Today Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Matthew (8: 23-27) in which Jesus, amid a raging storm, says to his disciples, ‘“Why are you so frightened, men of little faith?” and with that he stood up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and all was calm again’.

Fr Paul says this account of the calming of the storm in Matthew’s gospel underlines the commanding stature of Jesus. In comparing Matthew’s account here with the account in Mark’s gospel, it is interesting to note that the storm in this account is more violent than it is in the gospel of Mark. Here, the boat is about to be ‘covered’ by the water, not merely taking water.

Instead of the disciples turning to Jesus in despair, they turn to him in confidence that he will save them, calling him ‘Lord’, not merely ‘Teacher’. Correspondingly, Jesus rebukes them for their ‘little faith’, not for complete lack of faith as happens in Mark’s account.

Jesus, here, is an authoritative figure: instead of ‘waking up’ he ‘stands up’ to rebuke the elements. Finally, the disciples do not merely ask his identity, who he is, but admiringly wonder what sort of person he can be.

Fr Paul notes the Gospel Lesson, here, is that when storms come into our lives in whatever shape or form, we, too, can turn to Jesus in faith and ask for help.