“He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”” (Matthew 8:26–27, NASB95)
I'm struck by Matthew's use of the word "rebuke" here. The word in the Greek means "to express strong disapproval of someone" or "to speak seriously, or warn." It is used of Christ when he rebukes demons (Matt 17.18), or the disciples when they rebuked people who were bringing their children to Christ. However, we also see it used on what we would consider inanimate objects as here. It must have been a strange sight to see Christ rebuke the winds and the sea, as if they were misbehaving little children. Indeed, the disciples express astonishment that when Christ rebukes the wind and sea, they obey him!
All of this demonstrates that Christ did not just claim authority over men, but over nature as well, and although most men did not acknowledge his authority, all of nature did—which is astonishing in itself, inanimate objects recognized and obeyed God, though most men neither recognized, nor obeyed him.
Perhaps the wind and sea have something to teach us here.
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