And he said unto them,
Why are you fearful,
O you of little faith?
Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
All Commentaries on Matthew 8:26 Go To Matthew 8
John Chrysostom
AD 407
Therefore neither does He this in the presence of the multitudes, that they might not be condemned for little faith, but He has them apart, and corrects them, and before the tempest of the waters He puts an end to the tempests of their soul, rebuking them, and saying,
Why are you fearful, O you of little faith: instructing them also, that men's fear is wrought not by the approach of the temptations, but by the weakness of their mind.
But should any one say, that it was not fearfulness, or little faith, to come near and awaken Him; I would say this, that that very thing was a special sign of their wanting the right opinion concerning Him. That is, His power to rebuke when awakened they knew, but that He could do so even sleeping, they knew not as yet.
And why at all marvel that it was so now, when even after many other miracles their impressions were still rather imperfect? Wherefore also they are often rebuked; as when He says, Are ye also yet without understanding? Marvel not then, if when the disciples were in such imperfect dispositions, the multitudes had no exalted imagination of Him.
