To appreciate how Mark ends his account of this incident, we need to understand some things. Apart from fishermen, the Jews were not seafaring people; they left that to their Phoenician neighbours to the north. The sea came to symbolise, for them, the dark power of evil, threatening to destroy God’s good creation, people, and purposes.
Jesus turns to the disciples in the ensuing calm, questioning their fear and faith. Their fear now turns to terror and an awestruck wondering about the very person of Jesus.
Spend a few minutes now pondering the incredible power and majesty of the person of Jesus. Is this the risen, ascended Jesus you experience at work in your life?
In this week's text,
“Mark helps us learn to trust in a Saviour who does not deliver us from storms but through the storms. Christianity is not a refuge from the uncertainties and insecurities of the world. . . There are no safe places in life, and one can only find security with Jesus and a serenity that this world does not know and cannot give. Christians know that Jesus has done battle with evil and has won. He has beaten down the savage storms, and one has no reason to fear anything from
nature or the supernatural, from life or death (see Rom. 8:31–39). Garland, D. E. (1996). Mark (pp.198–200). Zondervan Publishing House.
How true is all this in your own life?
Do you trust and put your faith in Jesus, who accompanies you through
the storms of life?
Are you aware of him battling on your behalf against evil and destruction and overcoming them in and around you?
Reflections by Reggie Venter
