Have you ever been afraid of a barking, growling dog? It catches you off guard and suddenly there it is, and you are on its lunch menu. I am sure you have seen the news stories about dogs mauling people. If the people survive the damage is long-lasting and often life-altering. One breed is often the culprit. They have been breed to be mean and then the owners wonder how their dog could have done such a thing. Some places have banned the bread altogether.
I have been caught by surprise several times in my life. In those moments I just want to yell, “Shut Up!” and have the dog obey. But that doesn’t seem to work, at least for me. A few times there has been a temporary lull in the barking, but then it starts right back up again. My words just don’t have any power over the dogs. But when the owner comes out and speaks to the dog, it listens. The owner’s words mean something to the dog. The dog recognizes the owner’s authority to get them to shut up.
Words like this don’t mean much unless there is authority to back them up. If you try to tell someone else’s teenager to stop something, they just look at you and say, “You’re not my parent” and walk away. They know we don’t have the authority to get them to obey.
Jesus has been asleep in the back of the boat. The storm has overtaken them, and even the experienced sailors are taken up in fear. They have tried everything they know and still there is no change in their situation. They think Jesus doesn’t care. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Lack of action does not mean lack of care. And what Jesus does to solve the problem of the storm shows that He does care about their safety. Once Jesus is awoken He simply speaks to the storm and it obeys. The word Jesus uses for “quiet” or “shut up” is the same word Jesus uses when He is telling demons to be quiet, to stop speaking.
When someone is “quiet” in this sense they are unable to talk because they know the person who told them to be quiet has the authority to tell them and the power to enforce the silence. Jesus spoke to demons and they obeyed because Jesus in God, and He has the authority and the power to back up His words with actions, actions that will result in involuntary silence. Jesus is like the dog’s owner or the teenager’s parents. He has authority to speak to demons and tell them to shut up.
Jesus talks to the storm as if it were a noisy dog under His authority. And the storm listens because it is under His authority. Jesus has the right to speak to the storm. It may be very hard for us to accept, but Jesus has the right to control the weather because He is the One who created the weather.
Before you get too far off course, just because He created it does not mean that every weather related tragedy is a distinct act of God aimed at those who are affected. Jesus does not send lightning bolts at people to carry out judgment. At this point in time God allows the results of sin to move in the world and this includes weather.
The Psalms (89:8-9; 104:5-9; 106:8-9; 107:23-32) declare that the LORD has authority over the elements. He created them and He can take them under control of them at a moment’s notice. That is because He has the authority to do so.
I would not suggest that you become a “Storm Chaser” and travel the country speaking to storms. You don’t have that authority. Jesus did and does. He spoke to the storm and it listened and obeyed. As God in the flesh He has that authority.
The Arnold Journey 