Jesus calms one storm and creates another
Mark 4:35-41
There is something very curious about this narrative that points to it having a much bigger meaning than the wow factor of yet another miracle. Consider what Mark is telling us about the disciples. These men were followers of Jesus who were living the adventure of a lifetime. To their utter astonishment miraculous events happened day after day and they repeatedly wondered who this man Jesus really was. At the point we pick up the story at v35 they have just heard Jesus spin several parables to his audience which, when understood correctly, are spiritual and political dynamite. But the disciples didn’t completely understand them so Jesus treated them to a private tutorial in which he ‘explained everything’ (v33).
It was on the same evening that Jesus came up with the idea of sailing across the sea of Galilee, possibly to get away from the crowds who dogged him (Mark makes a point of telling us how often Jesus was swamped by crowds of people). So the disciples, a couple of whom were experienced sailors, set off on this familiar trip with Jesus taking a well-earned rest in the stern of the boat. All was serene until the weather broke. The sea of Galilee was (and still is) notorious for unpredictable squalls which would blow up suddenly and take time to die away. So as the wind whipped the water into a frenzy the disciples knew they were in trouble. Their angry jibe ‘Teacher, don’t you care that we’re perishing’ (v38) was intended to shake Jesus out of his lethargy and goad him into taking a oar to help them row to land. They needed all hands on deck. Pronto. In the event Jesus was just as angry with the wind as his disciples were with him. ‘Pipe down! Be still!’ is the kind of command that would have been given to an angry dog who needs muzzling (that’s the meaning of the Greek word behind ‘Be still!’). And instantly, as if obeying its master, the gale vanishes and calm descends (the Greek text says a ‘mega-calm’ descended).
Now had I been in that boat I think I would have thought ‘Wow, that is seriously impressive!’ or even ‘What’s he going to come up with next?’ I’d have blogged about it, tweeted it and made sure the image got top billing on my facebook page. But if I’d reacted like that I would only have seen the miracle and missed the meaning. The reality was very different. By calming the meteorological storm Jesus created another, and deeper, storm in the disciples. Instead of feeling amazed or looking at Jesus in awe and wonder, they were scared stiff. In fact they were more terrified after the storm than they were in the storm.
they were more terrified after the storm than they were in the storm.
So why might that be? To resolve this conundrum we need to turn to the Old Testament which reveals some significant truths about God’s character. He is the great creator and sustainer of the cosmos as we know it. ‘The earth is the Lord’s and all its fullness …’ says one of the Psalms. When God commands the weather it obeys him, parting the red sea, making the sun stand still in its tracks and so on. Along with this truth was the highly uncomfortable reality that when God met individual people it could be a portent of disaster. In fact so holy (or set apart) and powerful was God that ‘no-one can see [his] face and live’. Only He has the power to command the elements to shut up and pipe down. But the disciples have just seen precisely that scenario unfold at Jesus command. So who does that make Jesus? Realising, then, that they may have been looking into the face of God they are ‘terrified’ that their lives might now be about to come to an end. No wonder the disciples were petrified.
So what is this incident meant to tell us? That Jesus could perform miracles? Yes, but that’s only a part of it. Does it tell us that it’s OK to ask God to give us the weather we desire? Maybe. The real message is summed up in the question the disciples left us with. ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’
One so awesome, so powerful, so in control is One I must worship and follow.
