Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 8:27
But the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!
27. the men ] the disciples, and other fishermen who were also on the Lake: see account in Mark.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The men marveled – Wondered, or were amazed.
What manner of man – What kind of a personage. How unlike other men! What a vast display of power! and how far exalted above mortals must he be!
Jesus spake to the winds; rebuked their raging, and the sea was suddenly calm. The storm subsided; the ship glided smoothly; danger fled; and in amazement they stood in the presence of him who controlled the tempests that God had raised; and they felt that he must be God himself, for none but God could calm the heaving billows and scatter the tempest. No scene could have been more grand than this display of the power of Jesus. The darkness; the dashing waves; the howling winds; the heaving and tossing ship; the fears and cries of the seamen, all by a single word hushed into calm repose, present an image of power and divinity irresistibly grand and awful. So the tempest rolls and thickens over the head of the awakened sinner. So he trembles over immediate and awful destruction. So, while the storm of wrath howls, and hell threatens to ingulf him, he comes trembling to the Saviour. He hears; he rebukes the storm, and the sinner is safe. An indescribable peace takes possession of the soul, and he glides on a tranquil sea to the haven of eternal rest. See Isa 57:20-21; Rom 5:1; Phi 4:7.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 27. The men marvelled] Every part of the creation (man excepted) hears and obeys the Creator’s voice. Sinners have an ear for the world, the devil, and the flesh: till this ear is shut, God’s voice is not discerned; for when it is shut to its enemies it is open to its friends.
What manner of man is this] , How great is this person! Here was God fully manifest; but it was in the flesh-there were the hidings of his power.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
But the men marvelled,…. Mark says, “they feared exceedingly”; and Luke, “they being afraid, wondered”: they were filled with astonishment and fear, or reverence: there was such a shine of majesty, such a lustre of divine power appeared in this affair. The other two evangelists seem to refer this to the disciples, which Matthew seems to ascribe to the men, the mariners that were in the ship; it is likely it had the same effect on both; and both were abundantly convinced of his deity and dignity, saying,
what manner of man, or person
is this? For the word “man”, is not in the text; of what qualities, perfections and powers, is he possessed? Surely he must be more than a mere man; he can be no other than the mighty God,
that even the winds and the sea obey him: which can be said of no other, than the most high God: never was such a thing heard of, that the winds and sea should be rebuked by a mere creature, and should obey. That man must be infidel to “revelation”, that can read this account, and deny the deity of Christ; to one or other of these he must be drove, either to deny the truth of the fact, and the circumstances of it, or believe that Jesus Christ is truly and properly God, as the disciples and mariners did.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Even the winds and the sea obey him ( ). A nature miracle. Even a sudden drop in the wind would not at once calm the sea. “J. Weiss explains that by ‘an astonishing coincidence’ the storm happened to lull at the moment that Jesus spoke!” (McNeile). Some minds are easily satisfied by their own stupidities.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “But the men marvelled, saying,” (hoi de anthropoi ethaumasan legontes) “Then the men marveled saying among themselves,” much as they did in His miracle over nature, when He caused the fig tree to wither and die, Mat 21:19-20.
2) “What manner of man is this” (potapos estin houtos) “What sort (of man) is this;” When they came to Jesus in despair, to awaken Him, they perhaps in their “little” faith, only expected Him to awaken and help them bail water or row, in physically doing a man’s part in a crisis; But He did as the Divine Son “Exceeding abundant above what” they had either asked or thought, Eph 3:20.
3) “That even the winds and the sea obey him!” (hoti kai hoi anemoi kai he thalassa auto hupakouousin) “That even the winds and the sea obey him,” instantly. Nature, in anarchy, obeyed her maker’s command. When crying, weeping, despairing, perishing, sinking sinners come to Jesus in such crisis of a troubled soul, Jesus says to the storm in the soul of the wicked, “be still,” or “be gone,” and the storm vanishes, replaced by a peace and calm and rest of the soul, unknown and unknowable to the unrepentant sinner, Isa 57:20-21; Psa 145:18-19; Mat 11:28-29; Rom 5:1.
Lessons here taught are:
1) Undertake nothing as an enterprise, in which Jesus cannot go with you.
2) Be certain that Jesus is in your vessel on life’s sea.
3) Be sure that you can know the difference between storms that you have provoked, and those God has appointed.
4) Be sure that all your choices and decisions in sailing are in the will of God. By these you too may be calm in the midst of storms, Isa 26:3.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
27. But the men wondered Mark and Luke appear to say this in reference to the apostles; for, after having stated that Christ reproved them, they add that they cried out with fear, Who is this? It applies, however, more properly to others, who had not yet known Christ. Whether we take the one or the other of these views, the result of the miracle appears in the display of the glory of Christ. If any one shall suppose that it is the apostles who speak, the meaning of the words will be, that his divine power was sufficiently proved by the fact that the wind and the sea obey him But as it is more probable that these words were spoken by others, the Evangelists show that the miracle made such an impression on their minds, as to produce a certain reverence for Christ which prepared them for believing on him.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(27) The men marvelled.This use of so vague a term as men, as applied to the disciples, is so exceptional as to suggest the thought that there were others in the boat with them. The marvel was not without a great fear (Mar. 4:41). The Presence among them was mightier even than they had thought, and the elements, which seemed far more removed from human control than leprosy or fever, were yet subject to His sovereignty.
The spiritual application of the miracle lies so near the surface that it has almost become one of the common-places of sermons and hymns. And yet there is a profound fitness in it which never ceases to be fresh. The boat is the Church of Christ, and it sails across the ocean of the worlds history to the other side of the life beyond the grave. The wind is the blast of persecution, and the Lord of the Church seems as though He were asleep, and heard not the cry of the sufferers, and the disciples are faint-hearted and afraid. And then He hears their prayer, and the storm of the persecution ceases, and there is a great calm, during which the Church goes on its way, and men learn to feel that it carries more than Csar and his fortunes.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
27. The men marvelled Not the workmen of the boat, for the disciples were probably their own workmen. They are called the men, as a humbling term, in comparison with him, the divine one. What manner of man They expected, indeed, that he would save them; but they were overwhelmed with the majesty and ease with which he issued his orders to the elements, and at the submission with which they, like living intelligences are hushed by his word.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And the men marvelled, saying, “What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?” ’
Note that they did not begin exchanging reminiscences of how past storms had ceased suddenly, for they all knew that this had been different. They knew the lake and its idiosyncrasies, but never before had they seen a storm like this or an instant cessation like this. And all they could do was look at each other and marvel. Before this moment they had seen Jesus as One sent from God Whose power seemed great. But they had never expected it to be as immense as this. Other men had performed various kinds of healings, but what manner of man was this that that even the winds and waves obeyed Him, and were immediately stilled at His words? The answer, of course, was that He was the Creator, Whose bidding nature obeyed. They were learning their next lesson.
What they would finally recognise, and what Matthew wanted his readers to recognise, was that here was One Who on His own authority had commanded wind and wave, and that He did it because He was the One Who was ‘girded with might, Who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of the waves’ (Psa 65:6-7), Who ‘rules the raging of the sea, and when its waves rise, He stills them’ (Psa 89:9). And Biblically there was only One Who could do that. We should note also that in Psalms 65. He also stills ‘the tumult of the peoples’. The Kingly Rule of God was at work in both.
It is possible that the description ‘the men’ included others who had learned of the incident from the breathless disciples after they had landed, even including some who had survived in the other boats mentioned by Mark. But it may simply be a vivid contrast of the disciples with the One Who was clearly not just a man.
We should note that in a sense their whole experience had been recorded long before in the vivid description of men in a storm in Psa 107:23-30, except that here it had been heightened;
‘Those who go down to the sea in ships,
Who do business in great waters,
These see the works of the LORD,
And His wonders in the deep.
For He commands, and raises the stormy wind,
Which lifts up the waves thereof.
They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths,
Their soul melts away because of trouble.
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man,
And are at their wits’ end.
Then they cry to the LORD in their trouble,
And He brings them out of their distresses.
He makes the storm a calm,
So that the waves thereof are still.
Then are they glad because they are quiet,
So He brings them to the haven where they would be.’
The message behind the Psalm, which mirrors their experience, was that it was God who so controlled the waves, and quietens the storm. The question would be, therefore, how long it would be before they recognised the implications for their understanding of Him of what had happened? Certainly they would soon learn from the demons something more of His nature, when they declared, ‘You are the Son of God’ (Mat 8:29).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 8:27. The men marvelled, saying, &c. This reflection, as well as the extreme fear of the disciples in the time of their danger, may seem unaccountable, considering how many and what miracles they had been witnesses to; but both may be explained in some measure by the following remark; that hitherto his miracles were generally upon diseased persons, and that he had given as yet no proofs of his dominion over the elements, the wind and the water, which, it seems, were thought less subject to human power than distempers: or if this does not account for the reflection which the disciples made on seeing the present instance of Christ’s power, it may be attributed to the fear and confusion they were in, occasioned by the greatness of their jeopardy, from which they were but just delivered. See more concerning this miracle on Mar 4:37-41.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 8:27 . ] Meaning the people who, besides Jesus and His disciples, were also in the boat , not the disciples [434] included (de Wette, Baumgarten-Crusius, Bleek), seeing that the specially chosen (Matthew does not at all say ) most naturally denotes other parties than those previously mentioned, viz. “quibus nondum innotuerat Christus,” Calvin. Fritzsche’s homines quotquot hujus portenti nuntium acceperant is incorrect. From the nature of the case, and by means of the connection with Mat 8:28 , Matthew represents the astonishment and the exclamation as coming immediately after the stilling of the tempest, and in the boat itself.
] seeing that . Giving the reason for the ( qualis , see on Mar 13:1 ).
The narrative itself must not be traced to a misconception on the part of the disciples , who are supposed either to have attributed the cessation of the storm to the presence of Jesus and His observations regarding this condition of the weather (Paulus), or to have misapprehended the Lord’s command to be still, addressed to the storm within them at the moment when that which raged without was over (Hase). As little should we have recourse to a symbolical explanation of the fact, as though it had been intended to exhibit the superiority of the friend of God to the war of the elements (Ammon), or to represent the tranquillity of the inner life that is brought about by the spirit of Christ (Schleiermacher). But if Strauss has classed the narrative in the category of mythical sea stories , Keim again, though feeling sure that it is founded upon fact, is nevertheless of opinion that the actual event has been retouched, beyond recognition, with the colouring and in the spirit of the psalms (such as cvi, cvii), while Weizscker sees in it nothing more than an evidence of the spiritual power with which, in a case of outward distress, Jesus so works upon the faith of His disciples that they see themselves transported into a world of miracles; the miracle, he thinks, resolves itself into the extraordinary impression produced by what had taken place. It is to do manifest violence to the clear and simple account of the Gospels, to adopt such expedients for divesting the narrative of its supernatural character, as Schenkel also has had recourse to, who thinks that, after the pilot had despaired, Jesus, with assured confidence in His destiny, stood up, and, after rebuking and allaying the fears of those around Him, assumed to Himself the direction of the boat. The text renders it necessary to insist on treating the event (Neander, Steinmeyer) as miraculous as a proceeding the cause of which is to be found in the divine energy dwelling in the Lord (Luk 11:20 ) in a powerful exercise of His authority over the elements, which there should be no more difficulty in admitting than in the case of His other miracles in the sphere of nature (the feeding, Cana) and upon the bodily organism (even when dead).
[434] According to Mar 4:41 , Luk 8:25 , it was the disciples who uttered the exclamation. Possibly a more original part of the tradition than the statement in Matthew, which presupposes a wider reflection than Mark’s account, that statement being that what the exclamation asked the disciples already knew . Moreover, the preference, in all essential respects, is due to Matthew’s account; comp. Weiss in d. Stud. u. Krit . 1865, p. 344.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 1337
CHRIST STILLETH THE TEMPEST
Mat 8:27. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?
THE more we see of Christ, the more we are constrained to admire him. Every fresh miracle discovers to us more of his unbounded power and grace. The disciples had often been struck with wonder at the miracles wrought by him. They now beheld a miracle in which they themselves were deeply interested, and were stimulated by it to more exalted thoughts of his august character.
It will be profitable to inquire,
I.
What it was at which they so marvelled
The disciples in crossing the lake were overtaken by a storm, and were in imminent danger of being overwhelmed by the waves. In this strait they called upon their Lord for help
[They had put to sea in compliance with their Lords command [Note: ver. 18.]; yet were they not exempt from the dangers incident to navigation. Christ himself submitted to be thus tossed by winds and waves, and in so doing has taught us what his Church must expect in this tempestuous world [Note: Act 14:22.]. His disciples, having exerted themselves in vain, applied to him. In this they afford us a good example under our distresses. Perplexed by fear, and agitated by impatience, they addressed him rather in a querulous expostulation. Alas! how feeble is our nature under the pressure of heavy trials. How apt are we to mix our supplications with complaints against God [Note: Job 3:23; Job 6:4; Job 7:20.]! They shewed however, with all their weakness, in whom their trust was, and that they had no hope but in his almighty aid.]
He immediately interposed for their deliverance
[He could, if he had seen fit, have prevented the storm; but then the disciples would not have discovered their own weakness, nor have seen this marvellous display of their Masters power. It is for the same gracious ends that he permits our troubles [Note: 1Pe 1:6-7.]; and, when they have brought us to him in fervent supplication, he will deliver us from them. He arose from his pillow, and with authority rebuked the storm. Instantly the boisterous winds were hushed, and the roaring billows silenced. Though at other times the waters after a storm remained in a perturbed state, at his command they subsided to a perfect calm. Such is the effect his word produces on the tempest-tossed soul. Terrors, that appalled the conscience, are dissipated as a cloud [Note: Act 16:29-34.]. Temptations, that agitated the frame, are disarmed of their power [Note: 2Co 12:9.], and afflictions, that overwhelmed the soul, are made to yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness. Well might they marvel on an occasion like this. Nothing seems so much beyond the controul of man as the winds and waves; but even these heard the voice and obeyed the will of the Lord Jesus. Well therefore might the disciples exclaim, What manner of man is this!]
So stupendous a miracle should lead us to consider,
II.
What views of Christ will naturally arise from this display of his power
The disciples, through their ignorance and perplexity, scarcely knew what to think. But to us his conduct naturally suggests the following truths:
1.
Christ is the true and living God
[His sleeping, through fatigue, shewed him to be a man like ourselves; but his exercise of such power proved him to be God also. Moses had opened the sea by his wonder-working rod; and Elijah had made a path through Jordan by his mantle: but both confessedly wrought their miracles in dependence on God. Jesus, on the contrary, performed this miracle by his own power: and who, but God, is sufficient for such things? It is spoken of as the peculiar prerogative of God to rule the sea [Note: Pro 30:4. Psa 65:7.]. Let us then bear this in mind in all our addresses unto Jesus. Let us indeed make this the ground of our application to him [Note: Isa 45:22.].]
2.
He is never unmindful of his peoples troubles, however he may appear to be so
[The Apostles rather reflected on him as though he cared not for them. But his providential care was not the less exerted because he was asleep. We also are ready on some occasions to think him unmindful of us. We too often adopt the impatient language of the Church of old [Note: Isa 49:14.]; but the answer he gave to them, is equally applicable to us [Note: Isa 49:15-16.]. We never need to be afraid if we be embarked with him. His ark may be tossed about and driven by tempestuous winds; but though every thing else should perish, that would outride the storm.]
3.
He will not withhold his aid on account of the weakness of our faith
[The excessive fears of his disciples shewed their want of faith. He therefore reproved them for having so little confidence in him. But he would not on that account refuse their request. In us also he too often sees the workings of unbelief: but he will not be extreme to mark what is done amiss. He frequently, when on earth, relieved those who doubted his power or his willingness to help them [Note: Mat 8:2. Mar 9:22.]: and it is well for us that he still exercises the same pity and forbearance. Doubtless, however, the stronger our faith, the more speedy and effectual, for the most part, will our deliverances be.]
4.
He is as able to save us out of the greatest difficulties as from the least
[We are ever prone to limit him in the exercise of his goodness; nor are even the most signal manifestations of his power sufficient to correct this propensity [Note: Psa 78:19-20.]: but he who created and upholds all things can overrule them as he pleases; and his promises to his people are fully commensurate with their wants. Let us then go to him under our most pressing difficulties, and rest assured, that he is both able and willing to save us to the uttermost [Note: Heb 7:25.].]
Address
1.
To the disobedient
[God has been pleased to bestow on man the gift of reason, and to leave him a free agent in all which he does. Alas! how vilely do the generality abuse this transcendent mercy! They are more regardless of the divine command than even winds and waves. And is this the end for which God has so distinguished us? Is the privilege of volition granted us to encourage our revolt? Is it not rather, that our obedience to God may be a rational service? Let the disobedient stand amazed at their impiety. Let them wonder that the Divine forbearance is so long exercised towards them. Surely they have abundant need to offer that petition [Note: ver. 25.]. O that they may be more impressed with their danger than ever the disciples were!]
2.
To those who truly endeavour to serve the Lord Christ
[All seasons are not alike in the spiritual, any more than in the natural, world. The greatest difficulties may encompass you, when you have the clearest evidence that you are in the way of duty. But know that your Lord is an all-sufficient, ever-present help. Do not then shun the path of duty because of any trial that may beset you. In the midst of all, possess your souls in faith and patience; and let the triumphant words of former saints be your song [Note: Psa 46:1-3; Psa 46:5.]. Thus shall you have richer discoveries of your Saviours care and love, and from personal experience attest the truth of that poetical description [Note: Psa 107:23-30.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
27 But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!
Ver. 27. Even the winds and the sea obey him ] He lays laws upon all creatures, which are his hosts. The winds and sea fought for us apparently in that
” Octogesimus octavus mirabilis annus: ” (Beza)
so that the blasphemous Spaniards said, Christ was turned Lutheran. The like was done by the winds for Theodosius, in that famous battle against Maximinus. The soldiers that were then present told us, saith St Augustine ( de Civ. Dei, v. 6), that the winds took their darts, as soon as they were out of their hands, and drove them violently upon the enemy. As for those that were cast at us by the enemy, they were with like violence carried back upon their own bodies. Hence sang Claudian the heathen poet in this sort concerning Theodosius,
” O nimium dilecte Deo, cui militat aether,
Et coniurati veniunt ad classica venti.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
27. . ] The men who were in the ship, besides our Lord and His disciples.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 8:27 , f : who? Naturally one would say the disciples with Jesus in the boat, called men to suit the tragic situation. But many think others are referred to, men unacquainted with Jesus: “quibus nondum innotuerat Christus” (Calvin); either with the disciples in the boat, and referred to alone (Jerome, Meyer) or jointly (De Wette, Bleek), or who afterwards heard the story (Hilar y, Euthy., Fritzsche: “homines, quote uot hujus portenti nuntium acceperant,” and Weiss). Holtzmann (H. C.) says they might be the men in the other ships mentioned in Mar 4:36 , but in reality the expression may simply point to the contrast between the disciples as men and the divine power displayed. , what manner of person? The more classic form is = from what land? where born? possibly from and , with a euphonic (Passow). , in later use, = of what sort? vide Lobeck, Phryn., p. 56. This story of the triple tradition is a genuine reminiscence of disciple life. There was a storm, Jesus slept, the disciples awoke Him in terror. He rebuked the winds and waves, and they forthwith subsided. The only escape of naturalism from a miracle of power or Providence (Weiss, Leben Jesu ) is to deny the causal sequence between Christ’s word and the ensuing calm and suggest coincidence. The storm sudden in its rise, equally sudden in its lull.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
marvelled. In Mat 14:33 “worshipped”.
manner, &c. = kind of a Being.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
27. .] The men who were in the ship, besides our Lord and His disciples.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 8:27. , obey Him) Cf. Mar 1:27. The winds and the sea acknowledge no other control.[383]
[383] In the original, Venti et mare alias libera.-Bengel is very fond of the adverb alias, and frequently employs it emphatically.-(I. B.)
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Mat 14:33, Mat 15:31, Mar 1:27, Mar 6:51, Mar 7:37
Reciprocal: Gen 1:7 – and it Gen 8:2 – the rain Exo 10:13 – east wind Exo 14:26 – Stretch out Exo 15:10 – blow Jos 3:16 – rose up 2Sa 22:16 – rebuking Psa 29:3 – The voice Psa 65:7 – Which Psa 135:6 – in the seas Jer 51:16 – bringeth Jon 2:10 – General Mat 8:26 – and rebuked Mar 4:41 – What Jam 1:24 – what 2Pe 3:11 – what Rev 7:1 – holding
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
8:27
Each new miracle seemed to fill the disciples with astonishment. The distinguishing feature of this event would lie in the fact that it was inanimate things that Jesus controlled. That is indicated by their word obey, which ordinarily would require intelligent response which the storm could not do.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 8:27. The men marvelled. Probably all who were in the boat. The parallel passages oblige us to include the disciples as well as the boats crew. The former (of little faith) also wondered.
What manner of man is this. An expression of astonishment. It neither means, What country does he come from; nor, Is he more than man? The latter idea is suggested to those now reading the passage.
Even the wind and the sea, or, the winds and the sea too. The latter sense suggests that His power over other things had been witnessed; the former intimates that this was the highest display of power. Such a miracle, wrought before those to whom the terrors of the lake were the highest natural danger, was best adapted to convince them of His power to save the soul. By it He also taught a lesson of faith and warned against unbelief, as well as attested to the mere lookers-on His Divine power. All His miracles are displays not only of power, but of love to lost men. Alford: 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.