35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
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.
40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
The crowd pressed against the shore, hanging on every word. Jesus had told them parables of soils and seeds. Now the light was fading. Jesus had stood in the boat and spoken to the crowd on the shore, but there was no place to even put in so that he could get out because everywhere teemed with people. And so, Jesus instructs the disciples to find a place away from the crowd where they can make landfall.
The crowd, looks at the disappearing boat and wonders where are all the miracles that they had been promised. After all, they knew that Jesus had a message for them, but listening to that was the price of admission for the miracles and healing that always followed. Now Jesus has left them and not a one of them had seen a miraculous sign. Is this the beginning of the end of Jesus ministry to the crowds? Will they turn on him just like the Pharisees and teachers of the law?
Mark includes details that strike me as quite odd here. After all, he typically chooses the shortest way of telling his story. But Jesus is taken along "just as he was" in the boat. Is this some message to the church often symbolized by a boat? Do we often want to dress up Jesus, to make him more palatable to our culture? Do we simplify his story, force him into our mold? Do we sometime have Jesus on the boat but not "just as he was"?
Or the detail that there were other boats with him. It sounds almost like a flotilla. Was Jesus' boat not big enough for all the disciples? Were the followers of Jesus more in number than we have typically imagined? And why does Mark say other boats with him (Jesus) rather than other boats with them? Where do these boats disappear to in the narrative, for they are not spoken of again? Do they turn back, as the crowds will, when the storm clouds appear on the horizon--before it gets dangerous?
Whatever the case, when the storm arrives, the other boats are forgotten. The squall is furious, the boat seems ready to swamp. And there is Jesus asleep. Not merely asleep, mind you, but in a deep, unperturbed sleep with his head comfortably resting on a cushion. Jesus is the calm eye in the center of a hurricane around him.
The disciples, many of whom are fishermen, and thus experienced on a boat. I can only think that if they are afraid there is good reason to be afraid. It is not as if they were unexperienced with storms. It is interesting that Mark doesn't tell us what they do to try to get the ship safely through the storm. But it certainly appears that they had exhausted all the options they knew to save themselves. They were after all the experts.
It is curious that these water rats, wake Jesus as if they think he can do something. What would the son of a carpenter know about piloting a boat through a storm? But they clearly think that Jesus can get them out of this fix, for when they wake him, their words are not, "Wake up, we're all going to die!" but instead "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"
They have mistaken Jesus faith, which has allowed him to sleep through the storm with confidence, with apathy. They think Jesus should be just as anxious as they are. They are the rocky soil where the seed has yet to take root. But they ought I think to be commended for even in their limited understanding, they turn to Jesus for help.
Jesus does not merely quiet the waters, he rebukes them. He calls out into the chaos of the waves and with the authority of a parent corrects the water. And it is not good enough for Mark to let us know that the wind is stilled, he also wants us to know that the water is calmed. And not just calmed, but completely calmed.
To this point Jesus miracles have been on small stages and in intimate settings. But now Jesus shows his mastery over all of nature. He has spoken of the mystery of the growing seed and now he has demonstrated that he has within him the power to guide the mystery of the natural world.
"Why are you so afraid?" he asks his disciples. Whether he asks this because they were so fearful when they awakened him or because now they stand in ever greater fear as it has dawned on them that this Jesus they are following is not just a good talker who has a few little miracles up his sleeve but is in reality the Lord of creation, we don't know. When Jesus continues, he asks, "Do you still have no faith?" The implication is clear, and it corrects so much of our thinking. Doubt is not the opposite of faith, fear is the opposite of faith.
The disciples are yet terrified even after Jesus questions them making clear that they do not have faith. They are unable to identify who Jesus is, which is interesting because so far the voice from heaven and the demons driven out by Jesus have been clear about his identity.
Even the wind and waves obey him, but his own disciples are afraid.
The crowd pressed against the shore, hanging on every word. Jesus had told them parables of soils and seeds. Now the light was fading. Jesus had stood in the boat and spoken to the crowd on the shore, but there was no place to even put in so that he could get out because everywhere teemed with people. And so, Jesus instructs the disciples to find a place away from the crowd where they can make landfall.
The crowd, looks at the disappearing boat and wonders where are all the miracles that they had been promised. After all, they knew that Jesus had a message for them, but listening to that was the price of admission for the miracles and healing that always followed. Now Jesus has left them and not a one of them had seen a miraculous sign. Is this the beginning of the end of Jesus ministry to the crowds? Will they turn on him just like the Pharisees and teachers of the law?
Mark includes details that strike me as quite odd here. After all, he typically chooses the shortest way of telling his story. But Jesus is taken along "just as he was" in the boat. Is this some message to the church often symbolized by a boat? Do we often want to dress up Jesus, to make him more palatable to our culture? Do we simplify his story, force him into our mold? Do we sometime have Jesus on the boat but not "just as he was"?
Or the detail that there were other boats with him. It sounds almost like a flotilla. Was Jesus' boat not big enough for all the disciples? Were the followers of Jesus more in number than we have typically imagined? And why does Mark say other boats with him (Jesus) rather than other boats with them? Where do these boats disappear to in the narrative, for they are not spoken of again? Do they turn back, as the crowds will, when the storm clouds appear on the horizon--before it gets dangerous?
Whatever the case, when the storm arrives, the other boats are forgotten. The squall is furious, the boat seems ready to swamp. And there is Jesus asleep. Not merely asleep, mind you, but in a deep, unperturbed sleep with his head comfortably resting on a cushion. Jesus is the calm eye in the center of a hurricane around him.
The disciples, many of whom are fishermen, and thus experienced on a boat. I can only think that if they are afraid there is good reason to be afraid. It is not as if they were unexperienced with storms. It is interesting that Mark doesn't tell us what they do to try to get the ship safely through the storm. But it certainly appears that they had exhausted all the options they knew to save themselves. They were after all the experts.
It is curious that these water rats, wake Jesus as if they think he can do something. What would the son of a carpenter know about piloting a boat through a storm? But they clearly think that Jesus can get them out of this fix, for when they wake him, their words are not, "Wake up, we're all going to die!" but instead "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"
They have mistaken Jesus faith, which has allowed him to sleep through the storm with confidence, with apathy. They think Jesus should be just as anxious as they are. They are the rocky soil where the seed has yet to take root. But they ought I think to be commended for even in their limited understanding, they turn to Jesus for help.
To this point Jesus miracles have been on small stages and in intimate settings. But now Jesus shows his mastery over all of nature. He has spoken of the mystery of the growing seed and now he has demonstrated that he has within him the power to guide the mystery of the natural world.
"Why are you so afraid?" he asks his disciples. Whether he asks this because they were so fearful when they awakened him or because now they stand in ever greater fear as it has dawned on them that this Jesus they are following is not just a good talker who has a few little miracles up his sleeve but is in reality the Lord of creation, we don't know. When Jesus continues, he asks, "Do you still have no faith?" The implication is clear, and it corrects so much of our thinking. Doubt is not the opposite of faith, fear is the opposite of faith.
The disciples are yet terrified even after Jesus questions them making clear that they do not have faith. They are unable to identify who Jesus is, which is interesting because so far the voice from heaven and the demons driven out by Jesus have been clear about his identity.
Even the wind and waves obey him, but his own disciples are afraid.
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