Posts
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
Yesterday's reading gave us more of Jesus parables, with which He preached to the multitudes: He said to them, "Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear." Then He said to them, "Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him." And He said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come." Then He said, "To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade." And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.
On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Le 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. This story appears in all the Synoptic Gospels, but here's again just one little detail in Mark (the briefest of the Gospels) that gives us a part of the story: the crowds are so attached to Jesus that people follow them in other little boats as well. We remember His present tendency to preach from a boat to crowds at the sea, to avoid being crushed by all those who seek to touch 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!" There's another revelation here; the disciples ask themselves, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!" It's another sign that He's the Messiah or Christ, another sign of His divine nature. But He's also very human in this story, asleep on a pillow in the stern. We can assume that He needs rest with all the activities we've been reading about. And what about faith? My study bible says that Christ and the disciples in a boat is a traditional image of the Church. It says that God permits storms and also delivers us through them, so that we can see His protection more clearly. Christ's rebuke of the storm is an illustration of "calming the tempests in the human soul," my study bible tells us.
Things have reach a strong midpoint in Jesus' ministry: He's appointed the Twelve to be His disciples and to live with Him; He's given them power to heal and cast out demons and appointed them to give the gospel message. They've yet to go out on their first apostolic journey, they're still learning from Him. And we can assume that this is a learning curve in today's reading: their faith is being tested. It's another sign that things are progressing and that they are meant to progress with Him and through His ministry. Jesus has great crowds pressing in on Him (even in the little boats that follow them as they head for the other side of the Sea of Galilee). And He has begun to preach in parables, "weeding out" those who really want the knowledge of the Kingdom from those who don't really "have ears to hear." All of this is a question of faith. And here in today's reading is yet a new learning curve. Heading to the other side of the sea, they're going into fairly unknown territory. The Sea of Galilee is actually a very large lake, and among these men are experienced fishermen from a port on this Sea. But it's their own territory they're used to. "Crossing over" is heading into unfamiliar ground. And this is so spiritually as well, as we shall sea in tomorrow's reading. The beginning of this journey is a test of faith. Matthew's account tells us that the winds stir up without warning -- windstorms would not be uncommon on this lake given how it is situated, and the resulting waves can be threatening to a little fishing boat. But it's a good metaphor for setting out on a journey of faith, which is so often accompanied -- even right in the beginning -- by a confrontation with a great fear, something that means we're crossing an internal barrier. My study bible says that God takes us across and into unfamiliar territory and gives us confrontation with the types of things that threaten our faith for a reason: we learn a deeper faith. But there is more: it broadens us and stretches us out. We learn the strength we find in God. It prepares us for greater challenges. These men will reach the other side of the Lake and find an even greater and more astonishing thing, and it really has to do with the spiritual power of Christ and the challenges to it that they must encounter as future apostles. Let us remember when we are faced with a great challenge and with unfamiliar ground: if God leads us forward, we must be looking for ways through we haven't necessarily learned yet. We're being stretched, we're pushed for growth, and our faith takes a deeper and stronger shape through it. We might be terribly frightened and dismayed at what we don't yet know how to handle or never thought we wanted, but when it's all over we just might find we were never more alive than in our reliance on God. Looking back, we treasure the new life we're given.
