The Disciples’ Power to Still the Storm: Exalted Humanity and the Mystery of the Kingdom

Jesus’s stilling of the storm (Mt 8:23-27; Mk 4:35-41; Lk 8:22-25) is often seen as one of clearest demonstrations of his divinity. To support this view, scholars typically appeal to OT passages that assert YHWH’s authority over the sea (e.g., Job 26:12; Ps 104:7) or even portray a similar situation of stilling a storm (Ps 107:23-32). The same logic is often applied to the other nature miracles in the Gospels. Daniel Kirk and others, however, have argued that such acts can be attributed to Jesus’s status as an exalted human figure instead of a divine one. In the typical reading of the passage, the disciples’ alarm at their imminent drowning and Jesus’s berating of them for lacking faith are both attributed to their failure to comprehend his divinity and power. In other words, Jesus expected them to remain calm and trust that he/God would save them and protect them. A focus on revealed divinity in this miracle precludes asking about other possibilities of what Jesus expected from his disciples. This paper will argue that Jesus expected the disciples themselves to still the storm, using the authority that has been given to them as his representatives. First, I will problematize the typical reading of this passage, which will necessitate looking for an alternative reason for Jesus’s disappointment in the disciples’ performance. For instance, it seems unfair to berate them for being scared in a life-threatening storm; in fact, don’t they demonstrate faith by coming to Jesus to save them? Next, I will argue that each of the Synoptists, to a greater or lesser degree and via varying methods, create an expectation that the disciples will exercise power over nature if they possess the faith and boldness befitting their position. Finally, I will propose a theological rationale for this expectation from the Synoptic accounts that also fits within an early Jewish context, namely that the disciples share in the exalted human status of Jesus as those to whom the apocalyptic revelation of the mystery of the kingdom of God has been granted.