Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?

On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side." Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?" And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!"

- Mark 4:35-41

In yesterday's reading, we were given yet more parables taught by Jesus to the multitudes that now follow Him wherever He goes. The apostles and disciples, as well, are learning along with the crowds. Jesus explains the parables to them in private, after preaching publicly. So we have a double layer of discipleship going on, as Jesus has appointed the Twelve but has not yet sent them out on their first mission. First, they live with Him and learn. Yesterday's reading gave us the parables of the Lampstand, the Scattered Seed, and the Mustard Seed. See Without a parable He did not speak to them: the Lampstand, the Scattered Seed, the Mustard Seed.

On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side." We remember that Jesus is teaching by the sea. At this point the crowds are so huge that Jesus preaches from a boat off the shore. This is the Sea of Galilee, but people are coming from every region beyond Galilee, and from all directions, to hear Him. To "cross to the other side" is to go to the cities and towns on the other side of the Sea.

Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. In the midst of this great mission, and His tremendous "success" as His fame spreads, all is threatened, apparently. They cross the Sea of Galilee and a tremendous storm threatens all of them. It's not just Jesus, and not just the apostles and disciples, but also little boats are following with them, presumably filled with those who wish to remain close to Christ. The boat is filling with water. This is a great metaphor for all of our endeavors - especially those we think are good or done with faith. Threats will come! We have to be prepared for a road that is not simple nor easy, but filled with all the natural things of this world that we are all subject to.

But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. Jesus, on the other hand, remains calm. One gets the feeling that He understands with certainty that His mission is not over, and so feels no threat as do the terrified apostles. It's a pretty vividly threatening picture when you stop to think that among these men are many seasoned fishermen, who are used to working on the Sea of Galilee! We can just imagine the type of storm that would cause them to feel so threatened that they would tell Jesus they are perishing. My study bible points out that the Greek word which Jesus uses as a command for the wind to "be still" is the same He uses to command a demon to "be quiet" in Mark's first chapter. (Interestingly, that command is found in the same reading in which Jesus chooses these fishermen as His disciples.) A more literal translation of Jesus' commands would convey a silencing of this storm; the word translated as "Peace!" is to command silence, and "be still" comes from a verb that originally means to muzzle. So Jesus' commands here are like giving orders to silence something out of control, to put under order something that harms through such behavior. His power works to tame, to quiet, to silence chaos.

And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?" And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!" We really have to get a sense of the vivid picture this creates. Jesus silences the raging waves and howling winds with a word, a command. There is now, in place of the raging storm, a great calm. And Jesus, rather than giving us words of sympathy for those who are with Him, seems rather annoyed or irritated! (We might be tempted to laugh when we think that they have disturbed His much-needed sleep!) "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?" The picture of our Lord in contrast to the disciples is another extraordinary difference, a vivid black-and-white. God's perspective sees the long haul, the great journey of faith long term, while ours is to be distracted by the vivid threats we may feel or perceive along the way. And this will not change. In a commentary on this passage, St. John Chrysostom points out that "for this reason Paul also said, 'I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren ... that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life' (2 Cor. 1:8)." The disciples, evidently, instead of paying attention to Jesus' words about faith, are still so shaken with fear that all they can do is marvel at His power to command the life-threatening storm into submission.

How many ways do you feel threatened in your spiritual journey throughout life? Do you have obstacles in your pathway when you set out for the good? Do you find yourself threatened? In the loss of friendships or relationships, in the cost of what we may find we go through, life will give us dangers and storms. Just as the passage from 2 Corinthians that St. John Chrysostom gives us tells us about Paul's journey of great faith, so we, too, may experience all the natural shocks of life that the world can give to us. Indeed, our Lord Himself gave us the great example. So, if we are to take one thing only from this passage it is to have faith through the threats! To have faith is to understand the confidence that God places in us on this mission of faith, and to reciprocate that confidence. Over and over again, the stories in the bible tell us about this reciprocal trust and confidence, in the Old Testament and the New. Moses tells God that He has chosen the wrong person! And here, the "weakness" of the apostles and their fears are even more evident, despite the fact that they accompany Jesus Himself. St. Paul will tell us the word of God to him, in his infirmity: "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' " And Paul's response to us -- "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me" (2 Corinthians 12:9). We are all subject to our natural weaknesses and infirmities, our emotions and fears, our very vulnerable humanity. And in this scene, the powers of the world are at work on us, in our very human perspective. But faith calls upon us for something else, something transcendent as we go through it all. It is a confidence, a trust, and it is extended both ways: from God to us, and from us to God. Can you bear that bond through the troubles in your life, that strong relationship? Remember that Christ has left this mission in trust to us, we imperfect and weak human beings, in a world filled with danger and threats, to which we respond with our emotion. But the bond of faith gets us through, just as it did Moses, the apostles and St. Paul. Where are you in that journey, and how are you strengthened to continue onward in that bond?