Matthew 8:23-26 "And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him..."

"And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying 'Save, Lord, we are perishing.' And he said to them, 'Why are you afraid, O men of little faith?' Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm" (Matthew 8:23-26 RSV).

Question:

I'm just wondering what the metaphysical interpretation of these verses are. I truly enjoy your explanations, and learn from them.

Comment:

The entire point and purpose of the ministry of Jesus was to awaken people to their innate Oneness with the divine—the Christ energy that is our true identity. This message was opposed, on one hand, by those from traditional paths—Pharisees, Sadducees—who simply didn't believe it. On the other hand, his message was opposed—however inadvertently—by those of his followers who believed that he had an intimate Oneness with God, but didn't believe it of themselves. Throughout the Gospels we see Jesus continually trying to expand their awareness, to stop seeing him as the only source for healings and transformations, and to begin doing the same work themselves. I think that's very much the point here. The issue is not the storm itself, but the disciples' fear of the storm. That fear is based on a superstitious belief in a distant and uncaring God who inflicts upon us storms over which we have no control. When we know ourselves as the Christ, we know there is nothing to fear. Oh, we will still experience storms, but there is nothing to fear in their energy. As expressions of the divine, we can calm storms, or use them for good. It is only when we react with fear that anything in the material world has any power to threaten our well-being—and that's only because we have fearfully surrendered a part of our own power to the object of the fear.   Blessings! Rev. Ed