“Even the wind and sea obey Him”
Who then is this? This question comes at the end of the 4th chapter of Mark’s gospel. Jesus needed a rest. So, He set out in a boat with His disciples and soon fell asleep. As He slept, a fierce wind storm caused high waves to splash into the boat. The men began to panic and called out to Jesus, “’Teacher, do you not care if we perish?’ And he awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm… And they were filled with awe, and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?’” (Mark 4:37-41)
If we go back and look at the stories that lead up to this one, we read how Jesus, after His baptism, encountered Peter, Andrew, James and John hard at work on their fishing boats. He said to them, “‘Follow me’… Immediately they left their nets and followed him” (Mark 1:17-18).
They walked with Him as He, “went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons” (Mark 1:39). They heard those unclean spirits scream at Jesus, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24).
Everywhere He went, He healed the sick and the lame. He even healed Simon Peter’s own mother-in-law. And He boldly stood up to the criticism of the Pharisees. “His fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee” (Mark 1:28).
After all that, after witnessing all the preaching and all the healings, and after being amazed at the authority that characterized everything Jesus said and did, could it be that His disciples still didn’t know Who He was? They “said to one another, ‘Who then is this?’”
Mark gives us 4 more chapters of miracles and parables, compassion and confrontation before Peter finally steps up and answers that question once and for all. On route to Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asks His disciples, “‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered him, ‘You are the Christ’” (Mark 8:27-30). If you know the rest of the story, you know that Peter’s dramatic declaration of faith was just the beginning. Through the next 5 chapters, Jesus continues His ministry, resolutely traveling from town to town, teaching and healing. Several times He takes His disciples aside and tries to make them understand what He will have to endure when they reach Jerusalem for the last time, but they don’t want to hear it. Finally, on that fateful night on the Mount of Olives, “Jesus said to them, ‘You will all fall away’… Peter said to him, ‘Even though they all fall away, I will not… If I must die with you, I will not deny you.’ And they all said the same” (Mark 14:26-31).
The path to faith, a mature and tested faith, has lots of ups and downs. Many of us know how that feels. But we also know that Jesus never gave up on the first disciples, and He doesn’t give up on us either. Jesus makes that clear in one of my favorite post-resurrection stories, which fills the final chapter of John’s gospel. It takes place on the seashore, where Jesus built a fire and cooked breakfast for His weary disciples, who had spent the whole night fishing.
“When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you’ He said to him, ‘Feed my lambs’” (John 21:15).
In verse 22, one last time, Jesus says to Peter, “Follow me.” He was offering Peter forgiveness and redemption, and commissioning him to continue the ministry that began 3 years earlier, when Jesus called 4 hard-working fishermen to be His first disciples. On that morning, without hesitation, they dropped their nets and followed Him. Now Jesus was asking them to do it again, and that’s exactly what they did. Accepting their new role as Apostles, they set out to spread the Good News, “to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). And they never turned back. To God be the glory!
Beautiful!
Thought provoking. Thank you.