Where there's hope, there is life

 

Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.  --2 Corinthians 12:10

Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman consul and orator who said, "Where there's life, there's hope."  Unfortunately for  him, he was beheaded on the orders of Marc Antony in 43 BC.  His writings, however, were read extensively in the 18th century and were influential in the philosophies of John Locke, David Hume, Montesquieu, and Edmund Burke--all of whom had a direct influence upon Jefferson and Madison, framers of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.

While some may lose all hope when life is lost, we know that it seems darkest just before the dawn.  This is most evident in the life of Jesus as recorded in Mark 5.  We have already seen where Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, came to Jesus and begged Him to come heal his daughter.  After an interruption from a woman who'd had issues for 12 years and Jesus taking time to heal her, a message came from the home of Jairus.

While He was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, "Your daughter is dead.  Why trouble the Teacher any further?"  --Mark 5:35

They knew Jesus to be a great teacher with healing ability.  Hearing the bad news that the girl had passed away, Jesus observed that they had no hope at all of her recovery.  His words were meant to rekindle hope in their hearts; some heard Him, others derided Him.

But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not fear, only believe."  And He allowed no one to follow Him except Peter and James and John the brother of James.  They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly.  And when He had entered, He said to them, "Why are you making a commotion and weeping?  The child is not dead but sleeping."  And they laughed at him.  But He put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with Him and went in to where the child was.  --Mark 5:36-40

 Jesus' words of hope may have been overshadowed by the young girls parents' sense of despair, but they allowed Jesus and His three closest friends to follow them home.  As they approached the house, however, the noise from the mourners drowned out everything else.  Jesus quieted them, and spoke words of hope to them, but they laughed Him to scorn.

Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."  Those without hope had no faith in Jesus' words or ability, and they were shooed away quickly.  In the deafening silence that was left, the child's father and mother were left with their own thoughts, memories, and grief.  Their only hope was in Jesus.  The only assurance they had was His words.  Jesus bade them to believe, but I imagine their faith did not cast a long shadow.  Whatever amount of faith you have, it is enough when Jesus is there.

 After the doubters were sent away, Jesus did what he came to do.

Taking her by the hand, He said to her, "Talitha cumi," which means, "Little girl, I say to you, arise."  And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement.  And He strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.  --Mark 5:41-43

 Jesus didn't do this for fame and fortune.  He often told those whom He had healed to not tell anyone.  I can't imagine, however, keeping quiet if my daughter had been raised from the dead.  Imagine the reaction of those from the town who had been weeping and wailing at the house when Jairus's family arrived at synagogue the next Sabbath.

This was the second person whom Jesus raised from the dead, the first being the son of the Widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-17).  There was one other, the raising of Lazarus (John 11).  Interestingly, this corresponds with the three accounts of people who were resurrected in the Old Testament: Elijah raised the son of the Widow of Zaraphath (1 Kings 17:17-24).  His successor Elisha raised the Shunammite woman's son (2 Kings 4:18-37).  There is also an account of a soldier who died in battle being thrown into Elijah's grave and coming back to life (2 Kings 13:20-21).  There are correlations between each of the resurrections in the Old Testament and the three people that Jesus raised, and it further testifies to His divinity.

I want to look at one more aspect of this passage, one further facet of the scripture.  It has to do with the names given to the young girl.  We do not know her given name, but there are three different words used to designate her.  The first is the Greek word paidion, which is the diminutive form of the word pais.  This literally means a child, whether son or daughter (in relation to law), or a boy or girl (in relation to age).  In a legal sense, it is their child, their legal heir, their responsibility.  This was the girl's status before she had an encounter with Jesus.

The term that Jesus called her when He took her by the hand was Talitha, meaning "Little lamb."  It is a term of endearment and of familiarity.  It also foreshadows His own death, as He became the Lamb of God who was sacrificed for the sins of the world.  Mark glosses over it, translating it as "Little girl"--it was not the main point of his story.  I think God included it in the narrative so that we could identify with it.  Jesus called her "Lambkin" or "Little lamb" when He called her from death into life.  What does He say to you and me when He calls us out of spiritual death into eternal life?  He knows our name, and Revelation 3:12 implies that He has a unique nickname for each and every one of us.

The third term designating the young girl, and seen in the passage exclusively after Jesus raised her is the Greek word korasion.  It means young girl or maiden, it is a term of endearment, and is the diminutive form of the word kore which is the root of the word korizomai, meaning to caress, to care for.  I don't know if there is a direct correlation, but it makes me think of the Spanish word corazon meaning "heart" and often used as a term of endearment.

Before we meet Jesus, we are little more than legal liabilities.  Then when we do meet Him, He calls us by name, a name given exclusively to us.  From that point forward, we are called by His name; we are endeared to Him; He holds us in His heart.  There is no better picture of love than that, and no better evidence of our hope of eternal life.

What does faith look like?

 

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.  --Hebrews 11:6

Where were you twelve years ago?  How is your faith different now than it was then?  Twelve years ago was the beginning of "The Great Recession" in America.  Twelve years ago my son graduated high school.  Twelve years ago the United States elected its first African American president.  Twelve years ago my daughter got her driver's license.  It was a time of great political, economic, and personal change, and it affected our lives in ways that only now (in some cases) we can fully appreciate.

In our Bible passage today, we see two individuals whose lives had changed dramatically in twelve years' time, and culminated in both of them encountering Jesus at the same time.  We will meet a very public figure, the father of a 12 year old daughter who is deathly ill.  We will also see a woman who had endured a very private malady for 12 years.  Both of them sought out Jesus.  They both had faith.  Jesus answered their prayers and made them both whole.  As we look closer at these two very different people, perhaps we can identify with one or the other of them.

The Religious Leader

And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about Him, and He was beside the sea.  Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and seeing Him, he fell at His feet and implored Him earnestly, saying, "My little daughter is at the point of death.  Come and lay Your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live."  And He went with him.  --Mark 5:21-24a

Jairus was a devout Jew and public figure, identified as one of the rulers of the synagogue.  Perhaps he had seen Jesus teaching in the synagogue.  He might have even been a witness to one of the healing miracles Jesus had done on the Sabbath we have discussed in prior studies (see Mark 3:1-6).  As a religious leader, Jairus would certainly have prayed for his daughter when she became ill.  In all probability he had asked for others in the synagogue to pray for her.  He may have even been to the Temple to offer sacrifices on her behalf, in case the illness was caused by sin.

We do not know the nature of her illness.  We do not know whether Jairus had other children.  We do know that he loved her enough to seek out Jesus publicly and ask for His help.  If he had not exercised his faith in this way, his daughter would not have had a chance to marry or to bear him grandchildren.  She would not have been able to comfort him in his old age.  Because of this, Jairus sought out Jesus at the earliest opportunity, and begged Him to come lay hands on her so that she would be healed.  We, too, should intercede for those we love.  We ought to pray, and to seek out Jesus at the most opportune time.  Jesus brings hope, healing, and life.

The destitute outcast

And a great crowd followed Him and thronged about Him.  And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.  She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment.  For she said, "If I touch even His garments, I will be made well."  And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.  --Mark 24b-29

We now meet an unnamed woman who also sought out Jesus.  Like Jairus, she had a need, and sought out Jesus believing that He could meet that need.  Unlike Jairus, this woman was poor.  She had no standing in the community.  We do not know for certain, but she could have had this condition for half her life.  Most commentators agree that her malady was most likely related to a heavy menstrual flow, or menorrhagia, that could have been caused by issues such as uterine cysts.  It probably caused her to have chronic anemia and severe pain.  It would have made her unable to bear children, so she was likely unmarried (or if the illness came on after she was married, the man most likely would have divorced her in order to carry on his family name.)

She may not have been religious at all, but if she were raised in a strict Jewish household, she was thought to be perpetually unclean.  Levitical law prohibited women to go to the Temple while menstruating, and even if she stopped for a short while, the law said she remained unclean for seven days (see Leviticus 15:19-23).  Therefore, we know she had not been to the Temple in at least twelve years.  She was likely not active in the synagogue, because devout Jewish men were not to touch her without becoming unclean themselves.  She took a great risk even being out and about that day because her malady would have made her a social pariah.  Yet she sought out Jesus, desiring a connection with Him.  Prostrating herself behind Him, she believed that by touching even the hem of his garment she could be healed.

Not to get too technical here, but when I was studying for this lesson I noted that there is a word in the original Greek text that is a form of the verb "to be".  The word is οὖσα (ousa) and it is translated "there was" in the ESV (the word is skipped in the KJV because it does not flow in English--it is implied but not stated).  This form of the verb εἰμί (eimi--to be) is in the feminine accusative case, meaning there is no doubt about who we are talking about.  This stuck out in my mind, because this woman was known by her condition, the illness causing a flow of blood.  How often do we feel we are defined by our circumstances, by our limitations, by our sin?  Yet Jesus can change our circumstance, eliminate our limitations, cleanse our sin, if only we seek Him out and desire a connection with Him like this woman did.  Her faith may not have been perfect, but it was effective.

Jesus prompted a public profession of faith

And Jesus, perceiving in Himself that power had gone out from Him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my garments?"  And His disciples said to Him, "You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, "Who touched Me?"  And He looked around to see who had done it.  But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.  And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease."  --Mark 5:30-34

The woman would have probably preferred to have met with Jesus in private.  She was instead forced to a public encounter for God's glory.  I like the way the commentator on bibleref.com put it:

Even today, some medical conditions are seen as more honorable than others. A broken arm is less socially embarrassing than hemorrhoids, for instance. In the same vein, women are taught from a very early age to hide any hint of menstruation. Once again, Jesus shows that He doesn't care about social convention. He doesn't care if it's an injury, an illness, something we're born with, or even something that would make us ritually unclean if we were still under the Mosaic Law. In fact, sometimes God will even use the ignoble physical conditions to bring us closer to Him—to help us in our journey toward spiritual maturity.  (https://www.bibleref.com/Mark/5/Mark-5-25.html)

If Jesus is able to meet us at our most basic--and sometimes most embarrassing--need, then we should not be shy in sharing His blessing with others who may have the same need.  Their need may be unspoken, or kept private or hidden away, but it is a real need nonetheless, and one that Jesus can meet.  Therefore it is our duty, even our honor, to proclaim it in the light.  "So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven."  (Matthew 10:32-33) 

Do not lose heart, but keep the faith

While He was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, "Your daughter is dead.  Why trouble the Teacher any further?"  But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not fear, only believe."  (Mark 5:35-36)

Just as there is no need too personal or private to bring to Jesus, neither is there a situation that is too far gone.  Jesus was present at creation, when God breathed life into Man.  He can create a new life in you, even after you are dead in your sin and shame.  2 Timothy 1:7 says, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." (NKJV)

When it seems Jesus is distracted, or blessing others before He meets your needs, fear not.  When your hope of healing dies, fear not.  When others urge you to give up, fear not.  "My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19)  He will supply them in His time, by His power, for His glory.  Have faith! 

What does mercy look like?

 

Never is a man in his right mind till he is converted, or in his right place till he sits by faith at the feet of Jesus, or rightly clothed till he has put on the Lord Jesus Christ. --J.C. Ryle

On February 14, 2020 a singer/songwriter Eddy Mann released an album entitled Love Strands, which included a song called Grace is Not a Blue-Eyed Blond.

Grace finds me when I'm not looking
Grace loves me when I'm not worthy
Grace visits me when I don't deserve it
Grace is not a blue-eyed blonde

I can't think of any better way to start our study of the fifth chapter of Mark, and to answer the question, "What does grace look like?"  

Going outside your comfort zone

They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.  And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit.  He lived among the tombs.  And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces.  No one had the strength to subdue him.  Night and day among the tombs and the on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.  --Mark 5:1-5

We already saw last week that it was late in the day when Jesus told the disciples to get into the boat to cross to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.  Then a storm hit, and likely delayed them even further.  My point is that it was very likely after dark when they came ashore in the area of the Decapolis, a Gentile region of ten cities bound together by culture and commerce.

The disciples were mostly good Jewish boys who were taught not to associate with Gentiles.  They probably had not spent much time outside of Israel, and I'm pretty sure they didn't hang out in or near the cemetery.  They certainly would not have been there after dark looking for a man with an unclean spirit that had broken chains and shackles hanging from his wrists or ankles, but that is who Jesus sought out immediately.  It was like a scene out of a horror movie, but Jesus was more concerned with the person who had put himself in this predicament.  Jesus knew that mercy required going to where the need is, not waiting for the needy to come to Him.

Looking beyond their faults, hearing their heart and not just their words

And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before Him.  And crying out with a loud voice, he said, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?  I adjure you by God, do not torment me."  For He was saying to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!"  And Jesus asked him, "What is your name?"  He replied, "My name is Legion, for we are many."  And he begged Him earnestly not to send them out of the country.  --Mark 5:6-10

If this man had any human interaction at all, he had likely heard of the ministry of Jesus.  After all, it was all people were talking about at that time.  When Jesus appeared on the shore near the graveyard where he stayed, the man may have had some understandable fear and trepidation.  After all, all the other people in authority had tortured him, trying to subdue him with chains and shackles when they could not confine him in prison.  Naturally, when a famous Rabbi shows up, the man thought He was there to condemn him.

The spirits who possessed him certainly knew who Jesus was.  They may have discussed it among themselves, and the man may have heard their voices in his head.  Jesus had already told them to leave the man, because Jesus was concerned about the man himself, not with the demons who had made their home in him.  It is difficult to discern who is speaking the words, the man or the spirits, but Jesus heard his heart.  "What have you to do with me?" was a question both in the heart of the man and in the thoughts of the spirits.  Jesus responded by asking the man his name.  The answer came instead from the spirits inside him.  "I am called Legion," the man said, "for we are many."

The man asked not to be sent away again; the spirits feared that the end of the age had arrived, and that they would be sent forever to the lake of fire.  Jesus heard the words he spoke, and discerned their meaning on both the physical and spiritual levels.  I pray that we can do that when we speak to people--when we hear their words, I hope we can listen to their hearts.  I am comforted to know that when I speak to God in prayer, he sees beyond my speech and hears my heart.  He certainly knows our needs.

Prioritizing people over profits

Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged Him, saying, "Send us to the pigs; let us enter them."  So He gave them permission.  And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.  --Mark 5:11-13

Jesus had to know that the pigs were somebody's business.  Not only were there herders there who witnessed this event, but there were the pig owners in the town who were raising them for profit.  Two thousand head of swine had to represent the livelihood of dozens in the town.  The meat from those pigs would have fed thousands of meals to hundreds of people.  A short-sighted person would have seen the economic loss, the good that those animals would have done to a great number of people.

Fortunately, Jesus valued this one man's life--both physical and spiritual, temporal and eternal--above the few dollars profit and the few meals provided by these pigs.  If you think about it, the profits would be spent and more would need to be made; the meat would have been eaten, and the consumers would have been hungry again.  This man, this one man, would receive abundant, everlasting life in exchange for the lives of the unclean animals.

To risk being misunderstood

The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country.  And people came to see what it was that had happened.  And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.  And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs.  And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.  --Mark 5:14-17

Strange things had just occurred in the middle of the night or the wee hours of the morning.  The herdsmen had witnessed the physical manifestation of spiritual warfare, and did not understand all that they had seen.  They went and told the townspeople, perhaps waking the owners of the pigs as well as the priests and other spiritual leaders.  They may have been thinking, "We have just seen some strange voodoo here today," evidenced by this man who was known around town as running naked through the countryside, dwelling in the tombs, cutting himself and talking to himself, now clothed and in his right mind.

Taking stock of the situation, the town leaders saw that the pigs were missing, the demon-possessed man possessed no longer, and hearing the first-hand witness of the herdsman that Jesus was the cause of removing the demons from the man into the swine before the pigs committed mass suicide.  Fear overtook them.  This fear was directed at Jesus, who had exhibited authority over the demons, the man that they had been trying to subdue for some time, and two thousand head of livestock.  Rather than invite Him to their temple to explain His abilities and purpose, they respectfully and fearfully asked Jesus to leave.  They did not understand mercy so they ignored it, looking instead at their losses.  Mercy comes at a cost, and most are not willing to bear it.

Seeing the beneficiaries change, grow, and share

As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged Him that he might be with Him.  And He did not permit him but said to him, "Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you."  And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.  --Mark 5: 18-20

It is only natural that the man freed from spiritual bondage would have wanted to follow Jesus, to hear Him teach, to grow spiritually from the One who had authority over dark demonic forces.  Jesus forbade him to come, because he would do more good as a missionary among the gentiles than he would be as a close disciple.  He did not need a seminary education to tell what had happened to him.  People would see the man whose reputation as a crazed lunatic turned evangelist, and would relate to his story.

No longer were the demons speaking through him, limiting him to graveyards and wildernesses.  Rather, he told the good news of Jesus throughout the ten cities in the region.  When we receive grace, we can do nothing less than praise the giver of grace to all who will listen.  This is what mercy looks like.

Who is this man called Jesus?

 

You can't throw too much style into a miracle.  --Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

I confess that sometimes I get caught up in television series, especially the action ones where the hero or heroine are constantly put in peril.  A well written plot can have you on the edge of your seat, hoping against hope that the title character will survive.  Then after he or she lives to fight another day, you realize that without that title character, there would be no plot, no episode, and certainly no series.

Some of us can get as jaded reading the Bible as we do about TV or movies, because the stories are told to us in scenes or episodes that always show that right will triumph, that good overcomes evil, that God's on His throne and all's right with the world.  Today's passage is often judged in just that way: Jesus gets into a boat with His disciples and falls asleep; a storm pops up, almost swamps the boat; the disciples fear for their lives, and wake up Jesus, who speaks to the storm.  The storm stops as suddenly as it started, and Jesus questions the disciples about their faith.  As an outside observer, sometimes we become so jaded that we also question the disciples' faith.  With the benefit of hindsight, we yell at them in our heads, "Don't you know God wouldn't allow Jesus to die in that storm?  There's no way that boat would have sunk, so you shouldn't have been such babies about it!  Get a life!!"

On the other hand, when we are living through our own perils and pitfalls, self-preservation gets in the way of our faith, as well.  We don't want to judge the disciples too harshly, because maybe we would have reacted in much the same way, forgetting our faith and fearing for our very lives.  As we read the text in Mark 4:35-41, I want us to look for answers to the question the disciples asked: "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?"

On that day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us go across to the other side."  And leaving the crowd, they took Him with them in the boat, just as He was.  And other boats were with Him.  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.  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?"  And He woke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace!  Be still!"  And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.  He said to them, "Why are you so afraid?  Have you still no faith?"  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?"  --Mark 4:35-41 

Fully human and fully divine

Jesus had been teaching most of the day.  He had taught the crowds in parables, and then spent time explaining the parables to the disciples.  It was late in the day.  Mark said it was evening, a term that could have been used for late afternoon (from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm) or early evening (from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm).  He was tired; He needed rest.

Suddenly, He tells them He wants to get in the boat and go to the other side.  The disciples know it will be dark soon, but at least four of them are fishermen by trade, and therefore experienced on boats in these waters.  Jesus is exhausted.  Notice the phrase, "just as He was" when they took Him with them on the boat.  He didn't make any preparation for the voyage.  He didn't say, "Let's get some rest and then go."  He said go, and they went, just as they were.  Jesus calls us just as we are.  We don't all need a seminary education, or a huge fortune, or even a love for people.  We are to go just as we are, and let Him work through us.

Anyway, fatigue shows His humanity.  He was sleeping so soundly that the sound of the wind did not wake Him.  The pitching of the boat up and down did not wake him.  The boat taking on water, soaking the cushion on which He slept did not wake Him.  He was that tired.  The disciples had to shake Him awake, physically putting their hands on Him to rouse Him from slumber.  Not only that, they also woke Him with rebukes: Don't you know there's a storm?  Don't you care about us?

While the human Jesus needed rest, the divine Jesus had power over creation.  He did not need a cup of coffee to rebuke the winds and speak power over the sea.  This is another side of taking Jesus just as He is.  Not only do you get the flesh and blood man who felt fatigued, you also get the God who never slumbers, neither does He sleep (Psalm 121:4).  His power is evident at all times.  He who spoke the world into existence had authority to speak to the wind and waves.  He also showed divine forgiveness to the disciples there whose fear had overcome their faith, whose concerns for personal safety had made them forget the miracles they had seen revealing who He truly was.

The question, "Who is this man, that the winds and sea obey Him" was answered in their hearts: He was a man who walked among them, but He was also able to show the power of God in Himself.

One whose purpose will be accomplished in His time

Next time we will see what Jesus was in such a rush for, as He had an appointment with a demon-possessed man who was ready to meet Him in Mark chapter 5.  For now, let's go back to Jesus being ready to go "as He was."  Like I said before, He didn't stop to rest, but started the journey to chapter 5 right away.  It was getting late in the day, but He didn't wait until morning to go to the other side of the lake, probably because it would have been a missed opportunity--the demon possessed man may not have been there in the morning, or he may not have been as receptive as he might have been that night.

For those with the true gift of evangelism, you know you have to go where the lost are.  To be like Jesus, you may have to go to the dive bars in the seedy side of town instead of waiting for the lost to come to you.  When you go, make sure you don't blend in--Jesus came to eat with sinners, but not to sin with them.

Nothing was going to keep Jesus from His purpose--not fatigue, not the crowd, and certainly not the weather.  Whether the storm was sent by Satan to divert Jesus from His purpose, I don't know.  It is as likely that the storm was sent by God the Father to allow the Son to exhibit His divine power.  It could have just been a random storm, but it is worth noting that there are very few random storms that could have frightened the experienced sailors among the disciples.  Whether it was sent to test their faith, or to divert Jesus from His mission, it was significant enough to be included in the three synoptic Gospels because of Jesus' reaction to it.

One who fulfills the Old Testament prophecies 

In preparing for this study, I saw a commentary that compared Jesus being asleep in the bottom of the boat to the story of Jonah.  You remember Jonah's story, how God called him to preach to people not like him just as Jesus felt called to the demon possessed man.  Jonah chartered a boat going in the opposite direction, although Jesus went just as He was toward the person who needed the message.  Jonah fell asleep in the bottom of the boat, just as Jesus did.  The storm hit, just as in our story.  The experienced sailor in the Jonah story woke him up, frightened to death, begging Jonah to call on his God in hopes that the people might be saved.  The disciples who were experienced sailors woke Jesus in hopes He could save them as well.

I think this is a pre-cursor to the time when Jesus compared Himself to Jonah as one who would spend three days in the abyss, so would the Son of Man spend three days in the grave (see Matthew 12:40).  Jesus identified Himself with the prophet Jonah to show that He was simultaneously Prophet, Priest, and King.  I'm sure there are those who would interpret this passage to say that Jesus knew beforehand that the storm would blow up around them, and that's why He dealt with it so calmly.  I don't know that this is true.  

Mark Twain wrote a fictional story about a modern student of history who was suddenly thrust into a time warp, finding himself in sixth century England.  Realizing the time and place in which he exists, he "predicts" a solar eclipse with much fanfare, making a great impression on the people there.  If Jesus had done this, it would have been little more than a glorified parlor trick.  HG Wells wrote a short story in 1904 called The Country of the Blind in which a sighted man finds himself in a valley where everyone is blind.  Thinking his sense of sight might give him some advantage (reciting the adage, "In the country of the blind, a one-eyed man is king"), the protagonist finds this not to be the case at all.  The inhabitants of the valley think him mad because he uses terms such as "sight" and "seeing".  He falls in love with a woman there, but is told he must have his eyes gouged out in order to have her.  He escapes, but without convincing any of the valley people that being able to see is acceptable, much less an advantage.  He proves the adage "there is none so blind as one who will not see."

The Gospel account is so much more authentic than these and other works of fiction.  God knows human nature so much more than Twain or Wells or other fiction writers, who are hampered by their limited frame of reference.  This is because God created us, and not only that, He became one of us.  Scripture tells us Jesus was tempted in every way, yet was without sin.  Who is this man?  He was fully human and fully divine.  He fulfilled the purpose of God on earth.  He prophesied that like Jonah, He would emerge alive after three days in the abyss.  He is so much more, which a further study of the Gospel of Mark will show.  This passage is so rich, shows so much of the character and purpose of Jesus that it warrants our meditation to determine who Jesus is so that we can accept Him, just as He is.