Take a few deep breaths to center your heart and your mind as you prepare to meet with God.

Meditation

Our culture finds ways to assert and comment on people’s attributes in many different ways, from a high school superlative that says “most likely to become president” to a tombstone that says “A loving father and husband.” We are now starting week 3 of walking with Jesus through the gospel of Mark. Take a moment and ask yourself this question: How would you describe Jesus so far?

Teaching

As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!” (Mark 4:35-41)

The phrase that sticks out to me most from this passage is the phrase, “Who is this man?” The disciples quite literally know who he is, at least on a shallow level. They have already spent some time with Jesus in the last few chapters, and they saw something in him powerful enough to follow. That being said, they, along with the rest of humanity, had never seen anyone like Jesus. While on the surface this story seems to be about a storm, it is really about identity.

Who are these men in the boat? Well, On day 3 of this devotional, we covered the passage where Jesus separately calls two pairs of brothers out of their fishing boats. To say that he had trained seafarers in his group would be an understatement. So why are they so scared of this storm? Well, it had to be big enough to scare trained professionals. This kind of thing would happen often on the sea of Galilee because it was surrounded on all sides by large hills. The sea’s basin-shape funneled storms onto the water quickly and escalated them just as rapidly. If these skilled fishermen are scared, they must really be in trouble. Everyone on the ship was pitching in, helping and being present to the real danger they were in–everyone except Jesus. In a panic, these men wake Jesus up from a dead sleep, somehow shouting louder than the storm surrounding them, and ask Him if he even cares what is going on. Then Jesus shows his true colors.

“Who is this man?” Well, Jesus is a man with enough influence over weather and natural disasters that, when he rebuked the storm, it listened and obeyed. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a single friend who can even come close to doing that. This man Jesus must be powerful to be able to do this. In a passage earlier in the gospel of Mark that we didn’t cover, the religious leaders of the day comment on Jesus’ great power by claiming that He was performing His miracles and healings by the power of Satan. Jesus refutes them with words and logic in that moment, but on the sea, he refutes them with His deeds. This is because Jews understood the control of the wind and waves to be in God’s hands alone. In some of the clearest examples from their history, God uses the same word to rebuke the waters at creation in Job 26 as well as rebuke the Red sea into parting and letting Israel escape Egypt through its parted waters. While Jesus does not do this in the sight of those religious leaders from before, he proves to his disciples in that moment that his power comes from the only one who controls the wind and waves. So, “Who is this man?” Here’s a clue: He is close enough with God that he shares in power that belongs to God alone.

Examination

Take a moment and ask yourself the same question as earlier: How would you describe Jesus now?

How does that picture of Jesus give you comfort in the middle of your own storm?

Memory Verse

As you go throughout your day today, keep Mark 4:41 on your mind, which says,

“Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!” (Mark 4:41)