Seasick followers.
This is one of the most recognized stories about Jesus. The trouble is that we often miss out on what Jesus is wanting us to see and do with his authority over the wind and the waves. I read this in Mark 4:39, “He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ’Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm,” and I look to Jesus to make the storms in my life die down and become completely calm. When this does not happen, I wonder about my own faith or about God’s power. The trouble is that I have misunderstood Jesus and what he is telling his disciples and telling me.
Jesus is revealing more of the truth about himself. Let me suggest you look to these questions David Garland offers as the means to get to the heart of this familiar story. What is Jesus revealing about himself there on the boat in the storm? What does the life-threatening storm and the disciple’s fear tell us about our human predicament? Finally, what does Jesus offer as a solution to that dilemma we find ourselves in?
The disciples and those Jews who first read Mark’s Gospel who had “ears to hear” would have heard Jesus in the words of their great prophet Isaiah 43:2, “‘When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.’” Isaiah records God’s words in his prophetic writing that echoes that of Jesus in Isaiah 43:11, “‘I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior.’”
So, hear the narrative once again with “new ears.” Jesus does not say, “The storm would have ended if you had not been afraid and your faith had been greater.” Instead, Jesus asks them and you and me in Mark 4:40, “‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’” Mark, the writer, wants you and me to ask the same question as those soaked, seasick and scared disciples in Mark 4:41, “‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!’” Remember, Mark wants us to meet a person, to meet Jesus-the-King.
Amen for now,
