Jesus Calms the Storm

Mark 4:35-41 "And the same day, when the even (evening) was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.  And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship.  And there were also with him other little ships.  And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waters beat into the ship, so that it was now full.  And he (Jesus) was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?  And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still.  And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.  And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?  And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"
 
Earlier that day the Lord Jesus had been teaching in parables to multitudes of people.  After Jesus had taught the multitudes all day, he was weary, and for a short time he was teaching his disciples what the parables meant in a house and then he was back out on  boat.  After all the teaching was over, the multitudes were sent away, and Jesus said to his disciples "let us pass over to the other side."  The other side of what?  The other side of the Sea of Galilee.  The Lord Jesus had been teaching most of the day at Capernaeum.  Jesus wanted to go to another place at the other side called Gadara. (Chp 5:1)  This journey would take between 5 and 6 hours in good weather.
According to V35 they set sail in the evening where Jesus fell asleep at the back of the boat.  They were sailing in a smaller boat for 5 or 6 hours.  It would have been dark, and cold.  The disciples would have felt the splash of the water on their faces, and heard the flap of the sails, felt the wind. 
With the darkness, storm clouds were gathering and the wind began to strengthen causing the waves to be bigger, and the waves were smashing against the side of the boat.  The sea became like a cauldron.  When it began Peter and James were used to being on the sea because they were fishermen but it wasn't long before they were afraid.  Men who went to sea all their lives began to think that they were going to perish, so ferocious was the storm.  Matthew's gospel says  it was like a tempest on the sea.  With this fierce wind blowing, the waves were very large and broke over the boat so that the ship was now filling with water.

The Sea of Galilee is in a basin, down low 680 feet below the Mediterranean.  It is very hot during the day, the east side has mountains, the west side has hills and valleys.  To the north is Mount Herman with cold air that came down.  With cold air coming down and hot air rising up, that can cause a great storm.  This storm of wind made experienced sailors terrified.  In this situation, Jesus is weary.  V38  he was in the hinder part of the ship on a pillow asleep.  A great contrast between Jesus sleeping and the great storm which was taking place.   That teaches us of the humanity of Jesus Christ, he was tired and sleepy just like we can be.