A GREAT storm of wind once swept over an inland sea. The occupants of a little ship struggling to make its way through the wild waves feared that they were in grave danger. Their resources could not cope with the quantity of water they were shipping, their strength seemed inadequate to meet the fury of the elements, and their courage failed them. When they felt they were on the point of perishing, they called to their dear Master, who had slept in the boat throughout the storm, and awakened him.
We know from the Biblical account of this episode to be found in the eighth chapter of Luke's Gospel that Jesus "arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm." The Master also rebuked the disciples' lack of faith, and they, amazed at the authority with which Jesus had spoken, wondered, "What manner of man is this!"
At that period of their discipleship Jesus' followers perhaps believed that the dominion he had wielded over the storm was a personal authority vested in him by God. However, at a later time Jesus himself refuted any suggestion of possessing personal authority. He stated, following his healing of the lame man at the pool of Bethesda, "I can of mine own self do nothing" (John 5:30) The Master thus helped his disciples to gain an impersonal sense of the source of the spiritual power and authority that he expressed in his dominion over discordant elements.
