Thursday, July 22, 2010

Mark 4:35-41

Storms can be scary things. We have several examples of people who have been caught in a storm while at sea, and here is no exception. Several Old Testament parallels immediately present themselves: Jonah 1 and Psalm 107.

In these passages we see terror turned to praise, or fear of the elements turned into a fear of G-D. Notice that the sailors cry out for help, and when G-D calms the storm, all begin to worship.

In Mark, we immediately notice the fear of the storm within the disciples; and what do we see Jesus doing? Like Jonah, He is asleep.

Jesus gets up, calms the storm and then asks His disciples why they were so scared. OK, I must interject at this point. How many of you have been in a serious storm when out at sea? How comfortable were you with that? But for the disciples, not only do they fear the elements, they believe that the sea is the Abyss. This only compounds their fear. (We will explore this idea further in the very next story.)

So, be honest, would you not have been terrified?

And I find this almost amusing if it was not so sad: the disciples remained terrified AFTER the miracle of calming the wind and the waves. (Their response should have been praise.) Jesus has just acted like G-D in the story. I believe they are beginning to see who Jesus really is, and that is what terrifies them even more than the storm. Perhaps they begin to wonder if they are in the very Presence of G-D, and we all know how scary that was for anyone who encountered an angel or G-D Himself in the Bible. Somewhat like a storm.

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