The Poseidon Adventure

35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mk 4:35-41; par. Mt 8:23-27; Lk 8:22-25).

i) Imagine if you had a friend with the ability to control weather. You'd wonder who or what your friend really was. What was the source of your friend's superhuman ability. Clearly there's more to your friend than meets the idea. 

ii) Notice that unlike Moses or Elijah, Jesus doesn't pray to God to make this happen. There's no indication that his ability to do it is derivative. 

iii) The incident likely reminded the disciples of what the OT says about Yahweh:

23 Some went down to the sea in ships,

    doing business on the great waters;

24 they saw the deeds of the Lord,

    his wondrous works in the deep.

25 For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,

    which lifted up the waves of the sea.

26 They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;

    their courage melted away in their evil plight;

27 they reeled and staggered like drunken men

    and were at their wits' end.

28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

    and he delivered them from their distress.

29 He made the storm be still,

    and the waves of the sea were hushed.

30 Then they were glad that the waters were quiet,

    and he brought them to their desired haven.

(Ps 107:23-30; cf. Jonah 1:4)

iv) But it runs deeper than that. Modern readers think of storms and squalls as natural forces. But ancient pagans believed in storm gods and sea gods. OT polemical theology trades on this association. In the parting of the Red Sea, Yahweh humiliates the gods of Egypt:

13 You divided the sea by your might;

    you broke the heads of the sea monsters[a] on the waters.

14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan;

    you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.

(Ps 74:13-14)

 In that day Yahweh with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea (Isa 27:1)

9 Awake, awake, put on strength,

    O arm of the Lord;

awake, as in days of old,

    the generations of long ago.

Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces,

    who pierced the dragon?

10 Was it not you who dried up the sea,

    the waters of the great deep,

who made the depths of the sea a way

    for the redeemed to pass over?

(Isa 51:9-10)

Jewish readers of the Synoptics would be in a position to register the parallels between Jesus and Yahweh. In addition, this had its counterpart in Greco-Roman mythology. Poseidon is  the nemesis of Odysseus. Odysseus antagonized Poseidon. Unfortunately for him, the way home from Troy to Ithaca was by boat, so it took him ten years to return home because the vindictive sea god thwarted him at every turn. And Poseidon had a Roman counterpart (Neptune). 

Gentile readers of the Synoptics would be in a position to draw comparisons between Jesus and Poseidon or Neptune. Modern readers are apt to miss that ancient subtext because we have a scientific view of storms and squalls, but to an ancient reader, incidents like this carry symbolic connotations. It takes a Deity to trounce a Deity. A greater Deity to vanquish a lesser deity.