Jesus calms the storm
Jesus sleeps in our boat
Mark 4:35-41

1. Opening prayer

Lord Jesus, send your Spirit to help us to read the Scriptures with the same mind that you read them to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, you helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of your sentence and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope became for them the source of life and of resurrection.
Create in us silence so that we may listen to your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples from Emmaus, may experience the force of your resurrection and witness to others that you are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of you, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed to us the Father and sent us your Spirit. Amen.

2. Reading

a) A key to the reading:

There are days when life is like a small boat lost among the waves of a rough sea. Everything around us looks dark, a storm is brewing. God is hidden, Jesus is absent, no one close to us can help, encourage. One feels like giving up!
Let us listen to the story of the calmed storm. As we read, let us pretend to be on the boat with Jesus and the disciples. Let us try to live with them what is happening and pay attention to Jesus’ attitude and the reaction of the disciples.

b) A division of the text to help us with the reading:

Mark 4:35-36: Jesus decides to cross over to the other side of the lake
Mark 4:37-38: A sudden storm endangers the life of all
Mark 4:39-40: Jesus calms the storm and criticises the lack of faith
Mark 4:41: Fear and lack of understanding on the part of the disciples

c) Text:

35 With the coming of evening that same day, he said to them, 'Let us cross over to the other side.' 36 And leaving the crowd behind they took him, just as he was, in the boat; and there were other boats with him. 37 Then it began to blow a great gale and the waves were breaking into the boat so that it was almost swamped. 38 But he was in the stern, his head on the cushion, asleep. 39 They woke him and said to him, 'Master, do you not care? We are lost!' And he woke up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, 'Quiet now! Be calm!' And the wind dropped, and there followed a great calm. 40 Then he said to them, 'Why are you so frightened? Have you still no faith?' 41 They were overcome with awe and said to one another, 'Who can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey him.'

3. A moment of prayerful silence

so that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten our life.

4. Some questions

to help us in our personal reflection.

a) What pleased you most in this text? Why?
b) What situation do Jesus and his disciples find themselves in, and what is their reaction?
c) What was the stormy sea in the times of Jesus? What is the stormy sea in the days Mark is writing his Gospel? What is the stormy sea for you today?
d) Read Isaiah 43:2 and Psalm 107(106),25-30, and compare these texts with the passage of the calmed storm. What can you conclude?
e) What does all this mean in our life today?

5. For those who wish to go deeper into the theme

a) The context that sheds light on the text:

A beautiful painting hung on a well-lit wall seems even more beautiful thanks to the colours of the wall that underscores the beauty. The same is true of the painting of the calmed storm. The wall of the context makes it more beautiful. Mark has just narrated two parables that bring out the mystery of the Kingdom present in the things of life (Mk 4:1-34). Now he begins to talk of the mystery of the Kingdom as present in the power exercised by Jesus for his disciples, for people and, above all, for the excluded and marginalized. Let us take a look at the sequence: Mark begins by presenting a Jesus who overcomes the sea, the symbol of chaos. In Jesus there is the power of a creator! (Mk 4:35-41). Immediately after that he shows a Jesus who overcomes and drives out evil spirits. In him there is a liberating power! (Mk 5:1-20). Finally, he describes at length the manner in which Jesus overcomes impurity and death. In him there is the power of life! (Mk 5:21-43). In Jesus there is a creating power that liberates, purifies and communicates life to those who approach him!
Mark is writing for the persecuted communities of the 70’s who feel like a small boat lost on the sea of life, with little hope of being able to reach the desired harbour of peace. Jesus seems to be asleep in their boat, because they do not feel the divine power to save them from persecution. In that desperate situation, Mark brings together various passages that underline the power with which Jesus is present in the communities. It is the victorious Jesus! They need not fear. This is the aim of the story of the calmed storm.

b) A commentary on the text:

Mark 4:35-36: The point of departure: “Let us cross over to the other side”.
It had been a heavy day with much work. There were so many people that Jesus, so as not to be crushed by the crowd, had to go into a boat to teach them by means of a parable (Mk 4:1). There were days when there was not even time to eat (Mk 3:20). When he finished telling the people the parable, Jesus said to his disciples: “Let us cross over to the other side!” And there and then, they took him in the boat. Jesus was so tired that he stretched out and went to sleep. This is the first frame that Mark presents to us. A beautiful frame and quite human.

Mark 4,37-38: The desperate situation: “Do you not care? We are lost!
The lake of Galilee is close to high mountains. Sometimes between the cracks in the rocks the wind blows hard on the lake and causes sudden storms. This is what happened. A strong wind blew on the sea causing a storm. The boat filled with water! The disciples were experienced fishermen. If they thought they were about to perish, then this meant that the situation was really dangerous! Jesus is not aware of anything and goes on sleeping. This deep sleep is not only the sign of immense weariness, it is also an expression of his quiet faith in God. The contrast between Jesus’ attitude and that of the two disciples is great!

Mark 4:9-40: Jesus’ reaction: “Have you still no faith?”
Jesus wakes up not because of the waves but because of the desperate cry of the disciples: “Master! Do you not care? We are lost!” Jesus gets up. First he faces the sea and says: “Quiet now! Be calm!” And the sea calms down. Then he turns to his disciples and says to them: “Why are you so frightened? Have you still no faith?” The impression one gets is that the sea did not need to be calmed since there was no danger. It is like when one goes to a house and a little dog by the side of the master of the house, barks at the guest. There is no need to be afraid because the master is there to control the situation.
The passage of the calmed storm recalls the exodus, when the crowd, without any fear, crossed the waters of the sea (Ex 14,22). It recalls the prophet Isaiah who said to the crowd: “should you pass through the waters, I shall be with you!” (Is 43:2). Jesus retraces the passage and fulfils it in the prophecy made in the Psalm when it says: “They cried out to Yahweh in their distress, he rescued them from their plight, he reduced the storm to a calm, and all the waters subsided, and he brought them, overjoyed at the stillness, to the port where they were bound!” (Ps 107(106):28-30).

Mark 4:41: The lack of knowledge of the disciples: “Who can this be?”
Jesus calms the sea and says: “Have you still no faith?” The disciples do not know what to say in reply and ask themselves “Who can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey him!” To them Jesus seems to be a stranger! In spite of the long time spent together, they do not really know who he is. Who can this be? With this question occupying their minds, the communities continued to read. And until today, this same question urges us to continue reading the Gospel. This is the desire to know Jesus more and more in our lives.

c) Further information: Who is Jesus?

Names and titles given to Jesus:

Mark begins his Gospel with the words: “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Son of God” (Mk 1:1). At the end, at the time of the death of Jesus, a pagan soldier exclaims: “In truth this man was Son of God!” (Mk 15:39) Thus both at the beginning and the end of the Gospel, Jesus is called Son of God. Between the beginning and the end, many other names are attributed to Jesus, more that twenty! Here is the list of names and titles attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of Mark between the expression Son of God at the beginning (Mk 1:1) and that at the end (Mk 15:39):
* Messiah, Christ (that is, anointed) (Mk 1:1; 8:29; 14:61; 15:32)
* Lord (Mk 1:3; 5:19; 11:3)
* Beloved son (Mk 1:11; 9:7)
* Holy one of God (Mk 1:24)
* Nazarene (Mk 1:24; 10:47; 14:67; 16:6)
* Son of Man (Mk 2:10.28; 8:31.38; 9:9.12.31; 10:33.45; 13:26; 14:21.21.41.62)
* Bridegroom (Mk 2:19)
* Son of God (Mk 3:11)
* Son of the Most High (Mk 5:7)
* Carpenter (Mk 6:3)
* Son of Mary (Mk 6:3)
* Prophet (Mk 6:4.15; 8:28)
* Master (frequently)
* Good Master (Mk 10:17)
* Son of David (Mk 10:47.48; 12:35-37)
* Rabbunì (Mk 10:51)
* Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord (Mk 11:9)
* Rabbi (Mk 11:21)
* Son (Mk 13:32)
* Shepherd (Mk 14:27)
* Son of the Blessed One (Mk 14: 61)
* King of the Jews (Mk 15:2.9.18.26)
* King of Israel (Mk 15:32)

Jesus is greater than any of his titles or names:

Each name, title or attribute is an attempt to express what Jesus meant for some people. But a name, no matter how nice, will never unveil the mystery of a person and much less of the person of Jesus. Besides, some of these names, even the most important and traditional ones are questioned and doubted by Jesus himself. Thus, as we read on the Gospel, Mark constrains us to review our ideas and to ask ourselves each time once more: “In the last analysis, who is Jesus for me, for us?”
i) Some hoped that the Messiah would be the “Holy One of God” (Mk 1:24), that is a High Priest. The devil alludes to this hope, but Jesus orders him to keep silent! (Mk 1:24-25)
ii) Others hoped that the Messiah would be the Son of David. But Jesus himself questions this title: “How can the Scribes maintain that the Christ is the son of David? David himself calls him Lord” (Mk 12:35-37).
iii) Others hoped for a Messiah King. But when Pilate asks Jesus whether he is a king, Jesus neither affirms nor denies, but replies: “It is you who say it” (Mk 15:2). And when he was speaking of kings and rulers he insisted with his disciples: “Among you this is not to happen” (Mk 10:42-43).
iv) The same goes for the title of Messiah. Peter confesses that Jesus is the Messiah. But when Jesus draws the consequences and begins to speak of the cross, Peter will have none of it (Mk 8:31-33). Jesus is the Messiah, but not the kind that Peter imagined.
v) People possessed by evil spirits called Jesus “Son of God” (Mk 3:11) and “Son of the Most High” (Mk 5:7). But Jesus ordered the evil spirits to keep silent and leave the persons possessed (Mk 3:12; 5,8). Before the court, the enemies accuse Jesus and ask: “Are you the Christ, the Son of Blessed One?” He replies: “I am! And you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with clouds of heaven” (Mk 14:62). When he has to confirm the name, Jesus does not say that he is the Son of God, but that he is the Son of Man. Is this the same thing? One thing is sure: Jesus is not the Son of God in the way that the evil spirits (Mk 3:11; 5:7) and his enemies imagine (Mk 14:61). Then how is he the Son of God? The question remains an open ended one in the minds of the people, of the disciples and the readers!
Then, who is Jesus? The more we read the Gospel of Mark, the more all titles and criteria fall apart. Jesus is not any of these names, does not fit into any scheme, any title. He is greater than all of these. The more we read, the more we give up the idea of framing Jesus into some preconceived concept and accept him as he presents himself. Love seduces, the head does not! It is better to bow one’s head and adore and not fear when the sea breaks into a storm!

6. Praying with Psalm 107 (106): 21-43

If the waters stir, God will protect us!

Let them thank Yahweh for his faithful love,
for his wonders for the children of Adam!
Let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices,
and recount with shouts of joy what he has done!

Voyagers on the sea in ships,
plying their trade on the great ocean,
have seen the works of Yahweh,
his wonders in the deep.
By his word he raised a storm-wind,
lashing up towering waves.
Up to the sky then down to the depths!
Their stomachs were turned to water;
they staggered and reeled like drunkards,
and all their skill went under.

They cried out to Yahweh in their distress,
he rescued them from their plight,
he reduced the storm to a calm,
and all the waters subsided,
and he brought them, overjoyed at the stillness,
to the port where they were bound.

Let them thank Yahweh for his faithful love,
for his wonders for the children of Adam!
Let them extol him in the assembly of the people,
and praise him in the council of elders.

He has turned rivers into desert,
bubbling springs into arid ground,
fertile country into salt-flats,
because the people living there were evil.
But he has turned desert into stretches of water,
arid ground into bubbling springs,
and has given the hungry a home,
where they have built themselves a city.

There they sow fields and plant vines,
and reap a harvest of their produce.
He blesses them and their numbers increase,
he keeps their cattle at full strength.
Their numbers had fallen, they had grown weak,
under pressure of disaster and hardship;
he covered princes in contempt,
left them to wander in trackless wastes.

But the needy he raises from their misery,
makes their families as numerous as sheep.
At the sight the honest rejoice,
and the wicked have nothing to say.
Who is wise? Such a one should take this to heart,
and come to understand Yahweh's faithful love.

7. Final Prayer

Lord Jesus, we thank for the word that has enabled us to understand better the will of the Father. May your Spirit enlighten our actions and grant us the strength to practice that which your Word has revealed to us. May we, like Mary, your mother, not only listen to but also practice the Word. You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.