Mark 4:35

This miracle which Christ wrought for the relief of his disciples, in stilling the storm, we had before (Mat 8:23, etc.); but it is here more fully related. Observe,

1. It was the same day that he had preached out of a ship, when the even was come, Mar 4:35. When he had been labouring in the word and doctrine all day, instead of reposing himself, he exposeth himself, to teach us not to think of a constant remaining rest till we come to heaven. The end of a toil may perhaps be but the beginning of a toss. But observe, the ship that Christ made his pulpit is taken under his special protection, and, though in danger, cannot sink. What is used for Christ, he will take particular care of.

2. He himself proposed putting to sea at night, because he would lose no time; Let us pass over to the other side; for we shall find, in the next chapter, he has work to do there. Christ went about doing good, and no difficulties in his way should hinder him; thus industrious we should be in serving him, and our generation according to his will.

3. They did not put to sea, till they had sent away the multitude, that is, had given to each of them that which they came for, and answered all their requests; for he sent none home complaining that they had attended him in vain. Or, They sent them away with a solemn blessing; for Christ came into the world, not only to pronounce, but to command, and to give, the blessing.

4. They took him even as he was, that is, in the same dress that he was in when he preached, without any cloak to throw over him, which he ought to have had, to keep him warm, when he went to sea at night, especially after preaching. We must not hence infer that we may be careless of our health, but we may learn hence not to be over nice and solicitous about the body.

5. The storm was so great, that the ship was full of water (Mar 4:37), not by springing a leak, but perhaps partly with the shower, for the word here used signifies a tempest of wind with rain; however, the ship being little, the waves beat into it so that it was full. Note, It is no new thing for that ship to be greatly hurried and endangered, in which Christ and his disciples, Christ and his name and gospel, are embarked.

6. There were with him other little ships, which, no doubt, shared in the distress and danger. Probably, these little ships carried those who were desirous to go along with Christ, for the benefit of his preaching and miracles on the other side. The multitude went away when he put to sea, but some there were, that would venture upon the water with him. Those follow the Lamb aright, that follow him wherever he goes. And those that hope for a happiness in Christ, must be willing to take their lot with him, and run the same risks that he runs. One may boldly and cheerfully put to sea in Christ's company, yea though we foresee a storm.

7. Christ was asleep in this storm; and here we are told that it was in the hinder part of the ship, the pilot's place: he lay at the helm, to intimate that, as Mr. George Herbert expresses it,

When winds and waves assault my keel,

He doth preserve it, he doth steer,

Ev'n when the boat seems most to reel.

Storms are the triumph of his art;

Though he may close his eyes, yet not his heart.

He had a pillow there, such a one as a fisherman's ship would furnish him with. And he slept, to try the faith of his disciples and to stir up prayer: upon the trial, their faith appeared weak, and their prayers strong. Note, Sometimes when the church is in a storm, Christ seems as if he were asleep, unconcerned in the troubles of his people, and regardless of their prayers, and doth not presently appear for their relief. Verily he is a God that hideth himself, Isa 45:15. But as, when he tarries, he doth not tarry (Hab 2:3), so when he sleeps he doth not sleep; the keeper of Israel doth not so much as slumber (Psa 121:3, Psa 121:4); he slept, but his heart was awake, as the spouse, Sol 5:2.

8. His disciples encouraged themselves with their having his presence, and thought it the best way to improve that, and appeal to that, and ply the oar of prayer rather than their other oars. Their confidence lay in this, that they had their Master with them; and the ship that has Christ in it, though it may be tossed, cannot sink; the bush that has God in it, though it may burn, shall not consume. Caesar encouraged the master of the ship, that had him on board, with this, Caesarem vehis, et fortunam Caesaris - Thou hast Caesar on board, and Caesar's fortune. They awoke Christ. Had not the necessity of the case called for it, they would not have stirred up or awoke their Master, till he had pleased (Sol 2:7); but they knew he would forgive them this wrong. When Christ seems as if he slept in a storm, he is awaked by the prayers of his people; when we know not what to do, our eye must be to him (Ch2 20:12); we may be at our wits' end, but not at our faith's end, while we have such a Saviour to go to. Their address to Christ is here expressed very emphatically; Master, carest thou not that we perish? I confess this sounds somewhat harsh, rather like chiding him for sleeping than begging him to awake. I know no excuse for it, but the great familiarity which he was pleased to admit them into, and the freedom he allowed them; and the present distress they were in, which put them into such a fright, that they knew not what they said. They do Christ a deal of wrong, who suspect him to be careless of his people in distress. The matter is not so; he is not willing that any should perish, much less any of his little ones, Mat 18:14.

9. The word of command with which Christ rebuked the storm, we have here, and had not in Matthew, Mar 4:39. He says, Peace, be still - Siōpa,̇pephimōso - be silent, be dumb. Let not the wind any longer roar, nor the sea rage. Thus he stills the noise of the sea, the noise of her waves; a particular emphasis is laid upon the noisiness of them, Psa 65:7, and Psa 93:3, Psa 93:4. The noise is threatening and terrifying; let us hear no more of it. This is, (1.) A word of command to us; when our wicked hearts are like the troubled sea which cannot rest (Isa 57:20); when our passions are up, and are unruly, let us think we hear the law of Christ, saying, Be silent, be dumb. Think not confusedly, speak not unadvisedly; but be still. (2.) A word of comfort to us, that, be the storm of trouble ever so loud, ever so strong, Jesus Christ can lay it with a word's speaking. When without are fightings, and within are fears, and the spirits are in a tumult, Christ can create the fruit of the lips, peace. If he say, Peace, be still, there is a great calm presently. It is spoken of as God's prerogative to command the seas, Jer 31:35. By this therefore Christ proves himself to be God. He that made the seas, can make them quiet.

10. The reproof Christ gave them for their fears, is here carried further than in Matthew. There it is, Why are ye fearful? Here, Why are ye so fearful? Though there may be cause for some fear, yet not for fear to such a degree as this. There it is, O ye of little faith. Here it is, How is it that ye have no faith? Not that the disciples were without faith. No, they believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; but at this time their fears prevailed so that they seemed to have no faith at all. It was out of the way, when they had occasion for it, and so it was as if they had not had it. "How is it, that in this matter ye have no faith, that ye think I would not come in with seasonable and effectual relief?" Those may suspect their faith, who can entertain such a thought as that Christ careth not though his people perish, and Christ justly takes it ill.

Lastly, The impression this miracle made upon the disciples, is here differently expressed. In Matthew it is said, The men marvelled; here it is said, They feared greatly. They feared a great fear; so the original reads it. Now their fear was rectified by their faith. When they feared the winds and the seas, it was for want of the reverence they ought to have had for Christ. But now that they saw a demonstration of his power over them, they feared them less, and him more. They feared lest they had offended Christ by their unbelieving fears; and therefore studied now to give him honour. They had feared the power and wrath of the Creator in the storm, and that fear had torment and amazement in it; but now they feared the power and grace of the Redeemer in the calm; they feared the Lord and his goodness, and it had pleasure and satisfaction in it, and by it they gave glory to Christ, as Jonah's mariners, who, when the sea ceased from her raging, feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, Jon 1:16. This sacrifice they offered to the honour of Christ; they said, What manner of man is this? Surely more than a man, for even the winds and the seas obey him.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mar_4:35-41

And the same day, when the even was come, He saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.

In the storm

I. The influence of danger it caused the disciples to doubt the care of Christ. Why is it we doubt the Lord in seasons of danger?

1. Imperfect knowledge of the Lord.

2. Natural impatience.

3. Satanic temptations.

II. The folly of suspicion. It is groundless. The truth is ratified, that God will not leave us to perish. Were it not stated in such plain terms, we might infer as much from-

1. Gods former dealings with ourselves and others.

2. The known character of the Lord.

3. The relationship in which we stand to Him.

III. The secret of tranquility.

1. Meditation.

2. Prayer.

3. Resignation.

IV. The blessedness of holy confidence.

1. It honours God.

2. It blesses our own souls afterward.

If the record had run thus, And there arose a great storm, etc., but the disciples, believing their Master would not suffer them to perish, watched Him until He awoke. And when Jesus arose, He said, Great is your faith; and He saved them, what joy would the memory have brought to their hearts in later years!

3. Hereby we obtain more speedy relief. Unbelief causes God to delay or deny (Mat_13:58). (R. A. Griffin.)

A great storm and a great calm

I. The first aspect of Christs life presented to us in this wonderful passage of Scripture is His weariness.

1. It arose from incessant labour.

2. It arose from laborious work.

II. The second aspect of Christs life brought before us is his rest. We regard this sleeping of Christ-

1. As an evidence of His humanity.

2. As an evidence of His trustfulness. He cast Himself upon His Fathers care, and was not afraid of Galilees stormy lake.

3. As an evidence of His goodness. He slept like one who had a good conscience.

III. But all too soon was the best of Christ disturbed. And they awoke Him. How often was Christs repose disturbed! Three things led to the disturbance of Christs rest:

1. A sudden and violent storm.

2. The danger of the disciples.

3. The fears of the disciples.

IV. Then followed a glorious manifestation of the power of Christ.

1. It was manifested in His authority over nature.

2. It was manifested in His rebuke of the disciples.

3. It was manifested in His evident superiority of character.

What manner of man is this? He is the God-Man, who stands equal with God on the high level of Deity, and equal with man on the low level of humanity. He that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father. (Joseph Hughes.)

A picture of the Christian life

This narrative is a touching picture of the Christian life. Following its leadings; we contemplate the Christian life in its beginning, in its progress, in its issue.

I. The beginning of the Christian life. We go out on the waves of life and have Christ for our leader in the days of our childhood; that is, where we have the blessing of Christian parents and teachers, etc. Oh happy years of childlike faith! How merciless they who could rob us of this faith. What have they to offer in its place? No; we will not be robbed of it. In its nature and essence this childlike faith is true and unchangeable; but the garment by which it is covered, the veil it carries over it, must be torn off. The childlike faith receives the Saviour in the only vessel in which the child can receive the Divine-in the vessel of the feelings. In manhood we have another vessel in which we can receive Him-the vessel of the understanding. Not that we should loose Him from the vessel of the feelings as we become men, but that our manhood should receive Him into the understanding as well as into the heart. Our childlike faith has seen the Saviour as the little ship of life glided over the smooth waters; it has not yet learnt to know Him in the storm and the tempest. It has known Him in His kindness and love; He is not yet revealed in His wisdom and power.

II. The beginning of life passes by, and in the progress of life Christ slumbers in the soul, and is awakened by the storm. That beautiful childlike sense of faith slumbers-not universally, for there have been favoured souls in whom Christ has never slumbered, who have retained their childish faith to their ripe manhood. It is otherwise in times of conflict like these. It seems that in these troubled times, this childlike faith must apparently die, i.e., must throw off its veil when the storm rages, and rises in a new form. Even on the sacred floor of the church the young Christian finds doubt, strife, and disunion, and he doubts. The Lord awakes, and says, …Canst thou believe? and we answer, …Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief. There is faith still, though doubt may be ever so strong; there is still an anchor firmly fastened in the sanctuary of the breast. Faith slumbers, but is not dead.

III. That will be the issue if, instead of yielding, you wrestle. As you have known the Saviour earlier in His kindness and love, you will come to know Him in His wisdom and power. Life is a conflict. Some trifle with life; with them it is like playing with soap bubbles. They have never looked the doubt earnestly in the face, to say nothing of the truth. God will not send the noblest of His gifts to laggards: the door of truth closed against those who would willingly enter is a solemn thought (Mat_25:10-11). (Dr. Tholuch.)

The disciples in the storm

I. In the storm while prosecuting the Saviours command-teaching.

1. Implicit obedience does not exempt from trials. Joseph, David, Daniel, St. Paul, etc.

2. Trials are not always punitive, but always disciplinary. This trial was a test both in respect to faith and works.

(a) Will they believe that they will be saved?

(b) Will they go on in their line of duty?

II. In the story while Jesus was with them.

1. Jesus was exposed to the same fury of the tempest, and to the same upheavals of the angry waves.

(a) Was there ever a storm in which Jesus was absent from His disciples?

2. Though with His disciples, He was fast asleep.

(a) A symbol of what frequently occurs. Let every disciple remember that a sleeping Christ is not a dead Christ.

(b) Though asleep, He has not forgotten His disciples.

III. In the storm while Jesus was with them and yet they had to cry to Him for deliverance.

1. Prayer is the disciples privilege and duty at all times, especially in times of trial and peril.

2. The prayer that arises from a believing heart can never go unanswered.

IV. Is the storm delivered from the storm in answer to prayer.

1. Christs Divine power was not affected by physical fatigue.

2. Jesus, touched by the cry of His disciples, wields a power before which nothing can stand.

V. Deliverance from the storm a grand moral power.

1. It exercised a moral power, awakening deeper reverence for Christ as Messiah.

2. Awakening greater awe for Christ as the Son of God. (D. G. Hughes, M. A.)

Gods storms

They only measure Christ aright, who are forced to carry to Him some great grief, and find by experience He is great enough to save them. It is when men have weighed Him in the balances of some great necessity, and found Him not wanting, that they believe in Him. So the disciples are sent to school. Storm and danger are for the night to be their schoolmasters, bringing them to Christ, not with wonder or service merely, but with suppliant prayers. So starting, they get on their journey a little way, hoping, I suppose, that an hour and a half will see them comfortably across; when lo! this gale breaks on them with the fury of a wild beast. They are stunned with its suddenness. Doubtless in an instant the sail is lowered, oars are shipped, and carefully keeping head to wind or giving way before it, they seek to avoid getting broadside on to the waves in the dangerous trough of the sea. It is touching to see how they shrink from waking Him. Pitiful for His weariness, reverent to His dignity, they run every risk they dare before presuming to disturb Him. Yet how confused they must have felt. A sleeping Christ seems a contradiction. If Saviour of men, why does He not rise to save Himself and them? If He is ignorant of the storm, and about to be drowned, how came His mighty works? Such is life! The sea calm-gleam of setting sun or rising stars reflected on the limpid surface; no occasion of solicitude disturbs the heart, and you are making good progress to some haven of rest, when suddenly a storm of cares overwhelms the soul, and so batters and agitates it that it is like to be drowned beneath their weight; or a storm of grief rises from some bereavement, and threatens to overwhelm all faith or hope in God; or a storm of temptation assails and seems to make goodness impossible, and ruin inevitable. And still Christ seems asleep. It seems as if He must be either ignorant or indifferent, and you do not know which of the two conclusions is sadder to come to. Murmur not. Others have been in storms, and thought the Saviour listless; but He is never beyond the call of faith. (R. Glover.)

Christ in the storm

It is, then, no freak of fancy to see in this narrative an acted parable, if you will, an acted prophecy. Again and again the Church of Christ has been all but engulfed, as men might have deemed, in the billows; again and again the storm has been calmed by the Master, who had seemed for awhile to sleep.

I. Often has Christianity passed through the troubled waters of political opposition. During the first three centuries, and finally under Julian, the heathen State made repeated and desperate attempts to suppress it by force. Statesmen and philosophers undertook the task of eradicating it, not passionately, but in the same temper of calm resolution with which they would have approached any other well-considered social problem. More than once they drove it from the army, from the professions, from the public thoroughfares, into secrecy; they pursued it into the vaults beneath the palaces of Rome, into the catacombs, into the deserts. It seemed as if the faith would be trodden out with the life of so many of the faithful: but he who would persecute with effect must leave none alive. The Church passed through these fearful storms into the calm of an ascertained supremacy; but she had scarcely done so, when the vast political and social system which had so long oppressed her, and which by her persistent suffering she had at length made in some sense her own, itself began to break up beneath and around her. The barbarian invasions followed one upon another with merciless rapidity; and St. Augustines lamentations upon the sack of Rome express the feelings with which the higher minds in the Church must have beheld the completed humiliation of the Empire. Christianity had now to face, not merely a change of civil rulers, but a fundamental reconstruction of society. It might have been predicted with great appearance of probability that a religious system which had suited the enervated provincials of the decaying empire would never make its way among the free and strong races that, amid scenes of fire and blood, were laying the foundations of feudalism. In the event it was otherwise. The hordes which shattered the work of the Caesars learnt to repeat the Catholic Creed, and a new order of things had formed itself, when the tempest of Mahomedanism broke upon Christendom. Politically speaking, this was perhaps the most threatening storm through which the Christian Church has passed. There was a time when the soldiers of that stunted and immoral caricature of the Revelation of the One True God, which was set forth by the false prophet, had already expelled the very Name of Christ from the country of Cyprian and Augustine; they were masters of the Mediterranean; they had desolated Spain, were encamped in the heart of France, were ravaging the seaboard of Italy. It was as if the knell of Christendom had sounded. But Christ, if asleep on a pillow in the hinder part of the ship, was not insensible to the terrors of His servants. He rose to rebuke those winds and waves, as by Charles Martel in one age, and by Sobieski in another; it is now more than two centuries since Islam inspired its ancient dread. The last like trial of the Church was the first French Revolution. In that vast convulsion Christianity had to encounter forces which for awhile seemed to threaten its total suppression. Yet the men of the Terror have passed, as the Caesars had passed before them; and like the Caesars, they have only proved to the world that the Church carries within her One who rules the fierce tempests in which human institutions are wont to perish.

II. Political dangers, however, do but touch the Church of Christ outwardly; but she rests upon the intelligent assent of her children, and she has passed again and again through the storms of intellectual opposition or revolt. Scarcely had she steered forth from the comparatively still waters of Galilean and Hellenistic devotion than she had to encounter the pitiless dialectic, the subtle solvents, of the Alexandrian philosophy. It was as if in anticipation of this danger that St. John had already baptized the Alexandrian modification of the Platonic Loges, moulding it so as to express the sublimest and most central truth of the Christian Creed; while, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, Alexandrian methods of interpretation had been adopted in vindication of the gospel. But to many a timid believer it may well have seemed that Alexandrianism would prove the grave of Christianity, when, combining the Platonic dialectics with an Eclectic Philosophy, it endeavoured in the form of Arianism to break up the Unity of the Godhead by making Christ a separate and inferior Deity. There was a day when Arianism seemed to be triumphant; but even Arianism was a less formidable foe than the subtle strain of infidel speculation which penetrated the Christian intellect in the very heart of the Middle Ages, that is to say, at a time when the sense of the supernatural had diffused itself throughout the whole atmosphere of human thought. This unbelief was the product sometimes of a rude sensuality rebelling against the precepts of the gospel; sometimes of the culture divorced from faith which made its appearance in the twelfth century; sometimes, specifically, of the influence of the Arabian philosophy from Spain; sometimes of the vast and penetrating activity of the Jewish teachers. It revealed itself constantly under the most unexpected circumstances. We need not suppose that the great Order of the Templars was guilty of the infidelity that along with crimes of the gravest character, was laid to their charge; a study of their processes is their best acquittal, while it is the condemnation of their persecutors. But unbelief must; have been widespread in days when a prominent soldier, John of Soissons, could declare that all that was preached concerning Christs Passion and Resurrection was a mere farce; when a pious bishop of Paris left it on record that he died believing in the Resurrection, with the hope that some of his educated but sceptical friends would reconsider their doubts; when that keen observer, as Neander terms him, Hugh of St. Victor, remarks the existence of a large class of men whose faith consisted in nothing else than merely taking care not to contradict the faith-quibus credere est solum fidei non contradicere, qui consuetudine vivendi magis, quam virtute credendi fideles nominantur. The prevalence of such unbelief is attested at once by the fundamental nature of many of the questions discussed at the greatest length by the Schoolmen, and by the unconcealed anxieties of the great spiritual leaders of the time. After the Middle Ages came the Renaissance. This is not the time or place to deny the services which the Renaissance has rendered to the cause of human education, and indirectly, it may be, to that of Christianity. But the Renaissance was at first, as it appeared in Italy, a pure enthusiasm for Paganism, for Pagan thought, as well as for Pagan art and Pagan literature. And the Reformation, viewed on its positive and devotional side, was, at least in the South of Europe, a reaction against the spirit of the Renaissance: it was the Paganism, even more than the indulgences of Leo X, which alienated the Germans. The reaction against this Paganism was not less vigorous within the Church of Rome than without it; Ranke has told us the story of its disappearance. Lastly, there was the rise of Deism in England, and of the Encyclopedist School in France, followed by the pure Atheism which preceded the Revolution. It might well have seemed to fearful men of that day that Christ was indeed asleep to wake no more, that the surging waters of an infidel philosophy had well-nigh filled the ship, and that the Church had only to sink with dignity.

III. Worse than the storms of political violence or of intellectual rebellion, have been the tempests of insurgent immorality through which the Church has passed. In the ages of persecution there was less risk of this, although even then there were scandals. The Epistles to the Corinthians reveal beneath the very eyes of the Apostle a state of moral corruption, which, in one respect at least, he himself tells us, had fallen below the Pagan standard. But when entire populations pressed within the fold, and social or political motives for conformity took the place of serious and strong conviction in the minds of multitudes, these dangers became formidable. What must have been the agony of devout Christians in the tenth century, when appointments to the Roman Chair itself were in the hands of three unprincipled and licentious women; and when the life of the first Christian bishop was accounted such that a pilgrimage to Rome involved a loss of character. Well might the austere Bruno exclaim of that age that Simon Magus lorded it over a Church in which bishops and priests were given to luxury and fornication: well might Cardinal Baronius suspend the generally laudatory or apologetic tone of his Annals, to observe that Christ must have in this age been asleep in the ship of the Church to permit such enormities. It was a dark time in the moral life of Christendom: but there have been dark times since. Such was that when St. Bernard could allow himself to describe the Roman Curia as he does in addressing Pope Eugenius III; such again was the epoch which provoked the work of Nicholas de Cleargis, On the Ruin of the Church. The passions, the ambitions, the worldly and political interests which surged around the Papal throne, had at length issued in the schism of Avignon; and the writer passionately exclaims that the Church had fallen proportionately to her corruptions, which he enumerates with an unsparing precision. During the century which preceded the Reformation, the state of clerical discipline in London was such as to explain the vehemence of popular reaction; and if in the last century there was an absence of grossness, such as had prevailed in previous ages, there was a greater absence of spirituality. Says Bishop Butler, charging the clergy of the Diocese of Durham in 1751-As different ages have been distinguished by different sorts of particular errors and vices, the deplorable distinction of ours is an avowed scorn of religion in some, and a growing disregard to it in the generality. That disregard, being in its essence moral, would hardly have been arrested by the cultivated reasoners, who were obliged to content themselves with deistic premises in their defenses of Christianity: it did yield to the fervid appeals of Whitefield and of Wesley. With an imperfect idea of the real contents and genius of the Christian Creed, and with almost no idea at all of its majestic relations to history and to thought, these men struck a chord for which we may well be grateful. They awoke Christ, sleeping in the conscience of England; they were the real harbingers of a day brighter than their own.

IV. For if the question be asked, how the Church of Christ has surmounted these successive dangers, the answer is, by the appeal of prayer. She has cried to her Master, who is ever in the ship, though, as it may seem, asleep upon a pillow. The appeal has often been made impatiently, even violently, as on the waves of Gennesaret, but it has not been made in vain. It has not been by policy, or good sense, or considerations of worldly prudence, but by a renewal in very various ways of the first fresh Christian enthusiasm which flows from the felt presence of Christ, that political enemies have been baffled, and intellectual difficulties reduced to their true dimensions, and moral sores extirpated or healed. Christianity does thus contain within itself the secret of its perpetual youth, the certificate of its indestructible vitality; because it centres in, it is inseparable from, devotion to a living Person. No ideal lacking a counterpart in fact could have guided the Chinch across the centuries. Imagination may do much in quiet and prosperous times; but amid the storms of hostile prejudice and passion, in presence of political vicissitudes or of intellectual onslaughts, or of moral rebellion or decay, an unreal Saviour must be found out. A Christ upon paper, though it were the sacred pages of the gospel, would have been as powerless to save Christendom as a Christ in fresco; not less feeble than the Countenance which, in the last stages of its decay, may be traced on the wall of the Refectory at Milan. A living Christ is the key to the phenomenon of Christian history. The subject suggests, among others, two reflections in particular. And, first, it is a duty to be on our guard against, panics. Panics are the last infirmity of believing souls. But panics are to be deprecated, not because they imply a keen interest in the fortunes of religion, but because they betray a certain distrust of the power and living presence of our Lord. Science may for the moment be hostile; in the long run it cannot but befriend us. And He who is with us in the storm is most assuredly beyond the reach of harm: to be panic stricken is to dishonour Him. A second reflection is this: a time of trouble and danger is the natural season for generous devotion. To generous minds a time of trouble has its own attractions. It enables a man to hope, with less risk of presumption, that his motives are sincere; it fortifies courage; it suggests self-distrust; it enriches character; it invigorates faith. (Canon Liddon.)

The Ruler of the waves

I. That following Christ will not prevent our having earthly sorrows and troubles.

II. That the Lord Jesus Christ is truly and really man.

III. That there may be much weakness and infirmity in a true Christian. Master, carest Thou not that we perish?

1. There was impatience.

2. There was distrust.

3. There was unbelief. Many of Gods children go on very well so long as they have no trials.

IV. The power of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. His power in creation.

2. In the works of providence.

3. In His miracles. Christ is able to save to the uttermost (Heb_7:25).

V. How tenderly and patiently the Lord Jesus deals with weak believers. The Lord Jesus is of tender mercy. He will not cast away His believing people because of shortcomings. (J. C. Ryle, M. A.)

The hurricane

I. That when you are going to take a voyage of any kind you ought to have Christ in the ship. These boats would all have gone to the bottom if Christ had not been there. You are about to voyage out into some new enterprise; you are bound to do the best you can for yourself; be sure to take Christ in the ship. Here are men largely prospered. They are not puffed up. They acknowledge God who gives them their prosperity. When disaster comes that destroys others, they are only helped into higher experiences. Christ is in the ship. Here are other men, the prey of uncertainties. In the storm of sickness you will want Christ.

II. That people who follow Christ must not always expect smooth sailing. If there are any people who you would think ought to have a good time in getting out of this world, the apostles of Jesus Christ ought to have been the men. Have you ever noticed how they got out of the world? St. James lost his head. St. Philip was hung to death against a pillar. Matthew was struck to death by a halberd. Mark was dragged to death through the streets. St. James the Less had his brains dashed out with a fullers club. St. Matthias was stoned to death. St. Thomas was struck through with a spear. John Huss in the fire, the Albigenses, the Waldenses, the Scotch Covenanters-did they always find smooth sailing? Why go so far? There is a young man in a store in New York who has a hard time to maintain his Christian character. All the clerks laugh at him, the employers in that store laugh at him, and when he loses his patience they say: You are a pretty Christian. Not so easy is it for that young man to follow Christ. If the Lord did not help him hour by hour he would fail.

III. That good people sometimes get very much frightened. And so it is now that you often find good people wildly agitated. Oh! says some Christian man, the infidel magazines, the bad newspapers, the spiritualistic societies, the importation of so many foreign errors, the Church of God is going to be lost, the ship is going to founder! The ship is going down! What are you frightened about? An old lion goes into his cavern to take a sleep, and he lies down until his shaggy mane covers his paws. Meanwhile, the spiders outside begin to spin webs over the mouth of his cavern, and say, That lion cannot break out through this web, and they keep on spinning the gossamer threads until they get the mouth of the cavern covered over. Now, they say, the lions done, the lions done. After awhile the lion awakes and shakes himself, and he walks out from the cavern, never knowing there were any spiders webs, and with his voice he shakes the mountain. Let the infidels and the sceptics of this day go on spinning their webs, spinning their infidel gossamer theories, spinning them all over the place where Christ seems to be sleeping. They say: Christ can never again come out; the work is done; He can never get through this logical web we have been spinning. The day will come when the Lion of Judahs tribe will rouse Himself and come forth and shake mightily the nations. What then all your gossamer threads? What is a spiders web to an aroused lion? Do not fret, then, about the worlds going backward. It is going forward.

IV. That Christ can hush the tempest. Christ can hush the tempest of bereavement, loss and death. (Dr. Talmage.)

The toiling Christ

I. Point out some of the significant hints which the gospel records give us of the toilsomeness of Christs service. In St. Matthews Gospel the idea of the king is prominent; in St. Marks, Christ as a servant. Notice the traits of His service which it brings out.

1. How distinctly it gives the impression of swift, strenuous work. Marks favourite word is straightway, immediately, forthwith, anon. His whole story is a picture of rapid acts of mercy and love.

2. We see in Christs service, toil prolonged to the point of actual physical exhaustion. So in this story. He had had a long wearying day of work. He had spoken the whole of the parables concerning the kingdom of God. No wonder He slept.

3. We see in Christ toil that puts aside the claims of physical wants. The multitude cometh together again so that they could not so much as eat bread.

4. We see in Christs service a love which is at every mans beck and call, a toil cheerfully rendered at the most unreasonable and unseasonable times.

II. The springs of this wonderful activity. There are three points which come out in the Gospels as His motives for such unresting toil. The first is conveyed in such words as these: I must work the works of Him that sent Me. This motive made the service homogeneous-in all the variety of service one spirit was expressed, and therefore the service was one. The second motive of His toil is expressed in such words as these: While I am in the world I am the light of the world. There is a final motive expressed in such words as these: And Jesus, moved with compassion, etc. The constant pity of that beating heart moved the diligent hand.

III. The worth of this toil for us. How precious a proof it is of Christs humanity. Labour is a curse till made a blessing by communion with God in it.

1. Task all your capacity and use every minute in doing the thing that is plainly set before you.

2. The possible harmony of communion and service. The labour did not break His fellowship with God.

3. The cheerful, constant postponement of our own ease, wishes, or pleasure, to the call of the Fathers voice.

4. It is an appeal to our grateful hearts. (Dr. McLaren.)

The great calm

He maketh the storm a calm. The calm then is the voice of God.

1. Of power.

2. Of love.

3. Of peace.

4. Of warning. No earthly calm lasts.

I. The inner calm. In every soul there has been storm. It rages through the whole being. But Jesus is the stiller of this storm in man.

1. In his conscience.

2. In his heart.

3. In his intellect.

II. The future calm for earth. In every aspect ours is a stormy world. But its day of calm is coming. Jesus will say to it, Peace, be still.

1. As a Prophet.

2. As a Priest.

3. As a King, to give the calm of heaven. (H. Sonar, D. D.)

Peace, be still!

No words can exaggerate the value and importance of a calm mind. It is the basis of almost everything which is good. Well-ordered reflections, meditation, influence, wise speech-all embosom themselves in a calm mind. Yet a state of agitation is with many the rule of life. Consider Jesus as the stiller of the heart. He was most eminently a still character. The greatest force of energy and the largest activity of mind and body are not only compatible with stillness, but they go to make it. The persons of the largest power and the most telling action are generally the quietest. They may owe it to discipline and drill-and perhaps Christ Himself did-but they show themselves reined in and well-ordered. Just as it was in the lake: the wind and the waves went before, and, so to speak, subdued and made the calm. The placidity of a fiery and passionate nature is the best of foundations for all quietness. And this may be a thought of strength and encouragement to some. The more resolute the will, and the more violent the passion, the more complete may be the victory, and the more imperturbable the temper, if only grace do its proper work. Want of religious peace lies at the root of all that is trouble to the mind. A man at peace with God will be at peace with his own conscience, with the world; he will not have his feelings greatly aggravated by external things. You wont be much disturbed by anything if you feel and when you feel-My Father! My Father! Jesus is mine, and I am His! Next, if you will be calm, make pictures to yourself of all calm things-in nature, in history, in people you know, and above all, in Christ. Take care that yon do this at the moment when you begin to feel the temptation to disturbance. But still more realize at such times Christs presence. Is not He with you?-is not He in you?-and can restless, miserable, burning feelings dare to live in such a tenement? Let the fiercest thought touch Him, and by a strange fascination, it will clothe itself, and lie at His feet. And, fourthly, recognize it as the very office and prerogative of Christ to give quietness. And if He gives this, who then can make trouble! The disciples were more amazed at this triumph of Christ over the elements, with which they were so familiar in their sea life, than at all His other miracles. And it is not too much for me to say that you will never know what Jesus is, or what that word Saviour means, until you have felt in that heart of yours-which was once so troubled, so heaving, so tossed, and so ill at ease-all the depth and the calm, and all the beauty and the hush which He has given you. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)

Consult the chart in fine as well as in stormy weather

Let us not be like that captain of whom we lately heard, who having a true and correct chart in his cabin, failed to consult it while the weather was calm, but went below to look for it only when the wind and tide had drifted his barque upon the bar, and so, with his eyes upon the course he should have steered, felt the shock which in a few moments sent them down into the abyss. Our souls are like a ship upon the deep, and as we sail over the waves of life, we must, like wary mariners, take the hints given us in our nature. If we see on the horizon a cloud of some possible temptation no bigger than a mans hand, though all else be bright and clear-if we hear but the first blast of some probable sin hurtling in the farthest caverns of our life-we must beware, for in that speck, in that distant howl may couch a tempest ready to spring up and leap down upon our souls. Above all we should always have Christ aboard with us; we should have Him formed within us as our hope of glory; under His ensign we should sail, as our only hope of reaching that haven for which we are making. (W. B. Philpot, M. A.)

Utilizing Christs presence

Too many Christians-nay, almost all of us at too many times, though we have Christ with us, do not profit by His presence nor enjoy Him as we ought. We should not only have Christ, but, having Him, ah why have we not that faith, that assurance of faith, that full assurance of faith, which can realize and utilize His presence? (W. B. Philpot, M. A.)

Christ and His disciples in the storm

I. The apostles were not exempted from danger because they were the attendants of Christ. Believers, look for storms!

II. While the apostles were exposed to the storm, they had Christ along with them in the vessel.

III. The conduct of Christ during the storm was remarkable and instructive. He was asleep.

IV. The feelings and conduct of the disciples during the storm are strongly illustrative of human character. Their faith was tried. They were afraid. They apply to Christ. Prayer not always the language of faith.

V. The effect of this application of the disciples to Christ. He answered their prayer, though their faith was weak. He thus revealed His Divine power. He unveiled His ordinary agency.

VI. Christ, with the blessing, administers a rebuke. Mark your conduct under trials. VII. The disciples came out of the trial with increased admiration of Christ. (Expository Discourses.)

Christ asleep in the vessel

I. The apparent indifference of the Lord to His people.

II. It is only apparent.

III. He has a real care for them at times when He seems indifferent.

IV. They shall see this to be the case by and by. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Trust in God often the last extremity

While a small steam packet was crossing a stormy bay, the engine suddenly stopped, and for a few minutes the situation was one of real peril. One old lady rushed to the captain with the anxious inquiry whether there was any danger. Madam, was the uncompromising reply, we must trust in God. O sir! wailed the inquirer, has it come to that? A good many Christians feel like that in times of peril; they are willing to trust in everything-except God. There are some children, who are afraid that a thunderstorm is about to burst over them every time a cloud gathers in the sky; and if the sky is cloudless, they are certain that it is only the calm before the storm. They can always see the coming storms, but cannot trust the goodness that sends them.

Help in answer to prayer

A fishing boat was struggling for life out on the sea, and the skipper had lost all knowledge of where the land was, and whither his boat was driving. In his despair, the strong man cried to God for help. Just then a little beam from a window light shone over the waters; the boats prow was turned, and after a little more manful fighting, she reached the haven. Was not that gleam of light Gods answer to the skippers prayer? A missionary was returning home, and just as he was nearing the coasts of his country, a terrible storm came on, and threatened to break the ship in pieces. The missionary went below, and prayed to God earnestly for the safety of the ship. Presently he came up and told the captain with quiet confidence that the ship would live through the storm. Captain and crew jeered at him; they did not believe it. Yet the ship came safely to port. Was the missionary wrong when he saw in this an instance of Gods readiness to give the help His children ask?

Distrust rebuked by Gods constant care

Every miracle of Gods grace is a standing rebuke of distrust. What if your child, whom you had fed and clothed and housed for years, should begin to be anxious as to where his next meal or his next suit of clothes was to come from, and whether he could be sure of having a roof over his head for another night? What if he still persisted in his distrust, although you told him that you would take care of all these things? If you can imagine your child acting in so foolish a way, you have a picture of how most of us, day after day, treat the God who cares for us, and who has promised to supply us with all things.

Other little ships

Those other little ships gained a great deal that day from Christs saying, Peace be still! which we do not discover that anybody was candid enough to acknowledge. The whole sea became tranquil, and they were saved. The world receives many unappreciated benefits from Jesus Christs presence in the Church. Men are just so many little ships, taking entire benefit of the miracle brought from Gods great love for His own. Start with the commonest gain that comes to the world through the Church.

1. See how property values are lifted by every kind of Christian effort.

2. See what the gospel does towards lifting a low and depraved neighbourhood into respectability.

3. See how it enriches education.

4. See how it elevates woman.

5. See how it alleviates sickness. There is no need of pursuing the illustration any farther.

But there are just three lessons which will take force from the figure, perhaps;. and these might as well be stated.

1. Why do not men of the world recognize what the Church of Christ is doing daily and yearly for them, their wives, and their children?

2. Why do not men of the world see that the men in the other little ships were the safer from the storm the nearer their boats were to that Jesus was in?

3. Why do not men of the world perceive that the disciples were better off than anybody else during that awful night upon Gennesareth? Oh, that is the safest place in the universe for any troubled soul to be in-among the chosen friends of Jesus Christ the Lord, and keeping the very closest to His side! (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)

Christ the Lord of nature

Nature, in the sense in which we now use it, means the world of matter, and the laws of its working. If Holy Scripture be listened to, He is so of right. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. God created all things by Jesus Christ. There is no lordship like that of creation. Christ in the days of His flesh actually gave proof of His lordship on earth.

1. There is a class of miracles which had their place in what we may call productive nature; in those processes which have to do with the supply of food for mans life. Wine made at Cana; feeding of the five thousand; feeding of the four thousand.

2. There is a class of miracles proving the dominion of Christ over animated nature. The draught of fishes on the sea of Tiberias; the piece of money in the fishs mouth.

3. We have examples of the sovereignty of Christ over elemental nature, air, and sea.

4. We have an example of Christs sovereignty in the domain of morbid nature, disease and decay-the fig tree dried up from the roots.

Christ the Lord of nature.

1. It was necessary that the Son of God coming down from heaven for the redemption of men should prove Himself to be very God by many infallible and irresistible signs. It was in mercy as well as in wisdom that He gave this demonstration.

2. It could scarcely be but that He should as Son of God assert below His dominion over Gods creation, and over the processes of Gods providence.

3. Let us be careful how we speak of miracles, such as these, as if they were contradictions of Gods natural laws, or contradictions of Gods providential operations. When Christ wrought a miracle upon nature it was to give a glimpse of some good thing lost, of some perfect thing deteriorated, of some joyous thing spoilt, by reason of the Fall, and to be given back to man by virtue of redemption.

4. In these miracles which attest the sovereignty of Christ over nature we have one of the surest grounds of comfort for Christian souls.

(1) In their literal sense, to regard Him as sovereign of the universe in which they dwell.

(2) In their parabolic significance as stilling the inward storm.

5. There is also warning for the careless and sinful. Upon His blessing or curse depends all that makes existence a happiness or misery. The agencies of nature as of grace are in the hands of Christ. (C. J. Vaughan, D. D.)

Christ asleep

There is a very great spiritual importance in the fact that Jesus sleeps. In this sleep of Jesus, a very great mistake into which we are apt to fall is corrected or prevented; the mistake, I mean, of silently assuming that Christ, being Divine, takes nothing as we do, and is really not under our human conditions far enough to suffer exhaustions of nature by work or by feeling, by hunger, the want of sleep, dejections or recoils of wounded sensibility. Able to do even miracles-to heal the sick, or cure the blind, or raise the dead, or still the sea-we fall into the impression that His works really cost Him nothing, and that while His lot appears to be outwardly dejected, He has, in fact, an easy time of it. Exactly contrary to this, He feels it, even when virtue goes out only from the hem of His garment. And when He gives the word of healing, it is a draft, we know not how great, upon His powers. In the same way every sympathy requires all expenditure of strength proportioned to the measure of that sympathy. Every sort of tension, or attention, every argument, teaching, restraint of patience, concern of charity, is a putting forth with cost to Him, as it is to us. Notice also more particularly the conditions or bestowments of the sleep of Jesus and especially their correspondence with His redemptive undertaking. Saying nothing of infants, who in a certain proper sense are called innocent, there have been two examples of full-grown innocent sleep in our world: that of Adam in the garden, and that of Christ the second Adam, whose nights overtook Him with no place where to bestow Himself. And the sleep of both, different as far as possible in the manner, is yet more exactly appropriate, in each, to his peculiar work and office. One is laid to sleep in a paradise of beauty, lulled by the music of birds and running brooks, shaded and sheltered by the over-hanging trees, shortly to wake and look upon a kindred nature standing by, offered him to be the partner and second life of his life. The other, as pure and spotless as he, and ripe, as he is not, in the unassailable righteousness of character, tears Himself away from clamorous multitudes that crowd upon Him suing piteously for His care, and drops, even out of miracle itself, on the hard plank deck, or bottom, of a fishermans boat, and there, in lightning and thunder and tempest, sheeted as it were in the general wrath of the waters and the air, He sleeps-only to wake at the supplicating touch of fear and distress. One is the sleep of the worlds Father; the other that of the worlds Redeemer. One has never known as yet the way of sin, the other has come into the tainted blood and ruin of it, to bear and suffer under it, and drink the cup it mixes; so to still the storm and be a reconciling peace. Both sleep in character. Were the question raised which of the two will be crucified, we should have no doubt. Visibly, the toil-worn Jesus, He that takes the storm, curtained in it as by the curse-He is the Redeemer. His sleep agrees with His manger birth, His poverty, His agony, His cross; and what is more, as the cross that is maddening in His enemies is the retributive disorder of Gods just penalty following their sin, so the fury of that night shadows it all the more fitly, that what He encounters in it is the wrathful cast of Providence. (Dr. Bushnell.)

The ship of the world

In one of the prophets we have the picture of a stately ship which is a type of the world. She is all splendour and magnificence; she walks the waters like a thing of life. The fir trees of Senir and the cedars of Lebanon have contributed to her beauty; her oars are wrought from the oaks of Bashan, her sails are of fine linen and broidered work. She has a gay and gallant crew; the multitudes who throng her decks are full of joy and thoughtless of danger. Out they sail into the great waters; her rowers bring her into the midst of the sea; and when the east wind rises she is broken in the midst, and lies a helpless wreck upon the great ocean of eternity. There was no Christ in the ship to say, Peace, be still; no pitying Jesus to answer the bitter cry of Lord, save us, we perish. But not so was it with the little fisher boat. It had no pomp and vanities of which to boast, no tinselled splendour; but it carried Jesus and His fortunes-One who could rebuke the waves of sin. The world, wanting Christ, wanted all things else and was lost; the Church, with Christ in the ship, had nothing more to ask; it was sure to be saved with His Peace, be still. (G. F. Cushman, D. D.)

The strange inquiry concerning fear

What we could understand well enough was a mystery to Christ. In our glibness we could have explained their fear clearly. The lake was sixty fathoms deep; stoutest swimmer could not have saved his life in such a sea; some were married men; life is sweet; a storm is more terrible by night than day; and so on. But what is all plain to everyone was a mystery Christ could not solve. How a doubt of the love of God could enter a soul passed His comprehension. Why men should be afraid of the Divine ordinance called death, He could not understand. What fear was, He knew not. What a proof of Divine sanctity lies in the fact that all fear and doubt were mysteries to Him! (R. Glover.)

From one fear to another

I. They escaped one fear, only to get into another; losing the fear of the tempest, they get a greater fear, that of the Lord of the tempest.

II. They lose a bad fear to get a good one-a fear which is reverent, and one which has as much trust as awe in it. Such fear is the beginning of faith in Christs Godhead. (R. Glover.)

.

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 4:35-41. The same day, when the even was come — See note on Mat 8:18. They took him even as he was in the ship — They carried him immediately, in the same vessel from which he had been preaching to the people. And there arose a great storm — See note on Mat 8:23-27. He was asleep in the hinder part of the ship — So we translate the words επι τη πρυμνη, for want of a proper English expression for that particular part of the vessel near the rudder, on which he lay. Peace — Cease thy tossing; be still — Cease thy roaring. The Greek word, πεφιμωσο, is, literally, Be thou gagged.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES

Mar_4:39. Arose.—Awoke. Peace, be still.—Be silent! Be muzzled! Mark alone preserves these words, which were doubtless addressed to “the prince of the power of the air,” by whose agency the storm had arisen.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Mar_4:35-41

(PARALLELS: Mat_8:18; Mat_8:23-27; Luk_8:22-25.)

The storm on the lake.—How pleasant it is to stand upon the beach, when there is a glorious sunset, to look upon the vast expanse, to gaze upon the splendid colours of the clouds! Only a gentle ripple disturbs the surface of the water. All nature is preparing for its evening rest. But observe; a vessel is approaching, and others are following. A great Personage is about to embark: the Prophet of Galilee. He has brought consolation to many hearts during the day.; for He has been teaching in the neighbouring towns and healing the sick. And now, having dismissed the multitude, He desires to pass over to the other side of the sea or lake. But as we stand watching the departing ships a breeze springs up. And mark yonder clouds. Observe, Christ’s attendants are taking the necessary precautions, for they know how rapidly a storm gathers on the lake. It is the same to-day. Sir Charles Wilson, when in Galilee some time ago, encountered a violent storm. He says: “The morning was delightful. A gentle easterly breeze, and not a cloud in the sky to give warning of what was coming. Suddenly, about midday, there was a sound of distant thunder, and a small cloud, ‘no bigger than a man’s hand,’ was seen rising over the heights. The cloud appeared to spread, and heavy black masses came rolling down the hills. At the moment the breeze died away, there were a few minutes of perfect calm. But soon the thunder-gust, advancing across the lake, lifted the placid water into a bright sheet of foam. For more than an hour … peals of thunder and torrents of rain.” It was just such a storm as this that overwhelmed Christ’s ship, and yet we read that the Redeemer was asleep in the hinder part of the ship—asleep, tired, fatigued. I like to think of Christ sleeping. It shews that He had our nature. We have a Saviour who has ascended into the highest heaven, and yet who sympathises with our infirmities because He is man. “Without one sign of confusion, without one feeling of alarm, Jesus raised Himself from the dripping stern of the labouring and half-sinking vessel, and without further movement stilled the tempest of their souls by the quiet words, “Why so cowardly, O ye of little faith?’ ” And then rising up, standing in all the calm of a natural majesty, He gazed forth into the darkness, and His voice was heard amid the roaring of the troubled elements, saying, “Peace, be still!” and instantly the wind dropped, and there was a great calm.

I. To succeed and be safe in our passage through life we must have Christ with us.—There are men who commenced life, so to speak, in a very small ship, and they felt how helpless they would be if any storm should arise. Night after night, and day by day, they implored Christ to be with them, to give them health, prosperity, and success. Those men reached their harbour, sold their goods, built a large ship, Christ again with them. No storm ever overwhelmed them. To-day they give Him all the honour. But there are men who believe they can dispense with the Divine Presence. Have they not wealth? Have they not excellent investments? Why, they could get through any storm. And then they are put to the test. Slowly the clouds gather, the wind rises, and then secretly they begin to feel matters are getting serious. But still they hope to weather the storm. Something will happen; they must be more careful in future. I knew just such a man. He rose from a humble position to one of great wealth; but he refused to give God the honour. He boasted openly of his own good management, whereby he had succeeded so well; and first one loss came, and then another, until at last he was overwhelmed. No Christ in the ship. Oh, my brethren, if you desire lasting success, if you would have help in trouble, if you hope to reach the other side in safety, ask Christ to accompany you in the ship!

II. It was a difficult matter to follow Christ’s ship because of the boisterous waves.—The vessels that followed Christ’s ship must have encountered the same storm. No one ever yet found it an easy matter to follow Christ because of the forces against us. There is the flesh to contend with, the World and the Evil One to encounter. In your own strength you will not be able to follow Christ, to obey His commandments; so frail is human nature, what are you to do? Christ has promised to give you such help that you can always be victorious. This help is called grace. But if you do not ask Him for what He has promised to give, and as a result are unable to resist the storm of the flesh or the powers of darkness—if you lose paradise, it will be your own fault; you can blame no one but yourself.

III. Divine aid interposing when all human power has failed.—God permits “human affairs to proceed to a given point, and at the vital moment outstretches His arm.” Have you never seen Him do that? Have you never observed some illness suddenly take a favourable turn, or a perplexity vanish, or the prodigal repent, at the request of some praying one? Some time ago a vessel was sailing through Lake Erie. It was early in the season, and great blocks of ice were floating about. All at once the captain saw that the ice was closing the ship in on all sides. He summoned the passengers, and informed them of the position. He said nothing but the direct interference of Almighty God could save the ship. Immediately all knelt down and asked for help, and after a few minutes the man at the wheel shouted that it was all right now; the wind was changing, and blowing the ice out of the way. Divine aid comes when human power fails. Ah! there is a moment coming for us all when no earthly friend will be able to assist us, when the words are heard, “Pass over to the other side.” Then if we have not Divine aid, what shall we do? But if we have Christ with us, we shall possess His peace, we shall be safe for eternity.—E. R. Sill.

The Church in peril.—

I. The Church is like a ship.—Noah’s Ark was a type of Christ’s Church, in that as he and his family were saved in the ark from perishing by water, so we, by being admitted into the Church, are by baptismal water saved from perishing. So the Church tells us in her office of baptism, where she drives on the allegory throughout, praying that God would sanctify the child with the Holy Ghost, that he, being delivered from wrath, may be received into the ark of Christ’s Church, and, being steadfast in faith, may so pass the waves of this troublesome world, that finally he may come to the land of everlasting life. Nor is the ark alone so appropriate a resemblance of the Church, as that any ordinary ship may not, in some kind or other, represent it, whether it be for passage, for merchandise, or for war. Look we on the make and build of it; ’tis fitly compacted and framed together, both for strength and beauty. If we consider it in its furniture and tackle, it has its compass to sail by, the Word of God; its sails of devout affections, to be filled with the breathings of His Spirit; and its anchor of hope to stay itself upon, the merits of His Son. If we regard the design of a ship to go from port to port, ours is bound heavenward; for we seek a country, even the land of everlasting life, as ye heard before. The Church entertains passengers to waft them into the regions of bliss; it has her cargo of Divine truths; and as a man-of-war, too, she is all along throughout her whole voyage militant. As to her manage and conduct, she has Christ for her Pilot, and under Him the Chief Magistrate to steer the vessel and to govern the ship’s crew. But in no one thing is the Church more like to a ship than in those frequent dangers and jeopardies she is to undergo,—dangers from without; all the elements as it were conspiring her ruin; rocks and shelves to split her; flats and quicksands to founder her; tempests and storms of persecutions to overwhelm her; corsairs and pirates, all her ghostly foes, to attack her,—dangers from within, by leaks of schism and division, and many other casualties through negligence or ill government.

II. Distress is a very fit season for devotion.—The sense of present danger awakens the worst of men to the practice of this duty of prayer, and our earnest prayer awakens God to our relief. The psalmist tells us that at God’s word or command the stormy wind arises which lifteth up the waves. And probably for this very reason God sometimes causes, or at least most times permits, storms and troubles to arise upon His Church, that His people, who, when they are safe and see all things quiet about them, are too apt to forget God, and refuse to hearken to the still voice of His Word and to obey His commandments, may from such terrible dismal instances of danger learn to fear Him, to adore His majesty, to acknowledge His power, to implore His goodness, and in their great distress to cry unto Him for help: “Save, Lord, or else we perish.”

III. Our extremity is God’s opportunity.—I have read a dismal description of a shipwreck in a Greek romance—when all the passengers, and seamen too, with hands and eyes and hearts lifted up to heaven, fetched the last shriek, expecting with their tattered vessel immediately to go down quick to the bottom of the sea. And when men are in such a posture of danger, how is God’s mercy signalised at such a time in their preservation? This, I say, is business in ordinary providence; but when the ship, which Himself with His almighty care and skill has undertaken to steer and bring to her desired port, when the safety and interest of His Church and people, is reduced to extremity, how much more reason have we to expect the extraordinary effects of His power and goodness, who both can and will provide for His, when they are destitute of all other help? When a Church or nation is, to the eye of man, in all human probability, given up for lost, when all other helps and means fail, then is God’s time to come in at a dead lift, who is already help in the needful time of trouble. There is nothing so secret which He cannot bring to light, nothing so strong which can resist His power, nothing so cunningly contrived which He cannot disappoint.

IV. Christ, as He is the Founder of our religion, so He is the sole Author of our deliverances.—To Thee, O holy Jesu, who wast the Founder of our faith and holy profession, we fly in all our distresses, as to our only Deliverer. In Thy merits and satisfaction, in Thy mediation and intercessions, alone we fix the anchor of our hope. In Thy saving health we repose all our trust and ground our assurance. To Thee alone it is that we address our requests. Thy patronage alone is all-sufficient for our direction in life, for our protection in danger. Thou art the way and the truth and the life—the way in Thy holy example, the truth in Thy heavenly doctrine, and the life in the application of Thy merit.—Adam Littleton, D.D.

OUTLINES AND COMMENTS ON THE VERSES

Mar_4:35. “Unto the other side.”—

1. A watchword of faith, breaking through all narrow boundaries.

2. A watchword of love, overcoming all selfishness.

3. A watchword of courage, overcoming all dangers.—J. P. Lange, D.D.

Christ is continually saying the same to us, though with varying meaning in His words. He is ever calling us to pass over some line into new fields, with their new experiences, privileges, duties, conflicts, joys.

1. He says it to the impenitent, when He graciously invites them to become His disciples. He wants them to cut loose from this world, from sin and all their old dead past, and rise up and go with Him to the better life which lies beyond.

2. He gives the same call and invitation to His people, when they reach the end of earthly life, and He comes to take them home. Before them rolls the sea of death, dark and full of terrors to the natural sense. But on “the other side” glory waits.—J. R. Miller, D.D.

Mar_4:36. Christ on board.—Christ will come on board your boat. Life has often been described as a voyage, and it is an appropriate description. He will come, I say, on board the barque in which your destiny is being carried forward. He will start with you if you want Him. He will identify Himself with the poorest if only you are a disciple, if you are willing to sit at His feet and learn of Him. Will you take Him then as He is? will you make common cause with Him? Evidently this manner of man will sail the seas of time with anybody who will simply be friends with Him, who will lie down and be at peace with Him. Are you of that disposition towards Him?—J. McNeill.

Where the Lord is there should His servants and apostles be,—in danger as well as in peace; as feeding the multitude, so sharing in His troubled and evening voyage: not only treading in His footsteps, but partaking in the holy confidence of their Master’s faith, who committed Himself with all confidence to the winds and waves.—W. Scott.

These “other little ships” doubtless enjoyed a share in the blessing of calm obtained by the ship that bare Jesus. I have sometimes thought that they picture vividly the fortunes of these societies, that, in these later ages, have moved in the wake of the ancient Apostolic Church, that with it are forced to endure the storms of a world impartially hostile to every form of religious effort, and that are not without participating in the blessings of the Holy Presence, abiding in that Church as long as in sincerity of heart they endeavour to keep up with the Master in His course (Mar_9:38; Exo_12:38; 1Co_1:2; Eph_6:24).—W. A. Butler.

Mar_4:37-40. Christ’s victory over feeble-minded unbelief.—

1. He leads little faith into danger.

2. He lets it wrestle with the peril to the utmost point.

3. He convicts, humbles, and heals it.—J. P. Lange, D.D.

Here Christ exhibits Himself as—

1. The true and holy Man.

2. The wise and gracious Master.

3. The almighty and adorable Son of God.—Ibid.

An image of the Christian life.—

1. The threatening danger.

2. The growing anxiety.

3. The delivering might.

4. The rising thanks.—Ibid.

Trial and deliverance work together.—

1. To reveal the Lord.

2. To train His people.

3. To advance the coming of His kingdom.—Ibid.

The Sea of Galilee is an inland lake surrounded by hills, save at each of its extremities, where are narrow passages, affording an entrance and outlet to the Jordan. The river, flowing through the lake, creates a current, which is felt even to the very shores. Like all other inland seas surrounded by mountains, the lake, though usually placid, is subject to sudden gusts from the hollows of the mountains, and to violent eddies and storms, short in duration, but violent in their effects. Especially when the storm-gusts sweep down upon the lake from the south (the direction in which the boat was to proceed), the wind meeting and opposing the current of the Jordan, soon lashes the surface into fury.

Christ’s presence causes storms.—Until Christ was in the ship, there was no storm. While men have pillows sewn under their elbows, all is peace; but so soon as Christ rebukes the world of sin, the wicked are like the raging sea, that cannot rest, whose waters cast up dirt and mire.—Dean Boys.

Suddenness of life’s storms.—Thus many of life’s storms come. Temptations come when we are not looking for them. So disasters come. We are at peace in a happy home. At an hour when we think not, without warning, the darling child we love so much lies dead in our arms. The friend we trusted, and who we thought could never fail us, proves false. The hopes cherished for years wither in our hands in a night, like flowers when the frost comes. The storms of life are nearly all sudden surprises. They do not hang out danger-signals days before to warn us. The only way to be ready for them is to be always ready.—-J. R. Miller, D.D.

Mar_4:38. Christ asleep.—He who “never slumbereth nor sleepeth” is asleep! Not that He seemed to sleep, as has been said, but “He was asleep.” Now, as God, of course our Lord could not, did not, sleep, it was only in His humanity that “His eyes were heavy to sleep.” But more than this may be said. He slept, it may be, for a purpose, i.e. to shew the apostles that where He was there was no real danger, and to teach Christian souls calmly and faithfully to repose on Him, while all outward things seem most distressing.—W. Scott.

Asleep amid storms.—What are the world’s angry storms—the miserable uncertainties and chances of this mortal life—the malice of evil angels—the tossing about of mingled hopes and fears: nay, what is the nearness of death itself, what is danger, what is fear, to the faithful Christian? Like his Lord, he may sleep calmly through all the wild commotions of the world, in prayer it must have been, and converse with His and our Heavenly Father.—Ibid.

Salvation spiritual.—The spirit of Christ, not the body of Christ, must save the Church in all peril. The sleeping body was in the vessel, but it exercised no influence upon the storm. It is possible to have an embalmed Christ, and yet to have no Christianity. It is also possible to have the letter of Christ’s Word without the spirit and power of His truth.—J. Parker, D.D.

Unbelief.—I. Some of the circumstances in which this question of unbelief arises in the mind.—In relation to—

1. Temporal things: poverty, adversity, distress, sickness, bereavement, danger.

2. Spiritual things: darkness, loneliness, temptation.

3. Others: sunk in ignorance and sin.

II. How Christ rebukes our unbelief; and the proofs which God has given that He cares for us.—

1. The instincts which God has implanted in the human heart.

2. The ample provision He has made for all our necessities.

3. The fact that others care for us.

4. Even the storms through which we pass are often the result of God’s care for us: “Whom I love I rebuke and chasten.”

Conclusion.—If God so cares for us, we ought to—

1. Care for ourselves.

2. Care for those around us.

3. Cast all our cares upon Him.—A. Clark.

Signs of a weak faith.—

1. Fear in danger.

2. Doubt of the Lord’s power in danger.

3. Anxious solicitude about earthly things.

4. Impatience under trouble (Isa_28:16).

Fear and faith.—Though fear caused self-abandonment, faith provided guidance to the right person. Fear commanded, “Drop your oar.” Faith directed, “Go to Jesus.” Fear said, “Your case is hopeless.” Faith said, “Seek safety in Christ.” Fear made them ready to go. Faith led in the right way. Fear cried, “We perish! we perish!” Faith prayed, “Master, carest Thou not? Lord, save! save!”

A model prayer.—It was short, appropriate, fervent. The disciples knew what they wanted, and they asked for it. Our prayers often fail to gain us a blessing because they lack definiteness. In a long prayer we have sometimes been prayed into a good frame of mind and out of it. Dr. Talmage suggests that, in the case of most of our prayers, they would be better and more helpful if we were to cut off a bit from each end and set fire to the middle. The prayer of the disciples did what the storm had failed to do. There is an instinctive tendency in the human heart to pray when confronted suddenly by imminent peril, e. g. Jon_1:13-14; Psa_107:5-6; Psa_107:11-13; Psa_107:17-19; Psa_107:28. “Some will never pray until they are half starved.”

Mar_4:39. Trials not always calamities.—Had the apostles been inquired of before the storm ceased, they would have replied that the tempest was a great misfortune, that they were much to be pitied, that they were in the very greatest peril. But was it so? Was the storm such a calamity? It was a trial, and for the time a bitter one; but it wrought good, unalloyed good, in the end. And is not this a parable of life?

1. The ancients were wont constantly to use the figure of a ship as a similitude of the Church of Christ; and our Baptismal Office preserves this ancient usage, when we pray that the newly baptised may be received into the Ark of Christ’s Church, and may so pass the waves of this troublesome world as finally to attain the land of life. The Church, then, is as a ship, often tossed by tempest, sometimes seeming to the eye of man as if it were now full of water, ready to sink, but yet never sinking, because Christ is in her. She has been in great danger, so that her crew have been compelled to cast out with their own hands the lading of the ship, her possessions and her dignities; but yet, at the hour of greatest need, has she been rescued by Him who never left her—who seemed to sleep, but yet who suffered the storm to arise—even by Him who never slumbers nor sleeps in His providential government. As the infant Church, represented by the apostles, was tossed upon the Sea of Galilee, so is the Christian Church by the waves of the world, the machinations of evil spirits, the pride and the passion of men; and as the apostles rose up after their trial stronger in the faith, so even now does tribulation better than prosperity develop that which is good. And herein all faithful members of the Church may thank God and take courage, even in troublous times. Her ministers may not fear, though it may seem as if Jesus was asleep, as if He hid His face and would not behold; they may take courage when they see the wicked in great prosperity, and Satan ruling over the hearts of many, and holding them in ignorance and sin. Yet still the storm has its lessons specially for them. It teaches them to be up and doing, to ply the oars, to trim the sails, to take good heed to the rudder, to cry aloud to the Captain of their salvation, and thus to do their part to make the vessel weather the storm. But when they have done all that they can, it teaches them to leave the result in the hands of God; it teaches them to expect a favourable issue—an issue which will make the glory of God apparent.

2. We, the members of the Church of Christ, are also sailing over the stormy main. We have our peculiar difficulties and trials, each one his own: sometimes secular trials, sometimes spiritual trials. In either case we find that the ocean of our life is not always calm: there are storms and tempests in it, there are fierce and sudden gusts, and sometimes we may almost have despaired and thought that our vessel was ready to sink. Have we in such a case been tempted to cry, “Lord, carest Thou not that we perish?” The earnest Christian will have ever found, sooner or later, an answer of peace.—W. S. Simpson, M.A.

Safety in Christ.—Whether sinner or saint, unbeliever or believer, we are alike voyaging upon the sea of life. Perils abound in shoal and reef. Dangers gather and threaten in tempest and billow. The storm is stronger, the sea is mightier, than we. Our open boat—a frail craft—will be crushed and sunken in the dark night and black waters, unless the Master speaks the word of peace and brings the calm. In Him is safety. In Him only is life. He cares for us with infinite mercy. We will go to Him reposing on His might and trusting in His love.

Christ yields to the cry of an imperfect faith, and so strengthens it. If He did not, what would become of any of us? He does not quench the dimly burning wick, but tends it and feeds it with oil—by His inward gifts and by His answers to prayer—till it burns up clear and smokeless, a faith without fear. Even smoke needs but a higher temperature to flame; and fear which is mingled with faith needs but a little more heat to be converted into radiance of trust.—A. Maclaren, D.D.

Self-possession.—Well were it for men if, in life’s trials, larger measures of the mastery of self-possession were enjoyed. It can be cultivated. The conscious resting of the soul on God inspires and strengthens it. That helps it to possess and guide instead of being possessed and driven. It converts tyrants into useful servants. Self-possessed utterance and action nerve. The disjointed ones of despair spread paralysis. The former would thus greatly help people either to act more efficiently or endure more heroically.—W. M. Campbell.

The duty of resistance.—Some pious people resign themselves much too passively to the mischiefs of the material universe, supposing that troubles which are not of their own making must needs be a Divine infliction, calling only for submission. But God sends oppositions to be conquered as well as burdens to be borne; and even before the Fall the world had to be subdued. And our final mastery over the surrounding universe was expressed when Jesus our Head rebuked the winds and stilled the waves.—Dean Chadwick.

Christ in the storm.—St. Augustine, who knew as well as most men what the storms of temptation are, and better than most men what the deliverance is, and by whom the victory comes, often in his writings refers to this passage of the Evangelist, and those Psalms like the 46th and 93rd and 107th, where we almost seem to hear the roaring of the waters and the voice of God above them. In one of these he sums up the practical application of the miracle in language that cannot be bettered: “We are sailing in this life as through a sea, and the wind rises and storms of temptations are not wanting. Whence is this, save because Jesus is sleeping in thee? If He were not sleeping in thee thou wouldst have calm within. But what means this, that Jesus is sleeping in thee, save that thy faith, which is from Jesus, is slumbering in thine heart? What shalt thou do to be delivered? Arouse Him and say, Master, we perish. He will awaken—that is, thy faith will return to thee and abide with thee always. When Christ is awakened, though the tempest beat into yet it will not fill thy ship; thy faith will now command the winds and the waves, and the danger will be over.”

Mar_4:40. Responsible for faith.—Christ treats the disciples as responsible for the defectiveness of their faith. Christians may live on so low a level as to be affected by influences which depress their energies, and render them liable to many faults and shortcomings, which, although not fastening guilt upon the conscience, are in the aggregate a serious evil. The kindness of Christ does not degenerate into indulgence, by shielding His delinquent disciples from the reproof they merited. The reproach which they alleged against Him of not caring for them was groundless and irreverent. He reproaches them in return, but in a different spirit, not by way of retaliation, but because the necessities of the case required it. He chides them, not for disturbing His rest, but for harbouring fears that disturbed their own souls.—J. H. Morgan.

The faithless reproved.—Consider this reproof as addressed to—

1. Men commanded to receive Christ, which is the case of all who hear the gospel. If He had not told you to go over to the other side, away from this world, as your home and portion, then there might be ground of fear that attempting to do so you might fail and perish in the storm of this world’s opposition; but He has said, “Go over to the other side,” yea, “Come over,” for He will be with you, and hence to tremble and hesitate and doubt is wicked distrust of Him.

2. Those who shrink from Christian duty.

(1) They who withhold themselves from open profession.

(2) They who lag behind in the path of spiritual progress, and who, instead of stirring themselves up, groan and despond.

(3) They who take a dark view of the prospects of the Ark of God and of Christian work.

3. Such as are disposed to faint in time of trial.—D. Merson.

Mar_4:41. “What manner of man is this?”—This is the question for every individual, for every age, to consider. Christ is the great problem of history, of theology, of life. What is He? He is man; but what manner of man? He is more than mature, more than the sum-total of its powers. We do not exhaust Him when we say He is a man, nor when we say He is the man, standing at the head of the race by virtue of pre-eminent gifts. He is the God-man, who stands equal with God on the high level of Deity, and equal with man on the low level of humanity.—J. Hughes.

The Ruler of the storm.—Dr. Liddon, speaking of political opposition to Christianity, says: “During the first three centuries, and finally under Julian, the heathen state made repeated and desperate attempts to suppress it by force. Statesmen and philosophers undertook the task of eradicating it.… More than once they drove it from the army, from the professions, from the public thoroughfares, into secrecy; they pursued it into the vaults beneath the palaces of Rome, into the catacombs, into the deserts.… The hordes which shattered the work of the Cæsars learnt to repeat the Catholic creed, and a new order of things had formed itself when the tempest of Mohammedanism broke upon Christendom. Politically speaking, this was perhaps the most threatening storm through which the Christian Church passed.… The last trial of the Church was the first French Revolution … which for a while seemed to threaten its total suppression. Yet the men of the Terror have passed, as the Cæsars had passed before them; and, like the Cæsars, they have only proved to the world that the Church carries within her One who rules the fierce tempests in which human institutions are wont to perish.”

ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 4

Mar_4:38. Christ sometimes seems to sleep in our hearts, as He did in the ship, when temptation assails. It is but to try our faith, for if He be there we are safe. It is recorded of St. Catherine of Siena that, on one occasion, after being subjected to most horrible temptation in thought for several days, during which God seemed to have hidden His face from her, when the temptation, to which she had never consented, had passed away, and she felt again her Lord’s presence within her, she said to Him, “O Lord, where wast Thou when I was so tempted?” “In thy heart, My child,” was the reply; “if I had not been there, thou wouldst have yielded.”

Safety where Christ is.—The greatest hero of antiquity, once exposed to the dangers of shipwreck, roused the sinking spirits of his crew by crying aloud amidst the din of the winds and waves, and exclaiming to the helmsman of the vessel, almost ready to desert his charge, “The vessel which carries Cæsar and his fortunes can never sink!” Might not the apostles of the Lord have learnt a lesson even from the heathen conqueror, and applied his words in their truest and highest form?—“The vessel that carries Jesus can never perish!”

The world in God’s hands.—In the Fiji Islands a man-of-war was overtaken by a storm. The commander, instead of trusting to the anchor, got up steam and plunged right into the hell of waters that seethed around him. The vessel, after moments of suspense, began to make headway, and soon rose and fell on the waves of the open sea. We, too, are going ahead. We have a tremendous propelling power, not the gates of hell will prevail against it. When a man gets into a moody state about the outlook in the world, he should go and take a night’s sleep, and let God look after His own world. What did these fishermen take our Lord for? They forgot; they should have remembered their sailing orders, which were bound to be carried out.

The minds in God’s hands.—A coasting vessel was caught in a trap on the east coast of Scotland. That is a bay, crescent-shaped, in which vessels, in the stress of a storm, take refuge, and are sometimes caught in it. This vessel was beating to get out of the trap. The chances were all against her. As the captain kicked off his sea-boots preparatory to doing battle with the waves, when the boat would founder on the rocks, he thought of his wife, in a neighbouring town, and his little girl. Before the vessel struck he thought of Him who stilled the waves on the Lake of Galilee. He went to his cabin, and he was heard to say, “O God, give us but two points, just two points!” He came on deck, and the wind had shifted just two points. They weathered that strip of land and escaped from the trap into the open sea. Do you believe that? Do you believe that it is God’s world, that He holds the winds in His fists, and the waters in the hollow of His hands?

Mar_4:41. “What manner of man?”—Be it legend or history, the story of royal Cnut on the seashore, forbidding, at his flatterers’ instigation, or by his own desire to rebuke their folly, forbidding the farther approach of the incoming tide, is pregnant with instruction. The royal Dane might be a man of men, but the surging waves were not obedient unto his voice. King though he was, the tide was responseless as the deaf adder to any charming of his, charmed he never so wisely, enjoined he never so sternly. What manner of man, then, but the Son of Man? What manner of king but the King of kings? An older king than Cnut, and not a wiser, not only lashed the winds that blew contrary to his will, but bound the sea with fetters, after a sort: “Ipsum compedibus qui vinxerat Ennosigæum.” Much good it did him: witness his return from his great expedition, in a poor skiff, wind-tossed across waves red with the blood of his slaughtered host. The stars in their courses once fought against Sisera, and the fettered waves were little more propitious to speed the fortunes of Xerxes. He might have spared his chains. At any rate he lost his army. Archdeacon Hare practically applied the extravagance of the Great King, as they of Persia were styled, in designating the present (or, rather, what was then the present) as an age when men will scoff at the madness of Xerxes, yet themselves try to fling their chains over the ever-rolling, irrepressible ocean of thought; nay, they will scoop out a mimic sea in their pleasure ground, he goes on to say, and make it ripple and bubble, and spout up prettily into the air, and then fancy they are taming the Atlantic, which, however, keeps advancing upon them, until it sweeps them away with their toys.—F. Jacox.

Mr. Carlyle made a picturesque application of the royal Dane’s injunction to the waves, in his survey of the advancing tide of the French Revolution—grim host marching on, the black-browed Marseillese in the van, with hum and murmur, far heard; like the ocean tide, “drawn up, as if by Luna and Influences, from the great deep of waters, they roll gleaming on; no king, Cnut or Louis, can bid them roll back.” To quite another effect is Judge Haliburton’s application of the incident, in his panegyric on the capabilities of the Southampton docks. It was here, he says, that Cnut sat in his armchair, to show his courtiers (after he gave up drinking and murder) that, though he was a mighty prince, he could not control the sea. “Well, what Cnut could not do, your dock company has accomplished. It has actually said to the sea, ‘Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther’; and the waves have obeyed the mandate.”—Ibid.

Some dream, says Cowper, that

… “they can silence when they will

The storm of passion, and say, ‘Peace, be still’:

But ‘Thus far and no farther,’ when addressed

To the wild wave, or wilder human breast,

Implies authority that never can,

That never ought to be the lot of man.”

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. Conflict of Jesus with the feeble-minded Unbelief of the Disciples; the Stilling of the Storm; and His Triumph over Human Seafarers in their vocation. (Mar_4:35-41)

(Parallels: Mat_8:18; Mat_8:23-27; Luk_8:22-25)

35And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. 36And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. 37And there arose a great storm [squall]15 of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. 38And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow [the boat-cushion]:16 and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? 39And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? 41And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

See on the parallels.—Pictorial vividness in the narrative of the voyage: evening, the sudden departure, the convoy of ships, the violence of the storm, the ship all but sinking, the image of Him who slept on the pillow, the reproach of the distressed men that Jesus cared not, the words of rebuke to the wind, the strong reproof of the disciples, their great fear, and its effect.

Mar_4:35. Besides the arrangement according to matter, there is here a definite historical sequence to the preceding section.—And the same day, He saith unto them.—Thus it was before the stormy voyage that our Lord uttered the first parables concerning the kingdom of heaven.

Mar_4:36. Even as He was in the ship.—That is, they proceeded at once, before they could make special preparation for the voyage. The evening voyage over the sea to the southeast coast was ex tended to several hours, and became a hight voyage.

Mar_4:37. The waves beat into the ship—The ἐπέβαλλεν intransitive, referring to the waves.

Mar_4:40. Meyer: The disciples’ weakness in knowledge and faith is made more prominent by Mark than by the other Synoptics: comp. Mar_6:52; Mar_7:18; Mar_8:17-18; Mar_8:33; Mar_9:6; Mar_9:19; Mar_9:32; Mar_9:34; Mar_10:24; Mar_10:32; Mar_10:35; Mar_14:40.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. See on the parallels.

2. Significance of the crisis of deep excitement: mutual reproaches. The disciples allege against the Lord, groundlessly and irreverently, the reproach of not caring for them; He on His side inflicts the well-founded reproof of despondency and lack of faith. They uttered their charge prematurely, before they had waited to see the Lord’s manner of action; Christ did not utter his reproof (fully, comp. Matthew), until He had brought relief in the danger. This often recurs in the history of the Church’s great tribulations, as well as in the private difficulties of the Christian life.

3. The personification of the wind and sea in Christ’s address is most emphatic in the rebuking words of Christ, as found in Mark. But at the base of this personification there is a dogmatic element, to wit, that nature has acquired a character of apparently wild independence and anarchy since man became unfaithful to his destiny: Rule over it, and make it subject to you. But in this seeming anarchy, which is under the power of God, and is used by Him as a means of discipline and judgment, is reflected that real anarchy, that lack of obedience and faith in the human breast, which is at the same time felt as a lack of self-government and rule over the creature. Therefore we see confronting the unbelief of the disciples Jesus’ confidence; His peace is opposed to their excitement, His self-possession to their distraction; His majestic supremacy over the winds and waves is opposed to their subjection to natural terrors. And the effect is, that his own disciples experience towards Him the same awe of reverence and fear which they had experienced before towards the frightful sublimity of nature. But now they are the subjects of a fear which passes over into the utterances of a rising and blessed faith.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

See on the parallels.—The voyage of the disciples of Jesus a night-voyage (according to Mark; see the notes) in the life of the disciples: 1. The history; 2. its significance.—The victory of the Lord over feebleminded unbelief: 1. He leads little faith into danger; 2. He lets it wrestle with the peril to the utmost point; 3. He convicts, humbles, and heals it.—The fear of man before the terrors of nature, a sign that he is not consecrated through the terrors of the spirit.—The Lord’s supremacy over human vocations (seafaring, fishing, government, learning).—Trial of the disciples in the danger of death.—The pride of the little apostolical crew, and its humiliation: a sign.—Jesus’ sleeping and awaking: 1. His sleeping, the repose of His divine power, an exercise and test of the human; 2. His awaking, a new glorification of the saving divinity in humanity needing salvation.—Jesus the star of the sea (the anchor, the rudder, the lighthouse, the rescuer of the wrecked).—Danger to life always danger to the soul.—Divine help in our human life should be to us a sign for quickening and salvation.—How all fear of the creature should be changed by the awe of Christ’s presence into peace.—To reverence the Son of God, and to obtain kingly power over the creaturely world, are one and the same—Perfect love casts out fear.—The wide wild world glorified by the Spirit of Christ into a blessed house of God.—Jesus Christ, the commander of wind and sea: 1. In nature; 2. in history; 3. in the fates of the Church.—What follows from His being obeyed by the winds and the waves,—as to Himself, as to the world, as to us?—Christ as the Ruler of nature, and Restorer of its paradisaical peace.

Starke:—The evening may be very different from the early morning.—Faithful servants of God may have some seasons of rest permitted them, lest they sink under their burden.—Going forth with Christ into a sea of tribulation.—If He be with us, we shall not sink and perish.—The little ship of the Church is often so beaten by the storms of tribulation and persecution, that it seems as if it must go down.—Distress teaches man to pray, although faith is never without prayer.—It is the error of men, that they take, at once, danger to be a mark that God takes no heed of them.—Canstein:—A great storm followed by a great calm: so is it ever with God’s consolations after trial.—Quesnel:—God is so gracious and gentle, that He does not despise a slender faith, or reject an imperfect prayer, or cast out a fearful heart.—How profitable would Christians find it, if they would discourse in their social meetings about the wonders of God and the glory of Jesus Christ!

Gerlach:—It is always a blameable unbelief, when we fear to enter the ship with Christ.—Braune:—The difference between Jonah’s sleeping in the ship and that of Jesus.—He that is in us is greater than he that is in the world.—Schleiermacher:—That was their unbelief, He meant, that they thought He could sink at a time when He had not yet given them any commission; that they thought God could take so little care of His work, as that it should sink with them.—There is no one among us who can assure himself that the old man, however entirely he may seem to be buried into the death of Christ, will not rise up with his giant lusts, and involve the soul in storm and tempest.—But if we are members of His body, we should maintain the sure confidence, that in all times of severe trial and temptation, the bond of union between Him and us will not be severed.—As certainly as He could not sink with His disciples on that day, He will not suffer his disciples to sink in this.—Gossner:—When the help of man ceases, God’s help begins; or, faith in the sure word.—When there is storm in the soul, and when thou art in great peril, thou knowest what it is for, and whither to fly.—What calmness in the soul, when the Lord arises and utters His voice

Footnotes:

[15]Mar_4:37.—Lachmann, Tischendorf, following B., C., D., L., &c., read ἤδη γεμίζεσθαι τὸ πλοῖον, instead of αὐτὸ ἤδη γεμίζεσθαι.

[16]Mar_4:40.—The οὕτω is rejected by Lachmann, after B., D., L., Δ., Vulgate. Tischendorf defends it by important Codd. The insertion, indeed, is more easily explained than the omission. Griesbach, Lachmann read οὔπω, instead of πῶς οὐκ, in conformity with B., D., L., Vulgate, Itala, &c.

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mark

THE STORM STILLED

Mar 4:35.

Mark seldom dates his incidents, but he takes pains to tell us that this run across the lake closed a day of labour, Jesus was wearied, and felt the need of rest, He had been pressed on all day by ‘a very great multitude,’ and felt the need of solitude. He could not land from the boat which had been His pulpit, for that would have plunged Him into the thick of the crowd, and so the only way to get away from the throng was to cross the lake. But even there He was followed; ‘other boats were with Him.’

I. The first point to note is the wearied sleeper.

The disciples ‘take Him, . . . even as He was,’ without preparation or delay, the object being simply to get away as quickly as might be, so great was His fatigue and longing for quiet. We almost see the hurried starting and the intrusive followers scrambling into the little skiffs on the beach and making after Him. The ‘multitude’ delights to push itself into the private hours of its heroes, and is devoured with rude curiosity. There was a leather, or perhaps wooden, movable seat in the stern for the steersman, on which a wearied-out man might lay his head, while his body was stretched in the bottom of the boat. A hard ‘pillow’ indeed, which only exhaustion could make comfortable! But it was soft enough for the worn-out Christ, who had apparently flung Himself down in sheer tiredness as soon as they set sail. How real such a small detail makes the transcendent mystery of the Incarnation! Jesus is our pattern in small common things as in great ones, and among the sublimities of character set forth in Him as our example, let us not forget that the homely virtue of hard work is also included. Jonah slept in a storm the sleep of a skulking sluggard, Jesus slept the sleep of a wearied labourer.

II. The next point is the terrified disciples.

The evening was coming on, and, as often on a lake set among hills, the wind rose as the sun sank behind the high land on the western shore astern. The fishermen disciples were used to such squalls, and, at first, would probably let their sail down, and pull so as to keep the boat’s head to the wind. But things grew worse, and when the crazy, undecked craft began to fill and get water-logged, they grew alarmed. The squall was fiercer than usual, and must have been pretty bad to have frightened such seasoned hands. They awoke Jesus, and there is a touch of petulant rebuke in their appeal, and of a sailor’s impatience at a landsman lying sound asleep while the sweat is running down their faces with their hard pulling. It is to Mark that we owe our knowledge of that accent of complaint in their words, for he alone gives their ‘Carest Thou not?’

But it is not for us to fling stones at them, seeing that we also often may catch ourselves thinking that Jesus has gone to sleep when storms come on the Church or on ourselves, and that He is ignorant of, or indifferent to, our plight. But though the disciples were wrong in their fright, and not altogether right in the tone of their appeal to Jesus, they were supremely right in that they did appeal to Him. Fear which drives us to Jesus is not all wrong. The cry to Him, even though it is the cry of unnecessary terror, brings Him to His feet for our help.

III. The next point is the word of power.

Again we have to thank Mark for the very words, so strangely, calmly authoritative. May we take ‘Peace!’ as spoken to the howling wind, bidding it to silence; and ‘Be still!’ as addressed to the tossing waves, smoothing them to a calm plain? At all events, the two things to lay to heart are that Jesus here exercises the divine prerogative of controlling matter by the bare expression of His will, and that this divine attribute was exercised by the wearied man, who, a moment before, had been sleeping the sleep of human exhaustion. The marvellous combination of apparent opposites, weakness, and divine omnipotence, which yet do not clash, nor produce an incredible monster of a being, but coalesce in perfect harmony, is a feat beyond the reach of the loftiest creative imagination. If the Evangelists are not simple biographers, telling what eyes have seen and hands have handled, they have beaten the greatest poets and dramatists at their own weapons, and have accomplished ‘things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.’

A word of loving rebuke and encouragement follows. Matthew puts it before the stilling of the storm, but Mark’s order seems the more exact. How often we too are taught the folly of our fears by experiencing some swift, easy deliverance! Blessed be God! He does not rebuke us first and help us afterwards, but rebukes by helping. What could the disciples say, as they sat there in the great calm, in answer to Christ’s question, ‘Why are ye fearful?’ Fear can give no reasonable account of itself, if Christ is in the boat. If our faith unites us to Jesus, there is nothing that need shake our courage. If He is ‘our fear and our dread,’ we shall not need to ‘fear their fear,’ who have not the all-conquering Christ to fight for them.

‘Well roars the storm to them who hear

A deeper voice across the storm.’

Jesus wondered at the slowness of the disciples to learn their lesson, and the wonder was reflected in the sad question, ‘Have ye not yet faith?’-not yet, after so many miracles, and living beside Me for so long? How much more keen the edge of that question is when addressed to us, who know Him so much better, and have centuries of His working for His servants to look back on. When, in the tempests that sweep over our own lives, we sometimes pass into a great calm as suddenly as if we had entered the centre of a typhoon, we wonder unbelievingly instead of saying, out of a faith nourished by experience, ‘It is just like Him.’

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

STORM ON THE GALILEAN SEA

Mat 13:18-27; Mar 4:35-41; & Luk 8:22-25; Luk 9:57-62. Mark: “And He says to them on that day, it being evening, Let us cross over to the other side. And leaving the multitude, they receive Him, as he was in the ship; and there were many other ships along with Him. And there is a great storm of wind, and the waves poured into the ship, so that it was already sinking.” Matthew says is was covered with the waves, and Luke says they were being filled up and were in danger. The Sea of Galilee, seven hundred feet below the Mediterranean, as a natural consequence of this deep depression, is surrounded by mountains on all sides, except the deep valley through which the Jordan flows from the north and out toward the south. Consequently it is very liable to sudden tornadoes; the atmosphere, pouring down in all directions from the highlands, gets turned about, and develops whirlwinds, which are very dangerous, as it is sixteen and one-half miles long and seven and one-half miles wide, with a coast of seventy-five miles. We were warned by the guidebooks to beware of storms. This we heeded, lighting on the good fortune to get a very valuable boat, which was built last year, in Beyroot, for the especial accommodation of the German emperor. We found it splendid, and, sailing over the sea two days, encountered no storm. “He was lying in the stern, sleeping on a pillow; they arouse Him up, and say to Him, Master, is there no care to Thee that we perish?” Matthew: “And He says to them, Why are ye cowardly, O ye of little faith?” This was a just rebuke; because they might have known that they were in no danger with Him on hoard. This is the secret of perfect love, which always takes Jesus aboard, casting out fear. Mark “And rising, He rebuked the wind and said to the sea, Be quiet!

be calm! And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And He said to them, Why are ye afraid? How have you not faith? And they feared with great fear, and continued to say to one another, Who then is this, because the wind and the sea obey Him?” This was a most incontestable miracle, commanding the elements of nature, illustrating to all that He had made the sea and the storms, and had nothing to do but speak, and they promptly obey. We sailed over the same route last November, meanwhile we read the account of this storm and the miraculous calm.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Section 2. (Mar 4:35-41; Mar 5:1-43 )

The work of God in its salvation power.

We have now the other side: how God nevertheless manifests Himself to faith, carrying out His purposes unfailingly, spite of all opposition; and as the Saviour of all who put their trust in Him. The three subsections here as the closing part of a septenary series naturally speak of divine manifestation; while the second section as naturally speaks of that salvation work in which He is most fully manifested.

1. The stilling of the storm upon the lake is found earlier in Matthew, but with little difference in detail. In it Christ’s power over the elements, is exhibited to the wonder of His disciples; and in it probably all His people have seen without any question the sign of His supremacy over all circumstances of the disturbed scene through which we pass. When the storm comes, how often He seems asleep! But this is for practice of faith, not for the overthrow of it. Yet unbelief in them is importunate and querulous: "Carest Thou not that we perish?" as if waves could sink the slip in which He was! But there was the logic of fact: the ship was filling. They wake Him, and at His rebuke the tempest stills; but have they not missed something? and do not we often gain; perhaps, a speedier deliverance through our unbelief? when faith, like the tropic-bird, would find its rest amid the tempest, and see more the "wonders of the Lord."

Mark notices most distinctly His rebuke: "Why are ye fearful? have ye not yet faith?" And why indeed do we not trust Him with absolute rest of heart? Surely it is true that "he that feareth is not perfected in love." But then; how good to know that His love is such - so true and omnipotent - that to learn this perfectly is all that we can want for absolute deliverance.

2. The familiar story of the demoniac follows, as in the two other synoptists, showing the power of the enemy in its fullest and fiercest display entirely, subject to Him. We have already looked at it in Matthew, but who in this case is much briefer in his account than Mark. Mark dwells more upon the desperate condition of the man, his being infested with a horde of demons - as he says, a Legion, and depicts his after-condition as delivered, of which Matthew says nothing. These things lie more within the scope of the present Gospel, in which the quality of the deliverance, the service done to man, is more before us, as in Matthew the Deliverer.

(1) In the first place, Mark shows us in a very distinct way the enemy’s power. His victim’s abode is in the tombs, he who had the power of death finding a congenial abode amid the tokens of the ruin which his hand has wrought. There he lives in the lawless freedom secured by supernatural strength. Men cannot bind him and cannot tame him: fetters and chains are broken in pieces by him; and bent upon self-injury, he is always in scenes of desolation, - on the mountains or in the tombs, crying out, and cutting himself with stones. Here are features by which we may see still in many different forms how great a hold Satan has of men still and everywhere. Spite of their pride and self-love, they pursue eagerly the paths of self-degradation and self-torture; breaking asunder every restraint which the wisdom bred of bitter experience has taught men to put upon one another. The heights of self-exaltation and the charnel-houses of corruption are alike their haunts; and these, though apparently so far apart, come often-times together.

(2) But the power of Satan; while to the fallen creature so hopeless to overcome, finds in Christ a power to which it must succumb. Throughout these evangelic histories there is not a trace of open resistance on the part of these demons, if as here there were a legion of them. They deprecate the judgment they foresee, but for which the time is not yet come, and plead this in their own behalf. They beseech Him not to send them out of the country, and ask leave to enter into the herd of swine. What purpose they might have in this, and whether it was in the end thwarted or suffered, we may have little ability to understand. The demons are still demons, and seeking their own ends as such; while the wisdom of God taketh still the wise in their own craftiness.

(3) We are then given the picture of the delivered man. Three things show the transformation wrought: he is "sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind." Restlessness, vehemence, passion, are gone; the shame of his nakedness is covered; he has come to himself and his mind is cleared. Is there any coming to oneself, where there is not coming to Christ?

(4) But the world is a fallen world, and Satan is the prince of it. Here we see how it is that he is this. Those who beg Christ to depart must needs have the devil to remain. It is but a question between the two, for nature abhors a vacuum. The Lord has shown us how an empty, swept and garnished house waits and invites such a tenant: Christ is too costly a guest: one soul to cost two thousand swine is too high a reckoning. They beg Him therefore, courteously, to depart: for He can be refused with courtesy, and yet refused: and He does depart.

(5) But the rescued man is of another mind than this: divine grace has wrought in his heart, and the deliverance of which he has been the subject is too real and great. He prays that lie may be with Him; but the Lord has other purposes as to him: "Go home to thy people," He says, "and declare to them how great things the Lord has done for thee, and has had mercy upon thee." Thus is the saved sinner made to be a witness of the salvation which he has received, in the world out of which Christ has gone rejected. "And he went his way, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him; and all men wondered."

3. In the intertwined stories of the daughter of Jairus and the woman with the issue of blood, Mark again is fuller than Matthew, and the dispensational application which we have seen in his account seems to give place here to an individual and spiritual one. We have, no doubt, the divine and human sides of what is, in fact, one glorious work of the God of resurrection. From one side we are sinners dying in our sins, and we lay hold upon Christ in our need and prove the virtue that is in Him for our healing. From the other, we were not dying simply but dead, and are raised up from the dead. Both sides are true, but we are not concerned just now with any reconciliation of them. They are in the main the views respectively of Romans and Ephesians, and we reach them in the order indicated by this.

(1) Jair, "the enlightener," as ruler of the synagogue, may signify to us by name and position both the failure and the power of law. The law had said, "Do this, and thou shalt live," but life, as he owns, is only in the hands of Jesus, to whom the conviction of his extremity brings him. Faith springs out of his daughter’s need: "My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee that Thou come and lay Thy hands on her that she may be healed, and she shall live." It is the right effect of law when we are shut up by it in this way to the faith of Jesus.

(2) The Lord listens to his prayer, and follows him toward the house, a multitude thronging Him upon His way there. Amidst them all comes one who has conscious personal need of Him, - an issue of blood, a steady quiet draining of the life away, for which all the help that she has hitherto sought has been but aggravation of the evil and impoverishment. Now she has heard of Jesus, and without means, without hope, she too has reached the place in which she is ready to be attracted. Faith says in her heart, "If I touch but His garments I shall be healed": and the event confirms this; coming in the press behind she touches; and "she felt in her body that she was healed of that scourge."

This is one of the not infrequent cases in which the spiritual application is so easy to be made that in fact it is made generally by the common consent of Christians, and needs little enforcement. The twelve years of unhealed misery are marked by the number of divine government as that which issues, after all other means of healing has been proved worse than vain, in the exaltation of Christ. The touching of the garments is the appeal to those ways of His which manifest His character, the "habits," in Him so safely to be relied upon. We see in her also how necessary faith is to feelings, producing these, not built upon them: "joy and peace" found "in believing." The details of the picture sustain the interpretation: it is not casual resemblance that we find, but the consistency of truth.

She illustrates also the confirmation found in open confession of Christ: how the Lord looks for this on the part of those whom He has healed. He owns her also as one of whom He is not ashamed and assures to her the quiet enjoyment of what His grace has given. Of what immense importance to our spiritual life is the confession of Christ, as He Himself has emphasized it for us!

(3) But now the news is brought that the child is dead: why trouble the Teacher any more? Death, for man; is the end of hope; and, as far as he is concerned, designed to be so. On this very account, it is in this that God can show Himself where man is impotent. "Be not afraid," says the Lord in answer to such a message; "only believe." Unbelief may claim its right to mourn and weep, unreal as much even of this is; but faith it is that alone can see the glory of God.

The same twelve years measure the period of the woman’s issue of blood and the age of the child when raised from the dead: the same meaning must attach to them in both cases. "God, for the great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ, and has raised us up together" (Eph 2:4-5). This goes, indeed, beyond that which we find in Mark; but "with Christ" shows Christ to be, in a deeper sense even than in the Gospel, the Worker of the miracle of resurrection. "With Him" only, as the fruit of His precious death for us, and by grace "bound in the bundle of life" with Him, could we have been brought up out of a death so different. In the Gospel it is a miracle of power that is seen; in the epistle it is a miracle of righteousness and yet of grace toward us.

F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CHAPTER 4:35-41; 6:47-52 (Mar_4:35-41; Mar_6:47-52)

THE TWO STORMS (JESUS WALKING ON THE WATER)

"And on that day, when even was come, He saith unto them, Let us go over unto the other side. And leaving the multitude, they take Him with them, even as He was, in the boat. And other boats were with Him. And there ariseth a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the boat, insomuch that the boat was now filling. And He Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion: and they awake Him, and say unto Him, Master, carest Thou not that we perish? And He awoke, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And He said unto them, Why are ye fearful? have ye not yet faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? Mar_4:35-41 (R.V.)

"And when even was come, the boat was in the midst of the sea, and He alone on the land. And seeing them distressed in rowing, for the wind was contrary to them, about the fourth watch of the night He cometh unto them, walking on the sea, and He would have passed by them: but they, when they saw Him walking on the sea, supposed that it was an apparition, and cried out: for they all saw Him, and were troubled. But He straightway spake with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid. And He went up unto them into the boat; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves. For they understood not concerning the loaves, but their hearts were hardened." Mar_6:47-52 (R.V.)

FEW readers are insensible to the wonderful power with which the Gospels tell the story of the two storms upon the lake. The narratives are favorites in every Sunday school; they form the basis of countless hymns and poems; and we always recur to them with fresh delight.

In the first account we see as in a picture the weariness of the great Teacher, when, the long day being over and the multitude dismissed, He retreats across the sea without preparation, and "as He was," and sinks to sleep on the one cushion in the stern, undisturbed by the raging tempest or by the waves which beat into the boat. We observe the reluctance of the disciples to arouse Him until the peril is extreme, and the boat is "now" filling. St. Mark, the associate of St. Peter, the presumptuous and characteristic cry which expresses terror, and perhaps dread lest His tranquil slumbers may indicate a separation between His cause and theirs, who perish while He is unconcerned. We admire equally the calm and masterful word which quells the tempest, and those which enjoin a faith so lofty as to endure the last extremities of peril without dismay, without agitation in its prayers. We observe the strange incident, that no sooner does the storm cease than the waters, commonly seething for many hours afterwards, grow calm. And the picture is completed by the mention of their new dread (fear of the supernatural Man replacing their terror amid the convulsions of nature), and of their awestruck questioning among themselves.

In the second narrative we see the ship far out in the lake, but watched by One, Who is alone upon the land. Through the gloom He sees them "tormented" by fruitless rowing; but though this is the reason why He comes, He is about to pass them by. The watch of the night is remembered; it is the fourth. The cry of their alarm is universal, for they all saw Him and were troubled. We are told of the promptitude with which He thereupon relieved their fears; we see Him climb up into the boat, and the sudden ceasing of the storm, and their amazement. Nor is that after-thought omitted in which they blamed themselves for their astonishment. If their hearts had not been hardened, the miracle of the loaves would have taught them that Jesus was the master of the physical world.

Now all this picturesque detail belongs to a single Gospel. And it is exactly what a believer would expect. How much soever the healing of disease might interest St. Luke the physician, who relates all such events so vividly, it would have impressed the patient himself yet more, and an account of it by him, if we had it, would be full of graphic touches. Now these two miracles were wrought for the rescue of the apostles themselves. The Twelve took the place held in others by the lame, the halt and the blind: the suspense, the appeal, and the joy of deliverance were all their own. It is therefore no wonder that we find their accounts of these especial miracles so picturesque. But this is a solid evidence of the truth of the narratives; for while the remembrance of such events should thrill with agitated life, there is no reason why a legend of the kind should be especially clear and vivid. The same argument might easily be carried farther. When the disciples began to reproach themselves for their unbelieving astonishment, they were naturally conscious of having failed to learn the lesson which had been taught them just before. Later students and moralists would have observed that another miracle, a little earlier, was a still closer precedent, but they naturally blamed themselves most for being blind to what was immediately before their eyes. Now when Jesus walked upon the waters and the disciples were amazed, it is not said that they forgot how He had already stilled a tempest, but they considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart was hardened. In touches like this we find the influence of a bystander beyond denial.

Every student of Scripture must have observed the special significance of those parables and miracles which recur a second time with certain designed variations. In the miraculous draughts of fishes, Christ Himself avowed an allusion to the catching of men. And the Church has always discerned a spiritual intention in these two storms, in one of which Christ slept, while in the others His disciples toiled alone, and which express, between them, the whole strain exercised upon a devout spirit by adverse circumstances. Dangers never alarmed one who realized both the presence of Jesus and His vigilant care. Temptation centers only because this is veiled. Why do adversities press hard upon me, if indeed I belong to Christ? He must either be indifferent and sleeping, or else absent altogether from my frail and foundering bark. It is thus that we let go our confidence, and incur agonies of mental suffering, and the rebuke of our Master, even though He continues to be the Protector of His unworthy people.

On the voyage of life we may conceive of Jesus as our Companion, for He is with us always, or as watching us from the everlasting hills, whither it was expedient for us that He should go.

Nevertheless, we are storm-tossed and in danger. Although we are His, and not separated from Him by any conscious disobedience, yet the conditions of life are unmitigated, the winds as wild, the waves as merciless, the boat as cruelly "tormented" as ever. And no rescue comes: Jesus is asleep: He cares not that we perish. Then we pray after a fashion so clamorous, and with supplication so like demands, that we too appear to have undertaken to awake the Lord. Then we have to learn from the first of these miracles, and especially from its delay. The disciples were safe, had they only known it, whether Jesus would have interposed of His own accord, or whether they might still have needed to appeal to Him, but in a gentler fashion. We may ask help, provided that we do so in a serene and trustful spirit, anxious for nothing, not seeking to extort a concession, but approaching with boldness the throne of grace, on which our Father sits. It is thus that the peace of God shall rule our hearts and minds, for want of which the apostles were asked, Where is your faith? Comparing the narratives, we learn that Jesus reassured their hearts even before He arose, and then, having first silenced by His calmness the storm within them, He stood up and rebuked the storm around.

St. Augustine gave a false turn to the application, when he said, "If Jesus were not asleep within thee, thou wouldst be calm and at rest. But why is He asleep? Because thy faith is asleep," etc. (Sermon 63.) The sleep of Jesus was natural and right; and it answers not to our spiritual torpor, but to His apparent indifference and non-intervention in our time of distress. And the true lesson of the miracle is that we should trust Him Whose care fails not when it seems to fail, Who is able to save to the uttermost, and Whom we should approach in the direst peril without panic. It was fitly taught them first when all the powers of the State and the Church were leagued against Him, and He as a blind man saw not and as a dumb man opened not His mouth.

The second storm should have found them braver by the experience of the first; but spiritually as well as bodily they were farther removed from Christ. The people, profoundly moved by the murder of the Baptist, wished to set Jesus on the throne, and the disciples were too ambitious to be allowed to be present while He dismissed the multitudes. They had to be sent away, and it was from the distant hillside that Jesus saw their danger. Surely it is instructive, that neither the shades of night, nor the abstracted fervor of His prayers, prevented Him from seeing it, nor the stormlashed waters from bringing aid. And significant also, that the experience of remoteness, though not sinful, since He had sent them away, was yet the result of their own worldliness. It is when we are out of sympathy with Jesus that we are most likely to be alone in trouble. None was in their boat to save them, and in heart also they had gone out from the presence of their God. Therefore they failed to trust in His guidance Who had sent them into the ship: they had no sense of protection or of supervision; and it was a terrible moment when a form was vaguely seen to glide over the waves. Christ, it would seem would have gone before and led them to the haven where they would be. Or perhaps He "would have passed by them," as He would afterwards have gone further than Emmaus, to elicit any trustful half-recognition which might call to Him and be rewarded. But they cried out in fear. And so it is continually with God in His world, men are terrified at the presence of the supernatural, because they fail to apprehend the abiding presence of the supernatural Christ. And yet there is one point at least in every life, the final moment, in which all else must recede, and the soul be left alone with the beings of another world. Then, and in every trial, and especially in all trials which press in upon us the consciousness of the spiritual universe, well is it for him who hears the voice of Jesus saying, It is I, be not afraid.

For only through Jesus, only in His person, has that unknown universe ceased to be dreadful and mysterious. Only when He is welcomed does the storm cease to rage around us.

It was the earlier of these miracles which first taught the disciples that not only were human disorders under His control, and gifts and blessings at His disposal, but also the whole range of nature was subject to Him, and the winds and the sea obey Him.

Shall we say that His rebuke addressed to these was a mere figure of speech? Some have inferred that natural convulsions are so directly the work of evil angels that the words of Jesus were really spoken to them. But the plain assertion is that He rebuked the winds and the waves, and these would not become identical with Satan even upon the supposition that he excites them. We ourselves continually personify the course of nature, and even complain of it, wantonly enough, and Scripture does not deny itself the use of ordinary human forms of speech. Yet the very peculiar word employed by Jesus cannot be without significance. It is the same with which He had already confronted the violence of the demoniac in the synagogue, Be muzzled. At the least it expresses stern repression, and thus it reminds us that creation itself is made subject to vanity, the world deranged by sin, so that all around us requires readjustment as truly as all within, and Christ shall at last create a new earth as well as a new heaven.

Some pious people resign themselves much too passively to the mischiefs of the material universe, supposing that troubles which are not of their own making, must needs be a Divine infliction, calling only for submission. But God sends oppositions to be conquered as well as burdens to be borne; and even before the fall the world had to be subdued. And our final mastery over the surrounding universe was expressed, when Jesus our Head rebuked the winds, and stilled the waves when they arose.

As they beheld, a new sense fell upon His disciples of a more awful presence than they had yet discerned. They asked not only what manner of man is this? but, with surmises which went out beyond the limits of human greatness, Who then is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?

William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.

4:35–5:43 The three miracle stories in this section are connected by a shared location (the Sea of Galilee), the presence of the disciples, the use of a boat, and a common theme, Who is this man? (4:41).

4:35-41 This passage focuses on the greatness of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus’ authority over natural forces demonstrated his divinity. • the other side: The eastern side of the Sea of Galilee was the region of the Gerasenes (5:1). • The fact that other boats followed shows Jesus’ fame.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mar 4:35. Ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ, on that day) See App. Crit. Ed. ii. on this passage. The pronoun ἐκείνῃ, that, does not denote precisely that day on which the Saviour put forth the parables of the sower and the rest of the parables, as Grotius, besides other commentators, acknowledge; but, with less definiteness, is to be referred to a day marked in the former course of this gospel, namely, ch. Mar 2:1. So Jdg 13:10, ביום, LXX. ἐν ἡμέρᾳ, or, as it is better read in the Cod. Alex. τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ. So Mat 24:48, ὁ κακὸς δοῦλος ἐκεῖνος.[41] And indeed Mark applies ἐκεῖνος in various senses; see notes ch. Mar 2:20, Mar 13:24. As to the time of this voyage, comp. Harmon. Evang. § 49.

[41] Where the more immediate antecedent to ἐκεῖνος is the faithful and wise servant, and the antecedent intended must be supplied from the course of the previous discourse, Mar 4:38-39, etc.—ED.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar_4:35-41. See on Mat_8:18; Mat_8:23-27. Comp. Luk_8:22-25.

ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ] Mar_4:1 f.; a difference in respect of time from Mat_8:18. Luk_8:22 is altogether indefinite.

ὡς ἦν ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ] to be taken together; as He was in the ship (comp. Mar_4:1) without delay for further preparation they take possession of Him. For examples of this mode of expression, see Kypke and Fritzsche.

καὶ ἄλλα δέ] but other ships also (Hartung, Partikell. I. p. 182; Ellendt, Lex. Soph. I. p. 884) were in His train (μετʼ αὐτοῦ) during the voyage; a characteristic descriptive trait in Mark.

Mar_4:37. On λαῖλαψ ἀνέμου, comp. Hom. Il. xvii. 57; Anthol. Anacr. 82. On the accent of λαῖλαψ, see Lipsius, gramm. Untersuch. p. 36 f.

ἐπέβαλεν] intransitive (comp. on Mar_4:29, Plat. Phaedr. p. 248 A, and frequently) not transitive, so that the storm would be the subject (Vulgate, Luther, Zeger, Homberg, and several others). The τὰ δέ κύματα, for this purpose prefixed, indicates itself as the subject.

Mar_4:38. And He Himself was at the stem, laid down on the pillow that was there, asleep. It was a part of the vessel intended for the sailors to sit or lie down, Poll. v. 40; more strictly, according to Smith (Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul, p. 296 ff.), the cushion of the rowers bench.

Mar_4:39. σιώπα, πεφίμωσο] be silent! be dumb! asyndetic, and so much the more forcible (Nägelsbach, Anm. z. Ilias, ed. 3, p. 247, 359), Eur. Hec. 532. The sea is personified; hence the less are we to conjecture, with Schleiermacher, L. J. p. 230, that Jesus has addressed the disciples (ye shall see that it will immediately be still).

ἐκόπασεν ὁ ἄνεμος] Herod vii. 191. Comp. Mar_6:51; Mat_14:32, from which passage de Wette arbitrarily derives the expression of Mark.

Mar_4:40. πῶς] how is it possible, etc.? They had already so often been the witnesses of His divine power,[90] under the protection of which they needed not to tremble.

Mar_4:41. ἐφοβήθησαν] not the people (Grotius and others), which agrees with Matthew but not with the context, but the disciples, who were thrown (psychologically) into fear at the quite extraordinary phenomenon, and were not yet clear as to the divine causa efficiens in Jesus (τίς ἄρα οὗτος, etc.). As to φοβεῖσθαι φόβον μέγαν, comp. on Mat_2:10. On τίς ἄρα, in which the perplexity is not expressed by the ἄρα, but is implied in the context (in opposition to Hartung), and ἄρα means: igitur, rebus ita comparatis, see Klotz, ad Devar. p. 176. Comp. Nägelsbach, Anm. z. Ilias, ed. 3, p. 10 f.

[90] With this agrees neither the half-naturalizing view of Lange, L. J. II. p. 314, that the immediate causes of the calm setting in lay in the atmosphere, and that so far the threatening word of Jesus was prophetical (comp. Schleiermacher); nor the complete breaking up of the miracle by Schenkel, who makes the matter amount simply to this, that Jesus by virtue of His confidence in God and foresight of His destination exercised a peaceful and soothing sway among the disciples, although these were possessed of nautical knowledge and He was not. Keim, p. 123, adds, moreover, a prayer previous to the command of Jesus, assuming that then God acted, and Jesus was only His interpreter. Of all this, however, there is nothing in the text. See rather ver. 41, which also testifies against the resolution of the natural miracle suggested by Weizsäcker.

REMARK.

The weakness of faith and of discernment on the part of the disciples (Mar_4:40 f.) appears in Mark most strongly of the Synoptics (comp. Mar_6:52, Mar_7:18, Mar_8:17-18; Mar_8:33, Mar_9:6; Mar_9:19; Mar_9:32; Mar_9:34, Mar_10:24; Mar_10:32; Mar_10:35, Mar_14:40). Ritschl in the theol. Jahrb. 1851, p. 517 ff., has rightly availed himself of this point on behalf of Marks originality; since a later softeningyet without set purpose and naturally unbiassed, and hence not even consistentis at any rate more probable than a subsequent aggravation of this censure. The remarks of Baur in opposition (theol. Jahrb. 1853, p. 88 f.) are unimportant, and would amount to this, that Mark, who is assumed withal to be neutral, would in this point have even outstripped Luke. Comp. Holtzmann, p. 435 f.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 4:35-41 . Crossing the lake (Mat 8:18 ; Mat 8:23-27 , Luk 8:22-25 ). ἐν ἐκείνῃ τ . ἡ ., on that day, the day of the parable discourse, the more to be noted that Mark does not usually trouble himself about temporal connection. διέλθωμεν , let us cross over, spoken to the Twelve, who are in the boat with Jesus.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 35. Let us pass over unto the other side.] Our Lord was now by the sea of Galilee.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(35-41) And the same day.—Better, in that day. See Notes on Mat_8:23-27. The connection of the events, as given by St. Mark, seems to be precise enough, but it differs widely from that in St. Matthew and St. Luke, and it must remain uncertain which was the actual order.

The other side.—The voyage was from Capernaum—from the west to the east side of the lake.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

35–41. The Stilling of the Storm

35. he saith unto them] The three Synoptic Evangelists all agree in placing the Stilling of the Storm before the healing of the possessed in the country of the Gadarenes.

the other side] After a long and exhausting day he needed retirement, and repose could nowhere be more readily obtained than in the solitude of the eastern shore.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he said unto them,.... His disciples,

why are ye so fearful? since he was with them in person, whose power to keep and preserve them, they had no room to question, when they reflected on the miracles they had so lately seen performed by him:

how is it that ye have no faith? That is, in exercise: faith they had, but it was very small, and scarcely to be called faith: they did indeed apply to him to save them, which showed some faith in him, but then they feared it was too late, and that they were past all hope, and were just perishing; See Gill on Mat 8:26.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

35 And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.

Ver. 35. {See Trapp on "Mat 13:53"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See the notes at Mat 8:18-27.

Mar 4:36

Even as he was in the ship - They took him without making any preparation for the voyage; without providing any food or raiment. He was sitting in a ship, or boat, instructing the people. In the same boat, probably ill fitted to encounter a storm on the lake, they sailed. This would render their danger more imminent and the miracle more striking.

There were with him other little ships - Belonging probably to the people, who, seeing him sail, resolved to follow him.

Mar 4:39

Peace, be still - There is something exceedingly authoritative and majestic in this command of our Lord. Standing amid the howling tempest, on the heaving sea, and in the darkness of night, by his own power he stills the waves and bids the storm subside. None but the God of the storms and the billows could awe by a word the troubled elements, and send a universal peace and stillness among the winds and waves. He must, therefore, be divine. The following remarks by Dr. Thomson, long a resident in Syria, and familiar with the scenes which occur there, will farther illustrate this passage, and the parallel account in Mat 8:18-27, and also the passage in Mat 14:23-32. The extract which follows is taken from “The land and the Book,” vol. ii. p. 32, 33: “To understand the causes of these sudden and violent 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 the Hauran and upward to snowy Hermon; that the water-courses have cut out profound ravines and wild gorges, converging to the head of this lake, and that these act like gigantic “funnels” to draw down the cold winds from the mountains.

On the occasion referred to we subsequently pitched our tents at the shore, and remained for three days and nights exposed to this tremendous wind. We had to double-pin all the tent-ropes, and frequently were obliged to hang with our whole weight upon them to keep the quivering tabernacle from being carried up bodily into the air. No wonder the disciples toiled and rowed hard all that night; and how natural their amazement and terror at the sight of Jesus walking on the waves! The faith of Peter in desiring and “daring” to set foot on such a sea is most striking and impressive; more so, indeed, than its failure after he made the attempt. The whole lake, as we had it, was lashed into fury; the waves repeatedly rolled up to our tent door, tumbling over the ropes with such violence as to carry away the tent-pins. And moreover, those winds are not only violent, but they come done suddenly, and often when the sky is perfectly clear. I once went in to swim near the hot baths, and, before I was aware, a wind came rushing over the cliffs with such force that it was with great difficulty I could regain the shore. Some such sudden wind it was, I suppose, that filled the ship with waves so that it was now full, while Jesus was asleep on a pillow in the hinder part of the ship; nor is it strange that the disciples aroused him with the cry of Master! Master! carest thou not that we perish.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

This piece of history is related by Matthew and Luke as well as by our evangelist, and that with no considerable variations one from another; what in it wanteth explication, See Poole on "Mat 8:23", and following verses to Mat 8:27. Christ had been preaching, and being wearied and tired with the multitude still pressing upon him, gave order to cross the sea, and to go over to the other side; then (to show us he was truly man, and took upon him the infirmities of our nature) he composes himself to sleep on a pillow, in the hinder part of the ship. There happeneth a great storm of wind, not without Christ’s knowledge and ordering, that he might upon this occasion both try his people’s faith, and also show his Divine power in stilling the raging of the sea. As man he slept, but at the same time he was the true Watchman of Israel, who never slumbereth nor sleepeth. The storm increaseth till there was a great quantity of water come into the ship, and they were ready to perish. In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen, Gen 22:14. God often forbears from helping his people till the last hour. Then they awake him, he ariseth, rebukes the wind and the waves, useth no means, but by the word of his power commandeth the wind and waves to be still; and he also rebuketh his disciples for want of faith, who yet did not discern that he was not man only, but the Almighty God, as appears by their words, they said one to another, What manner of man is this?

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 35, 36. And on that day, the day, that is, on which the parables were delivered, at least those recorded by St. Markwhen even was come, he saith unto them, Let us go over unto the other side. And leaving the multitude, they take him with them, even as he was, in the boat. It was the boat from which he had been preaching. They made no special preparation. They did not land first to obtain provisions. It would have been inconvenient to go ashore in the midst of the crowd. They made at once, as he told them to do, for the other side. And other boats were with him. This is another interesting circumstance. Probably those who were in these boats had availed themselves of them to get nearer to the great Prophet, the boatmen themselves having seen the vast crowd that was gathered on the shore, and so having been attracted thither. Thus he had a large audience on the sea as well as on the land. And not it was so ordered that he was surrounded by a fleet and by a multitude of witnesses when he stilled the tempest.

Vers. 35-41. The storm: the two questions.

The scene here depicted by the evangelist is an emblem of the condition, of the needs, of the fears, of the Church of Christ; and of the perpetual presence, the brotherly care, the Divine dignity, of the Lord. The disciples were on the Sea of Gennesaret; and we are upon the sea of life of this uncertain world. They took Christ with them in the boat; and we have him with us alway. A storm arose and threatened their safety; and we, as long as we are here, are exposed to the tempests of trial, doubt, and danger. Jesus slept; and to us it sometimes seems as though he had forgotten and abandoned us. At the disciples" cry, Jesus arose and stilled the storm; and never can we call upon him without experiencing his friendly and effectual interposition. He reproached the faithless; and for us too he has often a word of expostulation. His authority impressed the disciples" minds with reverence; and never can we contemplate his character and his saving might without renewing our faith and adoration. There are two questions in the record which represent the two movements of the narrative.

I THE QUESTION OF THE DISCIPLES, "HAST THOU NO CARE?" It was the cry of impulse, and a cry which has often sprung from the heart of the Lord"s people in their griefs and dangers.

1. A cry of fear. Christians have the same natural passions as other men. In times of bodily danger, in scenes of public commotion and disaster, in circumstances of threatening and suffering to the Church, the fears of Christ"s people have often been awakened. "We perish!" "Carest thou not? "Save us!" Such are the exclamations uttered by imperilled, anxious, and terrified souls.

2. A cry, evincing seine faith. If the disciples had been altogether without faith, they would not have appealed to Jesus, they would not have called him "Master!" they would not have entreated him to save them. So, when in our distress we call upon the Lord that he will deliver us, we prove that we have some faith in him whose help we seek.

3. A cry, however, evincing defect of faith. If the disciples" faith in their Master had been perfect, they would not have given way to panic, and they would not have been rebuked. Our attitude of spirit often proves the deficiency and imperfection of our confidence in our Lord. There was want of faith in his knowledge. Did he not, though sleeping, understand their danger and their need? A want of faith in his interest and care. He did care; and they ought, even in such circumstances, to have felt assured of this. A want of faith in his habitual rule. Though slumbering, he was nature"s Lord. And how often are we, Christ"s people, guilty of overlooking, in our distresses, the acquaintance of Jesus with our case, the power of Jesus over our foes, the love of Jesus for our souls!

II THE QUESTION OF THE CHRIST, "HAVE YE NO FAITH?" Well might Jesus appeal thus to his disciples. Often had they experienced his power. Always had he justified their confidence. Never had he forgotten or forsaken them. How justly may our Lord address a similar expostulation to us when we are ready to abandon ourselves to sorrow and to despair!

1. No faith, when there is such an Object of faith? Christ has shown himself by his character and his work, to be deserving of all faith; and when we have least confidence in ourselves or our fellow-men we may well have all confidence in him.

2. No faith when in human life there is so much need of faith? From danger, temptation, sorrow, sin, there is no exemption. If we throw up faith in Christ, we throw up all.

3. No faith, when we have so many examples and instances to justify faith? Refer to Old Testament history in the light of Hebrews 11; refer to the Gospel narratives of the centurion, of the Canaanite woman, etc.; refer to the instances of our Lord"s gracious reply to the appeal and prayer of faith; and ask if there is any excuse for withholding faith.

4. No faith, when absence of faith must leave the heart desolate and helpless? What do you lose and forfeit if you are without confidence in Christ? Peace of mind, strength for life"s conflicts, hope in suffering and in age and in death. Can we forego all these?

5. No faith, when there is such express encouragement to trust in Christ? He himself invites our confidence: "Believe in me;" "Be not faithless, but believing;" "Have ye not yet faith?

APPLICATION.

1. Let the unbelieving repent of their unbelief, and look unto and call upon Jesus; that henceforth, knowing his grace, they may surely trust in him.

2. Let the doubting Christian be encouraged to put away his fears, and to pray, "Lord, increase our faith!

3. Let the believing Christian remember that Christ"s people can never perish. "With Christ in the vessel, I smile at the storm.

4. Let all who experience the Saviour"s delivering power and grace unite in adoring him and witnessing to him: "What manner of man is this?

Vers. 35-41. Christ and his disciples in the storm.

The service of Christ

I CONSISTING IN OBEDIENCE, SYMPATHY, AND COOPERATION, II INVOLVING HARDSHIP AND APPARENT RISK.

III A TRIAL AND DISCIPLINE OF FAITH.

1. Left to the realization of imminent destruction.

2. Discovering the weakness of the carnal nature.

3. Affording opportunity for the moral teaching of the Master.

IV A REVELATION OF THE DIGNITY AND POWER OF CHRIST. "This is the first of a second group of miracles. Those before mentioned are cures of bodily disease. These are deliverances from other adverse influences the elements of nature, evil spirits, End the sins of men. Christ has authority also over these" (Godwin, on Mat_8:23). "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" The great inference: Although indefinite, yet practically a complete demonstration of Christ"s Godhood. M.

Vers. 35-41. The Church in the world.

Communion with Christ in

I SEPARATION.

II TRIAL AND APPARENT DANGER.

III MUTUAL SYMPATHIES AND CARES.

IV FINAL VICTORY AND ATTAINMENT. M.

Vers. 35-41. Storm and calm.

I STORMS BREAK UNEXPECTEDLY UPON US. The Lake of Galilee was peculiarly exposed to them from the north; the wind rushed as through a funnel down those gulleys and ravines. This was known to the sailors, yet the storm was unexpected. Life is the lake; change may come at any moment, we know; and yet it is the "unexpected which always happens.

II PRESENCE OF MIND IS NEEDED. To know that the mind is our real place, and all that happens elsewhere is not our affair, this makes us independent of change, calm amidst scenes of terror. Nature is for mind. Divine reason subdues the wild forces of nature. Faith in that reason is what we need. It is the true and deepest source of "presence of mind.

III THE ABSENCE OF CONFIDENCE AND COURAGE IS BLAMEWORTHY. "Why are you so fearful?" You may know at any time the worst. Fear is the reflection in our mind of some image of overwhelming power, threatening our existence. With Christ on board, our spiritual existence is safe. Perfect abandonment to duty, truth, and God alone, lifts above this anxiety. "If my bark sinks, "Tis to another sea. J.

Vers. 35-51. (See on Mar_6:45-56) J.J.G.

Vers. 35-41. The stilling of the storm: the deliverance of the Church.

The miracles so far recorded were miracles of healing, and demonstrate the dominion of Christ in the realm of the human life he is Lord of the human body. Now he declares his equal dominion in the realm of disturbed nature, "even the wind and the sea obey him." The Church has found two uses in the miracles of our Lord.

1. In an earlier age they were a sign to unbelievers, evidences of the authority of the Teacher, attestations to the truth of his message. Christ appealed to them: "The works that the Father hath given me to accomplish, the very works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. Though ye believe not me, believe the works.

2. In later times they have been found to be a treasure of spiritual teaching, a word of revelation and power to believers. Thus they form a part of the Church"s inestimable possessions. The instruction divides itself into two branches: the positive knowledge which they convey as in this, the lordship of the world"s Redeemer over external nature; and the typical and more hidden spiritual lessons. The Church has ever seen herself represented in that ship. "The ark of Christ"s Church" is a consecrated term, and in the sea she has beheld the wild, raging, unfriendly world. So the incident becomes typical:

(1) of the Church"s exposure in the world, as a bark on a stormy sea;

(2) of the Church"s true safety in the presence of Christ;

(3) of the ever-present and final stilling of the rage of the world and the perfect deliverance of his own from all surrounding peril.

I THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF THE LORD JESUS IS A HISTORY OF EXPOSURE TO DANGER. What perils have threatened the holy writings that ark in which all the truth is held! At first hut a few scattered recollections of men; Heaven"s high treasures held in earthen vessels. Then written on a few flying leaves of parchment by tremulous human hands in uncertain human letters. Afterwards followed dangers from the errors of dim-sighted transcribers, from injudicious interpolators, from the destructive ravages of fire. Yet after the long ages it is probable we possess a more accurate transcript of the original documents than the Church ever possessed since the very early transcripts were penned. To what perils has the true Society of Jesus the holy Catholic Church been exposed in her very varying history! Scarcely had thin barque left the shores ere the strong surf of Judaism threatened to overturn it. Then fitful winds of human wisdom profane babblings and oppositions of the knowledge which is falsely so called." Dangers have arisen from internal contentions a mutinous crew; from unsteady hands at the helm, and clouded eyes upon the watch; from overlading with worldly goods, gold, raiment, precious stones; from sunken rocks of pride and worldly glory. False lights have threatened to wreck the vessel upon rugged and uncertain coasts, while black darkness has overcast the heavens, when "for many days neither sun nor stars have shone and no small tempest lay" on the exposed craft. Truly this Galilean boat, this "ark of Christ"s Church," has been often in perilous seas. But with all she has not sunk. Christ has said, "Let us go over unto the other side." A wider view would lead us to think of the exposure of the whole spiritual interests of men. Though these have been exposed to dire destruction, they still survive, and faith, and hope, and love, and truth, and righteousness abound.

II THE CHURCH"S SAFETY HAS EVER BEEN, IS NOW, AND EVER WILL BE, IN CHRIST. This no believer will doubt. To all human appearance asleep, he hastily responds to the cry of prayer, of fear, and desire. The Church to-day is as truly safe in the midst of her many dangers as in that night when the whole Church and the Lord thereof were in that one fishing-boat, when all seemed to be risked, and men accustomed to the sea cried, being fearful, "We perish." Up out of the evils of this stormy life will he lift his own by the miracles of his supremacy. His sweet, calm voice will yet be heard above "the raging of the sea and the tumult of the people," above strife and war and cruel hate, above ignorance, and sin, and sorrow, and pain. Even to evil he will say, "Peace, be still." So that unto him whom winds and seas obey shall be glory and honor from the quiet spirits of his whole Church for evermore. G.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Matt. viii, 23; Luke viii, 22.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Christ Stilling the Tempest.

The departure:

v. 35. And the same day, when the even was come, He saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.

v. 36. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took Him even as He was in the ship. And there were also with Him other little ships.

v. 37. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.

It was on the evening of the day on which Christ had taught the people and His disciples in so many parables. He was probably very tired from the strain of speaking for many hours and desired a few hours of rest. So He proposed to His disciples that they cross over to the other side of the lake. They were with Him in the boat which He had used as platform for speaking and could easily carry out this intention, at least far more easily than to attempt to break through the wall of solid humanity on the shore. They simply left the people behind them as they hoisted sail and moved away from the shore. There was no delay, but also no special provision for the trip. Just as He was, without food or refreshment of any kind, they took Him along. Even so, there were some small boats that accompanied theirs. They had proceeded for some distance when a tornado-like storm broke upon the lake, a phenomenon which was by no means unusual in the deep valley and kettle-like depression of the lake. From all sides the waves rushed upon the boat, rising so high as to fall down upon it and thus filling it with water very quickly. It was a real crisis, and one that was apt to make the heart of the strongest and most seasoned sailor quake with fear.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Observe here, 1. Our Saviour and his disciples no sooner put forth to see, but dangers attend and difficulties do accompany them; a tempest arose, and the ship was covered with waves, which Christ himself was in, with his disciples.

Learn hence, That the presence of Christ himself does not exempt his disciples and followers from trouble and danger. Here is a great tempest about the disciples’ ears, though Christ himself was in their company.

Observe, 2. The posture our Saviour was in when this tempest arose: he being wearied with the labours of the day, was laid down upon a pillow to sleep at night, thereby showing himself to be truly and really man, and that as he took upon him human nature, so he assumed the infirmities of our nature also, as weariness and pain, hunger and thirst.

Observe, 3. The disciples’ application made to Christ; they awake him with a sad outcry, Master, carest thou not that we perish? here was faith mixed with human frailty. They believed that he could save them; but being asleep, they concluded he must be awaked before they can be saved by him: whereas, though his human nature was asleep, yet his divine nature neither slumbered nor slept.

Learn hence, That the prevalence of fear in a time of great and imminent danger, though it may argue weakness of faith, yet is no evidence of a total want of faith; in the midst of the disciples’ fears they believed Christ’s power.

Observe, 4. A double rebuke given by our Saviour, first to the winds, next to the fears of his disciples: He rebukes the winds, and instantly they are calm. When the sea was as furious as a madman, Christ with a single word calms it.

Learn hence, That the most raging winds, and outrageous seas, cannot stand before the rebukes of Christ. Christ, as God, lays a law upon the most lawless creatures, even when they seem to act most lawlessly.

Observe farther, Christ rebukes his disciples’ fears, Why are ye fearful? No sooner was the storm up, but their fears were up? they forgot that the Lord High Admiral of the Ocean was on board the ship; and were as much overset with their boisterous passion as the vessel was with the tempestuous winds; and accordingly Christ rebukes the tempest within, before the storm without.

First he calms their hearts, then he quiets the seas. From this instance of the disciples we may gather, that great faith in the habit may appear little in act and exercise: the disciples’ faith in forsaking all and following Christ, was great faith; but in this present act their faith was weak, through the prevalency of their fears.

O, the imperfect composition of the best of saints! Faith and fear will take their turns, and act their parts, whilst we are upon the stage of this world; ere long our fear will be vanquished, and our faith swallowed up in vision. Lord, set our souls a longing for that joyful hour.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [LV. Jesus Stills the Storm].

LV. JESUS STILLS THE STORM. (Sea of Galilee; same day as last section) aMATT. VIII. 18-27; bMARK IV. 35-41; cLUKE VIII. 22-25.

b35 And that day, cone of those days, bwhen the even was come [about sunset], awhen Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side. bhe saith unto them, Let us go over unto the other side. [Wearied with a day of strenuous toil, Jesus sought rest from the multitude by passing to the thinly settled on the east side of Galilee.] a19 And there came a scribe [Literally, one scribe. The number is emphatic; for, so far as the record shows, Jesus had none of this class among his disciples], and said unto him, Teacher, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes [caves, dens], and the birds of the heaven i have nests; but the Son of [341] man [Daniel's name for the Messiah-- Dan_7:10-13] hath not where to lay his head. [This scribe had heard the wonderful parables concerning the kingdom. He, like all others, expected an earthly kingdom and sought to have a place in it. Jesus so replied as to correct his false expectations.] 21 And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. [This disciple must have been one of the twelve, for these only were required to follow Jesus ( Mar_3:14). It may have been James or John, whose father, Zebedee, almost certainly died before Jesus did. He may have just heard of his father's death. *] 22 But Jesus saith unto him, Follow me; and leave the dead to bury their own dead. [Let the spiritually dead bury the naturally dead. This was a very exceptional prohibition, intended to show not that it was ordinarily wrong to stop for burying the dead, but wrong when in conflict with a command from Jesus. God bids us recognize the claims of filial duty, but rightfully insists that our duties toward him are superior to those due our parents.] c22 Now it came to pass that he entered into a boat, himself and his disciples; a23 And when he was entered into a boat, his disciples followed him. cand he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake: and they launched forth. b36 And leaving the multitude, they take him with them, even as he was, in the boat. [They took Jesus without any preparation for the journey. The crowd, doubtless, made it inconvenient to go ashore to get provisions.] And other boats were with him. [The owners of these boats had probably been using them to get near to Jesus as he preached. They are probably mentioned to show that a large number witnessed the miracle when Jesus stilled the tempest.] c23 But as they sailed he fell asleep. [knowing his labors during the day, we can not wonder at this]: b37 And there ariseth cand there came down ba great storm of wind, con the lake; a24 And, behold, [342] there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the boat was covered with the waves: band the waves beat into the boat, insomuch that the boat was now filling. cand they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy. [These storms come with great suddenness. See McGarvey's "Lands of the Bible," page 519.] b38 And abut bhe himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion [The cushion was the seat-cover, which, as Smith remarks, was probably "a sheepskin with the fleece, which, when rolled up, served as a pillow." The stern was the most commodious place for passengers. The tossing ship has been accepted in all ages as a type of the church in seasons of peril]: a25 And they came to him, and awoke him, bthey awake him, and say unto him, asaying, Save, Lord; we perish. cMaster, master, we perish. bTeacher, carest thou not that we perish? [There was a babble of confused voices, betraying the extreme agitation of the disciples.] 39 And he awoke, aThen he arose, and rebuked the winds, bwind, aand the sea; cand the raging of the water; band said unto the sea, Peace, be still. cand they ceased, bAnd the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. [In addressing the winds and waves Jesus personified them to give emphasis to his authority over them. The calm showed the perfection of the miracle, for the waves of such a lake continue to roll long after the winds have ceased.] c25 And he said unto them, Where is your faith? bWhy are ye yet fearful? have ye not yet faith? aO ye of little faith? [They had little faith or they would not have been so frightened; but they had some faith, else they would not have appealed to Jesus.] b41 And they feared exceedingly, cAnd being afraid they athe men marvelled, band said one to another, csaying one to another, aWhat manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him? cWho then is this, that he commandeth even the winds, and the water, and they obey him? [Jesus' complete lordship over the realm of nature made his disciples very certain of his divinity.] [343]

* I do not concur in this statement.--P. Y. P.

[FFG 341-343]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

35. On the same day. The days the parables were uttered. Unto the other side. Of the Sea of Galilee.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

As Jesus and his disciples take a boat to escape the crowds of people, a great storm arises. His disciples are afraid when they see that even the wind and the sea obey Jesus.

he said to them

"Jesus said to his disciples"

the other side

"the other side of the Sea of Galilee" or "the other side of the sea"

a violent windstorm arose

Here "arose" is an idiom for "began." AT: "a violent windstorm began" (See: Idiom)

the boat was almost full of water

It may be helpful to state that the boat was filling up with water. AT: "the boat was in danger of being filled with water" (See: Ellipsis)

translationWords

Jesus

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

35–41. THE STILLING OF THE WIND AND THE WAVES

Mat 8:23-27. Luk 8:22-25

35. ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ. This takes us back to Mar 3:20. Mt. gives the incident quite a different setting.

Διέλθωμεν. The verb is more often used of traversing land than of crossing water. It is freq. in Lk. and Acts, and in Acts it is almost a technical word for a missionary journey on land (Act 14:24, Act 15:3; Act 15:41, Act 18:23, Act 19:1; Act 19:21, Act 20:2). For crossing water we have διαπεράω (Mar 5:21, Mar 6:53; Mat 9:1; Mat 14:34; Act 21:2; also in LXX.). Where διέρχομαι is used of traversing water, it means going on foot (1Co 10:1).

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

35-41.] The stilling of the storm. Mat 8:18, Mat 8:23-27. Luk 8:22-25. Mark’s words bind this occurrence by a precise date to the preceding. It took place in the evening of the day on which the parables were delivered: and our account is so rich in additional particulars, as to take the highest rank among the three as to precision.

36.] ὡς ἦν—without any preparation—as he was, E. V. Cf. Jos. B. J. i. 17. 7, αὐτὸς ὡς ἦν ἔτι θερμὸς ἐκ τῶν ὅπλων λουσόμενος ᾔει στρατιωτικώτερον.

ἄλ. δὲ πλ.] These were probably some of the multitudes following, who seem to have been separated from them in the gale.

καὶ … δέ, moreover. See Hartung, Partikell. i. 182.

37.] λαῖλ. ἀν. is also in Luke, whose account is in the main so differently worded.

ἐπέβαλλεν] not ὁ λαῖλαψ ἐπέβαλλεν τὰ κύμ.—but τὰ κ. ἐπέβαλλεν,—intransitive: see reff.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

35-41. Jesus and his disciples cross to the eastern side of the lake, and are overtaken by one of the sudden storms produced by the situation of this inland sea, which Jesus stills with a word.

35. ἐκείνῃ τ. ἡμέρᾳ—that day, viz. the day on which Jesus uttered the parables. Mt. connects this stilling of the storm with the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law, and the gathering of the multitude about him at that time. Cf. Mat 8:14-27, and Mar 1:29-34. However, the mark of time in Mt. is not definite enough to create positive disagreement. Lk. says simply on one of the days. ὀψίας1—evening. It is either the time between three and six, or that between six and dark. Probably the former is meant here, as the latter time would not allow for the events that follow. Διέλθωμεν εἰς τὸ πέραν2—Let us cross over to the other side. Jesus’ frequent crossing to the other side of the lake was due to its unpopulated condition, and to the comparative ignorance of himself there, giving him an escape from the wearing ministries to the crowd on the populous west shore, and also frequently from his enemies.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.