Episode Details

Introduction

One statement I’ve heard on numerous occasions, whether in the context of casual conversation or even when watching a formal debate, is that if God wanted to make himself obvious he surely could. The fact that he doesn’t show up the way Jesus “supposedly” did in the times of the gospel writers just proves that the whole thing is made up - or at least not substantial enough to be trustworthy. 

The gospels themselves put the lie to this notion, though. People did see Jesus, and not only saw him, but witnessed his miraculous deeds. Still, they often found themselves confused by, afraid of, or repulsed by him. They saw him, but they had no eyes of faith to really see him. They were presented with the Messiah: and responded wrongly. Some loved the darkness rather than the light; others, like the disciples, had their eyes slowly opened to the light, like the blind man in chapter 8 of Mark’s gospel. As we’ve talked about multiple times recently: seeing is not synonymous with believing. We’ve talked about that in the sense that we need to pray for faith when we can’t see God’s work. But today we will see that we need to pray for that same Divine enablement even when his working is perfectly visible. As we’ll see in a series of confrontations in the text, it is all too easy to respond wrongly to Jesus.

Fearful Faithlessness

Let’s set the scene a little. Though it is very possible that the teachings throughout Mark 4 could have taken place at different times, the time markers in the passage seem to indicate that at least the teaching session at the beginning of chapter four directly precedes verses 35 and following. In verse one he is teaching beside the sea and the crowd presses in so tightly that he retreats into a boat to teach (v2). He then explains that parable privately to the disciples in v11ff, but in v33 we read a summary statement about how Jesus taught the crowds. So, likely when we come to v35 and “on that day”, we are to think of that same day that the crowds had been pushing tightly into Jesus and he had spent the day teaching. And we might rightly assume that Jesus is exhausted. Being outside in the sun all day is exhausting. Sitting on a boat in the sun can be draining for your body. Add to that the weight of many people and their problems and the duty of preaching the word, Jesus is probably shot mentally and physically, ready (in his humanity) for a pleasant nap across the lake. 

Confronting Jesus

35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”

Put yourself, for a moment, in the shoes of the disciples. They, too, have had a long day. They ran interference with the crowds, trying to filter who had closest access to Jesus. They had listened to him teaching in the sun all day, and no matter how engaging the speaker, you can imagine that listening for hours on end can be its own kind of exhausting. 

Now, here they are, out on the Sea of Galilee. These are waters they know, and have traversed often at night (at least the fishermen in the group). They go out at night, though, because their weather was typically calmer at that time of day and it was safer. Nonetheless, a storm builds up. Storms on Galilee can whip up seemingly out of nowhere, as the lake is a geographic funnel, with winds pouring down out of the mountains and rapidly creating unsafe conditions. And that is precisely what happened in this circumstance. The windstorm arose, and their low-sided fishing vessel took on water quickly. The