Sunday: Calming a Storm

Daily Lesson for Sunday 28th of July 2024

At the beginning of Mark 4:1-41, Jesus steps into a boat to teach the crowd on the shore. In Mark 4:10-12, it seems He may have gotten out of the boat and talked with the disciples privately. Now, after a long day of teaching, the disciples take Jesus in the boat “as He was,” in other words, very tired.

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He immediately falls asleep on the boat’s cushion, which would be in the stern of the boat. A great storm arises on the lake, and the boat is at risk of sinking when the disciples awake Him. Dramatically, Jesus commands the wind and waves to cease. A great calm settles over the lake. Understandably, the disciples are deeply afraid at the display of divine power.

The story in Mark 4:35-41 fits within a common biblical pattern: that of a “theophany”—the appearance of God or one of His angels. Five characteristics are common to these events: (1) the display of divine power, (2) human fear, (3) the command “Do not fear,” (4) the words of revelation for which God or the angel appeared, and (5) human response to the revelation. Four of the five are present in this story—the calming of the storm is the display of divine power, the disciples’ fear is the human fear. The question, “Why are you so afraid?” is the “Do not fear.” The disciples’ question, “Who then is this?” is the human response. What is missing is the words of revelation. This missing detail plays into the revelation/secrecy motif that runs through the entire book, where the truth about Jesus will come out. Here the disciples’ question, “Who then is this that the wind and the sea obey Him?” pushes the reader to fill in the answer of the missing words of revelation—He is the Son of God, the Lord Himself.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24c-05-calming-a-storm/