Grace and Space

Mk 4:35-41

Mark’s narrative of the calming of the storm at sea demands that the reader have a basic working knowledge of the Old Testament. This section of Mark’s Gospel is filled with images which tease new meanings out of old events.

The time of the day is evening. Darkness envelops the disciples, who have observed Jesus’ miracles, healings, and exorcisms and listened to his parables. They do not understand. The disciples are in the same state as the world in the opening scene of the book of Genesis.

Furthermore, a violent squall comes up and waves break over the boat as the disciples and Jesus cross the sea. The disturbance functions both as an image of the turbulence of the disciples and as a reference to the chaos which existed before God spoke his first word of creation.

Jesus commands that the wind cease and that the sea be still. Not only does Jesus bring order out of this physical chaos, but he also brings order out of the chaos of the lives of those who are willing to hear and follow him. The disciples, representing all Christians, continue to struggle with faith. It is difficult for people to give up control of their lives and trust that Jesus will calm and quiet them.

One experience of trust, however, is sufficient to lead a person to trust again. Like the disciples, once one has dared to let Jesus calm the disturbances of life, he or she is filled with great awe. The question which the disciples ask is one asked by every follower of Jesus: “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”

The answer to the question sends one back to the book of Genesis, where the mighty wind of the Spirit sweeps over the primordial waters, where God calms the demonic chaos, where life emerges for the first time on the earth. Jesus is the one whom the wind and sea obey. Through this narrative, Mark is declaring that Jesus is God.