“And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
They were terrified and asked each other, who is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him — the disciples' response is a second terror, qualitatively different from the first. The storm-fear was the natural response to a life-threatening situation; the post-miracle terror (ephobesan mega, they feared greatly) is the response to an encounter with the divine. Who is this? is the chapter's culminating question, posed by those who are closest to Jesus and still most confused about his identity. The answer the disciples cannot yet speak is given by the question itself: only the Creator commands the creation. Even the wind and the sea obey him — the elements that obey God in Psalm 107:29 now obey Jesus.
Church Fathers on Mark 4:41
After His teaching, they come from that place to the sea, and are tossed by the waves.
Therefore He allowed them to fall into the fear of danger, that they might experience His power in themselves, who saw others benefitted by Him. But He was sleeping upon the pillow of the ship, that is, on a wooden one.
Or else the ship into which He embarked, is taken to mean the tree of His passion, by which the faithful attain to the security of the safe shore. The other ships which are said to have been with the Lord signify those who are imbued with faith in the cross of Christ, and are not beaten about by the whirlwind of tribulation; or who, after the storms of temptation, are enjoying the serenity of peace.
Read all 6 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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