Miraculous

And then there was the storm. The tie-yourself-to-the-mast-and-kiss-your-boat-good- bye storm. Ten-foot waves yanked the disciples first forward and then backward, leaving the boat ankle-deep in water. Matthew’s face blanched to the shade of spaetzle. Thomas death-gripped the stern. Peter suggested that they pray the Lord’s Prayer. Better still, that the Lord lead them in the Lord’s Prayer. That’s when he heard the Lord.

Snoring.

Jesus was asleep. Back against the bow. Head drooped forward. Chin flopping on a sternum as the hull bounced on waves. “Jesus!” Peter shouted.

The carpenter woke up, looked up. He wiped the rain from his eyes, puffed both cheeks with a sigh, and stood. He raised first his hand, then his voice, and as fast as you could say “glassy,” the water became just that. Jesus smiled and sat, and Peter stared and wondered, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (Mark 4:41).

Jesus: “Who do you say that I am?” (Matt. 16:15).

Jesus: “Who do you say that I am?”

Peter: “I, uh, I, uh...I believe...that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (see Matt. 16:16).

-max.L