Jesus Calms the Storm Bible story for kids

Long ago, in Bethlehem, Mary wrapped a tiny baby up snug and laid him in a manger.

Well. That baby grew up. He grew into a man, about thirty years old. Jesus.

Now he had friends who went everywhere with him. His disciples. And some of his friends were fishermen. They knew all about boats, and nets, and wind, and water.

One day Jesus was teaching beside a big lake, the Sea of Galilee. So many people came to listen that he got into a boat and sat down in it, out on the water. And all the people stood along the edge of the lake, listening.

He taught them many things, and told them stories. And then it was evening.

And Jesus said to his friends, "Let's go over to the other side."

It was his idea. Right then, as the day was ending.

So they left the crowd behind. And they took Jesus with them, just as he was, already sitting in the boat. No climbing out. No packing up. They simply pushed off.

And they were not the only ones! The Bible says other small boats went along too. A whole little parade of boats, heading out across the water.

And Jesus? He was at the back of the boat. There was a cushion there. And he lay down on it... and fell asleep.

Maybe he was tired from all that teaching. The Bible doesn't say. It just tells us where he was. In the back. Asleep. On the cushion.

Then the wind came.

Not a little evening breeze. A big wind storm!

Whoooosh! The wind pushed and pulled. The waves jumped up, higher and higher. Splash! Over the side they came. Slosh! Water in the bottom of the boat. Splash! More water. Slosh, slosh! Maybe it came up around everybody's toes, and then their ankles, and higher still.

I wonder if somebody grabbed a bucket and started scooping, as fast as they could.

The Bible says the waves beat into the boat, until the boat was filling right up.

Maybe even the fishermen had never seen a wind like this one. Everybody was sure their little boat could not hold on much longer.

And Jesus was still asleep. Still on the cushion. Right in the middle of all that wind and water.

So they woke him up.

"Teacher," they said, "don't you care...?"

Even with Jesus right there in the boat, they were so very frightened.

And Jesus woke up.

First, he spoke to the wind. The Bible says he rebuked it. That means he told it, very firmly, to stop. And then he spoke to the sea.

Just a few small words.

"Peace! Be still!"

And the wind stopped.

And the waves lay down.

The Bible says, "there was a great calm."

A great calm. Not a little bit quieter. Not almost calm. A great calm. Every bit as big as the storm had been.

Imagine it, little one. The splashing, gone. The whooshing, gone. The water spread out all around them, as smooth as milk in a bowl. Just a drip... drip... from somebody's wet sleeve.

Maybe the first stars were coming out over the hills, and shining back up out of the water.

So quiet, you could hear everybody breathing.

Then Jesus spoke to his friends.

"Why are you so afraid? How is it that you have no faith?"

I wonder how he said it. Maybe very softly, now that everything was so still. The Bible doesn't tell us that.

And his friends? The Bible says they were greatly afraid. Maybe their eyes were wide, and their hearts were still thumping. But I think it was a different kind of shivery now. Not storm-shivery. Wonder-shivery.

And they spoke to one another. Maybe they leaned in close, and kept their voices low.

"Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

Who then is this?

Long, long ago, God's people sang a song about sailors in a storm. And in that song, it was God who did this. "He makes the storm a calm, so that its waves are still."

Only God could tell the sea what to do.

And that night, the sea had listened. To the man who had been fast asleep on the cushion.

The little boat sailed on, over the quiet water. All the way to the other side.

And God was with him. God was with her. God is with you, too.

Snuggle down, little one. May the same God who said to the wild sea, "Peace! Be still!"... make a great calm all around you tonight.