Authority over Nature. Mark 4:35-41.
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Dear Ambassadors of the King of Kings,
Mark has carefully chosen the accounts in his gospel to help the reader understand who Jesus is. This episode is chosen to demonstrate for the second time (the first was the authority to forgive sins in 2:5-12) that Jesus is divine.
Danger (vv. 35-37). The sea of Galilee is given to sudden storms. The disciples are in a small fleet of boats, possibly because more of them can fit in one boat, not to mention that there is enough interest in Jesus to draw a few more boats. But the sea does what it is accustomed to – it gets rough, so rough that the disciples, most of them experienced fishermen, are scared.
Despair (v. 38). The sea was so rough that the disciples feared for their lives. Their only hope was Jesus, and he was asleep! It is not clear what they expected when they woke him up, but a desperate person clutches at every straw.
Dread (vv. 39-41).What Jesus did put more fear in the disciples than the storm had. By commanding the sea and the wind to be still, Jesus demonstrated authority over nature as Moses (Exodus 7:20; 9:22-24; 14:21-29) and Elijah (1 Kings 17:1) had done. But while Moses and Elijah both attributed their actions to God, Jesus speaks with personal authority, and nature obeyed him. The disciples are in dreadful awe of Jesus, but they still fail to come to the now obvious conclusion – Jesus is God. Instead, they leave it as a question. In Jesus, we are not just dealing with a great prophet. We are dealing with God himself. Like the disciples, many are yet to come to terms with this fact.
Your Loving Pastor Chris.