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Jesus Calms the Storm
In the parable of Jesus calming the storm (Luke 8:22-25), Jesus suggests to the disciples
that they go to the other side of a lake. On the journey across the lake, Jesus falls asleep, and
while he slept a storm came leaving the boat compromised and the disciples panicked. The
disciples woke Jesus and expressed their concerns to him. Jesus calmed the storm around them
and asked the disciples where their faith was. The disciples were amazed at his ability, for even
the seas obeyed him.
Through the parable, Luke conveys Jesus’ message of the importance of faith and God’s
ability to guide and protect through difficult or dangerous times. There are many ways the
parable has been interpreted, but each focuses on the importance of having and recognizing one’s
unconditional faith in the Lord, as well as recognizing his power over creation.
By looking at a variety of analysis of the parable, one can begin to get a complete picture
of the various meanings and interpretations of the text, as well as an understanding of the
original impact of the parable on its audience.
When approaching the gospel of Luke, it is important to keep the idea of hospitality in
mind. As stated by Byrne in The Hospitality of God: A Reading of Luke’s Gospel, “Hospitality,
in a variety of expressions, forms a notable frame of reference for the ministry of Jesus.” (Byrne,
8).
In his gospel, Luke very clearly views the life and ministry of Jesus as a visitation from
God to Israel and the world. How this visitor is received is a crucial point in salvation, Jesus,
who comes as a visitor becomes the host, and extends the hospitality of God to the world
allowing them to become truly human (Byrne, 8).
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Fitzmyer’s commentary on Luke 8:22-25, in the text The Gospel According to Luke,
focused heavily on the manifestation of Jesus’ powers displayed in the parable. He explains that
Luke’s gospel emphasized the word of power as opposed to the preaching of word as seen in
other gospels. In the beginning of his ministry, Jesus’ focus on power was related to the Lord,
but in portions of scripture such as the parable of the calming of the storm, we see power
expressed more so in relation to action, such as Jesus’ saving actions toward the disciples in the
storm (Fitzmyer, 727).
Fitzmyer commentary of the parable stressed the importance of having and understanding
one’s faith, even in difficult times, as seen in Luke, “…it goes rather to the heart of the matter. A
disciple of Jesus, faced even with the worst, must realize where his basic relation to God and
Jesus really lies.” (Fitzmyer, 728). Since messages conveyed by Jesus to the disciples are often a
mirror of the messages intended to be conveyed to the gospel’s audience, this demonstrates
Luke’s intent to bring his audience to reflect on their own relationship with God and their faith.
Fitzmyer also comments on possible parallels between Jesus as depicted in the parable
and Yahweh. Both Jesus and Yahweh were known to establish order over chaos, such as Jesus
calming the chaos of the storm.
In Johnson’s commentary on the parable of Jesus calming the sea, he draws quite a few
parallels between Luke and Mark’s account. He notes that between the two versions, there is a
drastic shift in where the emphasis is placed, and how it transitions from being on the lack of
faith exhibited in the disciples in Marks version to the power of Jesus in Luke’s gospel. The
focus on Christ’s power in Luke’s account of the calming of the storm is emphasized through his
justification of the disciple’s fear. Johnson elaborates on the differences between the Mark and
Luke version of the miracle, including how Luke 8:22-25 depicts the disciples as sleeping along
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with Jesus and awaking to the storm occurring around them, as well as their boat beginning to
sink, in order to make the disciples fear reasonable, and shift the focus to the power of Jesus as
opposed to the cowardice of the disciples (Johnson, 138).
Luke also directs the attention away from the fear of the disciples by neglecting to use the
word “afraid” as is was in Mark’s gospel (Johnson, 138). This question of “Where is your faith?”
in Luke as opposed to “Do you still have faith?” indicates that while the disciples do have faith,
they were not actively demonstrating it. Similar to Fitzmyer, Johnson’s analysis went in depth
into the importance of understanding one’s relationship with their faith. The importance of
identifying and trusting one’s own faith is emphasized in Jesus’ saying, “Where is your faith?” as
opposed to “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” seen in Mark’s account
(Johnson, 138).
From Johnson’s analysis of the parable, it is clear that he believes Luke is trying to raise
two main points with his rendition of the parable, those being the overwhelming power of Christ,
and the necessity of coming to terms with one’s own faith. Luke’s reworking of key parables
such as the calming of the storm lends itself to the prophecy fulfilling motif present in the gospel,
marked by the full circle effect of important questions answered later on and use of phrases that
are intended to be reminiscent of messages conveyed in earlier portions of the gospel.
LaVerdiere, in his analysis of Luke 8:22-25 in the text The Story of Jesus, takes a
different approach to the meaning and significance of the parable. LaVerdiere focused heavily on
the symbolism attached to the parable, and what that meant for the evolving Christian religion in
a historical context.
LaVerdiere begins by explaining the crossing of the lake as a symbol for the expansion of
Christianity, and the storm encountered by Jesus and the disciples as symbolic of the social
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turmoil that resulted from the evolving theological environment. LaVerdiere says that the
crossing from one side of the lake to the other is representative of the Christian religion
expanding from predominantly Jewish areas to the gentile world. With the expansion of the
religion came a metaphorical storm in the community, which many followers of Jesus felt
abandoned for, similar to how the felt alone and panicked by Jesus sleeping through the storm, as
he had been crucified and was no longer around to physically lead his followers through the
difficult times they were facing (LaVerdiere, 117-18).
Jesus’ questioning of the disciple’s faith was another key event in the parable that
LaVerdiere focused heavily on. LaVerdiere argues that Luke’s depiction of Jesus rebuking the
disciples for their lack of faith was not a message intended only for the disciples, but for the
Luke’s readers as well as a means of making them assess where their own faith lies (LaVerdiere,
118).
LaVerdiere’s historical contextualization of the parable, as well as his interpretation of
Jesus questioning the disciples faith led to the raising of the question of Jesus’ true identity,
“Jesus’ demonstration of power over the elements raises the question of his identity…in relation
to a manifestation of power…” (LaVerdiere, 118) and how he was capable of commanding the
natural world, a question which he claims is answered in subsequent texts. None the less, his
analysis of the parable demonstrates it’s significance to Christians in the sense that it forces them
to reflect on the identity of Jesus, as well as reflecting on their own faith in an individual whose
identity remains uncertain.
The parable of Jesus calming the storm was closely analyzed by Carrol Stuhlmueller in
her text, The Gospel According to Luke. In her analysis, it is revealed that so many details were
withheld from Luke’s version of the parable, that in a sense it transitioned from an eyewitness
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account of Jesus’ power to a miracle story. In addition to Luke’s contextualizing the account
differently, he also severed its ties to the other parables by introducing the parable in a different
way than other versions of the account, and as a result of this, Stuhlmueller claims that the
miracle is difficult to consider as an example of “the mysteries of the Kingdom of God” which
Jesus reveals only to his disciples (Stuhlmueller, 139).
Stuhlmueller’s commentary on Luke 8:22-25 focuses heavily on the connotations of
vocabulary used in Luke's parable, as well as meanings associated with the text as a result of the
word choice. By phrasing Jesus’ act toward the waves as “rebuk[ing] the wind and surging deep”
a connection is made to the exorcising of demons (Stuhlmueller, 139). In the Old Testament,
water was seen as the place where these demonic forces resided, so by calming the sea and in a
sense exorcising the demons from the waves, “Jesus appears as the conqueror of the demonic
forces of the world of nature” (Stuhlmueller, 139). Stuhlmueller’s analysis of Jesus calming the
sea not only emphasizes his power over fate, but his power over the natural world.
Stuhlmueller also commented on the disciple’s lack of faith as demonstrated in the
parable. When Jesus asked the disciples, “where is your faith” the idea that faith should be
unconditional is emphasized. It should not depend on circumstance or fortune, one should simply
have faith at all times, in every instance. Stuhlmueller argues that Jesus’ questioning of the
disciples faith gets to one of the main points of the gospel, and that is that a follower of Jesus
should still have strong faith, even in the most precarious of times (Stuhlmueller, 139).
Stuhlmueller’s analysis of the parable of the calming of the storm highlights some of the
key messages intended to be expressed by the parable, those being that God is the master of all
and has power over all of creation, as seen in his “exorcising” of the sea, and that one's faith in
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the Lord should never waiver, as he will guide his followers through even the worst of times, as
demonstrated by Jesus’ response to the disciples panic.
While Lohfink never specifically gave his insight on the calming of the storm parable, he
did go into great detail about the different types of miracles. One such type of miracle he
discussed in Jesus of Nazareth: What He Wanted, Who He Was were miracles of nature. The
parable of calming the storm and Jesus revoking the waves can be viewed as a miracle of nature
because it involves the breaking of natural law in regard to water, wind, and the elements. More
specifically, however, Lohfink describes events such as that in the parable of the calming of the
storm as rescue miracles. Though this type of distinction is not always made, Lohfink stresses
the importance of being able to separate miracles such as this from the casting out of demons,
both of which fall under the broad category of exorcism miracles (Lohfink 139-40).
Like most biblical texts, there are countless different meanings and interpretations of the
parable of the calming of the storm. The main points to be drawn from the parable of the calming
of the storm revolve around recognizing both Christ’s divinity and humanity. Through the
parable, the audience also comes to understand the true and complete power of God.
Through the image of Jesus asleep on the boat, the human aspect of salvation is revealed.
Since salvation is accessible to those who live a life following the example of Jesus, anything
that makes this lifestyle seem more attainable is of great value to Christians today. By
encountering Jesus in such a vulnerable human state, it begins to bridge the gap between Jesus
and his lifestyle and the lives we live as everyday people. Once the similarity between oneself
and Jesus is revealed, it is significantly easier to adapt one’s own life to mimic the way of Jesus.
The parable of Jesus calming the storm also has great application and significance when
looking at the world today; and when thought of in modern times, gives great hope for a better
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tomorrow. In everyday life, we may not face deadly storms or sinking ships too often, but we are
without a doubt living in a darker time of history. God’s power may not rescue us from literal
storms so much today, but to Christians the parable could easily serve as a beacon of hope and a
reminder that with faith, the Lord will protect us in these difficult times and rescue us from the
metaphorical storm that is modern society.
Sources
Byrne, Brendan. The Hospitality of God: A Reading of Luke’s Gospel. Revised Edition. Collegeville, MN:
Liturgical Press, 2015
Fitzmyer, Joseph A. The Gospel According to Luke. 2 vols. Anchor Bible Series. New York: Doubleday,
1981-85.
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Johnson, Luke Timothy. Luke. Sacra Pagina Series. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1991
LaVerdiere, Eugene. Luke. New Testament Message Series 5. Wilmington, DE: Michael Glazier, 1980
Lohfink, G., & Maloney, L. M. (2015). Jesus of Nazareth: What He wanted, who He was (pp. 139-140).
Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press.
Stuhlmueller, Carroll. “The Gospel according to Luke.” In The Jerome Biblical Commentary. Edited by
Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall,
1968
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