The Way

Who Is This?

Draft, under review

Mark 4:35–41

35When that evening came, He said to His disciples, “Let us cross to the other side.”

36After they had dismissed the crowd, they took Jesus with them, since He was already in the boat. And there were other boats with Him.

37Soon a violent windstorm came up, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was being swamped.

38But Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke Him and said, “Teacher, don’t You care that we are perishing?”

39Then Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the sea. “Silence!” He commanded. “Be still!” And the wind died down, and it was perfectly calm.

40“Why are you so afraid?” He asked. “Do you still have no faith?”

41Overwhelmed with fear, they asked one another, “Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

Berean Standard Bible. Read the full chapter

Theo-approved pending final check (theo-review-2)

Reflection

The crossing was Jesus' idea (Mark 4:35). That detail matters for anyone who thinks storms only come when we've stepped outside God's will. The disciples followed Him into the boat and straight into a violent squall that swamped it (Mark 4:37). Several of them were fishermen, men who knew this lake (Mark 1:16–20), so their panic tells us the danger was real.

Jesus is asleep on a cushion (Mark 4:38). Mark records His full humanity: tired enough to sleep through a storm. The disciples' question goes deeper than fear of drowning. They ask whether He cares. That is often the real question underneath anxiety.

He answers with action first. He rebukes the wind and speaks to the sea, and there is a great calm (Mark 4:39). Only then does He ask about their fear and their faith (Mark 4:40). The question is an invitation to examine what they believe about Him, not a dismissal of their distress.

Look at the ending (Mark 4:41). The disciples were afraid of the storm, and now they are even more afraid, but with a different fear: awe. They ask who this is, whom even wind and sea obey. Israel's Scriptures had already answered: the Lord stills the roaring seas (Ps 65:7; Ps 107:28–29). The cure for anxious fear is not less fear. It is a greater fear, the reverent knowledge of who is in the boat with you.

Word study: verified (STEPBible)

deilos (Greek, Strong's G1169): fearful, cowardly, timid (Mark 4:40). Compare the related noun deilia, timidity (2 Tim 1:7). It differs from the reverent fear (phobos, G5401) of Mark 4:41.

Cross-reference trail

  1. Ps 107:28: The Lord calms the storm for those who cry out.
  2. Ps 65:7: He stills the roaring seas.
  3. Jonah 1:4: Another sleeper in another storm.
  4. Isa 43:2: God's presence through the waters.
  5. John 14:27: Peace He gives.

Go deeper

  • Question tree: Fear, comfort.fear, then comfort.fear.q3 (proposed route /ask/comfort/fear/#q3)
  • Pathway: Anxiety & Fear, content/pathways/anxiety-and-fear.md

Prayer

Jesus, when the storm is loud, remind me that You are in the boat and the waves obey You.

Go deeper