Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?

 

 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 we read that Jesus taught, "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.  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 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!"  My study Bible comments here that Christ's mastery over creation is another sign that He is the Messiah, and that He is divine.  It notes that commands to the sea and waves can only be given by God (Job 38:8-11; Psalm 66:5-6, 106:29).  Moreover, Christ was asleep because as a human being, he needed rest.  Note that we are even told that He was on a pillow.  The Man who will suffer so much knows the need for basic comforts.  So in today's reading, we see not only evidence of His divine identity, but also that in His Incarnation, He has assumed all the natural actions of the flesh, of which sleep is one.  My study Bible adds for us that this image of Christ and His disciples in a boat is traditionally used to illustrate the Church.  God both permits storms and delivers us through them, so that we can see God's protection more clearly.  The disciples here evidence faith mixed with unbelief.  They showed faith when they came to Him, but unbelief when they said they were perishing.  Jesus' rebuke of the storm, my study Bible notes, is also an illustration of His calming the tempests in the human soul.

 

 I do find in my life that this sort of testing, if you will, goes on all the time.  My study Bible comments that "God both permits storms and delivers us through them, so that we can see God's protection more clearly."  Sometimes I feel that this is the whole route of the Christian journey of faith, and as paradoxical and strange as it may seem to those who have not experienced this, it seems as if we the faithful are those who are being prepared for something.  That is, we are disciples like the disciples in the Gospels.  We are permitted to go through difficulties, and we make the choices to call upon God and learn more about our faith through such experiences.  As difficult and challenging as this may be, it is clearly a part of our faith.  God permits us to live in a world beset by evil, with both good and bad influences.  Since we accept Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, and so much of the faith is about His power and God's goodness and truth, we must also accept that the world remains a place of trauma, evil, and deceit for a reason.  That is, we might wonder why Christ did not simply fix it all and correct everything here so that we live in a perfect world.  I would venture to answer this question by stating that if we did, we wouldn't be learning anything.  We wouldn't have this kind of preparation, refining, and challenging of our faith that leads us through a kind of a journey someplace.  We wouldn't have saints if it were so, we wouldn't have apostles, and we wouldn't have our own learning curve for the deepest values and meanings of life.  Perhaps one of the greatest challenges one can have are health issues in a loved one.  I recently read the blog of a man whose child has an exceptionally rare genetic disorder which causes unpredictable seizures that can last for unpredictably long times. (He and his wife publish updates at this site.)  There are numerous health complications from this, and even from attempted treatments.  But it is with faith that these parents pursue the health and care of their child, and without that faith one would venture to guess it would be impossible.  What seems revealed, above all, from their writing is the tremendous love between this family in its struggles, and how transcendent and meaningful that is.  It is akin to the Cross, and the love believers understand from Christ's suffering and Resurrection.  God is with us in that suffering, and pulls us up in Resurrection.  Both, together, can take on myriad forms in our life in this world.  We need not await life after physical death to experience these things, just as the stories of the disciples and the beginnings of the Church teach us.  St. Paul seems to echo this strongly when he writes, "And why do we stand in jeopardy every hour? I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!'" (1 Corinthians 15:30-32).  As one who has been caretaker for a difficult period, it seems to me that the strength and meaning coming from such experiences transcends everything, and uplifts us with greater love, greater wisdom, a greater sense of values, than anything else in life -- and faith and prayer are indispensable in that outcome.  For this is indeed part of the Kingdom within us and among us, and it must be that journey forward which Christ calls us upon.  For this is salvation, which St. Paul tells us to work out with fear and trembling, as we go day by day understanding that we are being taken somewhere (see Philippians 2:12-13).  Our struggles have meaning -- even though we live in a world where so many seem to have decided that there is no point.  But Christ has chosen for us otherwise, and He has lived a life for us that testifies distinctly and truly otherwise!  Let us struggle for the good, the true, and the beautiful amidst the suffering and evil of the world.  For we have been blessed with this mission of redemption of the creation, each one of us, through our own lives in this world.