Comments on Mark 4:35-41

Mark 4

Jesus Calms the Storm

³⁵As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's cross to the other side of the lake." ³⁶He was already in the boat, so they started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). ³⁷But soon a fierce storm arose. High waves began to break into the boat until it was nearly full of water.

³⁸Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. Frantically they woke him up, shouting, "Teacher, don't you even care that we are going to drown?"

³⁹When he woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the water, "Quiet down!" Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰And he asked them, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still not have faith in me?"

⁴¹And they were filled with awe and said among themselves, "Who is this man, that even the wind and waves obey him?"

The wind was also their shouting, the sea their panicked hearts. Perhaps it's simply a metaphor.

What if they hadn't woken Jesus? Would they have drowned? (Would Jesus have slept on water if the boat *had* capsized, or did he have to be awake and intending to do that?)

Was Jesus just calming the sea so they could all get a good night's sleep? ("All *right* already, there, the sea's calm, now can i PLEASE get some sleep?")

(I figure if I get inspired during the sermon, I may as well take down what I'm thinking. Feel free to respond. I'll edit the post after I sync it up so that the quote will be there.)

Hooray!

Well, I finally came up with a bargain that Jodi couldn't refuse. She let me buy Harry Potter and I promised to read it to her every night for an hour. (Free nights and weekends.)