Mark 4:35-40
35As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” 36 So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). 37 But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.
38 Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” 39 When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. 40 Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
So, let’s recap. A group of friends were hanging out together; Jesus was head of this crew. The friends were in an intimate, privileged, relationship with Him by now. They all confided and shared things with one another. Jesus revealed things to them that he had not revealed to others. They were trusted companions. They had Jesus as one of their best friends.
Anyway, after some time of teaching to a large crowd and then private ministering to the core twelve, Jesus tells his crew that it’s time for them to head out. As they were headed to the other side of the lake the twelve’s lives were literally shaken to the core. They didn’t just hit a rough patch in life. Their world was turned inside out and topsy turvy by violent gusts of wind. As a matter of fact, the Greek word used to describe what assailed them was lailaps, pronounced lah'-ee-laps, which can be translated as hurricane, whirlwind, squall. Strong winds churned the lake so badly that water began crashing over and into their boat, filling it with water.
Naturally, the friends began to panic. Well, all of them except for one (I’m sure you know who that one was). Throughout the chaos and mayhem that terrified the others Jesus slept…peacefully, soundly, and without worry or care. I wonder if the twelve were running and thrashing about like chickens with their heads cut off; anxious and fretting as they frantically filled any type of object that would hold water. Hysterically, dumping the heavy load over the side of the boat, constantly repeating the dip-fill-toss process, but not quite able to keep up with the flood spilling into their boat.
Something tells me that one of them, (or maybe all of them?) started getting kind of ticked off at Jesus. The 3-D movie in my mind pictures them scurrying to him; eyes wide and shining with panic and tears; their chest panting heavily. Their minds strained and to the point of near-breakdown. And in this fearful state they lose their minds and yell at Jesus. The audio in my mind has the conversation going something like, “Dude. I thought you cared about us? I thought you promised to be there for us and with us. What’s up with you sleeping while we are fighting this gigantic storm? Hello????? Do you not see the trouble we are in? There's water. In the boat. In. The. Boat! Are we alone in all of this? Do we have to clear this flood out of the boat all by ourselves? Seriously, are you gonna let us (gulp) drown (a.k.a die)? “
I’m just saying, I think they’d better be glad Jesus loved them and had continuous patience and mercy for them because in all honesty, he could have gone off on them for disrespecting him like that. But, thankfully, that’s not his character. He turned first to the storm. The Greek word for rebuke, as in verse 39, is epitimaó, pronounced, ep-ee-tee-mah'-o. It can mean to chide, admonish, warn. But another meaning is to “place due weight/honor upon.” The way things went down makes me think Jesus thought the wind deserved very little attention or weight. My mind’s audio has him thinking something like, “Really y’all? Y’all are fretting over this? Y’all woke me up because of a…wait for it…wind storm?”
And, then, the 3-D movie in my head has Jesus giving the wind the side-eye and eye-roll treatment, as if to say, “puhleeze”. “Hush up, “ he says to the wind. “Be still, “ he says, as if to a child hyped up on sugary cereal. The Greek word for silence used in the scripture was phimoó, pronounced fee-mo'-o, which means to muzzle. I thought that was powerful image (and funny in my 3-D movie world). Jesus muzzled the wind as one would an obnoxiously mean dog that is prone to biting or injuring others. In effect, Jesus rendered the hurricane winds speechless and of no consequence.
Next, he turns to his friends and asks them a couple of very important questions. Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
I don’t have time to delve into this deeper tonight. But, trust me, I will. It’s just that it’s nearly midnight as I’m writing this. My younger son has to be at football practice early tomorrow – coaches are picky about things like that, you know. I’m usually getting him there in the nick of time.
I’m just saying, I think they’d better be glad Jesus loved them and had continuous patience and mercy for them because in all honesty, he could have gone off on them for disrespecting him like that. But, thankfully, that’s not his character. He turned first to the storm. The Greek word for rebuke, as in verse 39, is epitimaó, pronounced, ep-ee-tee-mah'-o. It can mean to chide, admonish, warn. But another meaning is to “place due weight/honor upon.” The way things went down makes me think Jesus thought the wind deserved very little attention or weight. My mind’s audio has him thinking something like, “Really y’all? Y’all are fretting over this? Y’all woke me up because of a…wait for it…wind storm?”
And, then, the 3-D movie in my head has Jesus giving the wind the side-eye and eye-roll treatment, as if to say, “puhleeze”. “Hush up, “ he says to the wind. “Be still, “ he says, as if to a child hyped up on sugary cereal. The Greek word for silence used in the scripture was phimoó, pronounced fee-mo'-o, which means to muzzle. I thought that was powerful image (and funny in my 3-D movie world). Jesus muzzled the wind as one would an obnoxiously mean dog that is prone to biting or injuring others. In effect, Jesus rendered the hurricane winds speechless and of no consequence.
Next, he turns to his friends and asks them a couple of very important questions. Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
I don’t have time to delve into this deeper tonight. But, trust me, I will. It’s just that it’s nearly midnight as I’m writing this. My younger son has to be at football practice early tomorrow – coaches are picky about things like that, you know. I’m usually getting him there in the nick of time.
So, to be continued…
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