In the ancient imagination, the sea represented death, chaos, and destruction. This image of the chaotic sea is picked up on and played with throughout the Bible in many fascinating ways, usually by demonstrating God’s mastery over it. God speaks and the sea obeys, God parts the sea for his chosen people to walk through on dry land, God pushes back the chaos of our broken world, etc. It is no surprise, then, that Jesus picks up on this theme as well by demonstrating his own mastery over the chaotic waters of the Sea of Galilee and invites his followers to trust in the order and life that he brings.
