On Line Bible Study - For the week March 9 - 15, 2009

Lesson 378

Mark 4: ³⁵That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." ³⁶Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. ³⁷A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. ³⁸Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" ³⁹He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. ⁴⁰He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

⁴¹They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

First, several interesting textual notes:

• "When evening came ..." Some of the most difficult moments are when we are alone in the night. The disciples will be in a similar situation in Mark 6:45ff. And think of the darkness at the moment of creation. Or what about Jacob, left alone in the night to wrestle with the God (Genesis 32:22ff)?
• "In the boat ..." We should read this to mean "On the water . . ." Water equals chaos for the people of Israel. It is what has to be divided at Creation (Genesis 1:6 & 9). It is the means of destruction in the great flood (Genesis 7:17ff). It is to be divided again so that Israel can escape from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 14:13ff).
• "Rebuked the wind ..." This is not dissimilar from what we read in Mark 1:25 where Jesus silences and exorcises an evil spirit.
• "They were terrified ..." Literally, They feared a great fear. The fear here is not one of timidity, but of awe. It is the kind of "fear" that the Psalmist speaks of when we read: Psalm 111:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This "fear" leads to wonder as to the true nature of Jesus - Who is this?
  

It is interesting to read Psalm 107:23-32 - It is almost as if Mark copied the story and inserted Jesus into the script.

One other factor that we might miss - Jesus is moving now to the territory of the Gentiles - the Gerasenes - We will see that Jesus crosses back over to the western side of the lake in Mark 5:21 where he once again is in the territory of the Jews. The waters of the Sea of Galilee separate these two cultures from one another.

Now - what does any of this mean? It means at least this: In our worst storms, when life is at its most chaotic, we can trust Christ to bring us a peace equal to the confusion. In our darkest moments, Jesus is both present and powerful, able to quiet the wind and calm the seas. So many people in our day are experiencing a level of uncertainty heretofore unknown by our generation. It is at times like this that we discover the extent and strength of our spirituality. With banks failing and retirements fading and futures disrupted, where do we turn to find peace or hope? Authentic spirituality is not limited to or by how we fare in crisis; but crisis is an accurate barometer as to just what (or who) it is we depend upon for meaning and joy.

Whatever the storms, we can be in awe of Christ - for his faithful presence, his awesome power - for the good news that he is "in the boat" with us.

Mark 5 for next time .