Who Then is This??

This is the reflection on this Sunday's gospel reading that was sent out to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church.  
Gospel: Mark 4:35-41

35When evening had come, [Jesus said to the disciples,]“Let us go across to the other side.” 36And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

Every time I read a passage of scripture, something different stands out. I looked back at the sermon I preached three years ago, when this was the gospel reading. It was a completely different take on the passage than what I see today. 

It was a scary time for Jesus’ disciples. Although a small lake, the Sea of Galilee can get stirred up with great waves as the western winds blow across it. When I lived in Bethlehem, we would go north to the Galilee for vacation. I will never forget the signs on the shore, in broken English, that declared, “Beware of western whips!” 

So in all of this scariness and in the evening where it gets dark much earlier than here, Jesus shows his disciples one of the aspects of his nature. Jesus demonstrated that he was the Lord who controlled nature. 

I can’t help but hear in my head a song from a previous lifetime that expresses, albeit in older language, the gist of this passage, because Jesus continues to reveal himself to his followers.:

Behold what manner of man is this 

Who stills the raging sea 

He heals the sick, the lame, the halt 

And makes the blind to see 

He opens all the prison doors 

And sets the captives free 

Behold what manner of man is this 

What manner of man is He? 

CHORUS 

He's the Lord of Glory 

He is the great I Am 

The Alpha and Omega 

The beginning and the end 

His name is Wonderful 

The Prince of Peace is He 

He's the everlasting Father 

Throughout eternity. 

Behold what manner of man is this (Eb) 

Gospel Way Song Book #304 

Phyllis C Spiers © 1950, 1962 Gospel Publishing House 

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