What makes us
frightened? What do we do when we are frightened? To go across to the “other
side” was quite a scary proposition for the disciples. They would be
encountering people and situations they hadn’t experienced before. So
understandably there would have already been raised levels of concern before
the disciples even got into the boat.
Then came the wind and the waves.
Then, as we read, the boat became “swamped”! Jesus, who knows the end from the
beginning, and that all was going to be well, was quite relaxed and sleeping in
the stern of the boat. Jesus here represents the same level of peace that he
offers to his followers. Though, when Jesus was awoken by his scared disciples,
he was instantly aware of their fear.
Not one to
let them continue to shake in trepidation, Jesus stilled the wind and calmed
the seas. Everything became calm! It was then, in the calm aftermath, that
Jesus wanted his disciples to reflect – why had they acted as they did? Where
was their faith? Clearly the amount of fear they had shown had put the reality
of their faith in doubt! They were following Jesus, but were they actually
putting their absolute faith in Jesus? This is a bit like the difference
between people who go to church as
against those who are the church! Well,
perhaps the answer is seen in verse 41 – “who then is this ...” – they were
still discovering who Jesus really was.
Perhaps this rings true for us.
Sometimes we suffer from fear, even though most of the time we reckon our faith
is reasonably strong. This is because we are still discovering who Jesus is,
and the totality of what he can achieve. It would be reasonable for us to have
reservations about sharing the good news and sharing our lives with our
neighbours. It would be understandable to have some sort of fear reaction to
becoming involved in ‘cultivating the soils’ in our local community. Perhaps
the answer to this possibility, is to embrace getting to know Jesus more, and
by doing this, getting to know God more.
We have to
acknowledge that the greatest enemy of faith is fear, and that while it is a
natural and sometimes helpful reaction, we have to deal with the negative
impacts that it brings ... such as ‘flight’, passivity, making bad decisions,
or lacking in confidence.
We have a strong example of one
person who had become totally and completely convinced of God’s availability
and ability to deliver him from harm. Now we know that sometimes people
continue to suffer and die for their faith, yet they are able to maintain their
integrity and stability throughout their trials because they have been able to
fully put their trust in God ... that indeed, no matter the outcome, God will
certainly be with them.
Such an example is Daniel. Daniel
had already refused the “royal rations” in chapter one, so that no one could ever
think or suggest that he had become more aligned with the king’s agenda than
with God’s. He removed such a temptation by drawing a line that he would never
cross. Daniel would not allow himself to be identified with Nebuchadnezzar’s
excesses. The fact that Daniel on his vegetable diet was in better condition
than would ever be expected, led him into a position of great respect and
influence.
Now Daniel had to resist a command
to pray only to the king. This was of course put up by Daniel’s jealous
opponents when they could find nothing wrong with the performance of his duties
in Babylon through which to bring him down. The punishment for praying to any
other (divine or human) over a thirty day period was being thrown into a den of
lions. Yet not praying to his God was not something that Daniel could accept.
As we read in verse 10 of chapter six:
Although
Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he continued to go to his
house, which had windows in its upper room open toward Jerusalem, and to
get down on his knees three times a day to pray to his God and praise
him, just as he had done previously.
So we know what happened from
there. Yet on the basis of all God’s faithfulness in the past, Daniel could
rest easy, because he knew that God would be with him. Daniel knew that his
friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had been rescued from the fiery furnace
under similar circumstances (when they had refused to bow down to
Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue).
Such was Daniel’s effectiveness,
integrity and innocence, that King Darius, despite administering the set
penalty, spent a sleepless night agonising over this, and fasted hoping that
Daniel might survive. The king had wished Daniel well (refer verse 16), hoping
that Daniel’s God might actually prevail. Next morning, the king rushed to the
den of lions, and called out hopefully to Daniel. We then hear that Daniel is
alive, with the testimony that an angel of God had closed the lions’ mouths all
night long.
Daniel’s was a special trust – it
was active and practical, it was very public and completely unashamed or
unapologetic, and it stood up under pressure. This was because his faith in God
was so embedded in his character – it was so central to who he was as a person!
Daniel’s long history of prayerful trust had held him in good stead whenever
the pressure was turned on.
Now what about those disciples in
the boat many centuries later!?! They were certainly a work in progress!!
To be fair, Jesus’ disciples had
been plucked from obscurity – doing other jobs and following other passions,
some of them very different from being on mission for God, suddenly having to
adjust to following an itinerant teacher with a very radical and
counter-cultural message, who, despite having some fans, was attracting some
very dangerous adversaries. Their very selection, it seems, was based on the
effectiveness they would be able to have, not straight away, but rather in 2-3
years time after Jesus had left them. So indeed, and quite naturally, the
disciples were ‘works in progress’! Just like us!!
So to ask the question, “Who then
is this” (Mark 4:41) is a fair and acceptable question. In fact, it is a
question that we should continually ask. Who is God for us? Where is Jesus in
this situation? How is God’s Holy Spirit leading us now? What am I being
taught? Where is God present in this challenging moment?
Though apparently asleep in the
stern of the boat (that was the disciples view of things anyway), Jesus was
ready to still the wind and calm the waves and get the disciples safely to
their destination. To all of the disciples’ insecurities, Jesus says, “Peace!
Be still!”. Of course this particular destination (on the “other side”) would
present many further challenges – like gardening in some of those apparently
“bad soils” of the earlier parable.
Yet these disciples may now be
better prepared for what was to come. Modern day disciples of Jesus like us may
even come to appreciate and enjoy their work on the “other side” ... even
drawing meaning and satisfaction from some good results along the way.
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