The disciples wake Him up in a panic and ask why He doesn't care that they are perishing. Jesus calms the storm, then rebukes the disciples for their fearfulness and lack of faith.
But what exactly was He expecting them to do?
This question hit me like a lightning bolt, because the answer will reveal something very important about God and about what He wants.
I can think of two possibilities:
- He expected them to remain calm -- He was in the boat, after all.
- He expected them to handle it the way He Himself handled crises. They had watched Him for long enough. They knew He simply placed His need before His Father in dependence, obedience, and gratitude.
But they didn't understand yet that they could access the Father as He did. He hadn't actually told them this at this point. And they didn't have the Holy Spirit yet. The only thing they knew was to turn to Him. So why did He chastise them?
He confronted them about two things: their fearfulness and their lack of faith, which amounted to the same thing. He was upset that they were panicking, but I think there was more to it. I'm still trying to work out what, but I think there was more to it.
I still had the question "What was He expecting them to do?" on my mind yesterday when I met with the Lord. At the end of our time together, He took me to Psalm 66. This psalm and I are old friends, so I thought He was just giving me a hug. But verses 18-20 caught my eye:
If I regard wickedness in my heart,
The Lord will not hear;
But certainly God has heard;
He has given heed to the voice of my prayer.
Blessed be God,
Who has not turned away my prayer
Nor His lovingkindness from me.
What was it that Jesus said just before He raised Lazarus from the dead?
“Father, I give thanks to You that You hear Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but for the sake of the crowd standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.”
(John 11:41b-42, Lexham English Bible*)
"If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear; but certainly God has heard; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer."
According to Strong's, the King James and NASB use the verb "regard" in the sense of to look at. I wonder if it isn't more "regard" in the sense of esteem, listen to, or take into consideration. The NIV appears to agree with with me, since it translates Psalm 66:18 as "If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened."
Here's the lesson I'm taking from this:
Jesus didn't even make a place for sin. He didn't give it the time of day. When temptation came, He was so focused on THE PRIZE (doing His Father's will), He could hold His ground calmly. He didn't need to prove anything. He didn't need to fear. He knew that God heard Him and would give heed to the voice of His prayer, because He lived Psalm 66:18.
Interestingly, "give heed to" is a synonym for regard, esteem, listen to, or take into consideration. So, Jesus gave no heed to sin, and the Father gave great heed to Jesus' prayers.
Back to Jesus in the boat. What was He saying? Maybe "Stop listening to the sound of sin inside your head. Listen instead to what you know about God, from your time spent with Me."
That's His diagnosis for us, too. Because the more we cherish God, the less we will cherish our sin. And the less we cherish our sin, the sweeter our relationship with God will become.
* I added the initial capitals to pronouns referring to divinity.