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?”
Up till now, the disciples were getting to know Jesus and they could not help but feel special because of their close, chosen relationship with Jesus. They made a big commitment when they left behind everything to follow him and dedicate their lives to his teaching. I think that they could tell he was not like the Pharisees and other Rabbis. They were young and still able to be enchanted by the idea that Jesus could be the Messiah that their upbringing would have them believe was coming.
If we connect this passage to the whole of chapter 4 it illuminates more for us. He is speaking in parables about the kingdom of God and what it is like. Parables illustrate a point that we may better understand an existential truth, yet in doing so, they raise new questions. It’s interesting that in verse 34 Mark makes it a point to say that He did not speak to them except in parables. But then goes on to say that privately he explained his parables to His disciples. Isn’t that the pattern we find for ourselves. We get introduced to a truth at church or in something we read or a conversation we have. But it is when we are with Christ privately that we come to know and understand that truth.
There was a time when, by privately, I would have only been able to understand that as “prayer time” or “quiet time”. But I can no longer limit it to just that. I now see it as more of a posture we can take in life. It is the mindset of whatever I am doing, Christ is with me, He is in me, and it is no longer I that live but Christ that lives in me that is engaging with the world. So whether I am praying alone in my room or I am at work or playing with my grand kids, I have to bring an awareness of Christ in me to all of that. It is in that awareness of Christ in everything, that the truths that I am introduced to unfold and take shape and are revealed.
Truth is only truly known and understood when we live it out. Jesus’ disciples probably heard Him teach the crowds through parables that they could have told them pretty well themselves. But hearing them and memorizing them, cannot get them to the same place as living them out. It is not enough to hear and speak the truth. The disciples had to get in the boat, with whatever little understanding they had, “just as He was”, and experience the storm and experience God’s power to save, and experience Jesus rebuke as part of him “explaining privately” so that they could better understand the kingdom of God.
So this story of them almost drowning, could Mark be creating a living parable? He just said that Jesus onl spoke to them in parables, and then what happens is actually a parable.
Included in the lectionary this week is Psalm 107. And there is no wondering why either. It matches this gospel story vividly.
25 Then he spoke, and a stormy wind arose, *
which tossed high the waves of the sea.
26 They mounted up to the heavens and fell back to the depths; *
their hearts melted because of their peril.
27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards *
and were at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, *
and he delivered them from their distress.
29 He stilled the storm to a whisper *
and quieted the waves of the sea.
30 Then were they glad because of the calm, *
and he brought them to the harbor they were bound for.
Mark takes this event that happened and recalls how closely it is already penned in this psalm and weaves the two together to form a parable of its own. I like to think of this as possibly a parabolic story because I find it hard to wrap my mind around the idea of Jesus sleeping in a boat while a furious storm is raging and the boat is sinking. But that is how our lives feel sometimes. This idea that we can be close to God, even feel special and chosen and yet when hard times come, we lose our faith. We question God. We are indignant that God doesn’t seem to care. We take matters into our own hands and go to God as a last resort. We accuse God of not caring. God is right there and yet the storm gets all our attention and effort.
So what does it look like for me to call on Christ in these moments. In the past, I have called upon Jesus to stop whatever trouble and chaos is going on in the moment. And unfortunately, when he seemingly didn’t respond to my request, whatever is causing me trouble is still happening, then I got angry and accused Him of not caring or even worse, subjecting me to this problem and punishing me for some sin I gave into. I would go a lot of different places with it, none of them good and I would just end up angry. I also got to the point where I figured God is going to do what He is going to do anyway so why bother waking Him up. I’ll just take whatever is coming and move on. That thinking leads to a complete void of faith and hope.
What if the storm that Jesus calms is not the actual problems I am experiencing. What if the actual storm that Jesus calms is the anxiety going on inside me. What if turning to Jesus – waking up Christ in me – takes all the dark and gloomy what-ifs that are raging in my mind, drowning me in doubt and fear, and calms them. Calms them to the point where I can rest peacefully, without worry, even though my circumstances haven’t changed.
It’s easy to have faith when everything is going our way. Its easy to love God when we feel special and chosen and he is helping us understand things in a new way. But when suddenly out of nowhere, we find ourselves in trouble and chaos and are overwhelmed and in the grips of fear, our “faith” seems like a useless toy compared to our problems. Jesus loves us and teaches us and guides us but then He says, “Lets go. Lets get out on the water and put this into practice and see if we sink or swim” And we fail almost every time. But in our failure, Jesus is still teaching us. And He rebukes us for our lack of faith, not our failure.
I love that Mark’s story/parable ends in a question. Like all good parables, questions are answered but more are raised. And I love the question that it ends on. A question that is at the end of our every encounter with Christ: Who is this that even (fill in the blank here) is subject to his command? The more I allow myself to be in the presence of Christ, the more I realize how little I really understand Him. The more I follow him, the less questions I have about where he is going and the more questions I have about who He is. Less and less questions about what I should be doing and more about who I am becoming.