In the story of Jesus calming the sudden storm, the most interesting thing is the dialogue between the Teacher and the disciples. He reproaches them for their little faith, and they, struck by what has happened, try to understand: who is He, that...
In the story of Jesus calming the sudden storm, the most interesting thing is the dialogue between the Teacher and the disciples. He reproaches them for their little faith, and they, struck by what has happened, try to understand: who is He, that He has authority even over the elements? As we can see, the evangelist emphasizes precisely this, there is no other word for it, misunderstanding between Jesus and the apostles. And the point is not that the disciples cannot understand Who is before them. The point is that they are unable to concentrate their spiritual attention on what is necessary for an adequate understanding of the situation. In their souls there still lives the fear of imminent death they experienced during the storm, overlaid by a mystical, almost superstitious dread before the power their Teacher possesses. But He wants to turn their spiritual gaze from the outer to the inner, from effects to the meaning of what is happening. That is why He speaks to them about faith, about trust, without which there is no Kingdom, whether trust in God, in Christ, or in one's neighbor.
If the disciples had had enough trust and inner wholeness, without which, as without trust, there can be no talk of faith, the storm would have subsided according to their faith, without Jesus' intervention. But the point is that, as we see, the apostles do not yet have this inner wholeness. They have enough faith to follow the Teacher, but not enough to remain in the spiritual space of the Kingdom. In that very spiritual space where there is no place for a storm, where the elements are completely subject to the human will: the will not only of the Messiah, but of every person living the life of the Kingdom. If the disciples had been rooted in the Kingdom, they would not have had to wake the Teacher; the storm would have subsided at the command of any one of them, or perhaps it would not have begun at all.
Of course, in the Kingdom the relationship between Christ and each of His disciples remains no less close than in the untransformed world. There it even proves still deeper, more conscious, more intense than in this world. But Christ does not need to pull a person rooted in the Kingdom by the hand out of every difficult situation, if only because in the life of a person rooted in the Kingdom there are no accidental difficult situations. As we can see, this is exactly the thought Jesus is trying to convey to His disciples.
But their attention is wholly absorbed by the extraordinary power their Teacher has revealed. This is no surprise: power always attracts more attention than the Kingdom. And to learn to see the Kingdom, the breath of the Kingdom must touch a person and change his heart. That is what happened to the apostles on the day of Pentecost.
12 Nathan delivers and applies his parable, Sa2 12:1-12.
David repents and is forgiven, but punished, Sa2 12:13-14.
The sickness and death of the child, with David's behaviour on the occasion, Sa2 12:15-23.
The birth of Solomon, Sa2 12:24-25.
The taking of Rabbah, Sa2 12:26-31.
12:1 The Lord sent - When the ordinary means did not awaken David to repentance, God takes an extraordinary course. Thus the merciful God pities and prevents him who had so horribly forsaken God. He said - He prudently ushers in his reproof with a parable, after the manner of the eastern nations, that so he might surprize David, and cause him unawares to give sentence against himself.
12:2 Many flocks - Noting David's many wives and concubines.
12:3 Bought - As men then used to buy their wives: or, had procured.
12:5 Is worthy to die - This seems to be more than the fact deserved, or than he had commission to inflict for it, Exo 22:1. But it is observable, that David now when he was most indulgent to himself, and to his own sin, was most severe and even unjust to others; as appears by this passage, and the following relation, ver. Sa2 12:31, which was done in the time of David's impenitent continuance in his sin.
12:7 Thus saith the Lord God - Nathan now speaks, not as a petitioner for a poor man, but as an ambassador from the great God.