Skip to main content

A Gobbet on Mark 4:35-41

Jesus Has Authority over Creation and He wants us to have faith in Him

A Gobbet on Mark 4:35-41

I believe that this passage is written to demonstrate for us the authority that Jesus has over creation. In Mark, early on, he tells us why he is writing this book, Mark 1:1 “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Up until this point we have already seen, amongst other things:

  • ·         Jesus is the Son of God, through the voice of God after the baptism
  • ·         Jesus’ authority to forgive sins
  • ·         Jesus’ ability to heal diseases
  • ·         Jesus’ authority over demons
  • ·         Jesus’ authority over the Sabbath

Here I believe, Mark is about to show us another facet of Jesus and tell construct for us who Jesus is.

In some sense, the passage here almost parallels the healing of the paralytic in the sense that we see the divine act followed by the lingering question. In Mark 2, the divine act was the forgiveness of sins, and the scribes’ question, who is Jesus such that He is allowed to say such things. In this passage, Mark tells us that he “rebuked the wind” and said to the sea “Peace! Be still!”

Immediately, the wind ceased, there was great calm. And the question in the disciples’ minds was “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

Sherlock Holmes has a very amusing quote which often utters when solving highly complex cases. It goes like this “How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable must be the truth?”

There is only One known Being can claim such authority to rebuke the seas and the winds – the Being that created these very elements in the first place. Being Jewish, the disciples would be familiar with the creation accounts in Genesis 1. Psalms 104:5-7 writes it even more explicitly. Referring to God Himself, “He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved. You covered it with the deep as with a garment. At your rebuke they fled; at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.”

Could it be then Mark is telling us that the man name Jesus, who had spent the earlier part of the day, and was asleep in the boat amidst the storm, is sharing attributes or possess authority that God possesses? I think Mark wants us to know that it is rightly so. This is hard for us to believe because it goes against everything that we have ever known about our physical material world. That a man can calm tempestuous winds with the mere sound of his voice, ought to captivate our thoughts and attention.

 “How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable must be the truth?”

I have heard this passage being used to explain that Jesus is able to calm the proverbial storms in our lives. While I certainly believe He can do that, I do not believe that this passage can be used to provide something allegorical like that. Mark is giving us an eye-witness account, a legitimate piece of history that really did happen. That Jesus really did spend the day teaching his parables. That Jesus really was in the boat with the disciples. That the storm really did happen and that remarkably, Jesus calmed it merely with his voice. If we insist on discussing this passage as a figurative for the proverbial storm, we lose something significant that was etched in history. The Creator Himself entering the boat with His disciples and being present with them.

Why then is Mark telling us all this? What sort of response does Jesus demand from us having revealed his authority over creation?

This I believe will be the application we can draw from this passage. Verse 40 offers us a hint - “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”

Jesus in the gospel of Mark is being slowly revealed to be unlike any other human being that has ever walked this earth before. And he wants us to have faith in him. Faith in a human being is a difficult thing to do. Even the best of our leaders are all too fallen and we know better than to have faith in them too much. We’ve been down this road before and we’ve been let down many times. Not just from leaders but friends, spouses, family, church friends, and the list goes on. Having faith in a human being is difficult.

But that is what Jesus demands of us - to have faith in Him. I believe by showing his authority over the forgiveness of sins and over creation He’s revealing that He is infinitely trustworthy and that He can lend these credentials to His words.

An ultimately that means having I believe faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ, that He came to die for our sins to bring us into a right relationship with God. Mark, after all, sets out to write the book about the gospel of the Son of God. And the Son of God wants us to have faith in Him.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

人日

Yesterday was 人日, the 7th day of Chinese New Year. According to Chinese customs, this was the day humans were created. In modern times it is common to see people greet everyone "Happy birthday" on 人日. But what exactly is 人? This is probably the first Chinese character that everyone learns. Scripture tells us: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." (Gen 1:27) This has tremendous implications. Man was taken from dust and given the breath of life. He or she bears the divine image of the God of the Universe. This simple verse means at least a few things for us: (1) Because humans are made in His image, everyone bears the image of God. This includes people we don't like, or don't get along with. It includes people from a different race. It includes the disabled whom the world considers valueless. It means we should treat everyone by remembering they are a fellow image bearer. (2) In our lives ho...
Post a Comment
Read more

2 Samuel 3 - Civil War in Israel and when Generals Run Amok

2 Samuel 3 – Civil War in Israel and when Generals Run Amok      The setting of 2 Samuel 3 describes Civil War in Israel. Perhaps Bible summaries have done us a disservice by describing David as the Second King of Israel after Saul and that is right, to some extent. But before David was king, there was Civil War in Israel where David was king in Judah, and Saul’s son Ish-bosheth was king over the Benjamin, and the rest of Israel. 2 Sam 3:1 documents for us: “There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. And David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker.” We as readers know what will happen, for 1 Samuel already describes for us a time when Saul’s kingdom will go to David. But 2 Sam 3 is important for us. In both kingdoms, there are two generals, who overrule their kings. Abner overrules Ish-bosheth and Joab overrules David in these two kingdoms. First Abner, who by this time has gr...
Post a Comment
Read more

Post-YA Retreat 2017 Thoughts

So much happened but I figured I better jot a few things down to process and recollect at some point in time. Sermons quick summary: 1) Wen Pin preached from Isaiah 6. A new insight I gained from this text is the definition of what it means to have "unclean lips". Wen Pin expounded from the text that "unclean lips" could also refer to our silence. Unlike the Seraphim, we do not give God His honour or praise His holiness. 2) Second sermon, from Leviticus - about Nadab and Abihu. The sermon rightfully points out the folly of not approaching God on His terms. Holiness is also not the end point. We pursue holiness ultimately to draw near to God. 3) Third sermon, the contrast between false and true holiness. An insight I gained from this is what it means to have a "healthy eye". Having a healthy eye means gazing at the lamp, Jesus Christ. 4) Fourth sermon, Living as Holy People. I was struggling a bit with my energy levels with this last one. Still I e...
Post a Comment
Read more