Fourth Sunday after Trinity Mark 4:35-end Job 38:1-11

‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’ If you’ve ever been in open country side or at sea during a thunderstorm, you will know how frightening it can be. Also, there is usually nothing you can do about it, once it starts; it has to run its course. Of course, we all now know that there are weather patterns and some of these can be predicted. But then, my own grandfather – a farmer – simply looked at the sky and then told my grandmother to take in the washing if rain was threatening. His observation from experience even told him how many minutes she would have to do it; he was that accurate! Here, though, in Mark’s Gospel account of Jesus calming the storm on the lake, we have something more impressive: Jesus showing his authority even over the forces of nature. If the storm frightened the disciples in the boat – and there were well-weathered fishermen among them! – Jesus’ intervention made them even more afraid: who then is this?

It is a known-fact that the Sea of Galilee can be very unpredictable; storms can rise up out of the blue. But the weather can also change in other places. The story of Jonah and the accounts in the Acts of the Apostles (Paul on his way to Rome) are telling a similar thing. However, in the other cases, the storm did not just die down very quickly and at command. This is a different story altogether. So, what is it about? One thing that may strike us is the fact that Jesus doesn’t seem to be bothered about the storm at all; he is even asleep and has to be woken up by the frightened disciples, who are saying that they are perishing. And I’m sure we can all identify with them. The sea is dangerous; sailing comes with a real risk. In the Psalms and in Genesis, the sea is also the picture of darkness and evil, overcome only by God’s sovereign power. So when Jesus rebukes the wind and the sea and saves the disciples from perishing, we are seeing something of God’s authority over evil. It is like the parables and the signs that Jesus performs during his ministry which are all pointing to the new kingdom, the Kingdom of God, which is at hand. While the forces of evil are roused, and making their anger felt in such a way that the disciples are fearing for their lives, Jesus is sleeping, confident in God’s presence. No wonder that the disciples are upset, thinking that he doesn’t care. But there is something that they have missed: who Jesus is. No wonder then, also, that Jesus says to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’

In the passage for today from the book of Job, God responds to Job ‘from the whirlwind’, storms being typically accompanied by a manifestation of God. In a string of rhetorical questions, God reveals his authority, including how limits were set for the primeval waters of chaos. Jesus, by rebuking the wind and the sea, is showing the same authority, as a characteristic of the divine. So that the disciples, filled with great awe, said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’

Wind and storms; they are a part of life. We all go through bad times, even as believers. But God cares, and knowing Jesus makes a difference. Jesus went through the biggest storm of all: dying on a cross for the sins of the world. For a moment, it seemed as if evil had won, but in the end Jesus won the final victory over sin and death when he rose again from the dead. We can be part of his victory through faith, and hear his words amidst the storms of life, saying, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Who is this? This is God’s Son; and this is how we know him. Amen.