This would take him into territory controlled by Gentiles, pointing to the eventual expansion of Jesus' message and community beyond Jews and to the Gentile world. The first miracle of this type appears in Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-41; and Luke 8:22-25.For Jesus, this is a day of both significant teaching, including the seven parables of Matthew 13, and considerable testing. Mark seldom dates his incidents, but he takes pains to tell us that this run across the lake closed a day of labour, Jesus was wearied, and felt the need of rest, He had been pressed on all day by ‘a very great multitude,’ and felt the need of solitude. In Mark’s mind it became important to review next the consequences for the community of disciples. These two issues of faith and the identity of Jesus were not peripheral to the definition of the community of disciples. Austin Cline, a former regional director for the Council for Secular Humanism, writes and lectures extensively about atheism and agnosticism. The calming of a raging storm fits with other stories where Jesus' power is manifested against awesome, even mythic forces: raging seas, hordes of demons, and death itself. Alternate First Reading. But Jesus was asleep (on a cushion no less, Mark notes, adding to the contrast between Jesus’ tranquility and the disciples’ panic), apparently oblivious to their pending doom. Let's read the account of a severe storm on the Sea of Galilee. Commentary on Mark 4:35-41 (Read Mark 4:35-41) Christ was asleep in the storm, to try the faith of his disciples, and to stir them up to pray. Mark 4:35. Commentary on Mark 4:35-41 “On that day.” The phrase is so brief the reader could almost ignore it. Mark 4:35-41. Yet Mark would be insistent that Jesus did on occasion enter their territory and did engage with them. THE CONTEXT. 35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. As will become more obvious as the story unfolds, the basis of the community’s identity would not lie in ethnic identity, religious background or simple friendship or congeniality. Mark 4:35, ESV: "On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.”" Mark 4:35, KJV: "And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side." He may also have wished to indicate that the unfolding story would chart the definition of the new community of disciples soon to exercise the mind of Jesus. He was in the stern asleep on the cushion. ). Actually, this short transition is vastly important for setting the stage for this familiar story of the stilling of the storm. In this incident, the disciples and Jesus moved away from the shoreline, and put out over the water. As Mark tells the story, the disciples were terrified that the boat was going to break up and everyone would die. When he had been labouring in the word and doctrineall day, instead of reposing himself, he exposeth himself, to teach us not to think of a constant remaining rest till we come to heaven. A. Jesus Walks on Water: Faith During a Storm (Mark 6:45-52), Jesus Walks on Water Bible Story Study Guide, Jesus Punishes the Swine With Demons (Mark 5:10-20), The Syro-Phoenician Woman's Faith in Jesus (Mark 7:24-30), The Woman Who Touched Jesus' Garment (Mark 5:21-34), Jesus Heals Jairus' Daughter (Mark 5:35-43), Saint Patrick's Friendship with His Guardian Angel, Victor, Jesus Heals a Blind Man in Bethsaida (Mark 8:22-26), Relive the Resurrection Story of Jesus Christ. The "sea" being crossed by Jesus and his followers is the Sea of Galilee, so the area they are moving on to would be the present-day Jordan. Commentary on Mark 4:35-41. Read commentary on this popular Bible verse and understand the real meaning behind God's Word using John Gill's Exposition of the Bible. 2 Jesus explains … Commentary on Mark 4:35-41. They had overcome many storms before. Mark may have wished to make a statement about Jesus. Mark 4:35-41 35 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. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. Commentary on 1 Samuel 17:[1a, 4-11, 19-23] 32-49 . If so, he succeeded because they appear to be just as afraid of him now as they were moments ago of the storm. As mentioned in relation to Jesus’ acts of healing, wonders were accepted as part of life by people of the time. Here Jesus is sleeping because the story of Jonah has him sleeping down in the ship. The disciples are traveling with Jesus on his way to Jerusalem. That day, as it was getting later, [Jesus] said. The outcome of that conversion would be the intuition that the “face” of Jesus was nothing less than the most perfect human expression of the “face” of God. What does he know about storms and waters? The attitudes of Christians, who accept the mystery that Jesus was equally human as divine, will fall somewhere along a spectrum. For Jesus, this is a day of both significant teaching, including the seven parables of Matthew 13, and considerable testing. Commentary on Mark 4:35-41. Mark 4:35. ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ, on that day) See App. This is a sermon I recently preached on Mark 4:35-41, the account of Jesus’s calming of the storm on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus Stills the Storm (Mark 4:35-41) 23 analysis is an expression of the text. Its truth had no other criterion than its resonance, beyond projection, with the deepest inner core of each person. And again he began to teach by the sea side and there is gathered unto him a very great multitude, so that he entered into a boat, and sat in the sea; and all the multitude were by the sea on the land. B. How Jesus manages to stay asleep though this is unknown but traditional commentaries on the passage say that he slept deliberately in order to test the faith of the apostles. It was as if he were seeking to remind his readers, before outlining a further significant development in the unfolding drama, just who and what this Jesus was. The geography would be significant, not for its factual detail but for its symbolism. The locale would change, as would the mood. Some years ago I was on a flight from Puerto Allegre in the far south of Brazil to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Mark 4:35-41 Commentary by James Boyce “On that day.” The phrase is so brief the reader could almost ignore it. Did it really happen? To the Jew, pagan meant more than simply non-Jewish. Whatever option readers may take about the historicity of the incident, its symbolism was what particularly interested Mark, and was the reason why he selected it, told it the way he did, and inserted it at this point in his narrative. After a … He apparently saw a response of panic as a lack of faith. Other boats were with him. Acceptance would call for nothing less than death to the ego-oriented and originated self. On a first read, Mark 4:35-41 looks like a demonstration of Jesus’ astonishing power — and so it is. The first miracle of this type appears in Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-41; and Luke 8:22-25. The weakness of Jesus, more than anything else, would reveal the truth of God. Default. They were familiar with the sea of Galilee. Why did they even wake him if they didn't think he might be able to do something? Copyright © 2016 John McKinnon - Site by Patrick Lim. When a violent storm threatens to destroy the boat and its inhabitants, Jesus somehow manages to remain “asleep on the cushion.” Once the discourse on the parables was finished (Mk 4: 1-34), Jesus said, “Let us cross over to the other side!” They take Him on the boat just as He is in the boat in which He had made the discourse on the parables. During the journey, Jesus’ disciples seemed unable to see anything clearly. Hadn't they covered who he is and what he is doing? It carried feelings associated not just with otherness but with uncleanness and an instinctive abhorrence of idolatry. In the midst of the Christian storm, Jesus seemed to be absent, asleep, certainly giving no clear direction. Mark 4:35 - And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. Chapter 4 In this chapter, we have, I. So how strong can we surmise this storm was? Accepting such an explanation, though, requires accepting the idea that this story is a literary creation by the author and not an accurate historical narrative. Active. Two miracles of Jesus Christ recorded in Scripture tell of Him calming storms on the Sea of Galilee. The parable of the seed, and the four sorts of ground (v. 1-9), with the exposition of it (v. 10-20), and the application of it (v. 21-25). Faith in self is faith misplaced. In its turn, faith in the Jesus who proclaimed the Kingdom would be determined by people’s sense of the authenticity of Jesus himself. You remember that in this section of Mark we are dealing with a theme which Mark emphasizes in several incidents -- the effects of popularity upon the ministry of Jesus. Let's read verses 35-41. In the overall structure of Mark's Gospel we now move into material that follows the Parable of the . God made the escape possible by means of a strong wind that blew all night and dried the seabed, so enabling the Hebrew people to cross dry-shod and safe. HENRY ALFORD The Greek New Testament Commentary on the Gospel of Mark. 36 And when they had sent away the … Second, if you act like Jesus and simply command the chaos to "be still," then you will at least achieve some inner sense of peace and thus be less troubled by what is occurring. (They were fisherman: 1:16-19.) It is not coincidental that the following stories of Jesus involve further instances of combating forces more powerful than what has been seen thus far. Resume Prayer. In the introduction to his work he had claimed that Jesus was both Christ and Son of God (1:1) At the beginning of the story he had presented the vision of the heavens torn apart, the Spirit of God descending, and the (unidentified) voice from heaven proclaiming to Jesus that he was God’s son, the beloved (1:9). It's strange, though, that they don't understand who he is. Mark would begin a new section of his narrative where Jesus would be continually moving around, across the sea, on the sea, in pagan territory, in Jewish territory. They believed in experience, strength, and skills. In this sense they had no faith. Commentary on Job 38:1-11. First Reading. In Mark’s mind it became important to review next the consequences for the community of disciples. A more plausible explanation is that the author of Mark has Jesus sleeping out of literary necessity: Jesus' calming the storm is designed to evoke the story of Jonah. Most of the disciples were former fishermen. It would be based purely on the common acceptance in faith of the driving dream and mission of Jesus. Mark seldom dates his incidents, but he takes pains to tell us that this run across the lake closed a day of labour, Jesus was wearied, and felt the need of rest, He had been pressed on all day by ‘a very great multitude,’ and felt the need of solitude. ), all the birds of the air can find shelter in its shade; where, despite the apparent inadequacy of resources, the harvest is capable of the thirty, sixty, hundredfold. Returning once again to traditional commentaries on this passage, many say this story is supposed to teach us not to be fearful of the chaos and violence around us in our lives. It had been a heavy day with much work. During the trip across the Sea of Galilee, a large storm comes up - so large that the boat threatens to sink after so much water has entered it. The issue was significant for many Christian communities that came into existence after Jesus’ death. Be silenced!”. And what did many of them do for a living? 1 The *parable of the four soils 4:1-9. June 21, 2009. Jesus did not say, “Let’s do the best we can and maybe we’ll all drown.” He promised a safe arrival, and the disciples could have chosen to trust in that promise, but they didn’t. Commentary on 1 Samuel 17:[1a, 4-11, 19-23] 32-49 . Was his purpose simply to create a display of naked power in order to impress his apostles? Mark 4:35-36 (NASB) And on that day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us go over to the other side." He had previously lamented the lack of faith of people, who look, but not perceive, who listen, but not understand, and indeed seemed to have exempted the disciples from the charge, explaining everything in private to them. Gospel. Some thoughts on today's scripture. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. It is possible to raise in regard to this incident the same queries made about Jesus’ vision at the Jordan and about his healings and exorcisms. Mt 13:1-2+ “That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. Jesus responded negatively to the disciples’ panic. "Calming the Storm," Frederick Buechner, Peculiar Treasures. "Crossing to the other side with Jesus may be a risky, unpredictable proposition, and in this passage, the wind and the sea create a visual manifestation of the dangers of being in the boat with him." Confining the sea itself is depicted in Genesis as an aspect of divine power and privilege. First, if we have faith, then no harm is to come to us. Alternate First Reading. And other boats were with him. David is introduced to the reader in Ruth 4:17. (Mark 4:35-36 RSV) It is clear that this comes when our Lord was at the point of utter physical exhaustion. It would be the product of a never-ending conversion. The Jews were familiar with the story of Moses who led the Hebrew people from their captivity in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land. 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