St. Mark 4:35-41
Dearly beloved,
One must always look at the gospel with a keen eye. It
helps to know some history and some geography. This is especially the case
with the gospel appointed for today. St. Mark’s gospel recounts for the
church to hear of Christ’s calming of the storm. This is a well-known
passage with deeply spiritual implications. Chapter 4 begins with Jesus
teaching beside the sea. A large crowd gathers to hear Jesus. So much so,
that Jesus decides to get into a boat and sit on the sea and teach.
Jesus tells some parables and when we get to our appointed
reading evening has come. Jesus says that it is time to go to the other
side of the Sea. This is the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee is known
as a giant bowl of water that was capable of quick and violent storms. The
Sea of Galilee is about 680 feet below sea level. This makes it easy for
the winds blowing across the land of Galilee to come rushing down the
hillsides and stir up quick and powerful storms.
It is likened to stirring up a bowl of water. This is the
occasion for the gospel. Jesus is asleep in the stern of the boat on the
Sea of Galilee. One of these quick and powerful storms brews to a
threatening and dangerous level. The disciples who are on deck are filled
with immediate fear. They go to the stern, but Jesus is sleeping peacefully
on a pillow. They awaken Jesus and ask Him if He does not care that they
are about to perish.
As we know, Jesus says, “peace, be still,” and the wind and
waves go to an immediate and deafening calm. But to ask the Lutheran
question, “What does this mean,” we have to get at the reason that God wants
the church to know about this event. What does it mean for the church?
Certainly, this gospel is meant to teach us something of a spiritual nature.
If we look at boats in the Bible, we see that they tend to protect people
when in storms or amidst deluges. 1 Peter 3 says, concerning Noah’s ark,
that eight souls were saved by the ark as they passed through water.
Because of the torrential nature of the Sea of Galilee, that
body of water was often thought of as being a spiritual representation of
hell, or, the Abyss. We see a couple of occurrences where the sea
represents hell. For example, Jesus casts the legion of demons out of a man
and they go into pigs and drive the pigs right into the sea. Another
situation is the miraculous catch of fish, where the net, representing the
gospel, pulls fish out of the sea. Peter is then told that he will be a
fisher of men.
Our gospel for today centers around the torrents of the sea.
The storms of the sea represent Satan, the world, and hell which are always
trying to consume us. The boat represents the church. It keeps us
safe. Jesus
is in the boat, the church. We Christians are up on deck. We are
vulnerable to the storms that the world and Satan send our way.
This gospel really hits close to our lives from a spiritual
perspective. We know and believe that Jesus is right here with us, but when
tempests arise in our lives we often wonder where Jesus is. How many of you
have had bad storms enter your lives and while in the midst of the tempest,
you wonder where God is. Why is God letting this happen to me? Do I deserve
this? Does God not hear my prayers?
This is precisely what the disciples in the boat did with
Jesus. “Do you not care that we are perishing?” The disciples were entering
a state of despair, yet Jesus is right there with them. It doesn’t take
much for us, either. Here we are sailing on the spiritual Sea of Galilee,
this world, where anything can happen. Your world can change in five
minutes. When it changes for the worst, does it mean that Jesus wasn’t
paying attention? Does it mean that Jesus doesn’t care about you?
By no means is this the case. Storms happen in our lives
because we live in a sinful world. Satan prowls, the flesh desires tangible
things that bring delight to the flesh. Jesus responds to these disciples
by literally calling them “cowards” in the Greek. Jesus takes a serious
tone with them, because to suggest to Jesus that He doesn’t care that we are
perishing is an insult to the love that He has for His heavenly Father’s
creation. It is also an insult to Christ’s very essence. Jesus is love:
He never ceases concerning Himself for you. Jesus never stops concerning
Himself for creation. Remember Christ’s words, “I am about my Father’s
business.”
Herein lies a very important distinction in this
account. Jesus
got angry with them not because they came to Him, seeking His help. Jesus
wants His disciples to cry out to Him. Jesus got angry with them because
they suggested that He didn’t care about them. They hadn’t understood that
the very reason Jesus was there in the flesh as God and man was precisely
because He loved them. This is for you to remember, as well. Don’t ever
say that Jesus doesn’t care about you.
Jesus stooped down from His heavenly throne, humbling
Himself and hiding His glory, to take on flesh in order to be mocked and
spit on and crucified rather than being worshipped. Jesus went against His
very nature to die with your sins on His shoulders. Do storms and wicked
tempests enter the lives of Christians? Absolutely, but it doesn’t mean that
Jesus doesn’t care.
Jesus remains in the boat, the church. Jesus is in our
midst. Jesus has given you real life, eternal life. Jesus has given you
what is needed to get through the storms of this life and to remain
steadfast in this faith and life. It is the character and nature of Christ
to bring not a worldly calm to our lives, but a peace and calm contemplation
of what it means to be forgiven, holy and loved. Amen.
--
Rev. Chad Kendall
www.frchadius.blogspot.com
Trinity Lutheran Church
Lowell, Indiana
www.trinitylowell.org
