1 Samuel 16:1-13a

David Anointed as King

16:1 The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons." 2 Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me." And the LORD said, "Take a heifer with you, and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.' 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you." 4 Samuel did what the LORD commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, "Do you come peaceably?" 5 He said, "Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice." And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD's anointed is now before the LORD." 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart." 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, "Neither has the LORD chosen this one." 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, "Neither has the LORD chosen this one." 10 Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, "The LORD has not chosen any of these." 11 Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your sons here?" And he said, "There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here." 12 He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The LORD said, "Rise and anoint him; for this is the one." 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. (1 Samuel 16:1-13a, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated with minimal editing from July 8, 2009 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 6, Year One), when comments were repeated with editing and supplement from July 11, 2007 (Wednesday in the week of the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, references for the week of the Sunday closest to July 6, Year One), when comments were combined with editing and supplement from 6, 2005 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 6, Year One), and from comments on 1 Samuel 16:1-13a from May 30, 2006 (Tuesday in the week of the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year Two).

This reading follows earlier reports in 1 Samuel of how King Saul has disobeyed Samuel’s instructions to utterly destroy (Ol rw,ax3 tx, MT,m4raH3hav4, w^e hach^a ramtem ’eth-kol-’ ^a šer-lô) the Amalekites including people and livestock (1 Sam. 15:3). According to William L. Holladay, the verb translated “utterly destroy” is a hifil form of MrH (ch-r-m) which means “devote to the ban (cf. Mr,H,, cherem [‘ban’]), dedicate to destruction, esp. war booty, men, cattle” (A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1971, 10^th corrected impression 1988, s.v. MrH, ch-r-m). Saul defeated the Amalekites (v. 7), but he spared the king, Agag (v. 8) and saved “the best of the sheep and of the cattle and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was valuable” (v. 9). For failing to follow through completely on these instructions, Saul is rejected as Israel’s king. The issue for Saul was obedience. In Samuel’s rebuke he utters the familiar lines,

Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,

as in obedience to the voice of the LORD?

Surely, to obey is better than sacrifice,

and to heed than the fat of rams.

For rebellion is no less a sin than divination,

and stubbornness is like iniquity and idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,

He has also rejected you from being king. (1 Samuel 15:22-23, NRSV)

Saul attempts to make amends, but to no avail.

So in today’s reading we find Samuel instructed by the LORD: “How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons” (1 Sam. 16:1). According to Shimon Bar-Efrat, “The hollow ram’s horn was used as a vessel” (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, on 1 Sam. 16:1). The LORD chides Samuel for grieving over Saul, whom he has rejected, and instructs Samuel to prepare to anoint one of the sons of Jesse “the Bethlehemite” as king. But God’s decision has yet to be worked out in actuality. Samuel protests: “If Saul hears of it, he will kill me” (v. 2a), but the LORD insists, and provides a ruse. “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you” (vv. 2b, 3). When Samuel arrives in Bethlehem, the elders greet him with some concern. They “meet him trembling,” and say, “Do you come peaceably?” (v. 4). According to Steven L. McKenzie, “Jesse seems to be among the elders or civic leaders of Bethlehem. Their trembling is perhaps because they suspect the nature of Samuel’s mission and fear that his visit will bring consequences from Saul. Or perhaps they are afraid that he has come to condemn them for some wrongdoing” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on 1 Sam. 16:4-5). But Samuel reassures them. “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice” (v. 5).

At the sacrifice, Jesse’s sons are presented before Samuel, one after another. Of the oldest, Eliab, Samuel thought, “Surely the LORD's anointed (OHyw9m4, m ^ešîchô, lit. ‘his anointed’) is now before the LORD” (v. 6). According to P. Kyle McCarter Jr., “Samuel mistakenly assumes that Eliab, Jesse’s firstborn (1 Chr. 2:13), is the LORD’s anointed, i.e., the mashiach (Hebrew, ‘anointed one’ or ‘messiah’) of the Lord” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on 1 Sam. 16:6). But the LORD has his own standards., and says to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” (v. 7). We are reminded of a later admonition, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, / for from it flow the springs [‘issues’ KJV] of life” (Prov. 4:23 NRSV). According to Bar-Efrat, “Eliab’s stature reminds Samuel of Saul, who was also tall (9:2; 10:23). But height and outward appearance are unimportant: God, who knows each person from within, has rejected Eliab, just as He rejected Saul” (op. cit., on 1 Sam. 16:6-7).

The remaining sons are called in turn, Abinadab (v. 8), Shammah (v. 9), and four more, for a total of seven (v. 10), but as Samuel reported repeatedly, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one” (vv. 8, 9), “The LORD has not chosen any of these” (v. 10). It took a bit of inquiry for Samuel to learn about David. “Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Are all your sons here?’ And he said, ‘There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep’ ” (v. 11a). McKenzie notes that “keeping the sheep” (v. 11) , which means that David was a shepherd, uses “a common metaphor for a king (2 Sam. 5:2).” He also points out that “youngest [NFAqA. qātān] may also mean ‘the smallest’ and contrasts David with Saul.” On the other hand, that David was “keeping the sheep,” suggests “shepherd” as “a common metaphor [at the time] for a king (2 Sam. 5:2)” (op. cit., on v. 11). Bar-Efrat says, “The shepherd who tends the flock is the one suited to tend the people (cf. Ps. 78:70-71). Moses is depicted as a shepherd (Exod. 3:1)” (op. cit., on v. 11). The narrator continues, “And Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here’ ” (v. 11b). And when David came, the LORD approved. “He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The LORD said, ‘Rise and anoint him; for this is the one’ ” (v. 12). “Then,” we are told, “Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him [i.e., David] in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah” (v. 13). According to McCarter, “The spirit of the LORD possesses David as it did Saul (See 10:6; 11:6)” (op. cit., on v. 13).

Bar-Efrat summarizes:

In this first story about David he still plays a passive role. Even his name is not mentioned until the last v. His being chosen, though the youngest and least esteemed of eight brothers, agrees with the biblical motif of the younger being preferred to the elder: Abel to Cain (Gen. 4:2-5), Isaac to Ishmael (Gen. 21:9-13), Jacob to Esau (Gen. 27:28-40), Joseph to Reuben (Gen. 37:3-11; 49:3-4, 22-26). This indicates that not seniority, but suitability, is the decisive factor. (op. cit., on vv. 1-13).

Gwilym H. Jones notes “similarities and dissimilarities” in the stories of the election of Saul, and then of David, to kingship. “A similarity of fundamental importance is the concept that YHWH alone chooses a king, both accounts using the verb bāchar [rHaBA] (choose)(10:14; 16:8, 9, 10) and thus emphasizing that David, like Saul before him, did not come to the throne by chance or force.” (The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001, pp. 207-208 on 1 Sam. 16:1-23). “Nevertheless,” says Jones,

there is a clear intention to bring out the dissimilarity between David and Saul. Although David was handsome (v. 12), it is emphasized that God does not ‘look on the outward appearance’; it was precisely for that reason that Eliab was rejected. There is perhaps some justification for the comment that this is a veiled attack on Saul’s personal appearance and stature (9;2; 10:23); the rejection of Eliab, a kind of second Saul, confirms Saul’s rejection (Mettinger 1976). Whatever the similarities, the major difference introduced by this narrative is that Saul was rejected but David chosen. That difference is made explicit in v. 13 with the transfer of YHWH’s spirit from Saul to David and the abandonment of Saul to a malevolent spirit. (ibid., p. 208)

The last point refers to the following verse, “Now the spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him” (v. 14).

Ephesians 3:14-21

Prayer for the Readers

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. 16 I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, 17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. 18 I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:14-21, NRSV)

The following comments are based on those of January 17, 2009 (Saturday in the week of the First Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One), when comments were repeated from May 6, 2008 (Tuesday in the week of the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year Two), when comments were repeated from January 13, 2007 (Saturday in the week of the First Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One), when comments were combined with some revision and adaptation from January 15, 2005 (Saturday in the week of the First Sunday after the Epiphany, Year One), and from May 30, 2006 (Tuesday of the week of the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year Two).

Paul’s prayer for his Ephesian readers (Eph. 1:16-20) passes over into extended discussion of the blessings of redemption in Christ. Paul resumes his prayer at the beginning of Ephesians, chapter 3, but breaks off for a discussion of Paul’s ministry to Gentiles.(3:2-13, cf. Bruce M. Metzger and William A. Beardslee, NOAB, 2^nd ed., 1994, on Eph. 3:1-21). The prayer then resumes again in verse 14. “For this reason (Touvtou cavrin, Toutou charin),” says Paul, “I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name” (vv. 14-15), compare “This is the reason . . . (Touvtou cavrin . . . , Toutou charin . . . , v. 1). The word cavrin (charin), according to Frederick William Danker, “accusative of cavriV [charis] functioning as preposition with genitive . . . In Eph. 3:1, 14 Paul makes a connection, that’s why, with a preceding observation (in vs. 1 with delayed resolution expressed in vs. 8) and at the same time has in mind an objective that would fall under –b. indicating an objective in the interest of, so as to secure/bring about” (The Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 2009, s.v. cavrin, charin). F. F. Bruce says, “The Father to whom Jesus directed his prayers, and in whom he taught his disciples to trust with the implicit confidence of children, is presented as the archetypal Father: all other fatherhood in the universe is derived from his” (The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians, NICNT, 1984, p. 324 on Eph. 3:15). The word translated “Father” (v. 14) is pavthr (patēr), and the word translated “family” (v. 15) is patriav (patria). Bruce notes the connection and translates verse 15 as, “from whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth takes its name” (ibid., p. 323). He explains:

In its two other NT occurrences, the noun here translated ‘fatherhood’ [i.e. patria, ‘family’ NRSV] is rendered ‘family’–a group sharing a common father (Luke 2:4; Acts 3:25). Here too the word is commonly rendered ‘family’–‘every family in heaven and on earth’ (RSV)–but in what sense, the English reader might ask, is every family ‘named’ from him? The Greek noun (patria) is self-evidently related to the word meaning ‘father’ (patēr), and it makes immediate sense to say that every patria is named after the heavenly patēr. Likewise it makes immediate sense to say that every fatherhood is named after the heavenly Father. (ibid., pp. 324-235 on Eph. 3:15)

Paul says, “I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he [i.e., the Father] may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit” (v.16). According to J. Paul Sampley, “riches of his glory [is] an example of the effusive style of Ephesians” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Eph. 3:16). For being “strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit,” compare “Likewise the spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words” (Rom. 8:26). Paul prays “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted (ejrrizwmevnoi, errizōmenoi) and grounded (teqemeliwmenoi, tethemeliōmenoi) in love” (v. 17). “On the notion that Christ may dwell in the faithful,” says Sampley, “see Gal. 2:20” (ibid., on v. 17). For love as fundamental for Christian life and experience, compare Romans 12:9-13; 13:8-10; 1 Corinthians 13. “The hearts of the faithful as the dwelling place of Christ,” says Sampley, “parallel the temple as the ‘dwelling place for God’ ([Eph.] 2:22).” And he adds, “the doubled verbs (rooted, grounded) emphasize love and enlarge the metaphor to include growth” (ibid.). Paul prays “that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (vv. 18-19).

 He prays that we may comprehend the dimensions of “the deep things of God” (one of the possible meanings of this “dimensional language” suggested by Bruce , p. 328 on v. 18). He also prays that we may “know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, [and] so be filled with all the fullness of God” (v. 19). Bruce says,

The outcome of the spiritual strengthening for which the apostle prays, together with the experience of the indwelling Christ, will be their prevailing to grasp God’s revelation in its totality–its ‘breadth and length and height and depth.’ The exact reference of this dimensional language has been a subject of diverse and unending debate; it would be pointless to examine all the interpretations that have been offered. The best analogy is found in passages of the wisdom literature where the infinite scope of divine wisdom is emphasized. Of this wisdom (equated with ‘the deep things of God’) Zophar the Naamathite said (Job 11:8-9:

“It is higher than heaven–what can you do?

Deeper than Sheol–what can you know?

Its measure is longer than the earth,

and broader than the sea.” (ibid., pp. 327-328, on Eph. 3:18)

After further discussion, Bruce says, “To speak of knowing something that ‘surpasses knowledge’ is to be deliberately paradoxical; but however much one comes to know of the love of Christ, there is always more to know: it is inexhaustible” (ibid., p. 329, on v. 19).

Paul closes the chapter and the more “theological” section of Ephesians (chaps. 1-3) with a doxology. “Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (vv. 20-21). According to Metzger and Beardslee, this doxology “celebrates God’s boundless generosity and his glory both in the church and in Christ Jesus” (op. cit., on Eph. 3:20-21). “For similar doxologies,” says Sampley, “see Rom. 16:25-27; Gal. 1:5; 1 Tim. 1:17; 2 Tim. 4:18” (op. cit., on vv. 20-21).

Matthew 8:18-27

Would-Be Followers of Jesus (Lk 9.57-62)

18 Now when Jesus saw great crowds around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. 19 A scribe then approached and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." 20 And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." 21 Another of his disciples said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." 22 But Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead." (Matthew 8:18-22, NRSV)

Jesus Stills the Storm (Mk 4.35-41; Lk 8.22-25)

23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 A windstorm arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him up, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!" 26 And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, you of little faith?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm. 27 They were amazed, saying, "What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?" (Matthew 8:23-27, NRSV)

The following comments are based on those of October 3, 2009 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to September 28, Year One), when comments were repeated with editing and supplement from May 6, 2008 (Tuesday in the week of the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year Two), when comments were repeated from October 6, 2007 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to September 28, Year One), when comments were repeated from May 30, 2006 (Tuesday in the week of the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year Two). The two passages in today’s reading are compared to the parallel accounts in the separate file, Followers’ Excuses.

On the Would-Be Followers of Jesus

In Matthew’s account of a series of events, including several miracles (chaps. 8, 9), someone, apparently impressed by Jesus demonstrations of power, comes and says, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go (Mt. 8:19; cf. Lk. 9:57). Matthew calls him a “scribe,” and though scribes are sometimes included among Jesus’ opponents within the Jewish leadership, according to Krister Stendahl, they are also “potential and actual disciples” (Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, 1962, reprint 1972, sec. 682 g, p. 781, on Mt. 8:18). In a certain sense, scribes make the best Christians! “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old” (Mt. 13:52). Could it be that Matthew cites this from Jesus as an appeal to a Jewish or Jewish Christian audience?

In Luke, near the beginning of his “Travel Narrative” (Lk. 9:51-18:14), between the account of the Samaritans’ rejection of Jesus (9:52-56), with an inadequate response from the first disciples (v. 54) and the sending out of the seventy in pairs (10:1-12), someone volunteers to follow Jesus using the same words as the scribe cited by Matthew (“I will follow you wherever you go,” Lk. 9:57; cf. Mt. 8:19). In both cases, Jesus responds in a way that, in effect, asks, “Are you able to endure the hardships that discipleship will entail.” He says, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Mt. 8:20 = Lk. 9:58). This would-be follower of Jesus does not offer an excuse, but the others do. Luke reports that Jesus initiates the call of another to discipleship. “Follow me,” says Jesus (Lk. 9:59), and the person apparently responds, but seeks to delay his “following.” He says, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father” (Lk. 9:59; cf. Mt. 8:21). Matthew begins with the same excuse or delaying tactic, which implies either that the second person volunteered or, as Luke, reports, Jesus initiated the call. Marion Lloyd Soards says of Luke 9:59, “From the statement that follows (v. 60), the man’s father was almost certainly not yet dead; rather, the man used this responsibility to procrastinate complete commitment to discipleship (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Lk. 9:59). He adds that “Let the dead bury their own dead [Lk. 9:60], suggests that the spiritually dead should be left to bury the physically dead” (on v. 60).

Luke provides a third example–not included by Matthew–in which, as in the first instance, the person volunteers. “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home,” he says (Lk. 9:61), but Jesus responds, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (v. 62). Robert H. Stein comments on “the extreme harshness of these sayings [in Luke],” which, he says, “is the best proof of their authenticity” (Luke, The New American Commentary, 1992, p. 302 on Lk. 9:57-62). “The issue,” he says, “involves priorities”:

In both the second and third sayings the individual’s ‘first’ priority was clearly something other than following Jesus. For Luke allegiance to Jesus required loving one’s parents and honoring them in the ways described in 9:59, 61. He did not mean that his readers should refrain from performing such duties. Rather he chose a particularly forceful way to demonstrate that discipleship requires a radical shift in priorities. Jesus must be ‘first.’ He will not accept second place to anyone or anything. (ibid.)

Matthew’s version does not elaborate this aspect so much, but the saying, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead” (Mt. 8:22), clearly has the same import. J. Andrew Overman says, “The primacy and immediacy of discipleship is captured in this hard and hyperbolic scenario (cf. the call of Elisha, 1 Kings 19:19-21)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Mt. 8:22). In the case of Elisha, when he was called by Elijah, that is, when Elijah “threw his mantle over him” (1 Kgs. 19:19), Elisha asks for a delay–a temporary delay, as it turns out. “He left the oxen [with which he was plowing, v. 19], ran after Elijah, and said, ‘Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you’ ” (v. 20a). That does not seem like the delay of saying, “Let me go and bury my father” (Mt. 8:21; Lk. 9:59), but Elijah takes it as hesitation. “Then Elijah said to him, ‘Go back again; for what have I done to you?’ ” (1 Kgs. 19:20b). But Elisha’s next action clearly demonstrates his commitment to the call of Elijah. Elisha “returned from following him, took the yoke of oxen, and slaughtered them; using the equipment from the oxen, he boiled their flesh, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out and followed Elijah, and became his servant” (v. 21). According to Iain W. Provan, “He decisively turns his back on his old way of life by destroying his previous means of sustenance (cf. 1 Sam. 11:5-7” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on 1 Kgs. 19:19-21).

On Jesus’ Stilling of the Storm

Matthew moves on to another miracle, Jesus’ stilling of the storm. As noted above, the parallel accounts in Mark and Luke are included in the separate file Followers’ Excuses. The settings are described differently. In Matthew, Jesus has completed the Sermon on the Mount (chaps. 5-7), a series of miracles (8:1-17), and the exchange with would-be followers (vv. 18-22). Mark presents the occasion of the stilling of the storm after a series of parables (Mk. 4:1-34; cf. Mt. 13; Lk. 8:4-18). “On that day, when evening had come,” says Mark, “he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side” (Mk. 4:35). In Luke, following Mark’s sequence, the stilling of the storm also follows the series of parables (Lk. 8:4-18), after a brief reference to Jesus’ family’s desire to reach him (Lk. 8:19-21; cf. Mk. 3:21, 31-35). “And leaving the crowd behind,” says Mark, “they [i.e., the disciples] took him [i.e., Jesus] with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats went with him” (Mk. 4:36; cf. “So they put out,” Lk. 8:23b). Anticipating information that comes later in Mark and Matthew, Luke informs us that “while they were sailing he [i.e., Jesus] fell asleep” (v. 23a). All the Synoptic Gospels describe the windstorm and its danger. According to Matthew, “A windstorm (seismo;V mevgaV, seismos megas)arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep” (Mt. 8:24). The “windstorm” (seismos megas) is characterized as “great,” “so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves” (Mt. 8:24). In Mark, it is a “great windstorm” (lai:lay megavlh ajnevmou, lailaps megalē anemou), in which “the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped” (Mk. 4:37). In Luke, the “windstorm” (lai:lay ajnevmou, lailaps anemou) “swept down” bringing “danger” (Lk 8:23). In each account the disciples awaken the Lord with a call for help. “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” (Mt. 8:25). “Master, Master, we are perishing!” (Lk. 8:24a). Mark puts it as a question, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” (Mk. 4:38). In all of the accounts the Lord rebukes the winds and calms the sea (Mt. 8:26b; Mk. 4:39; Lk. 8:24b), and asks about the disciples’ faith (Mt. 8:26a; Mk. 4:40; Lk. 8:25a). And all the accounts describe the disciples’ amazement (Mt. 8:27; Mk. 4:41; Lk. 8:25b). Craig L. Blomberg notes that “Matthew places Jesus’ rebuke [for their ‘little faith’] before the miracle, while Mark reverses the sequence” (Matthew, The New American Commentary, vol. 22, 1992, p. 149 on Mt. 8:26). I would suggest that Matthew reverses Mark’s sequence. In any event, Blomberg adds:

Yet even though Matthew’s narrative reads more naturally, it is hard to believe that he is trying to present the disciples in a more positive light. ‘Little faith’ simply stresses their lack of faith; it scarcely improves on Mark’s ‘no faith.’ The ‘rebuke’ of the elements employs the same term (epitimaō) used elsewhere in exorcism stories (Mark 1:25; 9:25; Luke 4:41). Jesus demonstrates power over the destructive forces of nature, which remain under the devil’s sway. As with his healings, Jesus’ ‘cure’ takes effect immediately. (ibid., pp. 149-150 on Mt. 8:26)

Blomberg downplays, but does not rule out, the understanding of this story as “a lesson about Jesus ‘stilling the storms’ of our lives.” The focus, he says, is “Christological–on who Christ is, not on what he will do for us” (p. 150 on v, 27). But William Barclay chooses to emphasize the latter:

But the meaning of this story . . . is not that Jesus stopped a storm in Galilee; the meaning is that wherever Jesus is the storms of life become a calm. It means that in the presence of Jesus the most terrible of tempests turns to peace.

When the cold, bleak wind of sorrow blows, there is calm and comfort in the presence of Jesus Christ. When the hot blast of passion blows, there is peace and security in the presence of Jesus Christ. When the storms of doubt seek to uproot the very foundations of the faith, there is a steady safety in the presence of Jesus Christ. In every storm that shakes the human heart there is peace with Jesus Christ. (The Gospel of Matthew, The Daily Study Bible, rev. ed., vol. 1, 1975, p. 318 on Mt. 8:23-27)

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net