Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 8:26
And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
26. faith = “trust,” “confidence.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Why are ye fearful? – You should have remembered that the Son of God, the Messiah, was on board. You should not have forgotten that he had power to save, and that with him you are safe. So Christians should never fear danger, disease, or death. With Jesus they are safe. No enemy can reach him; and as he is safe, so they shall be also, Joh 14:19.
Rebuked the winds – Reproved them, or commanded them to be still. What a power was this! What irresistible proof that he was divine! His word awed the tempest and allayed the storm! There is not anywhere a sublimer description of a display of power. Nor could there be clearer proof that he was truly the Son of God.
A great calm – The winds were still, and the sea ceased to dash against the vessel and to endanger their lives.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 26. Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?] Faith is ever bold – incredulity always timid. When faith fails in temptation, there is the utmost danger of shipwreck. Lord, increase our faith! is a necessary prayer for all who desire to be saved.
Then he arose and rebuked the winds, c.] As the agitation of the sea was only the effect of the wind, it was necessary to remove the cause of the disturbance, that the effect might cease. Joshua did not say to the earth, Earth, stand thou still, because the earth is not the cause of its own motion: but, Sun, stand thou still, shemesh dom, Sun, be silent, or restrain thy influence, which is a proper cause of the revolutions of all the planets. When the solar influence was by the miraculous power of God suspended, the standing still of the earth was a necessary consequence. Both Christ and Joshua spoke with the strictest philosophical precision. See the notes on Jos 10:12-14.
There was a great calm.] One word of Christ can change the face of nature one word of his can restore calm and peace to the most troubled and disconsolate soul. Prayer and faith, if sincere, shall be heard, though they may be weak.
1. That our imperfections may not hinder us from praying to God.
2. That we may be persuaded it is not our merits which make our prayers effectual.
3. That we may offer them up with great humility: and,
4. That we may be fully united to Christ, without which union there is no salvation.
There was at first a great agitation; then a great calm. Thus God ever proportions the comfort to the affliction.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And he saith unto them, why are ye fearful?…. Though they had some faith in him, yet there was a great deal of fear and unbelief, for which Christ blames them, saying,
O ye of little faith: [See comments on Mt 6:30]. In Luke, the phrase is, “where is your faith?” what is become of it? You professed but just now to believe in me, is your faith gone already? In Mark it is, “how is it that ye have no faith?” That is, in exercise, their faith was very small, it could hardly be discerned: some faith they had, as appears by their application to him, but it was very little. They had no faith in him, as sleeping, that he could deliver them; but had some little faith in him that he might, could he be awaked out of sleep; and for this Christ blames them; for he, as the eternal God, was as able to save them sleeping as waking.
Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm: being awaked by his disciples, he raises his head from his pillow, stands up, and with a majestic voice, in an authoritative manner, showing some kind of resentment at the wind and sea, as if they had exceeded their commission; and the one had blown, and the other raged too much and too long; he rebukes them in such language as this, “peace, be still”; , as it is in Mark, be silent, hold your peace, stop your mouth, put a bridle on it, as the words used signify; and go on no longer to threaten with shipwreck and loss of lives; upon which the wind ceased, the sea became calm, and the ship moved quietly on.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
1) “And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful,” (Kai legei autois ti deiloi’ este) “And he chided them, why are you all fearful?” It was their fear that He rebuked.
2) “0 ye of little faith?” (oligopistoi) “0 you all of little faith?” Mat 17:20. Even “little” faith is faith still. With weak faith, however, they went to Jesus, the right refuge, source, or hiding place and deliverance from the storm. The weak heart, the trembling hand of faith, may and must yet reach out to Jesus, in the midst of storms of life’s tempests, to find help from death, Mr 4:39,40; Luk 8:25; Mat 16:8.
3) “Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and sea;” (tote egertheis epetimesin tois anemois kai te thalasso) “At that moment (right then) rising up he rebuked the winds and the sea,” in their raging fury, not because they could hear, but His disciples could. Having first chided and calmed the disciples, He then turned and rebuked the tempest, calming the disciples, He then turned and rebuked the tempest, calming the storm at sea, speaking as an imperial ruler, a king.
4) “And there was a great calm.” (kai egeneto galene megale) “And there came to be a great calm,” by the word of His power, by His strength, Psa 65:6-7; Psa 89:8-9. Our Lord demonstrated in three special ways that He was and is the Son of God; 1) First, by prophetic signs that He fulfilled in His life, from His virgin birth until His sacrificial and vicarious death and victorious resurrection; 2) Second, by the miracles He performed, and 3) Third, by His resurrection. These signs He left as historical kinds of evidence of His Deity and Divinity that men might believe and be saved, Joh 20:30-31.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
26. He rebuked the winds Mark relates also the words of Christ, by which, addressing the sea, he enjoins silence, ( σιώπα,) that is, stillness not that the lake had any perception, but to show that the power of his voice reached the elements, which were devoid of feeling. And not only the sea and the winds, which are without feeling, but wicked men also, with all their obstinacy, obey the commands of God. For when God is pleased to allay the tumults of war, he does not always soften the fierce minds of men, and mould them to obedience, but even while their rage continues, makes the arms to drop from their hands: And thus is fulfilled that declaration,
He maketh wars to cease to the ends of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in pieces, and burneth the chariots in the fire, (Psa 46:10.)
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(26) Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?St. Luke puts the question more strongly: Where is your faith? as though it had all drifted away under the pressure of their fears. Yet the word of little faith was singularly appropriate. They had not altogether lost their trust in Him, but they had not learnt the lesson of the centurions faith, and were only at ease when they heard His voice, and saw that He was watching over them.
Rebuked the winds and the sea.This seems to have been almost, so to say, our Lords formula in working miracles. The fever (Luk. 4:39), the frenzy of the demoniac (Mar. 9:25), the tempest, are all treated as if they were hostile and rebel forces that needed to be restrained. St. Mark, with his usual vividness, gives the very words of the rebuke: Peace, be stillliterally, be dumb, be muzzled, as though the howling wind was a maniac to be gagged and bound.
There was a great calm.As with the fever in Mat. 8:15, so here, the work was at once instantaneous and complete. There was no after-swell such as is commonly seen for hours after a storm.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
26. Of little faith Observe the exquisite language of our Lord. He does not charge that they had no faith, but little. They had not power of faith to still the elements, nor to control their own fears, but they had faith that their Master could. Rebuked the winds As a master rebukes a raging animal. Great calm The calm was great from the completeness of the stillness; and great from the contrast with the previous storm; and great as a product of a wonderful power. And with it the terrors of their hearts, the winds and waves within the soul, were composed. So when the fearful sinner resorts to Christ, his word of forgiveness allays the storm, and there is a great calm.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And he says to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.”
Jesus awoke, unmoved by the situation, and first turned to them and rebuked them for their fears. He pointed out to them that their problem lay in that fact that they did not have sufficient faith. For if they had really recognised Him for what He was they would have recognised that no boat that carried Him would be allowed to sink. He was safe in His Father’s hands. And the inference is that they should also have realised that they were safe with Him, for they were His chosen followers. This would undoubtedly later give them assurance in the future that they were in God’s hands (even when one of them was martyred – Act 12:2).
Then having initially rebuked the disciples, He rebuked the winds and the sea (compare Psa 104:7; Psa 106:9; Nah 1:4). Only pedantic minds will argue here that this means that He saw the storm as a living thing. Rather it is simply vivid language which brings out the force of what happened, as the quotations demonstrate (compare Psa 18:15 where His rebuke is compared with the blast of the breath of His nostrils) . It is simply saying somewhat poetically that by the power of His word the storm was stilled. And immediately there was a great calm, indeed such a sudden calm after a storm that it was beyond the experience of even these hardened fishermen. In that moment they knew that they had seen the Master of wind and wave at work. And they were filled with awe.
For ‘O you of little faith’ compare Mat 6:30; Mat 14:31; Mat 16:8. It seems that He then re-emphasised the lesson about faith (Luk 8:25), which is what we would expect once the immediate ‘danger’ was over. For it was an important lesson for them to learn. There is encouragement for us in this. It tells us that they had enough faith to come to Jesus when things were at the worst, and in the end that was all that was required, even though it was so small.
Mark’s alternative, ‘’Do you still have no faith?’ is actually asking the same question. ‘Why is your faith so small?’ He knew that they had a little faith. He was simply bemoaning the lack of quality in their faith. They had no faith of the right kind (compare Mat 17:19-20).
One important thing about this expression was that it brought out that Jesus was not using His miraculous powers to protect Himself. He was willing to rely on His Father. His concern was rather for the desperate men who had appealed to Him.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 8:26 . ] increpuit , on account of the unseasonable fury of its waves. Similarly , Psa 106:9 ; Nah 1:4 . Comp. Mat 17:18 ; Luk 4:39 . This rebuking of the elements (at which Schleiermacher took special offence) is the lively plastic poetry, not of the author of the narrative, but of the mighty Ruler.
On Bengel observes: “Animos discipulorum prius, deinde mare composuit.” Unquestionably more original than Mark and Luke; not a case of transforming into the miraculous (Holtzmann). The miraculous does not appear till after the disciples have been addressed.
.] Mat 8:24 . .
Here was a greater than Jonas, Mat 12:41 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
Ver. 26. And he saith unto them ] Christ first chides them, and then chides the winds and waves. Men are most malleable in time of misery, Job 33:23 . Strike while the iron is hot. How forcible are right words! Those that are melted in the furnace of affliction will easily receive impression. Hamper Manasses, and he will hearken to you.
O ye of little faith ] Ye petty fidians: He calleth them not nullifidians. Faith is faith, though never so little of it. Credo languida fide, sed tamen fide, said dying Cruciger. Our consolation lies much in the comparative degree; but our salvation is in the positive. Much faith will yield unto us here our heaven; and any faith, if true, will yield us heaven hereafter. Now for fear; that which is distrustful, faith quelleth and killeth it; as that which is awful and filial, it breedeth, feedeth, fostereth, and cherisheth.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
26. ] The time of this rebuke in the text precedes, but in Mark and Luke follows, the stilling of the storm. See the last note.
They were of little faith, in that they were afraid of perishing while they had on board the slumbering Saviour: they were not faithless , for they had recourse to that Saviour to help them. Therefore He acknowledges the faith which they had; answers the prayer of faith, by working a perfect calm: but rebukes them for not having the stronger, firmer faith, to trust Him even when He seemed insensible to their danger.
The symbolic application of this occurrence is too striking to have escaped general notice. The Saviour with the company of His disciples in the ship tossed on the waves, seemed a typical reproduction of the Ark bearing mankind on the flood, and a foreshadowing of the Church tossed by the tempests of this world, but having Him with her always. And the personal application is one of comfort, and strengthening of faith, in danger and doubt.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 8:26 , , , He chides them first, then the winds, the chiding meant to calm fear. Cowards, men of little faith! harsh in tone but kindly meant; expressive really of personal fearlessness, to gain ascendency over panic-stricken spirits ( cf. Luke). : He had uttered the previous words as He lay, then with a sudden impulse He rose and spoke imperial words to the elements: animos discipulorum prius, deinde mare composuit (Bengel). , : He rebuked both. It would have been enough to rebuke the winds which caused the commotion in the water. But the speech was impassioned and poetic, not scientific. : antithetic to , Mat 8:24 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Why . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis (App-6). Here the danger was not so imminent, for He first rebuked the disciples. In the later miracle the danger was greater, and He rebuked the storm first. See App-97.
O ye of little faith. The second occurrence of this word (oligopistoi). See note on Mat 6:30.
was = became.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
26.] The time of this rebuke in the text precedes, but in Mark and Luke follows, the stilling of the storm. See the last note.
They were of little faith, in that they were afraid of perishing while they had on board the slumbering Saviour: they were not faithless, for they had recourse to that Saviour to help them. Therefore He acknowledges the faith which they had; answers the prayer of faith, by working a perfect calm: but rebukes them for not having the stronger, firmer faith, to trust Him even when He seemed insensible to their danger.
The symbolic application of this occurrence is too striking to have escaped general notice. The Saviour with the company of His disciples in the ship tossed on the waves, seemed a typical reproduction of the Ark bearing mankind on the flood, and a foreshadowing of the Church tossed by the tempests of this world, but having Him with her always. And the personal application is one of comfort, and strengthening of faith, in danger and doubt.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 8:26. [381]-, fearful-of little faith) Synonymous terms. Cf. Mar 5:36. Our Lord does not find fault with the disciples for their importunity in disturbing His rest, but for their timidity.[382]-, then) Jesus calmed first the minds of His disciples, then the sea.-, rebuked) Satan probably had ruled in this tempest.
[381] , And He saith) Being not at all discomposed or agitated.-V. g.
[382] In the whole life of Christ, never is there any fear of any creature evinced in all the incidents which occurred to Him.-V. g.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Why: Mat 6:30, Mat 14:30, Mat 14:31, Mat 16:8, Isa 41:10-14, Mar 4:40, Luk 8:25, Rom 4:20
and rebuked: Mat 8:27, Job 38:8-11, Psa 65:7, Psa 89:9, Psa 93:3, Psa 93:4, Psa 104:6-9, Psa 107:28-30, Psa 114:3-7, Pro 8:28, Pro 8:29, Isa 50:2-4, Isa 63:12, Nah 1:4, Hab 3:8, Mar 4:39, Mar 4:41, Mar 6:48-51, Luk 8:24, Luk 8:25, Rev 10:2
Reciprocal: Gen 8:2 – the rain Gen 15:1 – Fear Gen 19:19 – lest some Gen 32:7 – greatly Exo 14:10 – sore afraid Lev 25:20 – General Deu 20:3 – be ye terrified Jos 3:16 – rose up Jos 8:1 – Fear not 2Sa 22:16 – rebuking 2Ki 6:15 – Alas Psa 27:1 – of whom Psa 29:3 – The voice Psa 91:5 – Thou Psa 106:9 – He rebuked Psa 107:29 – General Psa 135:6 – in the seas Jer 31:35 – when Jer 51:16 – bringeth Jon 1:15 – and the Jon 2:10 – General Mat 17:17 – O faithless Mar 6:51 – and the Luk 4:35 – Jesus Luk 12:28 – O ye Rom 4:19 – being Rev 7:1 – holding Rev 21:8 – the fearful
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE SECRET OF CALM
And there was a great calm.
Mat 8:26
It is important to know the real secret of a quiet spirit under jarring influences.
I. An act of supernatural power.The first thing is this: it must be by an act of supernatural power. It is not in man to hush himself to rest. There must be a Divine command, Peace, be still! And we must listen for this stilling voice, which the ear of faith can hear even in a hurricane!
II. A secret power.Akin to this, there is a secret powerpervading and over-ruling all the confusion and all the mysterywhich gives everything a purpose, and a preordained limit, which it cannot pass. The wind and storm may rage as forces which appear to own no control; but, nevertheless, they are the winds and storms fulfilling Thy word.
III. The presence of Christ.The simple presence of Christ in that ship would have been enough without the miracle! Could anything really hurt that, where He was? We have all felt the calm and peace of the companionship even of a man whom we love and trust. What must it be, if we could only realise it, that Jesus is here, a Brother, a Saviour, a God, at our very side. And nothing can change that.
IV. The discipline of life.Nevertheless, there will be, and there must be storms; and there will be, and there must be calms; and strangely set, in wonderful order, so long as this world lasts. It does not follow, because smooth to-day, we shall not be tossed again to-morrow. To believe in calm when the storm is raging is what we all have to learn. To every storm there is a lull; and in Gods equal equipoise, the fury of the tempest will always be balanced by the sweetness of the calm.
The Rev. James Vaughan.
Illustration
St. Augustine says: We are sailing in this life as through a sea, and the wind rises, and storms of temptation are not wanting. Whence is this, save because Jesus is sleeping in thee? If He were not sleeping in thee, thou wouldst have calm within. But what means this, that Jesus is sleeping in thee, save that thy faith, which is from Jesus, is slumbering in thine heart? What shalt thou do to be delivered? Arouse Him and say, Master, we perish. He will awaken; that is, thy faith will return to thee and abide with thee always. When Christ is awakened, though the tempest beat into yet it will not fill thy ship; thy faith will now command the winds and the waves, and the danger will be over.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Mat 8:26. Why are ye fearful. Afraid would be too weak, and cowardly too strong.
Of little faith. Fear while the Saviour was with them, evidence of little faith; the cry to Him evidence they were not faithless. He rewards the faith they had, but rebukes them, because of their little faith.
He rebuked the winds and the sea, saying, Peace, be still (Mar 4:39).
Matthew places the rebuke of the disciples first; Mark and Luke that of the elements.
A great calm, a perfect stillness.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
And there was a great calm, for as S. Jerome says, “All creatures feel their Creator; and things which are senseless to us are sensible to Him.” Or, as Origen says, “It became Him who was so great to do great things.”
And the men marvelled, saying, &c. These men were not the disciples, but the sailors and others who were in the ship of Jesus, and in the other ships which accompanied it. For, as Origen says, “The disciples are never named but with the mark of distinction, Apostles, or Disciples.”
What manner of man. The Greek is , which is not simply a particle of interrogation, but is uttered with an emphasis of wonder and admiration. “Who is this? He does not seem to be like other men, but a Being of a different race.”
And when he was come to the other side, &c. This miracle of healing the demoniac is given with greater fulness by S. Luke. The commentary, therefore, upon it will be given in S. Luk 8:27-40.
Hast thou come hither to torment us before the time? From these words some have thought that the devils have not yet received the extreme punishment of their offences, and that they will not be condemned to be tormented in hell before the Day of Judgment. S. Hilary has been thought to be of this opinion, by saying (Can. 8), “It cried out, why should He grudge them their position? (in the demoniac) why should He attack them before the time of judgment?” The same opinion is by some ascribed to S. Irenus, Justin, Lactantius, Eusebius, Nicephorus; but I have found nothing of the kind in their writings. And the words of S. Hilary do not bear that meaning, but only say what S. Matthew relates.
For it is certain from Scripture and the Fathers that the devils, from the beginning of the world were condemned as soon as they sinned, and were tormented in the fire of hell. For by that fire they are tormented, even when they are away from it, having gone forth from hell, and taken up their abode in the air. This is brought about by the omnipotence of God. The fire of hell is a supernatural instrument of the omnipotent God, hence by the will of God, it can operate in the most distant places.
When therefore they said to Christ, Art thou come, &c., they did not speak of the ancient, perpetual, irrevocable torment of hell fire, but they deprecated any new torment being inflicted upon them by Christ. This new torment was their expulsion from the bodies of those whom they were in the habit of possessing, as S. Chrysostom says, and their banishment to the prison-house of hell.
Fuente: Cornelius Lapide Commentary
Jesus did not rebuke His disciples for disturbing Him but for failing to trust Him as they should have. He said they had "little faith" (Gr. oligopistos). Wherever Matthew used this word in His Gospel it always reflects a failure to see below the surface of things. [Note: Carson, "Matthew," p. 216.] Faith in Messiah and fear are mutually exclusive. Therefore the disciples should not have been "timid" (NASB) or "afraid" (NIV). Even though the disciples believed Jesus could help them, they did not grasp that He was the Messiah who would die a sacrificial death for their sins. How could the divine Messiah whom God had sent die in a storm before He had finished His messianic work? It was impossible.
"The life of discipleship is susceptible to bouts of little faith. Such little faith is not to be condoned. Nevertheless, Jesus does not abandon his disciples at such times but stands ever ready with his saving power to sustain them so they can in fact discharge the mission he has entrusted to them." [Note: Kingsbury, Matthew as . . ., p. 135.]
The disciples expected help, but they were unprepared for the kind of deliverance Jesus provided. It was a much greater salvation than they hoped for. The sea became perfectly calm.
"His disciples who were seasoned fishermen had been through storms on this sea that had suddenly ceased. But after the wind would pass, the waves would continue to chop for a while." [Note: Barbieri, p. 39.]
Jesus’ ability to calm the wind and water with a word made it clear that He had greater powers than these disciples had witnessed previously. This is the first nature miracle that Matthew recorded Jesus doing. Who was He? The reader of Matthew’s Gospel knows better than the disciples did. He is the virgin-born Messiah, God with us, come to provide salvation and to set up His kingdom. While the disciples were "men" (Mat 8:27), Jesus was a different type of man, the God-man. [Note: Plummer, p. 131.] Psa 65:5-6; Psa 89:8-9; Psa 104:7; and Psa 107:23-30 attribute the stilling of seas to God (cf. Jonah 1-2). Psa 89:25 predicted that the ideal king would be able to do this.
The Israelites viewed the sea as an enemy they could not control. Throughout the Old Testament it epitomizes what is wild, hostile, and foreboding. It stood for their foes in some of their literature. Jesus’ miracle also taught this secondary lesson. Here was a man exercising dominion over the sea, which God had appointed to man before the Fall (Gen 1:28). Jesus must be the Second Adam (cf. Rom 5:12-17).
"The incident is related, not primarily for the sake of recording a miracle, but as an instance of the subduing of the power of evil, which was one of the signs of the nearness of the Kingdom; see xii. 28." [Note: M’Neile, p. 111.]
In this incident Matthew again presented Jesus as man and God. As man, He slept in the boat. As God, he calmed the sea (cf. Mat 4:1-4; Mat 12:22-32). As man, He suffers; but as God, He rules. The pericope indicates Jesus’ power to fulfill the prophecies of Isa 30:23-24; Isa 35:1-7; Isa 41:17-18; Isa 51:3; Isa 55:13; Joe 3:18; Eze 36:29-38; and Zec 10:1. He has all power over nature.