Thoughts from Bible Study: Lord of the Sky and Sea

That evening, Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's cross the lake to the other side." So they left the crowd. Jesus was already waiting in the boat, and the disciples got into the boat and took him with him; other boats went with them. A strong wind suddenly blew on the lake, and the waves crashed into the boat, and the boat was almost filled with water. Jesus was in the stern of the boat, sleeping on his pillow. They woke him up and said, "Teacher, we're dying, don't you care?" Jesus got up and commanded the wind, "Be still!" And he told the waves, "Stop!" The wind stopped, and the lake calmed down. So he said to his disciples, "Why are you timid, you have no faith?" They were very frightened and said to each other, "Who is this man, even the storm obeys him!" ~Mark 4:35–41~

This passage is quite famous. It is mentioned in many articles discussing faith, and there are even many passages that can be found in film and television works. Recently, I happened to hear related sermons in the online gatherings of two churches one after another. Let's talk about this verse.

This verse is very straightforward and easy to understand. Most of the audience or lecturers said the same thing. I would like to mention something else here, which has something to do with the biography of Jesus written by Yanaihara Tadao (this Ben was so wonderful that I had a hard time giving birth), I'm going to imitate his way here and start talking a little earlier.

The beginning of this verse says "that evening", so that day?

Let's go back in time to chapter 3, where it is mentioned that Jesus went to preach on this side of the Lake of Galilee, and then a group of people came, including Jerusalem to the south, Gitu Mai further south, or Sidon to the north, Tweed Lo (the two cities are on the Mediterranean Sea), plus the place across the Jordan River. To put it simply, the surrounding people have gathered (if they come from Jerusalem, they will have to walk more than 100 kilometers), this is not a general appeal, but it is a state that is enough to make the ruler vigilant.

Yes, since ancient times, rulers have strengthened their vigilance against abnormal mass gatherings, especially in dictatorships. In fact, at the beginning of Chapter 3, they told us that Jesus has already made people very upset. For a story with a total length of 16 chapters, it is only the third chapter. At the beginning of the chapter, someone wants to kill the protagonist, which is not good.

So Jesus moved to the Lake of Galilee, which were all small towns and "just near the border", not to mention that most of his students were from around here, or even fishermen on the lake at all, a bit of a convenient location - yes, Good for leaving quickly.

In fact, Jesus went back and forth by boat on the lake quite frequently.

In short, Jesus began to preach around the Lake of Galilee, and it became not at all in the city, but on a hillside or a lake, because the urban area was too dangerous and too narrow.

And he started telling parables.

Notice that before chapter 4, Jesus didn't tell parables, he answered directly, or quoted from the Old Testament to get people trying to kill him...

Yes, Jesus started parables in the face of censorship.

Jesus preaching is probably like this. He can preach, but we also know that in ancient times, there was no loudspeaker. To be honest, it is impossible to speak for too long. Although I don’t know if there is any ancient Middle Eastern voice protection formula, in short, this is the case. Talking hurts your throat.

But he can keep talking day in and day out...or, actually, not talking all the time, more time for other things, and that's the key to the crowd following him - healing.

Yes, among the miracles of Jesus, it is relatively simple to carry in the Bible, but in fact, it may be that He healed the crowds most of the time. And the reason why the record is not too detailed is also very simple. Jesus himself felt that this was not important at all. In fact, Jesus more than once said "don't talk about it everywhere" or emphasized "whether forgiveness or healing is more important."

Yes, what Jesus said is "strange", but the needs of the people are very direct. First, they want to be healed, second, they want to be fed and clothed, and third, they want to be saved.

Healing is very simple, just let Jesus touch it. If there is food and clothing, the miracle of five loaves and two fish has been performed at least twice, but salvation is complicated, because at that time the Israelites wanted to overthrow the rule of the Roman Empire, which is simply a revolution.

So Jesus faced both the jealousy of the rulers and the false expectations of the crowd at the same time, and it was tiring.

He preached by the lake for a few days, and finally came to the verse we quoted at the beginning. They are going to the other side of the lake. That "other side" is not an ordinary place. Territory, in other words, go there to "rest".

Then we can see that someone is not giving up and catches up on a boat...

What does it mean when the storm hits? Many speakers will say that this represents the coming of the dark powers, which is of course a way of interpretation (there is usually not only one way of interpreting a story, and there can be many correct interpretations at the same time), but we might as well think of it as God Get rid of the idiots - the rest of the ships disappeared from the story after the storm, hope they're all right.

What happened after that was just as recorded in the Bible. The disciples were afraid to ask Jesus for help or even complain. Then Jesus stood up and ordered the storm to calm down, but the disciples were even more afraid.

This passage is very interesting. First, it can be compared with Jonah, because Jonah also continued to sleep on his head when he encountered a storm on the ship. After being called up, he was even more calm and made people suspect that there was something wrong with him. That one? It's alright! Throw me into the sea and I'll settle it."

The second is "command".

Faced with daunting natural forces, the ancients naturally regarded these forces as the power of gods, or these forces themselves were gods.

For example, the wind has the god of wind, and the sea has the god of sea. When encountering a storm at sea? Well, let’s say it’s the child born of the god of wind and god of the sea (and has a bad temper), which is the way polytheism responds.

Or it could be attributed to a powerful god, or it would be unfortunate to break into the scene of a quarrel between two gods (or one god and one devil), and it was the god who controlled the natural forces.

In short, no matter what kind of response it is, human beings respond by "begging for mercy", such as offering sacrifices, building altars, or even "finding bigger gods to overwhelm" - this kind of practice is relatively common in China, because Confucianism and Taoism The servile system has always been a demonstration of the privileged class system, with little conception of right and wrong, good and evil, and the emphasis is on class.

But Jesus is the "command".

This means that His authority is above the natural forces, and that He himself is the master of the natural forces.

This is the quality of "God".

Of course, this is based on the world view of the Israelis. Now we have seen a lot of fantasy stories, so many mages can control the weather... But even so, these mages are not authoritative, they just understand some of the mechanisms behind them Therefore, it can be manipulated, just as scientific power can be used to make artificial rain, or electric fans can be used to make wind, but we have no authority over natural forces, and we can only use other natural forces to drive another natural force.

As a result, the disciples only felt more fear... It is not difficult to understand why, because that is the object of "beyond understanding", and in the face of the Most High, fear is a natural emotion, because God is love, but He is " more than love " (so I It is not difficult to understand that the story of Cthulhu was invented in the Christian cultural circle. It is a incomplete interpretation of monotheism. Some Satanists have similar views, but they do not notice that their understanding is very obvious. biased, and not at all complete).

In fact, the fear of the disciples shows us how small people are when facing the truth. In the Bible, before Jesus was crucified, almost every disciple was a problem child. From our current perspective, our understanding of theology seems to be a late class. , but each with astonishing confidence and achievement afterward. We now have at least some of these examples to look at, so don't underestimate ourselves, but also remember that we don't have the blessing to experience what they did, whether it's being able to touch the grace of Jesus or face the fear of divinity.

We can only think, and then seek this boundless existence from the miracle of Jonah.

Whether it is joy, sorrow, joy, or fear, God is in there, and in a posture of infinity, he never becomes there.

As Jesus lay on the pillow in the stern.

The Lord is indeed the Lord of the sky and the sea.