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.