As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!” – Mark 4: 35-41 (NLT)
Peter’s account here at the end of the fourth chapter of Mark’s Gospel plainly reveals two essential truths that we would do well to remember each morning that God affords us to arise and set out for the day’s business.
Isn’t it interesting that Jesus sought to take advantage of the time it would take to cross the lake to get some much-needed rest? People become tired after a long day of work. Jesus was no different. After long hours of teaching and talking and healing people, Jesus became tired and needed sleep just like we get tired and need to rest. And when we become tired and take a nap, don’t we too desire a cushion under our heads?
So much about this scene with his disciples on the boat reminds us that Jesus indeed was fully human!
The other truth, as the disciples themselves would soon realize that day, is that the presence of Jesus does not mean there will be an absence of storms. Those of us who follow Christ also realize this. We have experienced hardships and struggle during our faith journeys. We’ve opened our Bibles and searched for the right words of comfort and encouragement to see us through, and certainly – those passages do remind us over and over to take comfort in knowing that these storms don’t last forever. But these storms, however difficult they may seem in the moment, are incredibly useful.
The moment Jesus laid his head on the cushion that day in the boat, he knew full well that a storm was coming. In fact, he was the one stirring the wind and the waves! The disciples were given an opportunity to rely on their faith, and in that moment realized that their faith was lacking. How often the same can be said of us! “Jesus, don’t you care that we’re about to drown? Don’t you care about us?”
And the final truth revealed at the end is that Jesus is fully God. There was a time when Jesus wasn’t fully man, but there has never been a time when Jesus wasn’t fully God. The disciples who just seconds earlier feared for their lives, after seeing God incarnate standing in their boat and commanding the storm to cease, became even more terrified of this awesome prospect. “Is there nothing this man cannot do?”
No. There is nothing that the Son of Man cannot do. He is our Teacher, our Comforter, our Savior. He is God.
He is the cushion we lay our heads upon at night, and the cushion we rest our heads upon during the storms. Amen.
Former Blackout Artist 