Sometimes stories can be so familiar that they lose all impact and become well-worn cliches.

So Herod the tetrarch, aided and abetted by the women in his life, did away with the inconvenient prophet.

John the Baptist, as he suffered in his prison captivity, had to be absolutely sure that Jesus was “the one.”

Here’s something to think about.

The baton had been transferred.

So Jesus sent out the twelve disciples into the wide wide world to see how they would fare.

Those who knew Jesus when he was growing up among them in Nazareth were among those who had the most trouble accepting him for who he was now.

Jesus always did the impossible and it always helped when the person he is faced with has sufficient faith in him to start with.

Jesus was faced with a demoniac (or perhaps two), who knew without doubt who he was facing, Jesus, Son of the Most High God.

Jesus calmed the storm to make two points. Firstly, to demonstrate his mastery over the elements, which his disciples acknowledged. Secondly, to demonstrate what little faith his disciples had in him, with them believing that all that came before was pointless and that they were all going to die.