Mark 4:35-41
Chapter 4
35
Calming a Storm
Later that day, as evening approached, Jesus told them: “Let’s go across to the other side of the lake.”36
They left the crowd and took him along in the boat he was sitting in, while other boats set out with him.
37
Then a storm gathered, and it started to blow fiercely. The waves spilled into the boat, quickly filling it with water.
38
Jesus was sleeping on a cushion in the stern.
They woke him up and said:
“Master, don’t you care if we drown?”
39
And rising up, Jesus rebuked the wind and ordered the sea:
“Quiet now! Be still!”
The wind dropped, and there was a great calm.
40
Then Jesus said to them: “Why are you so afraid? Do you still lack faith?”
41
But they were terrified and said to one another:
“Who can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”
Commentaries
Calming a Storm.
Reflecting the universal reach of the Gospel message, Jesus now turns to the land of the pagans. In Jewish tradition, the sea symbolized evil. From this perspective, the hurricane-strength wind can be seen as the work of evil spirits trying to stop the kingdom of God from reaching the pagan peoples. For a moment, they succeed in shaking the disciples’ faith. But Jesus enters the scene. As if he were casting out a demon, he commands the sea and the wind to be quiet. He then reveals the disciples’ lack of faith, demonstrating how much they still need to learn. The disciples, for their part, are confused by Jesus’ power, for only God can control the sea (Ps 107:23-32).