Storms happen. Physical storms with strong winds, lightning, and heavy rain are happening somewhere right now. The storms of life are also happening with war, conflict, personal loss, accidents, and despair. Jesus was not immune to the storms as we’ll see in our next passage from Mark.
“On that day, when evening had come, he told them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.” So they left the crowd and took him along since he was in the boat. And other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?” He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Then he said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” And they were terrified and asked one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!” (Mark 4:35–41, CSB)
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve felt like the disciples in that boat battered by storm and waves. Doesn’t God care? Doesn’t He know? Why doesn’t God do something? I’m sure you’ve been there too. Fear is a very real thing in those times of weather-related and circumstance-driven storms.
So the disciples woke Jesus. I’d like to have a video of this moment. Did Jesus loudly rebuke the storm like someone shouting at an unruly crowd? Or, did Jesus speak softly as one calming the fears of a small child? Was He exasperated or smiling? The one thing we know is that He wasn’t afraid. With a word, He commanded the storm and it obeyed.
Now, one would think that the disciples would be overjoyed at the sudden removal of the storm. But a different kind of wave threatened their worldview. After calm took over, Jesus asked the disciples why they were afraid and marveled at their lack of faith. No storm was going to change Jesus’ path towards the cross. All of that came together in a new fear for the disciples. Who is this that even the wind and sea obey?
The original language indicates that this wasn’t some small fear but one that was off the scale. This was a great fear. A fear that surpassed their original fear of the storm. Perhaps their later fear is appropriate. The answer to their question is what Mark has been portraying: Jesus is God the Son. The Word of God through whom creation leaped into existence.
We are sometimes flippant with God. “Hey God, I need this or that.” Which is fine. We are invited to bring our worries and cares to Him. But we often lose our awesome fear of God in that familiarity. There is a balance to be struck in our posture before God between familiarity and prostrated reverence. Jesus can and will calm the storms of life. What is our attitude in return? Is it like the thanks we would offer the neighbor who loaned us his hammer? Or is it like the thanks we offer when we purchase something at a good price? Or is it the awe-struck realization that the King of Kings would hear our prayers and answer them? God’s grace is amazingly awesome. Especially when He speaks “Hush, be still” to the storms in our life.
- Mark – Be Still - June 9, 2025
- Mark: An Insignificant Seed - June 4, 2025
- Mark – Listen Carefully - June 2, 2025
