“HE MAKETH THE STORM A CALM.”-PSA. 107:29.
-MARK 4:35-41.-MARCH 6.-
OUR Lord’s ministry is supposed to have covered two years at the time
of the miracle of the calming of the sea, recorded in this lesson. After the selection of the twelve apostles
and the Sermon on the Mount, etc., our Lord returned to Capernaum and soon
after began his second tour of Galilee. It
was during this interim that he awakened from the sleep of death the son of the
widow of Nain-the first recorded instance of its kind in our Lord’s
ministry. Then came teachings by
parables, and in the afternoon of a busy day of teaching-after three o’clock,
while still sitting in one of the boats as on a former occasion, having
concluded his teachings-he directed that the boat be taken to the opposite side
of the lake. The multitude, after being
informed that the discourses were ended, were dismissed, and without delay the
boat was started. From the various
accounts we judge that all the twelve disciples were with him, and apparently
other “men”-seamen, as Matthew’s account implies.
Travelers
tell us that the Sea of Galilee is quite subject to wind storms. Dr. Thompson, describing his own experiences
on this little sea, says: “The sun had scarcely set when the wind began to rush
down toward the lake; and it continued all night long with constantly
increasing violence, so that when we reached the shore the next morning the
face of the lake was like a huge cauldron.
The wind hurled down every wady from the north-east and east with such
fury that no efforts of rowers could have brought a boat to shore at any point
along that coast. To understand the
causes of these sudden tempests, we must remember that the lake lies low, 600
feet lower than the ocean; that the vast and naked plateaus of the Jaulan rise
to a great height, spreading backward to the wilds of Hauran, and upward to
snowy Mt. Hermon; that the watercourses have cut out profound ravines and wide
gorges, converging to the head of the lake, and that these act like gigantic
funnels to draw down the cold winds from the mountains.”
“WE ARE NOT IGNORANT OF HIS DEVICES.”
Our
own opinion is that “the prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2) had
something to do in the development of this storm-that it had more than natural
causes, although the latter might have assisted or even been sufficient. We remember that the Adversary had already
endeavored to induce our Lord to leap from the pinnacle of the Temple, but had
not succeeded. Apparently now he would
drown him in the sea. But the Lord, who
declares himself able to make the wrath of man to praise him, caused the wrath
of Satan or the wildness of the elements, whichever it was that induced the
storm, to praise him-to show forth his mighty power.
During
the storm our Lord lay asleep in the hinder part of the vessel on a
cushion. Evidently he was thoroughly
exhausted from the labors of his journey and ministry. Meantime, as the storm increased, the boat
with its precious load began to fill with water more rapidly than it could be
bailed out. No wonder the disciples,
fishermen and experts at sea though they were, were alarmed. We cannot avoid the thought that in some
manner the Lord’s providence had something to do with his prolonged sleep under
such circumstances, and that the intention was to put the faith of the
disciples to the test. They had seen his
mighty works, his healing of the sick, and his awakening of the dead, and they
had heard his teachings and had taken a miraculous catch of fish under his
direction where they had failed before, and by this time they should have had
considerable faith in his power everyway.
The fact that they approached him at all indicates that they did have
faith to some degree, though not implicit faith.
The
slightly different accounts of the event given by Matthew, Mark and Luke, some
one has paraphrased as follows,-Matthew: “Save, Lord, we perish;” Mark:
“Teacher, carest thou not that we perish?” Luke: “Master, Master, we perish.” All three accounts are correct-one disciple
cried out in one way and others in different words. Some one puts it thus: “Little Faith prayed,
‘Save us;’ Much Fear cried, ‘We perish;’ Distrust urged, ‘Carest thou not?’
More Faith said, ‘Lord;’ Discipleship cried out, ‘Teacher;’ Faint Hope cried,
‘Master, thou with authority.’“ Jesus
arose (awoke) and commanded peace and quiet, which immediately followed. The record mentions the cessation of the wind
and additionally the calming of the sea.
Some one might claim that a storm which came up suddenly might happen to
stop with equal suddenness, but this would not account for the calming of the
sea. Waters thus lashed to a fury could
not be calmed thus quickly except by superhuman power. This, indeed, we may assume to be a prominent
feature of the miracle.
It
is rather peculiar that the Greek word used for “Be still” in this text is the
same word used by our Lord to the demon. (Mark 1:25.) This rather corroborates the suggestion
foregoing respecting the storm being the work of the Adversary. In any event this miracle shows clearly that
storms should not be accredited, as they frequently are, to divine malevolence;
for if the Father had caused the storm the Son would not have interfered with
it. We do not wish to intimate, either,
that every storm is of Satanic origin; we do not dispute that many of them
arise from natural causes; but we do hold that some of them are supernatural
and of the Adversary, and as a Scriptural evidence along this line we cite the
whirlwind raised up by Satan, which smote the house in which Job’s children
were feasting.-Job 1:13,19.
That
our Lord intended this experience to be a lesson to the disciples, along the
line of faith in him, seems to be borne out by verses 40,41. He said unto them, “Why are ye fearful? Have ye not yet faith?” Has your faith not yet developed to such a
degree that you can trust me, and realize the Father’s favor and power ever
with me for my protection, and that while with me no harm could possibly
overtake you-nothing that is not wholly under my control? No wonder the apostles gained additional
reverence for the Lord as a result of this miracle. Apparently it came just in the right time and
order to be their appropriate lesson. In
fact we may conclude that every item of their experience and every item of our
Lord’s conduct, teaching and mighty works was especially for the instruction of
these twelve, who were to be his witnesses to us and to the nations of the
earth respecting that ministry.
SPIRITUAL LESSONS FOR THE SPIRITUAL HOUSEHOLD.
There
is a precious lesson in this miracle for all of the Lord’s followers outside of
the apostleship, too. We also have need
of faith and need of tests to our faith. Our daily
experiences since we became the Lord’s followers have been guided and guarded
apparently by the power unseen, to the intent that as pupils in the school of
Christ, we may all be taught of him and develop more and more of the graces of
the Spirit, and particularly more and more faith. How important this item of faith is we
probably cannot fully appreciate now. It seems to be one thing that the Lord
specially seeks for in those now called to be followers. “Without faith it is impossible to
please God.” “With faith all things are
possible.” Proper faith is understood,
of course, not credulity, not reliance upon the words of men, but implicit
faith in the Lord for all that he has promised. “According to thy faith be it
unto thee.”
So
important a grace must of necessity require many lessons for its proper
development, and it does not surprise us that in our individual experiences as
Christians we find those which correspond to the experiences of the apostles
noted in this lesson. How suddenly the
Adversary may at times bring against us a whirlwind of temptation or of
opposition or of persecution. How at such times our sky seems overcast, dark,
foreboding; how the waves of adversity or affliction have almost overwhelmed
us, and how the Lord seemed asleep and heedless of our distress and indifferent
to our necessities! Such experiences are
tests of our faith, as this one was a test to the faith of the apostles. If our faith be strong enough under such circumstances,
we would keep on with our proper endeavors to adjust matters corresponding to
the bailing of the boat and the working of the oars; but meantime, with an
implicit faith in the Lord’s promise that “all things shall work together for
our good,” we would be able to sing as did the Apostle Paul and Silas after
being beaten while in the stocks for their faithfulness to the Lord. They
rejoiced that they were accounted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ. So according to our
faith will we be able to rejoice even in tribulation. We cannot enjoy the sufferings; we can enjoy
the thought which faith attaches to them, namely, that these are but light
afflictions working out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of
glory.
Each experience of this kind should be
helpful to us. If at first we were
fearful and cried aloud, by and by we received the succor, with perhaps the
reprimand, “O, thou of little faith;” but as lesson after lesson has come to
us, the Master will expect-and we should expect of ourselves-greater faith,
greater trust, greater peace, greater joy in the Lord, greater confidence in
his presence with us and his care over us, and in his power to deliver us from
the Adversary and from every evil thing, and to bring us eventually in safety
to the port we seek-the heavenly Kingdom.
THE CHURCH’S EXPERIENCES PREFIGURED.
Some
one has suggested, apparently on reasonable grounds, that this experience of
Jesus and the Apostles in the boat during the night pictured the experiences of
the Church during this Gospel age. The
Lord assured his people, saying, “Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of
the age,” and “I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am
there ye may be also,” and “nothing shall by any means hurt you,” etc. The
Lord’s faithful people all through this age have realized with more or less
distinctness the certainty of these precious promises; they have felt that the
Lord indeed is with his Church; yet it has seemed at times as though he were
asleep, inattentive to the prayers of his faithful, and inattentive to their
cries and groans. For eighteen centuries
his dear ones have been tempest-tossed by the Adversary, persecuted, afflicted,
buffeted-all through this dark night, in which the only light available has
been “thy Word a light to my feet.” The
experiences of others in the past are our experiences in the present.
We of today represent the Lord’s cause in the midst of the
raging elements of human passions, oppositions, etc.; and as the Apostle
declares of his day, so it is still true that “we wrestle not with flesh and blood,
but with principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high
positions.” The storms may seem to come
from the world, but really beyond the world is the Adversary. “We are not ignorant of his devices;” our hearts would be at times dismayed except as faith is
able to see the Lord with us in the ship, and able to grasp the thought of his
mighty power in his own time and way to speak peace to the world.
Soon the time will come for him who careth for us to exert his
great power on our behalf, to deliver his people, to say to the raging
elements, Peace, be still. Then will follow the great calm, the great rest from
the evil one for a thousand years, for he shall be bound that he shall deceive
the nations no more. Then will come the
eternal rest of the heart to all who are now in the boat with the Lord, and
then will come the opportunity for all these to be co-laborers with him in the
great and glorious work of blessing the world.
It must not surprise us, however, if a dark
hour is before us-if the time will come when the stormy winds will be so fierce
that many will cry out in fear and trembling.
Let us learn well the precious experiences of the present time, so that
then our faith shall not fail us-so that in the darkest hour we shall be able
to sing and to rejoice in him who loved us and bought us with his own precious
blood, and to sing the song of Moses and the Lamb.