Morning Meditation
March 7, 2026
Mark 4:35-41
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’
Meditation-Rebecca Northington
I vividly remember analyzing this text in Foundations of Biblical Studies in grad school. I loved this class and the professor, and appreciated immeasurably the manner in which he brought this text to life. By chapter four in Mark's Gospel we have already witnessed many miracles, many parables, and many interactions between Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees; and while Jesus is determined to keep his messianic identity secret, his celebrity continues to grow.
Mark’s Gospel is fast paced and content driven, which is why it is almost comedic that the disciples still fail to recognize the true nature of Jesus in this scene. “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”. Research shows that humans need to see or hear something 5-12 times to have it truly sink in, and Mark’s Gospel contains closer to 20 events that shock or amaze Jesus’s audience. Yet still the people aren’t able to comprehend who and what Jesus is. Mark’s author is not characterizing the exception, he is showing the reader how we all respond to Christ. We fail again and again to accept the unconditional love offered to all of us. Additionally, we fail to offer it to one another.
This week in our Liturgy meeting we discussed upcoming services including the Palm Sunday service. It is a powerful service that begins with hosannas as Jesus enters Jerusalem and ends with his death on the cross. In this short time period the people turn from worshiping love, to killing love. Interspersed with the readings in this service are anthems or hymns responding to the text. In the hymn following his crucifixion we will sing hosannas again as we raise our palms. This expression should give us all pause. For many, we still don’t get it. Like the followers in Mark, we are constantly astonished and even bewildered by Jesus; by his parables, by his language, and by his love. Sometimes it is easier to turn on love and to reject it, and to take the “wide gate” and “broad road”, as we discussed in Bible Breakfast Thursday morning-Matthew 7:13-14. The Palm Sunday liturgy exposes the fickle nature of humanity. It is just this nature Jesus urges us all to resist and reject. The “narrow gate” of discipleship is harder but far more rewarding, Jesus contends. It requires a constant state of reevaluation and discernment. It asks us to put love first, and God at the center.
The disciples asked him, “‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’”; they allowed fear and desperation to obscure all that they had witnessed.
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