The disciples’ following Jesus into the boat (Matthew 8:23) shows their faith, that they were not turned off by Jesus’ radical demands, but followed him into unknown, semi-pagan territory, foreshadowing their following him into life at the cost of his (and later their own) earthly death. They followed him just as he was
(Mark 4:36), without questions or excuses.
By following Jesus without hesitation the disciples revealed their faith. That which they had just witnessed (if we assume that Matthew’s account here is chronological), does not alienate them. They are guided by the knowledge that they belong to Jesus, and therefore follow him even into a semi-pagan country.1
The disciples who follow Jesus after he got into the boat (Matthew 8:23) to go to a more distant new destination, know that it concerns a destination that mysteriously leads beyond this life and which leaves death behind. While the evangelist Mark notes that they take Jesus along just as he was
(Mark 4:36), Matthew merely notes that the disciples follow Jesus who had already got into the boat.2
23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him.