Bible Study series: Mark 4:35-41. Jesus calmed the storm to demonstrate God’s power, but it also has a practical need–to save other lives and boats.
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Let’s begin.
Scripture: Mark 4:35-41
35 Then he said to them at the hour when evening was coming, “Let’s go over to the other side.” 36 After dismissing the crowd, they brought him along, as he was in the boat, and other boats were with him. 37 Then a great squall of wind occurred and waves were hitting against the boat, so that the boat was almost getting swamped. 38 He was sleeping on a cushion in the stern. They woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are perishing?” 39 When he got up, he rebuked the wind and said to the lake, “Silence! Muzzle yourself!” The wind stopped and there was complete calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you cowardly? Do you still have no faith? 41 They feared greatly and said among themselves, “Who is this that even the wind and lake obey him?” (Mark 4:35-41)
Comments
35:
It was evening when they launched. By the time they got out to the middle of the lake, it was dark. So the darkness adds to the tension of the narrative.
Why does Jesus feel called to go to the other side? Probably because the Father by the Spirit informed him that one man really needed help. See the next pericope (5:1-20).
Once God calls you, nothing will stop you, except yourself. Always be obedient. There’s a blessing on the other side of the lake. The goal achieved will bless others by God’s love and grace.
He promised them that they would go to the opposite side. Once a promise from God comes, he won’t go back on it, if people follow his ways. Jesus was following God and doing his will, so the promise would be fulfilled. They would reach the other side. But apparently for the disciples his words were just casual. Of course he would say that. Regular guys did. But he was no regular guy. It was his mission. Do you have a mission—God’s mission—and must get there? Nothing will stop you, except yourself.
36:
No doubt his disciples helped him spread the word that it was time for the crowd to leave. What is so interesting is that other boats formed a small fleet. Jesus had to protect more than himself and the twelve. If I take Peter to be the source of Mark’s Gospel, it looks like Peter remembered this tidbit of information, but the other boats don’t play a visible role in the story, but they too were impacted by the storm, and they too were delivered from danger.
You can google the so-called “Jesus boat” which was found recently. It was active around the time that Jesus was alive. It is impressive to see, for it gives a good idea what boats were like back then. However, this boat on which Jesus boarded seems to be bigger than that one. But who know? When he taught, he sometimes launched out on to a boat just offshore, and he could have used that very boat. On further reflection on the wording in v. 36, it looks like Jesus crossed the lake in the boat in which he had been teaching.
37-38:
One gets the impression that the boat was big, but it wasn’t. He went to one end and put his head down and went to sleep. They approached him and woke him up. His faith was so deep and powerful that he slept during the storm and while the boat was being swamped! We don’t need fictional super-heroes when we have the real Jesus! Honestly!
A man at peace can go to sleep. It would have been something to observe him so peaceful that he can sleep during the watery ride even before the storm kicked up.
Then the burst of wind came down. The Lake of Galilee sits in a bowl, and a fierce gust or storm can swoop down and put sailing people in mortal danger.
“teacher”: this is equivalent to Rabbi. They are about to learn that he was more than a Rabbi, however. He is about to be revealed as the Lord of the wind and waves (Strauss). A revelation is coming for them.
1. Titles of Jesus: Rabbi and Teacher
“Don’t you care”: they misread who Jesus was. It is not that he didn’t care. It’s just that he had faith to get to the other side. They should have followed his example of faith and fearlessness.
“perishing”: some translations have “drowning,” but that is an interpretation. The Shorter Lexicon adds “die.” Here it can mean “perish,” or “die” works too.
39:
“rebuked”: Here it means that Jesus rebuked the wind. How did he word the rebuke exactly?
Mark says Jesus ordered the storm, “Silence! Muzzle yourself. If we move towards a paraphrase, we could translate it as “Shut up! Zip it!” And “Muzzle yourself!” could be loosely rendered: “Back off!” But more poetically and courteously, “Peace! Be still!”
Remember: he spoke to the wind. You too can rebuke the storms in your life. But whether God calms it or you have to go through it, he will see you through to the other side.
I really like the words “silence!” “Muzzle yourself!” Alternative translations: “Peace! Be still!” Maybe it’s the storm in our own soul need to be silenced and muzzled.
40:
“cowardly”: The word really is that strong. Jesus meant business, in his rebuke.
“faith”: the noun is pistis (pronounced peace-teace or piss-tiss), and it is used 243 times. Its basic meaning is the “belief, trust, confidence,” and it can also mean “faithfulness” and “trustworthy” (Mounce p. 232). It is directional, and the best direction is faith in God (Mark 11:22; 1 Thess. 1:8; 1 Pet. 1:21; Heb. 6:1) and faith in Jesus (Acts 3:16; 20:21; 24:24; Gal. 3:26; Eph. 1:15; Col. 1:4; 1 Tim. 3:13). Believing (verb) and faith (noun) is very important to God. It is the language of heaven. We live on earth and by faith see the invisible world where God is. We must believe he exists; then we must exercise our faith to believe he loves us and intends to save us. We must have saving faith by trusting in Jesus and his finished work on the cross.
True acronym:
F-A-I-T-H
=
Forsaking All, I Trust Him
Word Study on Faith and Faithfulness
Armed with those data, now let’s look at the human side of the nature miracle.
When the wind and water stopped and a great calm happened, the disciples responded appropriately. They were frightened and stunned—terrified. Wouldn’t you be too, if you were there? I would.
41:
“feared”: It means a wide range of things, like “filled with awe,” but “afraid” is also correct. Mark says they literally “feared a great fear,” which works out to “greatly, doubly feared.”
The Shorter Lexicon says adds nuances (1) “be afraid … become frightened … “fear something or someone” (2) “fear in the sense of reverence, respect.”
There is everything right with having a reverential fear of God. Don’t let the Happy Highlight teachers on TV or elsewhere tell you otherwise.
A pun is going on here in Greek. In v. 37 “great squall of wind” compared with a “great calm” in v. 39, and the disciples fearing a “great fear” in v. 41. Their fear matched the storm, but Jesus’s authority rebuked both the great squall and their great fear. From a great squall came a great calm with one command.
But all of his prayers and commands were done by the Father’s will.
19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. (John 5:19-20, NIV)
So in those two verses, the Father and Son cooperate to do the works–the miracles. And the Father anointed the Son with the Spirit. Thus, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit performed the works or miracles in the Gospels. It is the Trinity working together who inaugurated the kingdom of God and confirmed it by the signs and wonders. We too, by the Father’s will, and in the name of Jesus, through the power of the Spirit, can do the works of God.
In the 1970s, during the Charismatic Renewal, people on TV were either very brave and faith-filled or very foolish. They prayed against storms.
Should we pray for a nature miracle, against hurricanes and tornados? Of course. Pray for your need. However, before anyone starts proclaiming a nature miracle or rebuking a storm before it happens, he better be clear that he got a word of knowledge that God wants to answer his prayer. The man who prays may be listening to his own “mighty thoughts of faith” which do not always equal God’s thoughts. And so if he prays “a prayer of faith” and broadcasts the nature miracle on TV before it happens, it might not come to pass, and so he will subject the church to mockery. One may object that a man of faith prayed against a hurricane coming to shore, and it did not come to shore. But the problem is that hurricanes often veer off from the shore and go due north (Hurricane Dorian), while others slam into cities and wreak damage despite the prayers (Hurricane Katrina). Be careful, Renewalists of the fiery and showy variety! Don’t be presumptuous and put the Lord to the test. We learned the opposite from Jesus, who said he would not jump off a building and force God’s hand (Matt. 4:5-7). Truly hear from God before you strut around in your own strength.
Remember, it was Jesus’s mission to go over to the opposite side of the lake. He was a perfect follower of his Father. He heard from his Father. You or I may not be such a perfect follower. We may be imperfect. And we may be speaking presumptuously, from our own thoughts, not God’s thoughts. And if you believe you can apply this storm-rebuking pericope to every literal storm is also presumptuous. Hear from God first, not your blanket interpretation of Scripture.
Now for those of us who are not fiery revivalists, yes, you can certainly pray that God will enable you to survive during a natural disaster. And you can even pray that a hurricane veers off into the Atlantic or a tornado lifts before it hits your house. But God answers this prayer; don’t be so self-centered that you believe you had anything to do with it.
Best of all, we regular people can prepare for storms. Jesus embarked in the boat with four experienced fishermen: Peter, his brother Andrew, and the other two brothers, James and John. They were experienced authorities. We should listen to the authorities when they tell us to evacuate before a hurricane hits or build an underground storm shelter in the backyard if tornadoes might come your way. Even a hole in the ground with proper support and storm doors can save your life. In California, authorities are retrofitting key buildings and other structures to prepare for earthquakes. That’s the right idea.
Don’t be caught off guard. Prepare and pray and run, if you have to!
Here are Scriptures about God rebuking the sea (all from the ESV):
Then the channels of the sea were seen,
and the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your rebuke, O Lord,
at the blast of the breath of your nostrils. (Ps. 18:15)
You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At your rebuke they fled;
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight. (Ps. 104:6-7)
He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry,
and he led them through the deep as through a desert. (Ps. 106:9)
Behold, by my rebuke I dry up the sea,
I make the rivers a desert (Is. 50:2)
He rebukes the sea and makes it dry;
he dries up all the rivers (Nah. 1:4)
In light of those verses, you can certainly try to rebuke nature in Jesus’s name, but depend on the Father. It is by his will that this must be done. Be careful about arrogating too much power to yourself. And just because you string word together (“I give glory to God! This is his work!”) does not mean you are not concentrating too much power in yourself. In any case, when Jesus rebuked the winds and the lake of Galilee, he did so in his own Father-given authority. Jesus’s followers have to do so in his name. And he controls how his name is used and which prayers to answer.
One other systematic theological point: If Jesus rebuked the storm by his divine nature (as we discussed above), then this is one more indication that he was God in the flesh because in those OT verses, only God could rebuke storms.
William L. Lane writes it old school, and he’s excellent. He says of vv. 40-41:
Jesus rebuked the disciples for the lack of faith expressed in their terror and fear. This is the first in a series of rebukes (7:18; 8:17f; 21, 32f; 9:19) and its placement at this is important. It indicates that in spite of 4:11, 34, the difference is one of degree, not of kind, between the disciples who have received through revelation some insight into the secret of the Kingdom of God as having come near in the person of Jesus and the multitude who see only a riddle. The disciples themselves are still quite blind and filled with misunderstanding. When Jesus asks, “Do you not yet have faith,” he means specifically faith in God’s saving power as this is present and released through his own person. The failure of the disciples to understand this is expressed in their awe-inspired question, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
… In the account of the subduing of the sea, we are told that Jesus is the living Lord. What is true of the God of Israel is true of him, At all times and in every sphere he exercises sovereign control over the situation. The subduing of the sea and wind was not merely a demonstration of power; it was an epiphany, through which Jesus was unveiled to his disciples as the Savior of the world in the midst of intense peril.
GrowApp for Mark 4:35-41
1. Jesus told the storm to be silent and to muzzle itself. Do you often have storms in your own soul? Do you speak peace to your soul?
RELATED
10. Eyewitness Testimony in Mark’s Gospel
2. Church Fathers and Mark’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES
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