Lenten Reflection - Mark 4:35-41 by Luis Morales
“35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.”36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” Mark 4:35-41
Do you ever wonder if Jesus forgot he was Jesus? Of course, He knew that he could rebuke the wind with a single word, but the disciples? Well, they still were not so sure…and Jesus called them on it.
You really can’t blame the disciples, can you? I mean, by this early point in Mark’s Gospel, they had seen Jesus heal lepers and other diseased people, cast out demons and perform many other acts that could not possibly be from man. Oh, and by the way, he preached in mind-blowing parables that showed His words were not of this earth. Yet they may have asked themselves: “Yeah, but how do we know where Jesus’ limits are? He can heal the sick but can he conquer nature?” So, though Jesus’ questioning the disciples’ faith might be a trifle unfair at this point in the story, you can certainly see both perspectives.
How much should Jesus have to show us so that we can believe? At what point do we truly say to ourselves, “I don’t have to be afraid of drowning anymore – Christ is my Savior”? For our own sake, we can’t keep moving that line back so that there’s yet one more thing we have to experience before we have faith. At some point, we gotta believe.
As we prepare ourselves during Lent, we can choose to have faith and hold on to Jesus instead of clinging to the fears that can drown us.
Faith and truth will set us free.