Psalm 107:1
Mark 4:35-41
35 On that same day, when evening had come, Jesus said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." 36 And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him.
37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 But Jesus was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"
39 Jesus woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" 41 And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"
Where We Are
Mark's gospel was written down around the time of the destruction of the second Jerusalem Temple, which served as a cultural, social, economic, and religious landmark for everyone; the J-Temple was THE reference point for every Jew. No more temple meant the end of the world as they'd known it.
This account approaches a cosmic scope that encompasses memories and hopes of the Temple and other establishments. We can parallel environmental devastation, cyberhacking, racism, democracies struggling against totalitarian governments, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a once in a century worldwide pandemic, a foreign entity invading the USA on 9112001 (you can add to this list) as the end of worlds we had known and expected to continue.
Today's Good News
This event happens "on the same day" as last week's agricultural scattered seeds and mustard seed parables. Today's gospel reading brings us water and the word. And yes, that provides more than a hint of baptism's power to drown old established systems and summon the new creation. This same story's also in Matthew 8:23-27 and Luke 8:22-25; Mark, Matthew, and John include a related narrative of Jesus walking on water.
The body of water here is freshwater Lake of Galilee, but Mark always refers to it as the Sea of Galilee. In the Old Testament a sea or ocean often is a symbol or sign of chaos and disorder. Untamed waters in Genesis 1 and in Psalm 104 are the womb of creation. You remember the sea of the Exodus. Noah's flood. Jonah's ocean, and quite a few rivers besides the iconic Jordan. Check out today's reading from Job 38:1-11.
Jesus tells everyone they're going "across to the other side." That other side was where non-Jews lived. Genesis tells us Abraham was an ivri – Hebrew – one from "the other side." Including everyone by bringing outsiders into the inside is a particular hallmark of Mark's Jesus. To what extent can we do the same?
This meteorological event is a great storm surrounded by great (mega in Greek) fear, with Jesus' word leading to great – mega – calm. "Fear" here really is frightened, terrified, scared, and not "awe" fear of Luther's Small Catechism and some Psalms. In today's gospel reading, Jesus' word that subdues the water is the same word he used to exorcise the demon.
• Mark 1:25 Jesus rebukes the unclean spirit
• Mark 4:39 Jesus woke up and rebuked the wind
• A related reflection for Storm Sunday 2010
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