Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.
In Mark 4, after a busy day of teaching, Jesus and his disciples rowed across a lake. A furious squall nearly swamped the boat, but Jesus? He wasn’t worried. He was snoozing on a cushion in the back of the boat (Mark 4:35-38).
The disciples woke him and said, “Teacher! Don’t you care if we drown?” (Mark 4:38).
Listen again to that question, full of panic and accusation. “Don’t you care if we down?” Always a good idea to ask your friends if they care. Perhaps they quit caring since yesterday. Do you think Jesus’ cared?
The gospel writers Matthew and Luke don’t like the disciple’s tone, asking Jesus if he cares. So they quote the disciples as saying, “Master, save us. We’re going to drown” (Mat 8:25, Luke 8:24).
Responding to their panic, Jesus woke up and stilled the storm.
Then he asked, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (Mark 4:40).
What a great back and forth. The disciples ask, “Don’t you care?” and Jesus responds, “Don’t you have any faith?”
This exchange is too prickly for Matthew’s gospel. He softens Jesus’ response to, “O you of little faith, why are you afraid?” And Luke changes Jesus’ reply to the more neutral, “Where is your faith?” (Luke 8:25).
I enjoy the wordplay between the disciples and Jesus. Clearly, the gospel writers struggled to put the right tone and inflection into the disciples’ panic and Jesus’ response.
And here’s a question for you, if you care. How do you think the story would read if the disciples did have the faith Jesus was looking for? Would faith have kept them rowing helplessly while Jesus slept? Should they have stilled the storm themselves by faith?
Let’s pray.
O Jesus, like the disciples, we row through a stormy life, feeling swamped.
We ask, “Do you notice? Do you care? Are you sleeping?” And you reply, “O you of little faith, why are you so afraid?”
O Jesus here is our little faith. In faith we bring our troubles to you. In faith we say that however abandoned we feel, we believe that you are with us and that you care.
O Jesus, prince of peace, send us your peace. Still our fears, fix our creaking boat, calm our storms, and guide us to your city of light.
Amen.
I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.
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