On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’ (Mark 4: 35-41)
The Parables challenge me with depth and texture of meaning. It seems likely that Jesus told stories that could have many different - equally accurate - applications depending on time, place, and circumstance.
In contrast the gospels sometimes tell stories about Jesus - rather than by him - that I find much more difficult to fully resolve.
This encounter with a storm is related in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Most scholars argue that Mark is original source. It fits his adventure-story theme.
In what way did the followers demonstrate a lack of faith? In time of trouble they turned to Jesus. Jesus seems to rebuke them with two questions.
"Why are you afraid?" Should faith in God to remove all cause to fear? This strikes me as implausible and inconsistent with many other aspects of scripture. The Greek can mean cowardly. Perhaps Jesus was rebuking not the fear, but how one chooses to respond to fear.
"Have you still no faith?" The followers did not just call out to Jesus, they awoke him with an accusation: "Do you not care..." How often do we respond to trouble by blaming God? As long as we insist that God is to blame it is very difficult for God to work with us.
But if this was the meaning intended by Jesus it was, evidently, lost on his followers. According to Mark they did not respond with self-reflection but with awe and surprise at the power of Jesus. Then why did they wake him up?
The Parables challenge me with depth and texture of meaning. It seems likely that Jesus told stories that could have many different - equally accurate - applications depending on time, place, and circumstance.
In contrast the gospels sometimes tell stories about Jesus - rather than by him - that I find much more difficult to fully resolve.
This encounter with a storm is related in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Most scholars argue that Mark is original source. It fits his adventure-story theme.
In what way did the followers demonstrate a lack of faith? In time of trouble they turned to Jesus. Jesus seems to rebuke them with two questions.
"Why are you afraid?" Should faith in God to remove all cause to fear? This strikes me as implausible and inconsistent with many other aspects of scripture. The Greek can mean cowardly. Perhaps Jesus was rebuking not the fear, but how one chooses to respond to fear.
"Have you still no faith?" The followers did not just call out to Jesus, they awoke him with an accusation: "Do you not care..." How often do we respond to trouble by blaming God? As long as we insist that God is to blame it is very difficult for God to work with us.
But if this was the meaning intended by Jesus it was, evidently, lost on his followers. According to Mark they did not respond with self-reflection but with awe and surprise at the power of Jesus. Then why did they wake him up?
posted by Didymus | 5:02 AM
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