives out faith.  If only we were more ready and willing to trust in Christ.

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4.  Reaction & realisation

"In fear and amazement they asked one another, 'Who is this?  He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.'"

A.  Reaction

Fear and amazement.  They'd just witnessed a tremendous miracle.  No wonder they were amazed.  Their fear is understandable too.  There is a good fear as well as a bad fear - and this seems to have been a mixed thing, as was the case with their panic and prayer.  We must not give in to fear and worry.

B.  Realisation

The great thing is that they had come to understand something of his power.

Have we?