Who is This?!

By John Frye.

One of the most dramatic episodes in the life of Jesus was the stilling of the storm on the Sea of Galilee. The recurring word is “mega.”A storm with mega wind, a mega calm (on the sea) and a mega fear (in the disciples). The Hebraism is telling: the disciples “were fearing a great fear.”This story is huge (mega) according to Mark (see Mark 4:35-41). This event is so potent that Christian art found in the 2nd century catacombs featured a boat on a tumultuous sea (the violent persecutions of Jesus followers) showing the Christ standing and commanding the winds and the waves to cease, to be still.

I love this story in Mark. This is a story-teller’s dream event. Jesus intends to cross the Sea of Galilee with his disciples. A fierce hurricane force storm churns the Sea into a death-dealing environment. Seasoned fishermen, like Peter and Andrew, James and John, are at their wits end. Jesus, meanwhile, is asleep in the stern on a cushion. What a contrast: a panic-stricken group of disciples and an at-rest, sleeping Jesus. Jesus is resting in the security of God while the others are clinging to their lives, clamoring to Jesus to help them out.

We hear the disciples address Jesus directly for the second time in Mark’s Gospel. The first time was “everyone is looking for you”(Mark 1:37). Now, “don’t you care at all that we are perishing?”(Mark 4:38). This is intended as a rude insult to Jesus. Don’t you care about us? You do not have to be around pastoral ministry too long to hear people who are in overwhelming situations blaming God for his lack of compassion. What if storms were designed to train us to place solid trust in the One who is both present and powerful and who is forever with us and for us? We must not forget that Jesus is training his disciples to carry on kingdom of God ministry in his absence. What “storms”will they face? How will they react? Will they remember who is with them?

“What kind of being is with us that even the winds and the sea obey him?”Concerning Jesus Christ that is the question at all times and in all places. Jesus, with a question, pointedly reveals the disciples’problem: “Why are you cowards?”That wasn’t very nice, was it? Next: “Isn’t it about time you have faith?”Friends, don’t take being a coward lightly. Cowardice must be trained out of our hearts if we are to be Jesus followers. Did you ever notice the first category of people whose place is the lake of fire? Cowards (Revelation 21:8). Cowards are mentioned before the “unbelieving.”There is a core connection between cowardice and unbelief just as there is a core connection between courage and faith in the ever-present Christ. When early Christians faced hungry lions in the colosseums they died with “Jesus is Lord”on their lips.

A movie star/TV personality in a commercial keeps asking, “What’s in your wallet?”The recurring discipleship question is, “Who’s in your boat?”  When the storms come seemingly out of nowhere we need to ask, “What category of being is this that even the winds and sea instantly obey him?”A few minutes before this question the disciples were afraid of the storm. When Jesus speaks and makes a dramatic difference, they begin fearing with a mega-fear the One in the boat with them. Perhaps in the back of their Jewish minds flashed some verses that they knew all too well: “Others went out to the sea in ships…[a storm is stirred]…they reeled and staggered like drunken men; they were at their wits’end. Then they cried out to the LORD (!) in their trouble…He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm…”(Psalm 107:23-30). Can it be that YHWH (!) is in this very boat with us?!

With Mark’s creative Gospel-writing we find ourselves being driven passionately to answer the one great cosmic question: Who, then, is Jesus of Nazareth?