Genesis and Matthew XII

 . . . the waters swelled and increased exceedingly upon the earth, so that the Ark floated upon the face of the waters.

Then he got up and yelled at the winds and the sea, and there was great calm.

Water. We are both fascinated by it, and terrified by it, at the same time. We are mostly made up of water. It is second only to oxygen, as the most critical thing we need to survive. Without oxygen, we die an almost immediate death. Without water, we die a slow and miserable death. Water is made up partly of oxygen.

But too much water kills us. It is perhaps the most destructive force in nature, able to wreak havoc and devastation instantaneously. The winds of a hurricane are accompanied by water. Indeed, they are caused by water - the ocean fuels typhoons as gasoline does an automobile. Fires advance slowly, compared to the sudden action of a water disaster. Even the rise of flood waters, once the flood line is topped, expand in an instant. You cannot outrun it.

Prior to God's creative activity in our universe, the earth is portrayed as mostly chaotic. It is mostly ocean. Imagine ocean being all there is on the face of the earth. We would have, in one place, a critically life-giving substance in extreme volume. But there is no dry ground, no plants, no land-dwelling animals. It is total, utter chaos, and humanity cannot survive in those conditions.

With the Deluge of Noah's time, God re-creates the conditions of the earth prior to the creation of humanity. It is a true starting-over point in history. But we have a sense of God's protection, as the Ark is peacefully lifted above the terror on the earth's surface.

Then, for thousands of years, God demonstrates again and again, His protection of His people.

Finally, His son appears, and walks among men. Christ's followers are learning of his greatness. They are on a boat out on the sea, when a great storm comes and tosses their boat about. With even the Son of God present, they are terrified. This is quite different than the scene in Noah's Ark!

There is no greater demonstration of God's power, than that He command even the atmosphere, and it obeys!

Man had departed far from God's will in the time of Noah. By moving away, they re-established chaos on earth. The return of the flood waters, of the global ocean, was a natural outcome. In the time of Christ, humanity had drifted far from God, once again. Christ's friends saw first-hand the chaos of a sea-storm, and how it represents humanity without God. In their presence, the Son of God commands the winds, and order is restored.