Mark 4:35-41
J. J.
May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts, be acceptable in Thy sight,
O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
“Admiral Jesus and the ship of faith”
Have you been on a ship? Have you been out to sea? Then you know how different it feels when you are beyond on the sight of land. When no matter which way you look – it’s water, water, everywhere. You’re in another world.
If you haven’t been at sea, then perhaps you have been in boat. And although you may be close to shore, that is different too, isn’t it. How, almost magically, the boat is carried on the surface of the water. Gliding along. There, too, you are in another world, and separated from land.
You know just how separated from land you are when the wind kicks up, and the water gets choppy. It’s no longer smooth sailings. You are tossed about. You wonder whether you will be tossed out, tossed overboard. You feel the damp wind, the darkness of the clouds descend on you. The shore that was so close is so distant now. Will we make it? Will this be the end?
The disciples had such an outing in the boat with Jesus in our Gospel reading today. Jesus and the disciples had been in Capernaum, which is on the western side of the sea of Galilee. Capernaum is where Peter’s mother in law lived. It is in Capernaum where Jesus' mother and brothers came to fetch Him home, as we read two weeks ago. Jesus was preaching there, and so that He could preach to the crowds, He got into a boat and put out a bit from the shore. It makes a type of natural amphitheater, so the crowds could hear Him. It is from this boat that He told the parables about the kingdom of God, for Christ was bringing in the reign and rule of God. Remember how He told about the seed, and how it grows automatically, even though the farmer does not know how. That the kingdom of God grows on its own, even though we don’t understand it.
Now He has finished preaching. So he tells the disciples, “Let’s go over to the other side.” And the disciples get busy fixing the boat to sail. That is why the text says, “they took him with them in the boat, just as he was.” And they sent out over the sea of Galilee.
Now the sea of Galilee is prone to storms. Even to this day. They brew up fast, out of nowhere. And so the disciples find themselves in the middle of such a storm. And it’s a real one. The waves are great. They are spilling into the boat. The water is rising, inside and out, and the boat is sinking. Mark tells us that Jesus was in the back of the boat. He was not up at the bow, looking out. Not only that but he was on the cushion. On top of that , He was asleep. In the back, on the cushion, asleep. The disciples rouse Him. “Master, do you not care that we are about to die?” Are they waking him because they believe he can help them? Or is this a case of them being worried, and so everyone should be worried? How could He be sleeping at a time like this? We aren’t ever like that are we? "I don’t know what you can do, but you should be worried with me."
Jesus gets up. He speaks to the wind and the waves. "Peace. Be still." Instantly all is calm. Mark writes, “a great calm.” Totally still. Instead of raging wind and waves, there was a whole lot of nothing going on. Now Jesus says to them, “Why were you so frightened. Don’t you have any faith?” Why does He ask this? Because they have been with Him. They have seen him heal Peter’s mother in law of fever. He healed a man of leprosy. They saw Him heal the paralyzed man who was let down through the roof. Not only that but He forgave the paralyzed man’s sins, and He healed him on the Sabbath, and said, that the Son of Man was Lord of the Sabbath.
He had cast out demons several times. Then He healed a man’s hand withered hand. All of this they had seen Him do before they sent sail. And on top of that they had heard him say, the kingdom of God is at hand, and listened to Him preach. And so He asks them, Have you still no faith? There was good reason that they should have had faith in Him.
But Vicar, they came to Jesus and woke him up. Doesn’t that show that they were trusting Jesus to help them, to save them? Look for moment at the order of how things happen. They wake Him up. He calms the storm. Then after the miracle, He asks, Have you no faith? He isn't questioning their faith in ability to perform miracles. He just did the miracle, and is asking them about having no faith. So no faith in what? What’s this all about?
First, let’s talk about what this is not about. This is not about Jesus calms the storm on the sea, so we can trust Him to calm the storms in our life. First, such a teaching tries to spiritualize the account, and turn this into some kind of allegory. Second, it’s just not true. And you know it. Oh, yes, we have storms in our lives. But God does not still and calm all of them. This is not a case of believe more, and when that does not work pray harder, because you know that Jesus is sleeping and you need to wake Him up to rescue you. Pray harder and God will rescue you out of the storm. No. Jesus does not still all the storms in our lives. There are and there will be plenty of rough seas. Well, if it’s not that, then what?
It is this. Jesus spoke and the wind stop. Jesus spoke and the sea stilled. Jesus has authority over the wind and waves because Jesus is God, and He created them. How did He create them? And God said, Let there be light and there was light. Genesis 1. And God said. God speaks and His word does and performs what He says. Jesus spoke, Peace. Be still. And His words performed what He said. The wind was at peace. The sea was still. Instantly.
But the disciples had not doubted his performance of this miracle. They had not even had time or opportunity to doubt this great miracle. They heard Jesus speak. They saw the storm stop. So why does He say, Why were you so scared, why were you so frightened?
Seems like a silly question, doesn’t it? I mean, there was storm. And not just any storm. Mark writes that it was a great storm. Who wouldn’t be scared and frightened?
But Jesus had said, while they were still by the shoreline of Capernaum, “Let’s go over to the other side.” Now, while it sounds like a polite statement, it is an imperative, a command. When you are a General, or an Admiral, you don’t have to say, “and that’s an order.” If a policeman stops your vehicles and says, “Please get out of the car.” is that just a polite wish. No, it’s a command.
Jesus had said, We are going to the other side. Now, He is saddened because the disciples did not have faith in those words. He had said they were going, and since He is Lord, that is a promise sure. "Have you still no faith?," He asks. "Why did you choose to believe the storm, to believe that you were perishing and dying, when I had said, 'We are going over to the other side.' Why did you believe the storm, instead of believing Me?"
What then about us? Well, we have established that this is not about God calming all the storms in our lives. So what is it about? That Jesus is God, and that His Word does and performs what He says. He says, Your sins are forgiven. And they are. He says, We are going over to the other side. And we are. Did Jesus say there will be no storm on the way? Did He say that it will all be smooth sailing? No.
But Christ, who was the Admiral of that boat, is the Admiral of our ship of faith. It’s the Admiral who is in charge. Jesus was sleeping in that boat, but He was still in charge. It was the disciples who thought that they were in charge. It was the disciples who, as Mark writes, took Jesus with them in the boat. That is what they thought was happening, that they were taking Jesus to the other side. But actually, they were in the boat with Admiral Jesus. It was Jesus who was taking them to the other side. He had spoken it. He had given the command. His word would perform what He said.
It is Admiral Jesus who is taking us through life to the other side. Oh, we like to think we are in charge. We want to live life our way. I have rights, you know. I’ll go my way, and take Jesus with me. But He is the Admiral, and He has spoken. He has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.
The story closes with Jesus and the disciples still at sea. We don’t get to see if they make it. But the very next verse opens Chapter 5, “They came to the other side of the sea.” We, Church, don’t get to see the other side, the other shore, until we turn the page to a new Chapter. We are in the navy now. And we sail with Admiral Jesus, trusting His word, in the ship of faith. For Christ has died. Christ is risen. And Christ shall come again. Amen.
S. D. G.
