Last week I was reading a well-known Bible story (Mark 4:35-41) about a time when the Disciples were taking Jesus across the Sea of Galilee one evening to escape the press of the crowds. During the journey they got caught in a terrible storm with gale-force winds that threatened to swamp the boat. The Disciples worked frantically to keep from capsizing, yet an exhausted Jesus slept soundly through the storm. It’s an intriguing story because the Disciples get scolded by Jesus for their lack of faith, and it’s hard to know what they should have done differently.
The Disciples were simply serving Jesus by sailing across the lake and letting Him sleep while they worked the sails. However, as the storm picked up and Jesus continued to sleep, their compassion turned to resentment. They were working so hard to bail water and avoid capsizing, and they didn’t understand Jesus’ inattention. Didn’t He care what was happening? Didn’t He care that they might all die in the water?
Of course Jesus was at peace – of course He could sleep through it all - He was a special guy. Everyone knew that about Jesus; but the Disciples were just ordinary fishermen with no special powers and they were risking death to give Him a ride while he slept.
I know how they felt. Sometimes when I’m in trouble, or when I’m working so hard, I just want someone else to notice my efforts and pat me on the back and pay attention to me. Is that too much to ask? Please, just wake up and notice?
How often do we go through a terrible patch of life, when it seems like we’re doing it all alone, and we can’t understand why Jesus won’t make it go away – or at east, why Jesus won’t wake up and help bail water. Or if nothing else, at least stand beside us and help us worry.
In the story, the disciples finally woke Jesus from His sleep and pleaded, “Don’t you care that we are dying?” They asked (according to my own paraphrase): Who are You? – Are You who we thought You were? – Do you care about us? – Why are you selfishly sleeping while we’re working, trying not to drown?
Their question sounds familiar to my ears because I’ve asked it so often myself. Lord, haven’t you noticed I am drowning here? - Can’t You see how awful this job is? - Can’t you see how hard I’m working … FOR YOU! - Are You paying attention to my life? - Is this the best You can do for me … take a nap?
And like that.
Jesus responded to the Disciples’ question by doing three things: He stopped the storm, He asked why they were afraid, and He challenged their faith. I believe Jesus’ challenge was aimed directly at that question … do you care.
I don’t think Jesus expected them to know that He could calm the storm. Sometimes we Bible teachers wonder why the Disciples were surprised that Jesus could stop a storm, especially after all the other things they’d seen Him do. We joke about how slow they were to understand, especially for a group of guys that saw Jesus’ miracles first hand and up close. But who could’ve extrapolated Jesus’ ability to control weather from the other miracles? Stopping a storm was so over-the-top there was no way they could’ve anticipated that.
And so after the storm died down, they asked each other – who is this guy?
I believe they continued asking that same question about Jesus over and over for the rest of their lives. Every time Jesus did something, or healed someone, or spoke peace and truth into their hearts, they learned that He was more than they’d thought. “Who is He?” they asked, and I find myself asking that same question over and over: Who is He?
Knowing God is not so much about information or theology, but about intimacy and relationship. The Disciples’ challenge to Jesus was aimed directly at the relationship they had with Him rather than their knowledge of His power.
Like the Disciples, we ask, “Lord, do you see me? Do you know how hard this is?” And Jesus answers, “Yes, I see you. I saw you before you were even born.”
Jesus gave them hope – hope of survival, and hope in who He was. By giving Himself, He gives us hope as well.
