“Peace, be still”: when Jesus calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee

The waves were breaking into the boat, and it was filling with water. The disciples, some of them experienced fishermen, were terrified. Jesus was asleep on a pillow in the back of the boat.

Passing over

The calming of the storm appears in three Gospels: Matthew 8, Mark 4 and Luke 8. Mark’s version, in chapter 4 verses 35 to 41, has the most vivid details. It was evening after a long day of teaching by the lake. Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us pass over unto the other side.” They sent the crowd away and took him in the boat, “even as he was.” Other little boats went with them.

The Sea of Galilee is a freshwater lake surrounded by hills. Winds can rush down the slopes and whip up sudden storms on the water, which may explain how quickly the danger rose.

The storm

Mark writes that “there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.” For men who knew the lake well, this was a real threat to their lives. Only Mark mentions that Jesus was “in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow.” The detail shows his tiredness after a long day, and a calm that contrasts sharply with the panic around him.

Peace, be still

The disciples woke him and said: “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” Their words carry fear and a hint of complaint, feelings many believers recognise in their own prayers. Jesus arose, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still.” The wind ceased, “and there was a great calm.” The great storm was answered by a great calm.

Jesus then turned to the disciples: “Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?” The question is gentle but direct.

What manner of man

The disciples “feared exceedingly” and asked one another, “What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” Their fear of the storm had turned into awe at the one who calmed it. Readers often connect the story with Psalm 107, which describes sailors crying to the Lord in a storm: “He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.”

The story is among the most preached miracles in African churches. Sermons speak of the “storms of life”, from illness and debt to family trouble, and encourage believers to call on Jesus in the middle of them.

In song

The phrase “Peace, be still” appears in many hymns and gospel songs, including the nineteenth-century hymn “Master, the Tempest Is Raging” by Mary Ann Baker. The storm did not stop because the disciples were brave. It stopped because Jesus was with them in the boat. For many Christians, that is the heart of the story: the storm is real, but so is the one who can speak to it.