Christian teaching

The literary structure of Mark 4:37-41

Today we’re in Mark 4:35-41 looking at the familiar story of Jesus calming the stormy sea. This is a rich story, with a lot to teach us. So much so that I plan to work with it again next week. The focus for today is on what we learn from this episode about the identity of Jesus.

First we begin with –

The setting

As we saw, Jesus has just spent the day teaching the crowds in parables.

“³⁵On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ ³⁶And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.”

Notice first of all that it’s “evening,” either dark or starting to get dark. And Jesus wants to go to the eastern shore of the sea of Galilee. [This is the first time that Jesus leaves Galilee after starting his ministry there, as Mark tells the story, going over to a predominantly Gentile region.] He may be, once again, trying to find some peace from the crush of the crowds (4:1; 36)

The phrase “they took him with them in the boat, just as he was” most likely means that since Jesus was already sitting in the boat when he was teaching (4:1) they simply left with him still sitting there.

This is a boat recovered from the mud of the Sea of Galilee in 1986

The “other boats” with Jesus aren’t mentioned later in the story, although it’s possible that they too got caught in the storm.

Now let’s look at –

The story

And it begins in dramatic fashion with a great storm.

³⁷And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.

“A great windstorm” refers to a sudden whirlwind from above, like a tornado. The sea of Galilee was (and is) subject to such sudden storms because of its geography. And this was an intense one. The wind pushed the waves over the side of the boat and it was filling up with water. If this didn’t stop, they would sink. It was a real crisis. We know it was bad because some of Jesus’ disciples were experienced fisherman, and as we will see, they thought they were about to die! (v. 38)

³⁸But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion.

I think this shows his humanity. Jesus was tired! Tired from teaching all day and it was evening, or possibly night time by now. So Jesus is in the back of the boat asleep, unaware of the crisis taking place. But not for long. v. 38 goes on –

And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”

The disciples are in a panic. And so they wake Jesus up and rebuke him, because he doesn’t seem to care! Undoubtedly they want him to do something so that they don’t die. But what they want is unclear. They certainly didn’t think he would perform a miracle, because when he does, they’re totally shocked. So perhaps they wanted him to pray to God for deliverance, that they would survive the storm.

Next we see how he does much more than this. Jesus himself turns the storm into a great calm

³⁹And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. (I have translated it “silence” instead of ESV’s “peace.”)

Jesus told the wind to stop and told the sea to shut up. By the mere power of his words the storm and the waves cease and there is calm. It went from being a “great windstorm” in v. 37, to being “a great calm” in v. 39.

⁴⁰He said to them, ‘Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”

So he not only rebukes the sea, but just as his disciples rebuked him, here he rebukes them. After seeing all that the’ve seen, do they still have no faith in him? We’ll come back to this part next week, Lord willing.

A great awe

“⁴¹And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’”

I think it’s interesting that his deliverance of the disciples from what they feared, paradoxically, makes them have great fear!

Notice the further movement of the story-line. It goes from a great storm, to a great calm, to a great awe on the part of the disciples. This is the awe that you have when you see God act in power to save. God is suddenly revealed and it’s astonishing.

With regard to his identity, Jesus is obviously much more than they thought he was. They had seen him teach with great authority. They had seen him heal people. They had seen him cast out demons. But this was something entirely more astounding, which causes them, and us – to ask –

Who is this?

“Who is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

To answer this, first we need to remember the Hebrew background of the “deep waters” which are connected to the powers of evil or Satan. 

That this is a part of what is going on in our story can be seen in that Jesus speaks to the storm as a personal force. He “rebuked the wind” telling it to stop! And he “said to the sea, ‘Silence! Be still!’” – v. 39. And in fact the words “rebuke” and “be silent” are the same words spoken to a demon in Mark 1:25 in the context of an exorcism. So we’re dealing not just with a nature miracle here, but with the powers of evil.

The second thing we have to remember is that Yahweh is the one who subdues the stormy waters, and all the powers of evil that they represent. For instance Psalm 93:3-4 says, “The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring. Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the LORD on high is mighty!” God is stronger than the stormy sea and the forces of evil and chaos.

But even more specifically 1. Yahweh rebukes the treacherous sea:

• It is God who “rebuked” the primordial waters at creation and they receded – Psalm 104:7.
• It is God who “rebuked the Red Sea and it became dry” – Psalm 106:9.

In the same way Jesus rebukes the storm in our story and it responds.

2. Yahweh stills the waters:

• It is God “who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of the waves. . .” – Psalm 65:7.
• It is God who – “rule(s) the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.” – Psalm 89:9.

In the same way Jesus stills the waters in our story and they are calm.

What I’m saying is that the truth of Jesus’ identity is revealed in this incident. God miraculously saved them – but it was Jesus who acted! Not by praying to God, but simply by speaking the command. This is why the disciples are puzzled and confused. They ask, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” Well, only Yahweh does this, but Jesus just did it! What does it mean? n the story they remain puzzled; they can’t seem to connect all the dots.

But for the reader of Mark it should be clear that Jesus is God’s Son. And so, ‘like father like son.’ Jesus does just what his Father does and calms the stormy waters. He is nothing less than God in the flesh, present with us.

Now, we may also underestimate who Jesus is, like the disciples did, so that we go through life afraid that he can’t take care of us in our trials. But in our story today we learn that Jesus is more than able to save us from any and all evil; from any situation we find ourselves in. Jesus is God with us. And he can speak peace and calm into our lives as well.

And not only this, Jesus is worthy of our awe and praise. The disciples were in awe of him, and later came to acknowledge him as the Son of God and worshiped him. And as we see Jesus do his work in our lives and in our midst, we too should be awed and amazed. And we should lift him up in praise and adoration.