Twelfth Sunday In Ordinary Time
Mark 4:35-41 (Job 38:1, 8-11; Psalm 107:23-24, 25-26, 28-29, 30-31; 2 Cor 5:14-17)
The setting for the parable chapter of Mark’s gospel was given in 4:1. Jesus was teaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. The crowd increased to the point of pushing him into the sea. He got into a boat, sat down, and from there taught the parables Mark chose to put into chapter four. The gospel of this Sunday begins, “On that day, when evening had come, Jesus said to them, ‘Let’s cross over to the other side.” This crossing was from the western shore to the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. It meant exiting the traditional boundaries of the Holy Land, entering Syrian terri-tory and an area called Decapolis, a loose association of Greek cities. This is Gentile territory, yet Jesus will work a miracle in this area. Because of Mark’s special interest in Gentile Christi-anity, his reason for including this episode in his gospel is a justification for the early Christian mission to the Gentiles. There will be many more such examples of catechetical geography. Jesus was there first, therefore the Church must follow.
Up to this point in Mark’s gospel, the Twelve had not yet been chosen, so Jesus is inviting his disciples in general to follow him into Gentile territory. The crowd stays behind on the western shore, but “other boats were with him.” While they were crossing the sea, a violent windstorm arose. The waves were on the point of swamping the boat. Through all of this Jesus, the Lord of the sea, was asleep in the stern (rear) of the boat, his head resting on a cushion. One is reminded of Psalm 4:8, “In peace I lie down and fall asleep at once, since you alone, Lord, make me rest secure.” Jesus soundly asleep as the boat is being tossed about is a strong contrast to the fretful anxiety of the disciples. Later he will accuse them of a lack of faith.
The sea carries a heavy biblical burden in both Old and New Testament. Although the Lord God brought the sea (a symbol of chaos) into submission at creation, the sea was often considered a threat – pushing against its shores which held it back from harming people (except for tsunamis!). Biblical authors used imagery of sea monsters to describe the enemies of God’s people, and described how God destroyed these monsters. Examples: Job 26:12 (enemies in general);
Psalm 74:13-14 (the Babylonians); Isaiah 51:9-10 (the Egyptians). In Daniel 7, the oppressing powers that conquered Israel at various times in past and present (165 B.C.) are symbolized by four terrible beasts that come up out of the sea. In the final consummation, when all of God’s enemies have been destroyed, the sea will be no more,” Revelation 21:1.
The disciples awakened Jesus with a rather insensitive question, “Teacher, is it no concern of yours that we are perishing?” “Teacher” (Greek: Didaskale) is a favorite title for Jesus in Mark’s gospel. He uses it 12 times. The insensitive, even harsh, question of the disciples will receive a response equally reproaching when Jesus gets through re-establishing his lordship over the sea.
Mark’s description of Jesus’ disciples is often cruel, unless they really were as “slow” as he de-picts them. Mark writes in about the year 70 A.D. Matthew and Luke compose their gospels fifteen to twenty years later. They copy from Mark but characteristically soften the harshness with which Mark describes not only the disciples but even Jesus’ family. That happens also here.
In Matthew’s version the disciples wake Jesus with these words, “Lord (Greek: Kyrie), we are perishing!” In Luke’s version the disciples say, “Master, Master (Greek: Epistate), we are perishing!” Matthew turns Mark’s harshness into a prayer. Luke’s version is still a bit human, since Epistate suggests the meanings, “master, boss, captain.”
“Jesus woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace. Be still!’ The wind ceased and there was a great calm.” The first command, Shalom!, establishes Jesus’ lordship of the sea. In biblical thought, the raging of the storm on the sea is a return to the original chaos of Genesis, before “the Breath (Spirit) of God moved over the waters.” Once again the Breath of God moves over the waters and subjugates them to their Lord. The second command, Be still!(Greek: Pephimoso!) indicates that, at least in Mark’s mind, Jesus is dealing with demonic powers. The Marcan Jesus uses the same Greek verb to express Jesus’ command to a demon in Mark 1:25. A better translation than “Be still!” is “Be muzzled!” or “Put a muzzle on yourself!” There is an echo of Psalm 89:9 here, “You rule the raging of the sea. When its waves rise up, you quiet them.” Psalm 107:29, “He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.”
The disciples who spoke so harshly to Jesus now get their comeuppance. “Jesus said to them, ‘Why are you cowardly! How do you not have faith?’” This is an exact translation of Mark’s Greek. The tone of the rebuke is sharp. It is much more than the mild, “Have you no faith?” This is only one of many rebukes Jesus directs at his disciples in the Gospel of Mark. Mark concludes,
“And they were afraid with great fear, and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that the wind and the sea obey him?” This is the climactic sentence of the story. It deals with the identity of Jesus. The Book of Job and the Psalms repeatedly refer to God as the one who calms the waves of the sea. What is attributed to God in the Old Testament is often attributed to Jesus in the New Testament. This is one example of many occurring in the Gospel of Mark. When we recall that Mark began his presentation of the Good News, 1:1, with a proclamation that Jesus is Son of God, we may conclude that the main catechesis Mark intends by this story is that Jesus is God.
