If it was not Jesus who was asking the question, our reaction to the speaker would probably be something like, "What? Are you nuts? There's a storm out here!" Of course the disciples were afraid. They are in an open boat on a stormy lake without a global positioning beacon, life rafts, or the Coast Guard nearby. The lake is big enough that they would have little chance of being able to swim to shore in a dead calm and here the waves are high and breaking over them while they are still in the boat. It is only prudent for them to be afraid. To not be afraid in this situation would be proof that they are not in touch with reality. And yet Jesus asks the question, "Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?"

Jesus was a master teacher. He used the common, everyday things that people were familiar…