They were filled with great awe and asked...who then is this whom even wind and sea obey? The identity of Jesus is a question (theme) which runs throughout the entire Gospel corpus, and which gets to be answered gradually. It is a question that arises right from the moment Jesus is born (Herod sending the Magi to go search for the child and to let him know when they find him [cf. Matthew 2:8]), persists through his public ministry as he worked mighty signs (cf. Mark 1:27: ‘What is this? A new teaching with authority. He even commands the unclean spirits and they obey him’), and only gets to be answered definitively on Calvary as Jesus hung on the cross (cf. Mark 15: 39: ‘Truly this man was the Son of God’). As one goes through the Gospel accounts, one comes to the realization that the question on Jesus’ identity becomes heightened always on two occasions: firstly, when those who are thought to be in a position to answer the question are the one’s asking the question (and vice versa); and secondly, when incidents that are supposed to afford the people a peek into the identity of Jesus remain unutilized. The account of the calming of the storm at sea which is the subject of today’s Gospel Reading presents us with both occasions. 
After a full day of teaching, Jesus and the twelve took leave of the crowd, perhaps to rest for the evening and to keep their pledge of not confining their ministry to one geographical area (cf. Mark 1:38). They got into a boat and left for their intended destination. However, their voyage got treacherous as strong winds and waves slammed their boat to the pint of almost breaking it. The twelve were frightened as they thought they were about to perish at sea. However, Jesus came to their rescue, for at his command, the storm calmed down. It was a sight that filled the twelve with awe. They had seen Jesus cure the sick, cast out demonic spirits, and restore to wholeness those who were paralyzed. However, witnessing Jesus exercise his authority over the storm thrust them into uncharted territory. They were at a loss to explain how the forces of nature were able to obey Jesus. How did he do that? Who was he?
The twelve can be excused for their slowness in coming to fully know who Jesus was. They had been with him for only a short spell. Moreover, wrapping one’s head around the identity of Jesus is not a one-time thing. As the evangelist Mark himself shows in his account of Jesus’ life, coming to fully understand Jesus is a life-time effort. However, each instruction and sign that Jesus gave and performed was an opportunity for one to make some progress in coming to fully know Jesus (cf. Mark 8:20-21: ‘when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?...Do you still not understand?’) 
Like all the other signs that Jesus performed, his calming of the storm was meant to be a clue as to Jesus’ identity. The calming of the storm was not only meant to demonstrate that Jesus had authority over nature. It was also meant to point to the nature of Jesus’ mission. 
Jesus assumed a creaturely nature in order to right a wrong: a wrong that was perpetrated by our first parents and in which we continue to participate. The Genesis account of creation attributes the genesis of this wrong to disobedience (cf. Gen 3: 11b). Sadly, the disobedience of our first parents has since characterized the story of the created cosmos. The goodness that was exhibited when God created the universe has been annihilated and replaced by this disobedience. The harmony that existed at the beginning has been replaced by disorder and chaos. Creation is fighting itself and is tired (cf. Romans 8:19ff). Jesus' coming marked the beginning of the restoration of creation. By what he says and does, Jesus begins to restore the harmony that ought to exist (cf. Isaiah 11:6ff). In Jesus, the forces that have been at war begin to reconcile. Humanity and the rest of creation begin to come together and co-exist. The obedience that was lost is salvaged. Jesus is able to accomplish this because he himself is obedient to the Father (cf. John 14:31; Phil 2:6ff; Heb 5:8).