The Gospel of Mark 4:35-41
When evening had come, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Let Us Pray: Mighty God, when the waves of life threaten to overwhelm us forgive us if we blame you or others for our troubles. Teach us to find you in the storms of life and give us the faith those early disciples lacked to always believe that you will bring calm and peace. This we pray in your name. Amen.
This gospel gives us a lot of opportunities to prove our faith to God. The challenges that the disciples have gone through have given a test of their faith in Him.
There are three quantities in this story of the calming of the sea. There are the disciples. There is Jesus. And there is the sea. Characters have personalities and they have a part to play in the plot of a story. The sea has quite a strong temperament and it certainly has a part to play! To grasp the formidable power Christ displays in this scene, we need to engage our imagination. Few situations leave men so helpless as storms at sea. People who think of the sea as a scenic view from the boardwalk do not understand the power and ferocity of the sea. People who have been through a hurricane or a tsunami, however, get it. People who make their living by going to sea, then and now, resonate with Mark’s depiction of the sea as unpredictable and dangerous. Throughout the Bible, the sea is a metaphor for the place where chaos and the diabolical reside. God’s power and ability to calm the sea has been affirmed. For Mark, the sea is a metaphor for the demonic and apocalyptic chaos that confronts Jesus, terrorizes his disciples, and threatens their future. Our future and the crises of our lives can be compared to stormy seas. The storms come upon us whether we like it or not. They terrify us. They knock us around and threaten to destroy all our stability and security. We do not know whether we can survive them. And we don’t know how long they will last. At least, that is how a storm at sea would be for most of us. For Jesus, it was just a chance to grab a nap.
Mark notes the contrast between Jesus’ tranquility and the disciples’ panic, they are thinking He is apparently oblivious to their pending doom. They roust him and cry, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” (v. 38). Of course, Jesus quiets the storm with a word, but then he chides the disciples: “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (v. 40).
There are some obvious lessons in this Gospel. Jesus has power over the storms of life, experiences them alongside us, loves us, saves us from them and wants us to trust him more than we actually do.
So why are we so frightened? How is it that you have no faith?” What is the lesson here? Was it unreasonable for the disciples to be afraid? Was it cowardly for them to wake up their leader when it seemed like they were going to perish? It was not unreasonable, nor was it cowardly, but it showed a lack of faith. They did not trust him completely. They still thought it would be possible to sink, even though Christ himself was in their boat; they still thought that the forces of nature were more powerful than the love of God.
If we honestly believe in the love of God, then no storm should shake our confidence. Unfortunately, we, like the apostles, often become anxious, nervous, doubtful, and even just plain scared. And sometimes, unlike the apostles, this fear and doubt lead us to abandon ship, to put our trust in someone else. The lesson Christ teaches here, both with his words and with his actions, is simple: when he is with us, we are safe. In these situations, and in many others, we too feel suffocated by fear and, like the disciples, risk losing sight of the most important thing, even if he is sleeping, Jesus is there, and he shares with his own all that is happening. His slumber, when on the one hand it surprises us, on the other it puts us to the test.
The Lord is there, present; indeed, he wants for us to engage him, to invoke him, to put him at the center of what we are experiencing. His slumber causes us to wake up. Because to be disciples of Jesus it is not enough to believe God is there, that he exists, but we must put ourselves out there with him; we must also raise our voice with him. Hear this: we must cry out to him. Prayer, many times, is a cry: “Lord, save me”!
Looking at today, storms seem to be prevalent, we are facing lots of storms. Storms that bring sadness and despair to a lot of people. This has been a time when we need to turn to our Lord to help quiet the storm. The Lord understands our fears, but he will ask us, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” How do we answer that question? The storms of life can be stressful, most of us can manage one crisis at a time without a problem. During painful and challenging times, it is natural to question Jesus. Yet, we need Jesus especially during the confusing and frightening times in our life. Do we cry out to him as the disciples did or do we remain silent? Jesus wants us to cry out to him and Jesus will respond to our need, our pain, and our fear. Jesus will strengthen us and walk with us each and every day. This story of the storm is trying to tell us something about our faith. When in the throes of chaos, we tend to look back at the sleeping Jesus and assume that he does not care. But we need to take a second look. We should stop ask ourselves, why is he so peaceful? What is it that he knows that I do not know? If our faith considered the peaceful Jesus, we would see him rise up, stretch out his arms and speak into the screaming wind, “Peace be still,” and we would see the storm waters fall to a silent rest. As we think of the hidden storms in our hearts our faith tells us that He will not leave our side. One day, the sun will shine again and the storm within will be calmed.
Let us Pray: Gracious God, help us to know that the one who calmed the waves on the Sea of Galilee is present with us day by day and that he cares for us and can calm the waves of our lives. Help us to trust more fully and more deeply in you in all that we are involved with in the days to come. This we pray in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Reflections by Bob 