Lent 2026 Day 11: Mon 2 Mar
Mark 4:35-39
35 When that evening came, He said to His disciples, “Let us cross to the other side.” 36 After they had dismissed the crowd, they took Jesus with them, since He was already in the boat. And there were other boats with Him. 37 Soon a violent windstorm came up, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was being swamped. 38 But Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke Him and said, “Teacher, don’t You care that we are perishing?” 39 Then Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the sea. “Silence!” He commanded. “Be still!” And the wind died down, and it was perfectly calm.
There were other little boats there, too. An odd detail to add; perhaps Mark wanted to say that the event was witnessed by people other than the disciples, thus hoping to dispel any doubt about it ever happening. A storm brews up in an instant, and the boats are in danger of being swamped. It is a life-threatening situation. All hands are required for bailing-out the boat. And Jesus is fast asleep.
Yes, Jesus had been busy, but it was his idea to go over the lake. Surely, he’d had an inkling that there might be a storm on the lake – after all, he knew everything, didn’t he? Was he testing his disciples – that might seem like a rather cruel test! Or was Jesus blissfully unaware of impending danger, and ready for sleep?
The disciples were clearly not impressed when Jesus was still asleep as the storm grew. Why is he still asleep? Can’t he sense the storm, the noise, the creaking, the splashes? Is he abandoning us all to death? “Wake up! Don’t you care about us?!”
I want you to imagine The Word, He who for a short span within eternity became Jesus, the man asleep in the boat. The Word was the channel of creation for all that exists, has existed and will exist. By The Word was everything made. Light, stars, planets, oceans. He spoke them into being. They are subject to Him, and though they have no awareness of their own, the oceans, seas, lakes and waterways, the tempests, storms, and winds fall subject to that same Word.
Jesus commanded silence. The wind and waves did not obey Jesus’ command, for that presupposes attributes such as hearing, understanding, bending to his will. The waves were being whipped up by the winds. They could not directly obey Jesus, as they were the result of micro-climatic changes over the surface of the water and the surrounding hills, the heat of the land and many other factors. The water cannot subside unless the wind subsides, and the wind can only subside when the air pressure evens out, and the air pressure can only even out when the landscape and temperature become neutral.
Jesus did not directly command the storm or the winds. Instead, he spoke peace into being, perfect peace, and peace reigned over the tempest, bringing all to rest.
Did Jesus know that a storm was going to rise up?
Have you ever addressed Jesus as the disciples did that evening?
Father God, your Son Jesus is our Prince of Peace. Teach me to pray for reconciliation rather than vengeance, for restoration rather than destruction, and peace rather than dominance. Amen.
Paul