Apostles, Pt. 5: "Lauch Out"

LAUNCH OUT (MARK 4:35-41)
Schroeder was playing his piano oblivious to the watchful and adoring eyes of the feisty but unrequited Lucy before him. Lucy asked Schroeder, who was doing his own thing and ignoring her as usual, what love is. Schroeder than stood up and quoted: “Love: a noun referring to a deep, intense, ineffable feeling toward another person or persons.”

Schroeder then sat down to resume playing the piano as if nothing happened. Lucy looked dreamily into space and moaned about being neglected, “On paper, he’s great.”

The disciples were the most eager learners but they were never tested. They asked a lot of questions and were given answers others weren’t. They heard their share of theology, the law and its interpretation, but all they had were head knowledge, great teaching and doctrinal lessons.

Someone once said, “I used to have a handle on life; then it broke.”

There are two lake crossings in the gospels, one when Jesus was with the disciples and the other when Jesus later joined the disciples. The first one has Jesus sleeping on the boat and the second has him walking on the water. Both lessons served as building trust and faith in the Lord.

When are you most vulnerable to distrust and unbelief? How do you react when fear threatens and danger lurks? What are we to do instead?

You Do Not Have to Comprehend Everything – You Are with Company
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. (Mark 4:35-38)

One day Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes fame and his stuffed tiger (Hobbes) were given a choice of a story before going to bed. His father asked, “What story do you want?” Without hesitation, Calvin replied, “I want a story about Hobbes and me.” His father rubbed his jaw as he began, “OK, Hmm, Let’s see. There was a boy named Calvin who lived with a tiger named Hobbes.” Calvin enthused, “This is great!”

Calvin’s father continued, “Today they got up at the crack of dawn and made a huge ruckus, running up the stairs, galump, galump, galump, and sliding down again, bump, bump, bump, bump.” His son, however, interrupted him and added: “Yeah, then the big bad dad yelled that if we didn’t knock it off, he’d mail us to Pluto third class.”

After silencing Calvin, his father resumed, “At last, Calvin went outside, and it was nice and quiet in the house again, at least for a while. Well, good night.” To this Calvin protested, “Good night? That’s not the end. You didn’t even get us to lunchtime.” His father kissed him good night as he commented, “That’s right. It’s not the end of the story. This story doesn’t have an end. You and Hobbes will write more of it tomorrow and every day after. But now it’s time to sleep, so good night.” The ambushed Calvin said, “Oh! Ok, good night.” After his father left, Calvin and Hobbes hugged each other good night as Calvin remarked, “This is a good story about us if it doesn’t end. That’s the kind of story I like best! Good night, old buddy.” Hobbes responded, “Me too! See you tomorrow.”

The gospel of Mark gives us details not in Matthew or Luke’s account. For example, Mark says it is a “furious squall (of wind)” or “big (megas) squall/storm” (2 Peter 2:17) in Greek (v 37), not just a “storm (of) wind” (Luke 8:23). “Broke over”(v 37) is the Greek verb for “beat” and “nearly swamped” (v 37) is not as dramatic as the Greek for “full.” Matthew’s account is even more dramatic in Greek: He chooses the words “a great (megas) earthquake (seismos)” (Matt 8:24) and the ship was “covered with the waves.” Luke’s Greek account notes that they “were filled” and “were in danger.” (Luke 8:23)

Of course Jesus knew a storm was coming. The parallel accounts of Matthew, Mark and Luke stress that Jesus was the planner and sender. He organized the trip, booked the time and even arranged the seating. It was deliberate, premeditated, calculated. When Jesus said, “Let’s go over to the other side,” he did not mean heaven! Matthew writes, “When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake” (Matt 8:18) and Luke records, “One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let's go over to the other side of the lake” (Luke 8:22), both accounts adding “of the lake” to Mark’s account.

Yes, Jesus promised them they will reach the other side but not how they reach the other side – He promised them a good landing but not a smooth ride or a clam passage. If He had told them, they would have been reluctant, resistant and even rebellious. There would have been a boat mutiny, a mass desertion, a nervous breakdown.

God does not make mistakes. There is a reason for everything. Jesus knew what He was doing and why he was doing it. He also knew that it was evening time when He exhorted them to go and He did not send them off by themselves; He was on the boat, albeit the wrong side of the boat. In fact, there is no mistaken that it was his idea. Readers are aware there is a second lake crossing incident two chapters later, when the disciples were by themselves (Mark 6:47). They did not need Jesus on the boat the second time around but Jesus went with them on the first lake crossing before sending them out the next time by themselves to try things out for themselves.

You Do Not Have to Carry Everything – Things are in Check
The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don't you care if we drown?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. (Mark 4:38-39)

A young playwright gave a special invitation to a highly regarded critic to watch his new play. The critic came to the play, but slept through the entire performance. The playwright was indignant and said, “How could you sleep when you knew how much I wanted your opinion?” The critic replied, “Young man, sleep is an opinion.”

I read some interesting articles about dealing with motion sickness on bumpy rides, turbulent flights and rough seas. Some suggestions include eating lightly, chewing ginger, facing the front, eyeing a fixed spot ahead and, best of all, sitting near the front of the vehicle, whether it's a car, train or boat. www.ehow.com/how_479_prevent-motion-sickness.html

What part of the ship did Jesus choose to sit or sleep? He chose the stern (v 38). What is a stern? A stern is the rear part of a ship, the end of a vessel or the opposite of “bow” - the forward end of a vessel or airship. Have been on a cruise ship? Do you experience motion sickness? Where is the best place and the worst place to be in rough waters? Jesus had more reasons to complain than anyone on the boat.

It seems that the best seats on airplanes for people with motion sickness are located over the wing of the plane. On a ship, those in lower level cabins near the center of a ship generally experience less motion than passengers in higher or outer cabins. Basically the best is either the front or the calm center. How did Jesus react to a perfect storm and where was he seated? He chose the worst place to be in a boat. He already gave the best seats to the apostles. The Greek text has Jesus “in the stern upon a pillow asleep” (v 38) but I love best the way Matthew captures the moment: “he but asleep.” The apostles interpreted sleep differently from Jesus. The disciples were more upset by a sleeping Jesus than a roaring storm, but Jesus was more bothered with the disciples’ attitude than with the storm’s threat.

There is something wrong when someone sleeps at the back in turbulent seas. He cannot be a lunatic, even a lunatic gets sick. It’s been said motion sickness is a breakdown between the eye and ear coordination: the ears detecting a car is moving, but the eyes do not. Well, sleeping does not help either. Even if you close your eyes, you still feel sick. Jesus slept at the back. If Jesus could sleep at the most uncomfortable and bumpy section of the boat, they could well trust Him. Why? Because it was just a test. Jesus knew their strength and assured His presence. He was at the back to reassure them he was there, but he was not going to do everything for them. His presence was good enough. To make the disciples see that things were under control, Jesus even brought a pillow (v 38).

All the three accounts agree that the disciples woke Jesus (Matt 8:25, Luke 8:24). Mark, in particular, supplies the apostles’ question, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” whereas Matthew and Luke make it an assertion or an exclamation, a foregone conclusion and a matter of fact: “We're going to drown!” (Matt 8:25, Luke 8:24). The Greek text is even more dramatic: “we are perishing.” Someone said that the cry “Master, Master, we're going to drown!” (Luke 8:24) does not make sense; if He is Master, then we are not drowning.

If Jesus did not care, He would not have been in the boat. Jesus got up to show His care, and He rebuked the wind and even the waves (Matt 8:26, Luke 8:24) to show His authority and power. Luke tells us the waters were raging (Luke 8:24). Jesus did not need to do much or anything. His authority is in His word. He did not say, “Shut up!” but the equivalent of “Hush” or “Silence.” It was not a see-saw battle, a back and forth struggle or a life and death fight; it was a no contest and an immediate knockout.

That was the way Jesus cast out demons, too (Mark 1:25, Luke 4:35). Jesus gently did his thing, not with pomp and noise. “Quiet” and “be still” seems the same but “quiet” has the meaning of being mute, i.e. involuntary stillness, or inability to speak, such as Zechariah’s (John the Baptist’s father) muteness and inability to speak, and “be still” has the meaning of not doing anything. The other translation for “quiet” (Matt 20:31, Mark 4:39, 9:34, 10:48, Luke 19:40) is “silent” (Matt 26:63, Mark 3:4, 14:61, Luke 1:20, Acts 18:9). The other English translations elsewhere in the Bible for the single Greek word “be still” include speechless (Matt 22:12), silenced (Matt 22:34, 1 Peter 2:15), quiet (Mark 1:25, Luke 4:35), muzzle (1 Tim 5:18).

The single Greek for “died down” was used for both lake crossings (Matt 14:32, Mark 6:51), but the word “calm” (v 39) is used only on this first crossing (Matt 8:26, Luke 8:24). The former means to tire, i.e. (figuratively) to relax; from the idea of reducing the strength and weariness; the latter means tranquility. It is similar to slowing down and complete stop in traffic lingo. There is nothing like the peace of a river and the calm of an ocean. The Greek contrast jumps at readers. From “great storm” now there is “great calm” or “completely calm” in NIV.

You Do Not Have to Control Everything – God is in Charge
40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (Mark 4:40-41)

One of the joys of teaching seminary students is to see them learn things in a different way and finally make a breakthrough to expository preaching. Unlike teaching Greek or Hebrew, when students are completely at your mercy because they have to learn something completely radically new, teaching preaching is harder than one think.

When I first started, I was teaching Advanced Preaching. I felt important and had a good time explaining to people that I polish students who already taken basic preaching. After a few years I discovered that it is much harder to teach old dogs new tricks. They had already taken their cue on preaching from previous teachers whose teaching style, training background and syllabus content are different from mine.

After several years I was asked if I could teach Preaching 101 instead. When I agreed, the program coordinator was surprised and remarked: “I thought you wanted to teach Advanced Preaching.” After seven years I have a class with merely one or two of around 20 students who had not take a preaching class before. The minority were returning ministers. The other students call themselves appropriately “white paper.” Now I smile to myself knowing another teacher has to hear annoying remarks like “Our teacher did not teach us this way!”

Jesus had spent a lot of time on land with the disciples teaching them new things. Yet it is a different thing learning it when things happen to oneself. As we say, we learn things better and faster when things happen to us rather than to others.

What Jesus asked was significant: “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” You’ll have to understand why Jesus took them across the lake. In contrast to the faithless reaction of the disciples were faith demonstrated in three previous instances – the paralytic and his friends, the centurion and the woman who anointed Jesus. When Jesus saw the faith of the paralytic and his four friends, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:5, Luke 5:20). He admired and commended the great faith of the centurion, a faith not found in Israel (Matt 8:10, Luke 7:9), and he welcomed the saving faith of the woman who anointed Him with perfume (Luke 7:50).

After meeting all these three people and more, the way Jesus was greeted with such faithlessness and the lack of depth and substance on the part of the apostles were ridiculous and ludicrous. That was why Jesus took them across the lake in the first place. They had a lot of catching up to do. All the previous demonstrations and expressions of faith had nothing to do with the disciples. They had learned nothing from people with faith; they were just bystanders.

Just as the first demonstrations of faith were not from his disciples, the previous two instances of obedience (v 42) to Jesus in the Gospels were not from the disciples either. The Greek word for “obedience” applies to evil spirits (Mark 1:27) and the winds and the waves (Mark 4:41, Matt 8:27) and the water (Luke 8:25) that obeyed him.

The Greek text tells us that Jesus was using the great storm (or “furious squall in NIV, v 37) to teach them about the “great calm” found in Christ (“completely calm” v 39). In the same way, Jesus' sleeping indicates that what matters is not what is out side that controls us, but who is inside; who we have and not what we have; what He does and not what we do. Jesus' disciples did not realize that while storms are part of life, in Him there is security and shelter from the storm and peace in the midst of turmoil, fear and helplessness. The question is whether we trust Him as Maker and Master, as sovereign over storms and sea. The lesson is to submit and surrender to Him.

It’s been said, “It does not matter how great the pressure is. What really matters is where the pressure lies - whether it comes between you and God, or whether it presses you nearer to His heart.”

Conclusion: God does not make mistakes. He allows us to go through pain, suffering and trials, but He promises us His presence, power and peace. Jesus does not send us “into” a storm but “through” a storm. He is with us in and through a storm and He treats us as children and not as babies. Phillip Brooks said, “Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be the miracle” and “Do not pray for a lighter load, but for a stronger back.” Everyone knows we learn more from failure than success, but nobody likes it, but remember: practice makes perfect.

Do you have faith to go through the training God has in store for you? In what areas of your life does God want to develop? Is there a habit or a fear God wants to break?