Just Like the Days of Noah

Survival 

Mark 4:35-40

 Let’s go! After teaching all day from a boat on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus summoned His disciples aboard. Let us go over to the other side. A cushion was available in the stern for reclining so the Lord settled in while the disciples loosed the rigging. Most of His disciples being strong, seasoned seamen, handled the surf with a confident athletic dexterity. A trip to the other side of the Sea of Galilee should have been easily managed, despite their fatigue and the pending darkness.

With the sun setting and air cooling down, a gentle breeze beckoned rest for these weary travelers, refreshing the disciples as they pushed offshore. Distributing oars to one another, a discussion quickly ensued over the teaching of the day. Jesus had spoken in parables to the crowd regarding the Kingdom of God while clarifying the significance to His twelve. Still, there was debate over the application. “Where is this Kingdom? What will we do there? Who is the King?” Jesus listened to their conversation before drifting off without reply, taking advantage of His opportunity to rest.

Caught up in their Kingdom debate, the disciples may have ignored the cumulus clouds moving in, cloaking the star lit landscape. But when the moon disappeared, a damp darkness began to alarm them. Streams of wind whistled above them, causing the sails to flap sharply. Swelling waves rocked the vessel, pitching sea water over the sides and filling their boat to the point of sinking.

As if that were not enough, a fierce squall suddenly descended and challenged these burly fishermen to keep their boat afloat. They were blinded by sheets of rain and the stinging spray blown from the rising waves. Fighting for their lives, the disciples probably shouted above the roaring noise of the winds… “We’re sinking! Can anyone see land? We’re sinking!

Then, the story peaks with alarm. The disciples desperately awaken Jesus who is still asleep and they ask, Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? Do you not care! An ironic question, don’t you think? Jesus came to earth so that they and we could be justified, glorified and released from sin. Yet He is being asked this question by His closest friends, Do you not care that we are perishing? True to His faithfulness, Jesus answers their prayers.

Being roused, He rebuked the wind and said to the sea, Hush, be still. And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. Jesus responds with, Why are you so timid? How is it that you have no faith? Fear had squelched the faith of the disciples and blinded them to a greater degree than even the wind and rain.  But Jesus graciously opened their eyes to see who He was. And they became very much afraid and said to one another, Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him? Witnessing Jesus command forces of nature, the disciples realized Him to be more than merely their master teacher, Who is this? Who is this? John the Baptist had already proclaimed Him, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (Jn. 1:29)

Who then is the King of the Kingdom of God? That day, on a stormy Sea of Galilee, God the Father answered that question for the disciples of Christ and the world, “This is He!”