Ten Miracles in Matthew 8 and 9 (4)—The Storm Rebuked - All The LORD is near Daily Devotionals for 2026

The ship was covered by the waves; but He slept.
Matthew 8:24

Ten Miracles in Matthew 8 and 9 (4)—The Storm Rebuked
In Exodus 3:1-9 Moses learns that when he puts his hand into his bosom it becomes leprous, when he casts his staff on the ground it becomes a fearful serpent, and when he pours water on the ground it becomes blood. Unclean, unsafe, and guilty. Before we can serve effectively we have to learn these lessons.

Matthew's first set of miracles begins with a leper—unclean. The third set will begin with a woman having an issue of blood—symbolic of guilt. The second set begins here. It is the fourth miracle. It portrays the disciples in a situation that is unsafe. What we rely on by nature, whether staff or ship, is unsafe.

Fearing the imminent inundation of the ship, the disciples cry, "Lord save: we perish" (v. 25). He replied to them with a gentle rebuke, "Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?" (v. 26); and then He addressed the winds and waves with a powerful rebuke. In these things He taught them the truth of His person: He is God. Emmanuel is God with us. God has been manifested in flesh. Jesus is God. Speaking of Jehovah, the psalmist wrote, "He rebuked the Red Sea" (Ps. 106:9), and "He maketh the storm a calm, and the waves thereof are still" (Ps. 107:29), and "Thou rulest the pride of the sea: when its waves arise, Thou stillest them" (Ps. 89:9). Jesus is Jehovah.

Elsewhere, the Lord speaks well of a little faith (Lk. 17:6). The key thing is not the amount of faith but the worthiness of the object of faith. To this point, His disciples had not recognized the truth of His person. If they had trusted Him as God, could they have possibly thought the ship would sink? Awakening to the truth of His Person, they ask, "What sort of Man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"

Greg Quail