The Winds and the Sea Obey

Fr. Scott A. Haynes

A Meditation on Matthew 8:23-27

And when he entered into the boat, his disciples followed him: And behold a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the boat was covered with waves, but he was asleep. And they came to him, and awaked him, saying: Lord, save us, we perish. And Jesus saith to them: Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith? Then rising up he commanded the winds, and the sea, and there came a great calm. But the men wondered, saying: What manner of man is this, for the winds and the sea obey him?

“My cat is a tabby... (and today he is my spiritual director!) Just now he was in the garden when a black cat came loping along the garden wall, a very unpleasant fellow, I must admit, definitely marked by the underworld; my tabby became very anxious. He rushed to [my glass patio door], his pink mouth wide open, his face raddled with fear. I let him in and no sooner had he jumped on my lap than he relaxed, he went limp, and indicated by various signs known to me that he wanted his ears scratched — that done, he went to sleep.”

This passage from the English writer, Caryll Houselander, offers us a lesson in trust. The disciples in the boat were terrified of this storm. It was of seismic proportions. The waves were crashing upon them. The boat was almost completely filled with water. The fierce winds were threating to turn the ship bottoms up and there was Jesus asleep on a pillow. The disciples turn to their master, rather like Miss Houselander’s scared cat in the garden, full of anxiety and fear. After the disciples wake Jesus, He said to them, “Why are you afraid, O ye of little faith?”

In Jewish Cosmology, in Jesus’ day, the sea was the realm of chaos, demons, and hell. Remember that when Jesus met the Gerasene demoniac He sent those demons into pigs who then run into the sea. The sea was the home of demons. I think Scripture is implying that the presence of Jesus on the boat that day stirred up a storm in Hell.

The presence of the Prince of Peace was violence to the dominion of the devil. The humility of Jesus “meek and mild” burned the arrogance that is Hell. So, wherever you sail with Jesus in this world...you can expect a storm...a violent reaction. The Greek word translated “storm” in the Gospel today is the word seismos. It’s where we get the word “seismology.” Everywhere else in Scripture it’s translated “earthquake.” There are certainly Greek words for storm, and Matthew could’ve used them here, but he obviously wants us to make a connection to a seismos of this event and the seismos of Good Friday, when it seemed that the powers of Hell had triumphed. Hell tried to swallow Heaven. Evil tried to consume good, but it couldn’t stomach the meal. And there was a great seismos. “[T]he rocks were split and the tombs were opened.” (Matthew 27:52).

Today’s Gospel offers a lesson in prayer. “There are many ways of prayer; to “lift up the heart and mind to God” [as St Theresa of Avila calls it], covers a huge range. There is prayer like that of Moses, when he lifted up his arms and held them up, straining and agonizing, before God; there is the prayer which Christ describes in one of His parables, which could be called 'the prayer of importunity,' a persistent, continual hammering and beating on the door of Heaven until we get what we want. There is the prayer of the disciples in the midst of the storm, “Master, save us!” It is a prayer of desperation.

Miss Houselander writes, “I ought to be able to treat God as my cat treats me . . . we must learn to trust God..” “But trust does not mean believing that God will spare us from suffering . . . .” No. In this Gospel today, Jesus leads His disciples into the storm and He did it on purpose. He did not save them from the storm. No. He saved them in the midst of it.

My dear friends in Jesus and Mary, believe that the circumstances of your life, every minute of your life, as well as the whole course of your life-anything and everything that happens–have all come to you by His will and by His permission. You must utterly believe that everything that has happened to you is from God and is exactly what you need...

As the Lord leads us into the storm, and we see Him resting on his pillow because, remember Jesus is in charge. Christus vincit. Christus reganat. Christus imperat. Christ conquers. Christ rules. Christ commands. In the world and in the church, there are times in which it seems that the storm will overtake us but have no fear. Jesus will awaken, rebuke the storm and bring us peace.