Why is Jesus Sleeping Through My Storm?
In this interview, we talk with Eugene Luning, author of the Moments with Jesus Encounter Bible. We discuss one of our favorite chapters from the new book, co-authored with Pastor Bill Johnson.
Destiny Image: In Chapter 8 of the Moments with Jesus Encounter Bible, you offer a really dynamic, imaginative retelling of the story of Jesus calming the storm. When does this story happen in the four Gospels, and what’s the context for it?
Eugene Luning: In the synoptic gospels (meaning Matthew, Mark and Luke) it's at a bit different spot in each one of them. But it's fairly early in the ministry years of Jesus, in the middle of a lot of action in all three of those gospels. It's happening right after healings, right after teachings. It's not very far after the sermon on the mount in Matthew, for instance.
So typically for Jesus, we see that His schedule is completely packed. He's with people, He's healing, huge crowds are chasing behind Him, and so it makes perfect sense, really, that He would then get into the boat with His closest friends – those ones that He feels comfortable with – and falls dead asleep. That shows us just how packed His schedule was, and how He really poured Himself out each and every day for the people around Him. So I think it's a beautiful picture of His heart for humanity – for us – and that's why I think it's kind of a neat detail that we're given in the gospels.
Almost all of the disciples in the boat with Jesus were from the vicinity of the sea of Galilee, and that at least four of them are fishermen. We can imagine them getting in that boat: they trim the sail, they sail on out, and—as I describe in the chapter—it's nice, it's calm: beautiful sunset, lapping waters. You can imagine the breeze blowing off what we today call the Golan Heights. You're almost asleep… and then, suddenly everything is crazy!
The sea of Galilee is actually a big lake. But because of the way that it is in this concave between hills and mountains, wild storms can blow up very rapidly. Set down amongst hills and mountains, it's almost like a cauldron where the wind begins to churn it up, and it becomes overwhelmingly crazy. And that's what I tried to paint for readers.
So it started calm, now it's crazy, even for the fishermen. This must have been a very violent storm. The chapter puts you in the center of the action: What do you do? What did Peter, or John, or Andrew do?
We imagine they grab the edge of the boat, and they work their way to the stern to shake Jesus awake. Their hearts are full of fear! They are no longer feeling like confident fishermen. It's clear when they shake Him that they are panicking, sort of shouting in His face.
And so that's the scene: from quiet, to crazy, to panic right in His direction. That's the setup.
DI: The typical moral that most sermons extract out of this story is that, Jesus can calm any storm in our lives. This is certainly true. But when Jesus wakes up and calms the storm, He reprimands the disciples for their small faith. Why do you think He reacted this way?
EL: Jesus asks that question in the midst of the hush that followed the wild storm. In that moment of sudden, quiet stillness, the realization is coming to the disciples’ hearts like, “Wait a minute… Who are we dealing with here?”
And I think that might be the point of this moment. Jesus is saying, “Look, I was taking a nap over here. I'm exhausted from caring for all of these people who follow me. I just needed a little shut-eye. Of course there was a storm—fine. But did you not know that I was in complete control of it, even while sleeping? Did you not know that when I wake up, I can do whatever I want about it? And quite frankly, if I wanted there to be a storm, I wanted there to be a storm.”
And so, the question you're pointing to is, when we're in a storm, our natural inclination is to cry out, “Stop this storm, Jesus! Stop it now, please! Actually it would have been great if you stopped it yesterday!”
Instead of asking immediately for the result we desire, what if we perceived the storm – whatever it might be in our lives – and we imagined ourselves turning and actually looking at Jesus, maybe gently waking Him up, saying, “Jesus there's this storm going on. What do you want to do? Do you want to comment? Do you want me to just sit here with you?” Or even, “Jesus should I just take a nap like you're doing right now? Because you're at peace, I want to be at peace.”
And so perhaps His question to the disciples is actually asking us to reconsider how we exist in the midst of life's constant storms. Most important of all, our responses to life’s storms must be done in the direction of, and in the presence of, Jesus Himself. Don't respond alone. Respond it with Him, at His pace, and with His posture.
The idea that Jesus is here to fix my circumstances is not at all painted in scripture. Yes, He is mighty. He does bring incredible healings and miracles. And He does calm the particular storm in this story. But I think what He's trying to invite the disciples into—and by extension, us—is this great faith that is fearless in the midst of any circumstance. So instead of begging Him to change the circumstance, we should seek to have His mind.
“Perhaps Jesus’ question to the disciples is actually asking us to reconsider how we exist in the midst of life’s constant storms.”
DI: In Scripture, Jesus calms the storm with either a single word, or a short phrase, depending on where you read it. But in your retelling, you've chosen to have Jesus speak just one word: “hush.” Why did you take that creative route?
EL: Let's go all the way back to the beginning. We know that Jesus is part of the eternal Godhead that spoke and said, “let us make…” and then made everything.
I’m sitting here breathing oxygen into lungs that work. And I have a heart that beats. He made me, and He made you, and He made everything, just off the top of His head. At the beginning of John's gospel, Jesus is called “the Word.” So when we hear, “they spoke and made the world,” He was the creative word by which it was spoken and made.
So, the man who's asleep in the stern of the boat is completely comfortable being the center-point of the creation that He Himself made and spoke into existence. That's the backstory to this moment.
I chose to have Jesus just say, “hush” to the storm because His voice – the exhalation of His breath, formed into a word – is actually the Word that created even the concept of wind in the first place! The very idea to combine H2O to make water – the same water that now is churning around the boat – He made it! And here, he simply speaks, “hush” to still it!
What a crazy thought for us, when we're in the midst of a small challenge that we've inflated in our minds to be everything, to say, “Wait a minute! I know the guy who made all of this!”
I live in Colorado. From my kitchen table, I can turn and look right out my window at the rocky mountains. I often think to myself, “He made those mountains. He sculpted them with His hands.” So when my problems seem mountainous in size, I can actually say “No, no. I know this Guy. I know the Guy who does this!”
We know the Guy who calmed the storm. We know the One who knit our children together in their mother's womb. That's the Guy we know. So let's have some confidence in Him! Let's trust Him one more day. It's a thrill because it's calming to remember that He's the Guy who said hush.
“We know the Guy who calmed the storm. We know the One who knit our children together in their mother’s womb. That’s the Guy we know. So let’s have some confidence in Him! Let’s trust Him one more day.”
DI: I’m reminded of C.S. Lewis's depiction of Aslan: he is not tame, but he's good. The same God who can calm the storm is also the maker of storms – which is to say that He is not only the God of peace, but is also wild! What a thought! He's the one who makes the mountains, and He's the one that rules the storms. What a beautiful picture!
EL: Yeah! You're bringing up Lewis, so I'll bring up another literary reference: In Xenophon, Socrates says something to the effect of, “you pray with your limited knowledge and you want this hard situation to stop, but in God's unlimited knowledge, He knows that this particular circumstance is leading you toward a greater moral purity, or a greater stout heart.”
That is also true of what we're talking about. The storm that you might be in today could be part of the way He's forming your character by His Holy Spirit. Let’s say this storm is only going to take another 20 minutes. Would you rather not have that 20 minutes, and miss out on the divine formation of your heart?
Like Socrates said, you have a limited understanding. What a glorious thing to release yourself to the unlimited sovereignty of God and let Him have His way with you. That's what we're talking about here, and I think it's the way to live.
We see this modeled in the life of the early church. These early disciples lived every day, just on a wild adventure with Jesus!
DI: In Matthew's gospel, the next story, following the storm, is where Jesus heals the two demoniacs.These men run up to Jesus and the disciples. They are deranged, frightening beyond anything that any of us could imagine. And to the legion of demons in these two men, Jesus just says, “go.” One single word. And the incredible power, confidence, and complete lack of insecurity or doubt behind that word causes the demons to flee. It's awesome to see how these back-to-back stories depict Jesus's incredible power, that He can release in just a word.
EL: I love think about that story from the disciples’ perspective: imagine going through that wild storm. Then, after the hush, they finally drop off to sleep, exhausted and confused. The next morning, they beach their boat. They were probably thinking, “thankfully, we can just relax today!” Then, five seconds later, these psychopaths are running at them saying, “what do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?!”
I mean, the day in the life with Jesus was crazy, and yet we know He is life itself!
DI: Matthew recounts all of these different stories where Jesus is speaks with power and authority. He notes that the people listening noted that He taught with authority unlike their teachers. Matthew then illustrates Jesus’ authority over many different situations. Then He tels of the storm and the demoniacs, building up a case in the reader's mind of the incredible authority of Jesus—that He is in fact the Word of God, as you were talking about earlier.
EL: Yes! If I recall correctly, the ending of Matthew 7 says, “His words had the ring of authority.” The greek word for “authority” used there is exousia.
In Matthew 28, He opens with “all authority (exousia) on heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore go…” And so, how cool is it that the “authority” of Matthew 7—the authority with those demoniacs, and the authority over creation—is the same authority He says He has. And therefore, is sending us out!
Exousia: it's a great Greek word. But that's how we want to live! We want to live in the center of His authority—not so that we're authoritative, but so that everyone else gets the chance to meet Him! That's the call of our life!
DI: As we were preparing for this interview, you alluded to a parallel between this text and Ephesians 2:6. Can you speak to that for our readers?
EL: Sure! In Ephesians 2:6, Paul describes this idea that we have been raised up and seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. I love that image: that my life has been grabbed ahold of, and taken up there – to where Jesus is in the eternal throne room of heaven. This is really where our life properly rests, now.
So, in the same way that Jesus is laying there in the back of the boat, I can take a deep breath, let it out, and be reminded that, no matter what storm is raging, my true life has already been captured and pulled into His presence in the throne room.
Just as calmly as He is seated on the throne, as calmly as He lay asleep in the stern, I can sit down next to Him and say, “Jesus my life is hard I'm going through something, but I want to sit here with you, in an elevated position, and trust you, believe, and go through the rest of this day with a calm heart, because I know that you're in control, and you've always been good.”
So, yes, Ephesians 2:6—if you haven't read it in a while, I'd encourage you to just sit and meditate on the fact that your true life is already with Him. He's calm. He's seated there, and He wants to invite you into that same posture, right now. What a blessing!
We're seated next to Him there in the boat. What a beautiful picture in the midst of life’s circumstances! We need only look over at Him each moment. As we're getting increasingly panicked by what we see around us, we only must look over to be reminded of our place beside Him in the heavenly realms!
DI: In this story, after witnessing Jesus’ incredible power, the closing question that the disciples ask is, “what sort of man is this?” The question seems apropos for us as well—what sort of man is this? Can you speak to that at all?
EL: Every single day of our human life, we are answering that question: “Who is this? What sort of man is this? What is He really like?”
If we go through days of our life without ever really thinking much about Him, that day has done us a disservice. We haven't done anything to roll the ball forward in terms of our affection for Him, our knowledge of His sovereignty, our testimony to the fact that he has calmed many storms in our lives.
For all of us—for you reading this interview—today's the day for you to encounter Him! Ask Him things to find out what His nature is like!
So, let's say tomorrow someone says to you, “Aren't you one of those people who is passionate about Jesus?” You can say, “Yes! He's so good! He's so powerful! His presence never leaves me! I'm never alone!” Because you need to be able to answer that question “what sort of man is this?” Your answer is personal to you, and today is the actual place where you're going to form that answer—by experience and by enjoyment of His presence.
So, even if it's stormy today for you, today is the day to encounter Him and to fill out even more of your personal testimony of His life and yours, so that in the end of our days, we can look back and say, “We've seen it all with Jesus, and we've seen how big, and how good, and how glorious he really is!”
Today's the day! Let's go after it with Him!
