After a long day of teaching crowds of people, we should not be surprised that Jesus was asleep. His disciples were more than capable of navigating on the lake by themselves. Some commentators argue that his sleep is a sign of his trust in God and therefore a mark of his divine sovereignty1 (appealing to passages such as Job 11:18–19; Psalm 3:5; Psalm 4:8; Psalm 121:3–4; Proverbs 3:23–26). It seems more likely, however, that he was simply asleep because he was exhausted. The fact that Jesus was sleeping is therefore a testimony to his human nature. He was fully man, and just like we need sleep after a long day of work, he also needed to sleep.
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?”