Jesus Calms the Storm and Heals the Demoniac (Luke 8:22-39)
One day Jesus gets into a boat with His disciples and says, "Let us go to the other side of the lake." While they are sailing, He falls asleep. A fierce squall comes down on the lake. Waves crash into the boat. Water is pouring in. The disciples are in real danger. They wake Jesus: "Master, Master, we are perishing!" Jesus wakes up and rebukes the wind and the raging water. They stop. It becomes calm. Then He asks them: "Where is your faith?" The disciples are amazed and afraid. They ask each other: "Who then is this, that He commands even winds and water, and they obey Him?"
They sail to the region of the Gerasenes, on the other side of the lake. As Jesus steps ashore, a man from the town meets Him. This man has been possessed by demons for a long time. He wears no clothes, lives not in a house but in the tombs, and has such strength that chains cannot hold him. He falls before Jesus and shouts with a loud voice: "What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me." The demons beg Jesus not to send them into the abyss. They ask to be sent into a herd of pigs nearby. Jesus permits it. The herd rushes down the steep bank into the lake and drowns.
The herdsmen run to tell the town. When the people come out to see, they find the man sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. Fear overcomes them and they ask Jesus to leave. As Jesus gets back into the boat, the man who had been freed begs to come with Him. Jesus sends him back instead: "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." And the man goes through the whole town telling everyone.
A Curious Question
The disciples had been following Jesus for a while. They had seen Him heal sick people and cast out demons. But when the storm hit, they panicked and woke Him up saying "we are going to die." After He calmed the storm, He asked them: "Where is your faith?" And they were more afraid after He stopped the storm than they were during it. Why do you think seeing Jesus have power over the storm made them more afraid, not less? What does it mean to be afraid of someone who is completely on your side?
Old Testament Connection
When Jesus rebuked the wind and the waves, the disciples asked each other who this could be that even the wind and water obey Him. The Old Testament answers that question. Psalm 107:28-29 says: those who cried to the Lord in their trouble were brought out of their distress, and He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. The One who calms storms in the Psalms is the Lord God of Israel. Jesus did not pray for the storm to stop. He spoke to it and it obeyed. The disciples were right to ask who He was. They were in the boat with the Creator of the sea.
The healing of the demoniac echoes one of the earliest themes of the Old Testament: God restores what was lost and returns the outcast to community. This man was living among the dead, cut off from every normal human relationship. When Jesus was done with him, he was sitting, clothed, and in his right mind. That description mirrors what God promised in Ezekiel 37, the vision of dry bones coming back to life: restoration, dignity, and wholeness for the ruined and abandoned. The man's mission, to go home and tell everyone what God had done for him, is the first evangelistic commission in Luke. Jesus sends him back to the very community that had given up on him.
Discussion Questions
- Jesus asked the disciples "Where is your faith?" right after they had been terrified. He was in the boat with them the whole time. What do you think He wanted them to understand about who He was, and how does it change things to know Jesus is in your boat when things get scary?
- The townspeople saw the man who had been wild and dangerous now sitting calmly at Jesus' feet, and they were afraid and asked Jesus to leave. Why do you think a miracle made them want Jesus to go away? What does that tell you about how people sometimes respond to the power of God?
- Jesus told the healed man to go home and tell his family what God had done for him. He did not get to come along on the journey with Jesus. Why do you think Jesus sent him back instead of bringing him along? What does his mission tell us about where Jesus expects us to share His story?
"So What?" What Can I Do?
Jesus told the man He healed to go home and tell his family and neighbors what God had done for him. His mission field was the people who already knew him. This week, tell one person who knows you personally about something God has done in your life. It does not have to be dramatic. It can be small: "I prayed about something and God helped me." The man from the tombs did not have a theological degree. He just told people what had happened to him. You can do the same thing.
Memorize God's Word
Luke 8:25b: "Who then is this, that He commands even winds and water, and they obey Him?"
Hand Motions:
- Who then is this: Hold both hands out to the sides with palms up, shoulders raised in a gesture of wonder and amazement.
- that He commands even winds and water: Extend one arm outward with authority, like a person giving a firm command, while the other hand sweeps wide to show the vast expanse of wind and waves.
- and they obey Him: Drop both hands to your sides immediately and stand still, imitating the sudden calm after the storm ends.
Praying with Kids
Lord Jesus, You spoke to the storm and it stopped. You spoke to the man in the tombs and he was set free. Nothing is outside Your authority: not nature, not darkness, not the things that terrify us. Help us to remember that when the storms in our own lives get loud and scary. You are in the boat with us. Increase our faith. And like the man You healed, help us to go back to the people who know us and tell them what You have done. In Your name, Amen.
Craft: Storm and Calm Flip Card
Children will make a simple two-sided card showing the storm on one side and the calm on the other, as a reminder that Jesus has authority over every storm.
Materials Checklist
Instructions
- Give each child a folded card so they have two sides to work with.
- On the front side, draw the storm: dark waves, a small boat tossing in the water, a dark sky with lightning. Use gray and dark blue.
- On the back side, draw the calm: smooth water, a sunny sky, the same boat sitting peacefully on the water. Use yellow and light blue.
- On the storm side, write: "We are perishing!" Luke 8:24
- On the calm side, write the memory verse: "Who then is this, that He commands even winds and water, and they obey Him?" Luke 8:25
- Encourage children to flip the card back and forth as a reminder: Jesus can take any storm and bring calm.
Effective Teaching Techniques
The storm scene is best told with physical drama. Have children close their eyes while you describe the rising wind and the crashing water. Raise your voice slightly as the storm builds. Then when Jesus speaks, drop your voice to a quiet, firm command. The contrast in volume is more effective than any visual aid. Let the silence after the command sit for a full three seconds before moving on. That pause is the theological point. For the demoniac healing, the description of the man living in the tombs with chains he broke and no clothes is unusual for a children's lesson, but do not skip or sanitize it. Children understand isolation and being cut off from everyone. Help them feel the loneliness of his situation before the miracle. When the townspeople find him clothed and in his right mind, ask children: "What do you think the man's family felt when they heard what had happened?" That question humanizes the miracle and prepares children for the application about going home to share the story.