About how real life is like the sea, and about how Jesus went into the ship with His disciples and fell asleep (Luke 8:22-23; Matt. 8:23)

Sailors, when their sailing is favored by a fair wind, jealously monitor the state of the sea with cheerful faces; when the established calm at sea frees them from work and allows some to indulge in sleep, and others to replace themselves at the ship's helm with children, it happens that when the helmsman indulges in such carelessness, and the sailors, thanks to good weather, completely abandon their work, suddenly a fierce storm breaks out, the winds suddenly blow, the sea begins to rage menacingly and the ship struggles with difficulty with the waves, and the ship's gear, fixed on masts, whistling and groaning, fluttering with strong gusts of wind; then, beloved, the people on the ship let out terrible and pitiful cries, awaiting inevitable death at the bottom of the sea. And at the same time, of course, the sailors are depressed by the excitement that came over them from outside, but even more, the groans heard on the ship itself shake them to such an extent that the helmsman, trembling with fear, loses the ability to control the ship, and everyone generally loses all hope of preserving life. Something similar happened to the Lord’s disciples—I invite you to move your thoughts to the Gospel. “Jesus and His disciples entered the ship” (Luke 8:22). They set off on their journey. And while the Lord Christ was awake among them, no opposing wind delayed them, the sea spread out before them like dry land and not the slightest disturbance disturbed the Christ-bearing ship; when, according to the arrangement of Providence, Jesus fell asleep on the ship - according to His bodily nature, and not according to the Divine, of course, dignity, because sleep does not close the eyes of the Divinity - then the winds, seeing that their Lord and Manager had fallen asleep, like horses escaping from the hands of a sleepy driver, with a swift onslaught raised stormy waves against the apostolic boat. In the midst of the eruption of excitement, which threatened inevitable death, when the sea was boiling and the waves were violently rushing onto the coastal sand that bounded them, the disciples, seeing a terrible storm, began to beg the glorious intercessor of Christ. What did they say? “Lord, save us: we are perishing” (Matthew 8:25; Luke 8:24). The Lord slept in the ship according to the arrangement of Providence, not ignorant of what was about to happen, and not being powerless to prevent the storm, but knowing that the sea would become stormy, He slept for two reasons: firstly, in order to expose the disciples’ lack of faith during the storm, and secondly, in order to show them His Divine power. And it was necessary, beloved, to see how, upon the Savior’s awakening from bodily sleep, everything quickly returned to order: the wind disappeared into its cave, the sea no longer threatened the apostolic ship, and the waves bowed before the Master. This is the course of our life: even here things do not remain unchanged once and for all, but sometimes peace reigns and there is no shortage of food, sometimes our life is disturbed, like the sea, either from the raids of barbarians, or from the machinations of tyrants and the interweaving of circumstances, or from many other shocks and upheavals. And the narrated event with the apostolic ship has this exact meaning, just as everything that happened to the Lord in general is not without a mysterious meaning. The sea is our real life; the ship is each individual person, in which thoughts and reason act as sailors and helmsman. And so, if this is a vessel, that is, a human person, overwhelmed in this life by the malice of the devil or hostile demons, stirring up disturbances of lust, throwing the salty foam of pleasures over his inherent mind, shaking his governing mind with passions and dragging him into the abyss of sin... (hereinafter omission). And that indeed each of the people, being consumed by the fire of various pleasures, plunges into the abyss of sin, confirms the prophet David. It was when he suffered a shipwreck regarding chastity that he exclaimed like this: “I entered into the depths of the sea, and the storm drowned me” (Ps. 68:3). In the history of David we will not find anything corresponding to these words: in fact, when did David swim, or on what sea was he drowned? Of course, nowhere. What else do these words of his mean, if not that swimming in this life, as if in the sea, overwhelmed by waves of pleasure and having abandoned the suggestions of reason, he succumbed to a swift impulse of passion and, having eliminated his husband, suffered a collapse of chastity with the wife of Uriah? Is this why he said: “I entered into the depths of the sea, and the storm drowned me” (Ps. 68:3). Then, having repented and, as it were, emerging from the depths of sin, again taking possession of the helm of chastity and managing his future life in chastity, he prayed to God: “let not the desire of the waters carry me away, let not the abyss swallow me up” (“let not a storm of water drown me, let the depth below devour me”) (Ps. 68:16). The apostle says something similar, mysteriously depicting humanity in his face: “three times I suffered shipwreck.” In fact, what does this mean: “three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I spent in the depths of the sea” (2 Cor. 11:25)? Indeed, humanity was shipwrecked three times: the first time - in paradise through the Fall, the second time - in Noah's flood, and the third time - when, after the giving of the law, the people fell into idolatry, until Christ, the Pilot of our souls, finally came, established the tree of the Cross in the middle of the earth and arranged for us a stormless voyage to the heavenly city. “Day and night he stayed in the depths of the sea.” By night the apostle means the existence of mankind in the darkness of error before the coming of the Savior; by day he calls life after the appearance of the Savior upon enlightenment baptism. Thus, when all humanity, as we said, was in misery in the storm raised by the malice of the devil, the Word of God, seeing this, descends into this life and enters inside the ship - into the Virgin Mary: We find His image fulfilled on the prophet Jonah. In fact, Jonah is sent to Nineveh, Christ comes into this life; Jonah ascends to the ship and sleeps inside the ship, and the Word of God for nine months in the womb of the Virgin Mary almost slept, keeping silence for the people. It was then that the storm of the devil’s malice especially arose, as it did with Jonah; but when Jonah was thrown into the sea, that is, when Jesus came from the womb of the Virgin into this life, then all the opposing winds ceased, and until the whale carried Him to hell, the Lord showed many signs and wonders while sailing in this life. Jonah entered the whale, and He descended into hell: He spent three days and three nights in hell, just like Jonah in the belly of the whale. Jonah erupts from the belly of the whale into Nineveh, and Christ rises from the dead and comes to this world, preaching repentance. Both the Ninevites and the citizens of this world repent; They fast for three days and many thousands are saved, just as in Nineveh one hundred and twenty thousand people and many livestock were saved. And after the Lord preached repentance and faith in this world, the twelve tribes of Israel are saved. After all, “when the full number of the Gentiles has come in, then all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:25–26). And that Jonah was the image of Christ, the Lord himself speaks about this in the Gospel: “As Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights” (Matthew 12:40). To him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen. Creations attributed to St. John Chrysostom, and classified in the Minya edition as Spuria. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us. – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: