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
It is not in the presence of the multitudes that he corrects their “little faith.” He calls them apart to correct them. Before the tempest of the waters he stills the tempests in their souls. He admonishes them, “Why are you so fearful, O you who have little faith?” He instructs them concerning how human fear emerges out of weakness of mind, not out of the actual approach of threatening trials. Their awakening him was a sign of their lack of a right understanding of who he was. They knew his power to rebuke when he was awake, but his power to rebuke when asleep they had not yet grasped. Even after so many other miracles their impressions of him were still confused. This is why he remarked that they were still without understanding. The Gospel of Matthew, Homily
