Daily Devotional • August 11
A Reading from Mark 4:35-41
35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great storm of wind arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care if we perish?” 39 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. 40 He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” 41 And they were filled with awe, and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?”
Meditation
There are two questions the disciples ask in this incident of the sudden storm that almost sinks their boat. The first is addressed to Jesus in their fear. The second is to each other, as they marvel at just what he has done, as a new realization dawns on them.
It is terrifying to be out in deep water in a boat when the waves and wind threaten to swamp it. Unless you are a strong swimmer with a life vest on, it will be hard to survive if the boat sinks, especially if the shore is far away.
I don’t know if they had any kind of pumping system in Jesus’s time, but I‘m pretty sure they did not wear life vests. The disciples are seasoned fishermen, familiar with sudden storms on the lake, so they are not panicking. They realize the danger they are in. The fact that Jesus is sound asleep on a cushion in the stern is incomprehensible and no doubt infuriating to them.
Their question, “Teacher, do you not care if we perish?” is one we often cry to the Lord in horrible circumstances, is it not? “Don’t you even care?” — about whatever tragedy or danger is threatening us? Jesus calms the storm with his words, “Peace, be still,” and then asks them why they were so afraid, why they had so little faith in him. They forgot that he was in the boat with them. We forget that too, over and over again. He does care: he is with us in every fearful or painful circumstance of our lives.
The second question the disciples ask themselves resonates with us also,“Who is this that the wind and sea obey him?” The unspoken answer is that Jesus is truly God with them, Emmanuel — the one who separated the waters from the dry land by his word alone on the third day of creation. Why then are we afraid?
The Rev. Dr. Jean McCurdy Meade is a retired priest of the Diocese of Louisiana, formerly the rector of Mount Olivet Church, New Orleans.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
Christ Episcopal Church, Pottstown, Pennsylvania
The Anglican Church of Korea