Saturday 23 February 2013
- Bible Book:
- Mark
"He said to them, 'Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?'" (v. 10)
Background
The Sea of Galilee is prone to sudden violent storms,particularly in the early evenings of autumn and winter. The lakeis 680 feet below sea level but surrounded by hills. This heightdisparity leads to temperature differences between the lake andsurrounding area causing fluctuations in pressure. This results instrong winds funnelling through the hills and sweeping down to thelake. Such storms can die down as suddenly as they arrive, but theycan be dangerous, particularly to anyone who is out on a smallboat.
In today's passage the disciples are in fear for their lives, asthe boat starts to take on water, but Jesus sleeps soundly throughthe commotion and has to be woken up. There are echoes here of
Jesus' quelling of the storm again raises the question for thedisciples of just who Jesus is. Their familiarity with the psalmswould have brought to mind:"Then they cried out to the Lord intheir trouble, and he brought them out of their distress; he madethe storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed" (
"Have you still no faith?" - Having faith is so much more thanaccepting beliefs about God and Jesus; it is a relationship of lovethat includes trust and confidence in God, in whatever situation wefind ourselves. As the disciples discovered, it is during thestorms of life that faith really counts.
To Ponder
- Throughout this week's passages, there has been the recurringquestion: who is this man that he can heal / drive out demons /forgive sins / control the elements? What is your answer?
- What is it that you are really afraid of? How could a sense ofGod's presence help in that situation?
- If God does control the waters, how do you begin to explaintsunamis and floods?