37. (Verse 23). And as they were sailing, etc. Here secondly is described the onset of the storm with the importunity of danger and with the opportunity of refuge. - First, regarding the importunity of the emerging danger, while Christ was sleeping, it is said: And as they were sailing, he fell asleep. And while he was sleeping, they encountered danger in sailing, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus 43: "They who sail the sea tell of its dangers." - Therefore the danger is added: And there came down a storm of wind upon the lake, and they were being filled and were in danger, that is, the storm of wind agitated the lake and filled the boat with water, according to that passage of Mark 4: "And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that the ship was filled." And this happened by divine dispensation, just as it is said of Jonah in Jonah 1: "A great tempest arose in the sea, and the ship was in danger of being broken." Whence, just as that ship was in danger on account of Jonah fleeing from the face of the Lord, so also this one on account of the presence of the traitor, according to what the Gloss says: "Rightly is the ship troubled in which the traitor is together with the good, and those who had been steadfast by their own merits are troubled by the merits of others."
38. (Verse 24). Second, regarding the opportunity of refuge coming to aid, as Christ awakens, it is added: And they came to him and awakened him, namely so that through his wakefulness they might obtain a remedy, they who had incurred danger during his sleep: the Psalm: "The Lord was roused as one who sleeps." Moreover, they awakened him not from boldness of spirit, but from need; whence it is added: Saying: Master, we perish; in which they invoke Christ's power and their own need: Christ's power in this, that they say: Master: Job 9: "He commands the sun, and it does not rise, and he seals up the stars as under a signet"; the Psalm: "You rule over the power of the sea, and you calm the motion of its waves"; Wisdom 14: "You have given a way in the sea and a most firm path in the waves."
They allege their own need in this, that they say: We perish, when nevertheless you do not will that anyone perish; Second Peter chapter three: "He acts patiently, not willing that any should perish," and especially the predestined. Whence John chapter ten: "My sheep hear my voice, and I give them eternal life, and they shall not perish forever"; and chapter seventeen: "I have kept them, and none of them has perished except the son of perdition."
39. But he, rising up, rebuked the wind. Here thirdly is described the power of the Divinity, as commanding by word and as accomplishing by deed:
First therefore, as regards the command in word, it is said: But he, rising up, rebuked the wind and the tempest of the water: in which rebuke is understood the command of majesty over both. Whence it is said in Matthew chapter eight: "He commanded the winds and the sea, and a great calm was made"; in Mark chapter four it is said that he said to the sea: "Be silent, be still." And in this he shows himself to be the one who made the sea: Job chapter thirty-eight: "I surrounded the sea with my boundaries and said: This far shall you come, and here you shall break your swelling waves"; and Nahum chapter one: "Rebuking the sea and drying it up."
40. Secondly, as regards the effect in deed, it is added: And it ceased, and a calm was made; it ceased, namely the wind: Sirach chapter forty-three: "At his word the wind was silent"; because in the Psalm: "Fire, hail, snow, ice, stormy winds, which fulfill his word." And thus it appears that he is the one to whom Tobit says, in chapter three: "After the tempest you make calm." And thus what is said in the Psalm is true in Christ: "And the spirit of the storm stood still."
41. (Verse 25.). And he said to them, etc. Here fourthly is determined the progress of our belief, in two ways, namely as regards knowledge in the heart and as regards confession in the mouth: - First therefore, as regards knowledge of the heart proceeding from the hesitation of doubt to the certainty of belief, it is said: And he said to them: Where is your faith? Which indeed he says by rebuking doubt and urging firmness of faith, as if to say: Why did you doubt, fearing submersion and peril? According to what he said to Peter in Matthew chapter fourteen: "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" For it is said in Hebrews chapter eleven: "By faith the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea as through dry land." Therefore he reproved the disciples for their faintheartedness, so that from the miracle seen he might arouse them to firmness of faith, through which they might recoil into their own smallness and marvel at the divine immensity.
Whence it is also added: Who, being afraid, marveled. For already they knew their own smallness, into which they recoiled through fear, and the divine immensity, into which they were carried beyond themselves through wonder: Jeremiah chapter ten: "Who shall not fear you, O King of the nations? For yours is the glory among all the wise"; Jeremiah chapter five: "Will you not then fear me? says the Lord." "Who have set the sand as a boundary for the sea, an everlasting decree which it shall not pass beyond."
And because wonder at power accompanies fear of majesty, rightly it is said: They marveled: Sirach 11: "Many marveled at him and honored God," because "the Lord is exceedingly great, and his power is wonderful," Sirach 43.
42. Second, indeed, as regards the confession of the mouth, it is added: Saying to one another: Who, do you think, is this? As if to say: no one is like him. Exodus 15: "Who is like you among the mighty, O Lord? Who is like you, magnificent in holiness, terrible and praiseworthy, working wonders?"
And they give the reason: Because he commands both the winds and the sea, by his ineffable power; and they obey him, with wondrous reverence. Job 28: "Who gave weight to the winds and weighed the waters by measure, when he appointed a law for the rains and a way for the sounding storms." And thus was verified that saying of Sirach 39: "At his word the water stood like a heap." This, therefore, is he of whom Job 38 says: "Who shut up the sea with doors?" For since the winds and the sea obey him, nothing can resist him. Sirach 42: "All things obey him of necessity." Whence Bede in the Gloss: "Note that every creature perceives its Creator, because things that are insensible to us are sensible to the majesty of the Maker."
43. Spiritually, however, there is expressed here the liberation of the penitent soul from the temptation of the devil through the grace of Christ. Whence three things are to be spiritually noted here: the first is the conversion of the soul, which is signified by the boarding of the boat; the second is temptation, which is signified by the onslaught of the storm; the third is the consolation of the soul, which is signified by the calming of the great tempest.
Concerning the boarding of the boat signifying the conversion of the soul, three things are to be noted, namely Christ's example, because he boarded first. Micah 2: "He shall go up, opening the way before them"; because, Acts 1, "Jesus began to do and to teach." And this is what Ambrose says: "Christ, having left his parents, boarded the ship of the cross, to teach us, having left behind carnal love, to be crucified with him." As a figure of this, in 1 Maccabees 16 it is said that John "saw the people trembling to cross the torrent, and he crossed over to them first, and the men saw him and crossed after him."
Second, Christ's counsel, because he invited the disciples to cross over with him. Sirach 24: "Come over to me, all you who desire me," namely from this world, which is nothing but a certain passage. John 13: "That he might pass from this world to the Father"; and Hebrews 13: "We have not here a lasting city, but we seek one that is to come." Blessed is he who thus passes with Christ "through temporal goods, so as not to lose eternal ones"; because, Wisdom 14, "those crossing the sea by a raft were delivered."
Third, the fellowship of Christ, because he crossed over in the ship together with them: Isaiah forty-three: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and the rivers shall not overwhelm you," etc., because in the Psalm: "I am with him in tribulation"; and Matthew twenty-eight: "Behold, I am with you all days even to the consummation of the age."
44. Concerning the assault of the storm, in which is signified the temptation of the soul, three things are to be noted. The first is the sleeping of Christ; which indeed occurs when the love and memory of Christ grows sluggish in the heart; for in himself he did not sleep: the Psalm: "Behold, he who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep"; but in us: on account of which it is said in Matthew twenty-six: "Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation"; and therefore First Peter, last chapter: "Be sober and watch"; and First Thessalonians five: "Therefore let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober: for those who sleep, sleep at night."
Second is the descent of the storm wind, in which is signified the temptation of the devil: Ezekiel one: "A whirlwind came from the north." This is the wind coming "from the region of the desert, which shook the four corners of the house," that is, the four affections of the mind, of which it is said in Job one; this is the wind of which Sirach forty-three says: "The cold north wind blew, and ice froze upon the water."
Third is the imperiling of the driven ship, which signifies the disturbance of the soul. For water entering into the little ship is disturbance entering into the soul, and then danger is imminent. Whence in the Psalm: "Save me, O God, for the waters have come in even unto my soul"; Lamentations three: "The waters overflowed above my head; I said: I am lost."
45. Concerning the consolation of the soul, three things are to be noted. The first is prayer in the awakening of Christ: which indeed is accomplished through prayer: below, chapter eleven: "Which of you shall have a friend," etc.; Isaiah sixty-four: "There is none who calls upon your name, who rises up and takes hold of you."
Second is the devotion of the mind in tranquility: Tobit three: "After a storm you make a calm, and after weeping and tears you pour in gladness"; Wisdom twelve: "But you, master of power, judge with tranquility."
Third is the glorification of God in this, that they venerate and fear and confess God: Exodus fourteen: "The Lord delivered Israel from the hand of the Egyptians." "Then Moses sang a canticle to the Lord," etc.
Concerning these three it is said in the Psalm: "Call upon me in the day of tribulation, and I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me."
And thus it is clear how here is spiritually signified the passage of the penitent soul.
46. And they sailed to the region, etc. After the Evangelist first showed that Christ has dominion over corporeal creation, here secondly he shows that he has dominion over spiritual creation in the admirable expulsion of the demonic legion. Hence the Evangelist intends in this part to explain the marvelous liberation of the demoniac accomplished through the power of Christ. For the explanation of this miracle, four things are introduced. The first is the violence of the besieging demon; the second is the omnipotence of the Lord who liberates, which is treated there: And they begged him not to command them, etc.; the third is the reverence of the people coming to meet him, there: When those who were feeding them saw what had happened, etc.; the fourth is the benevolence of the cured man obeying, there: And the man from whom the demons had gone out begged him, etc.
The violence of the besieging devil is shown from four things, namely from the roaring of fury, from the clamor of outcry, from the assault of strength, and from the accompaniment of multitude.