David Bahn – Reflections

Mark 4

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” ³⁶ And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. ³⁷ And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. ³⁸ But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” ³⁹ And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰ He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”⁴¹ And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

The disciples needed something in the middle of the storm at sea. As the waves broke over the edge of the boat, and water swirled at their feet with things getting worse every moment, they needed help. So when the disciples woke Jesus and asked whether he even cared if they drowned, it’s not clear whether they were expecting divine intervention or not. But that’s exactly what they did get: God stepped into the fray and provided an answer to their crisis in the form of removing the crisis. Winds stop. Waves cease. The waters are calm.

Seems, however, they needed more than that according to Jesus. They needed faith. They needed to think differently about God and Jesus and what it meant that Jesus was with them. “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” Jesus asks. The obvious answers are: because this was a terrible storm and we’ve seen boats capsized and men drown in storms like this. And, what do you mean by faith? What has that got to do with anything like this?

Faith has everything to do with things like this. Faith looks to God with anticipation of his favor and confidence in his goodness, promises, and power. Perhaps faith would have remembered that Jesus had said, “Let’s go to the other side.” Was that at least a hint of a promise? Faith would remember Jesus’ demonstration of power in feeding the 5000 or healing the diseased people. Faith would believe that Jesus loved these men. Faith would have seen Jesus’ sleeping in the back of the boat not only as evidence of his exhaustion, but as a hint of his confidence in God’s goodness, power, favor and promises.

I’m not certain whether faith would have asked Jesus to help in a different manner – tone and words – than they asked. But I am certain that faith makes a difference when we face challenges in life. Faith may still grab the bucket and try to bail the boat, but it will also pray with expectation. Faith may pray fervently and earnestly because of the urgency of the situation, but faith prays confidently, knowing that God’s goodness, trustworthiness, grace, love and power all conspire to bring us “to the other side” wherever that may be.

The other side in this case would take Jesus and the disciples directly into a confrontation with demonic forces and allow him to display his divine power once again. Ultimately the other side would be into and out of a borrowed tomb and to the right hand of God. For us the other side will likely be into further challenges and opportunities to live under Christ in his kingdom. In the midst of the frays that go along with that reality we may occasionally need a miracle. But we’ll always need faith.