“On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ 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. He said to them, ‘Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?’ And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’” (Mark 4:35–5:1)
As I sat in church Sunday and heard this passage from Mark’s gospel, and then listened to our Pastor preach on it, a couple of thoughts occurred to me. Now, the story of Jesus in the Storm at sea is certainly true, that is, this miracle happened as described. It could not be otherwise for it puts the disciples in a bad light. They were hardy fisherman, used to the sea and its capricious ways. Yet they were frightened by this storm and actually thought the boat would be swamped and they would all drown. Yet Jesus had told them to go across to the other side. Faith should have buoyed their spirits. No matter what, if Jesus had told them it would happen, that they would cross, they would. But they were afraid because they looked at the circumstances.
But what occurred to me as I listened to the Pastor’s sermon is that this event can be understood as allegorical or spiritual with application for our times. In ancient times, people, despite all their primitive technology, all considered the sea a symbol of chaos: wild, raging, and untameable. When you were out on the sea, you were essentially at its mercy. Life is like that these days: wild, unpredictable, chaotic. But if we have faith in Jesus, we can be sure He is with us in the boat, in our life, our daily situations. He has promised to carry us through the chaos that rages about us, with peace and assurance.
Not so unbelievers. They can only feel fear and anger as they try to endure, try to cope, try to control their world and us. We who have faith in Jesus should not let them influence us, and they do try, as they daily assault us in the media and on social media platforms with their inflammatory talk of conspiracies, corruption, manipulation, evil, and greed. We believers know all of these exist as we live in a sinful world. We believers must have faith in Jesus and His promises and not what we see or hear. And, in addition, we are called to counteract this chaos with the truth of the gospel for by it those lost now may be lead by the Holy Spirit to repentance and faith. This is part of what I try to do here in these blogs, preach the gospel to those sinking amidst the chaos, but also to encourage believers to preach as well, right where they are as the ambassadors of the Kingdom of God.