Why is it that you are 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 is it that you are 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 we read the continuation of Jesus' preaching in parables to the crowds that now come to hear Him.   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, "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 is it that you are 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!"  My study bible comments here that Christ's mastery over creation is one more sign that He is the messiah and is divine.  Commands to natural forces such as the wind and the sea could only be issued by God (Job 38:8-11; Psalm 66:5-6, 107:29).   We note also that Jesus was asleep, giving us a picture of His humanity and human need for rest, and therefore His full Incarnation as human being.  My study bible also tells us that the image of Christ and His disciples in a boat is traditionally used in order to illustrate the Church.  It says that God both permits storms and delivers us through them, so that we can see His protection more clearly.  Moreover, His rebuke of the storm remains to us an illustration of His calming of our own inner tempests of the soul.

We all have struggles in life.  Christ's entire ministry seems to be one of struggle, and within many dimensions of challenges both to Himself personally and to His ministry.   His struggles even encompass His relationships with His immediate family, as we read in Tuesday's reading.  When we struggle for our faith, or even because of our faith, we should not be surprised, as Christ's ministry already sets out for us the challenges that may come to us simply because we are believers.  But in our struggle for faith, we should remember that we are all "on a mission."  Each one of us, as faithful, is on a journey of faith.  Here in today's reading, we recall from Wednesday's reading that Jesus was sitting in a small boat in the sea, preaching to the great crowds who now gather to hear Him, as they faced Him on the shore.  In today's reading, He tells the disciples they are all to "cross over to the other side" of the Sea of Galilee.  The Sea of Galilee is, in effect, a very large lake, approximately 13 miles long and 8 miles wide.  When He gives the command to cross over into Gentile territory, it is already evening (as the reading tells us) and so He knows that these men -- and those in the other little boats with them -- will be crossing over through the night.  Although the noise must have been tremendous, not to mention the effect of the waves sweeping into these small boats, Jesus sleeps through it.  Let us keep in mind that we know that several of these disciples at least are professional fishermen whose lifelong family work was on this Sea of Galilee (1:16-20).  But Jesus knows where He is going; His commands reflect the will of the Father for the direction of this ministry.  In faith, then, He teaches us about the levels of challenges we face in faith.  He attends to His real human needs by sleeping, but the storm is one more thing to face and go through in faith, as all things are in the hands of God -- as well as this challenge to the ministry presented by the wind and sea.  We note that His command translated as Peace! really literally means in the Greek, Silence!  He rebukes the wind, and tells the sea to be still!  These are commands as to unclean spirits, the demonic or evil, as in an exorcism.  It is suggesting to us that Christ, as the divine Son, commands all things that present evil or threat of suffering to human life.  But it also tells us that this is just one more of the challenges to His ministry.  And so, this is how we need to view the challenges that come to us in life as we seek also to live our faith.  We face them with prayer -- and most importantly, with faith itself, knowing that we are also on a mission, a journey with Him and for Him.  Note that He equates a lack of faith with fear.  To have faith is to take confidence in something.  In the Greek, the word for faith is rooted in the word that literally means trust.   When we decide to place our faith in Christ, we put our trust in Him.  We place our trust in the goodness and love of God, and therefore the challenges that come our way -- while they may truly be threatening and frightening -- come in the context of this particular kind of understanding.  We seek to serve with our lives the Lord who is good, and who loves us and knows our lives and what we go through (Luke 12:7), and therefore within the challenges of serving this ministry in the world we know the the struggle is one God calls us to make.  As my study bible says, God both permits storms and delivers us through them.  Therefore each and every challenge, whether it be through relationships with people or other dangers, even the natural forces of the world, is to be seen in this context of spiritual battle and struggle.  Christ comes into the world to displace the "strong man" or the evil one, and all that seems to cause evil in our lives enters us into the context of that struggle.  In this light, we are given to understand, then, how we go through whatever challenges or suffering presented to us, no matter what their form.  Let us consider Christ's call for faith, and where we place our trust to get us through -- and that everything happens with a hidden potential, a way to go through the challenges to strengthen our faith and our souls.