“QUIET! BE STILL!”

Mark 4:35-41 (Key Verse: 4:39)

“He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.”

Thank God for continuing our Mark’s gospel study. Through Msn. Gideon’s message, last week, we learned how important it is to have careful consideration on the word of God and the measure toward it because it truly rewards us according to such consideration and measure. Surely, it reinforces the point that how we respond to the word of God makes a difference. We also learn from the parables that the kingdom of God grows without our knowing even though the word we hear and our faith put in it is as small as the mustard seed. In this passage, we do not have any parables to learn. Instead, we see the disciples fast-track learn faith through an actual event. It was a frightening one to encounter and yet turned out to be a blessing through which they could have a clear understanding of who Jesus is. May God help us to have absolute trust in him and grow as people who overcome squalls of life. 

1. Don’t You Care If We Drown? (35-38)

Look at verse 35. It starts with the term, “that day” and “evening.” What was Jesus doing that day until evening? In verses 33-34, we see Jesus speaking the word to the crowd with many parables all day long and was having deep Bible study with his disciples. Having such an all-day-long Bible study is a daunting task. One time, I attended a special student-focused Bible conference, like the Vision Camp, and had an all-day-long Bible study that had four GBSs. I was literally full of the Spirit but was dog-tired in the evening. Perhaps, Jesus and his company felt the same, making a plan to have a break. They really needed it and when they were on a boat or two, they felt better than going to Hawaii on a vacation. 

Look at verse 37. What happened? “A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.” A squall is a sudden violent gust of wind or a localized storm. The Sea of Galilee was known to be a home to such a squall because it is about 700 feet below sea level and its southern end is a deep, cliff-lined valley. So, the wind funneling through the surrounding hills whips the lake into sudden violent storms. Calling inanimate objects like squalls furious shows how serious it was. We experience such squalls in the form of turbulence or sea waves in our traveling. In our Friday meeting, Dr. Jason told us that even a minor turbulence in the air makes us jittery while Msn. Gideon claimed he went through a wall of water in a small boat on his way to Jeju Island. Everyone here may have experienced a similar thing one or another. Figuratively speaking, however, squalls can represent problems that arise in our own lives as we follow Jesus. What kinds of problems? There are health problems, job problems, school problems, relational problems, and ministry problems. The list keeps going. The thing is that we cannot predict or control them. That makes us unsettled and even terrified. Msn. Mary Bahn shared her take on her health problem by saying she could take it and get it under control until pain came in. Indeed, pain makes things complicated and uncontrollable. How about being laid off or losing a job? It momentarily paralyzes us. Getting a very low grade or even flunking one course makes you do irrational thinking and acting. I remember Little Sarah ran away from her home in her high school time because she received a low grade on one course, and because of that she thought she could no longer go to Harvard. Squalls of life petrify us with fear. 

Look at verse 38. What was Jesus doing at that time? He was sleeping in the stern of the boat. The stern might be the worst place to sleep because most of the water could be collected there, the back of a boat. Yet Jesus was not disturbed at all. What can we learn from him? His sleeping teaches us his full humanity. He was tired like us after a long day’s ministerial work. So, he could fall asleep anywhere, anytime regardless of the surroundings, like some soldiers being able to sleep even while walking in the middle of overnight march drills.

Look at verse 38 again. Well, Jesus was happy to sleep but the disciples were not. They were desperate and could not but wake up their master, saying, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” We can see their slight complaint. We can also understand them as fellow humans. Thanatophobia is a medical term for fear of death, the number one fear worldwide. With such fear, they rightly felt helpless and could not understand why their master was not doing anything. That thought prompted them to have a complaining spirit. Do we not do that as well? We also complain to God when things go south. By the way, was Jesus not doing anything?

Ps 121:4 says, “indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” In his physical body, Jesus might be sleeping but, in his spirit, he was watching over them. Furthermore, he was helping them to be ready for big squalls through a small squall so that later in their life when they would meet bigger ones, they would overcome them based on their initial encounter. In our Friday meeting, Msn. Mary Kim aptly pointed out that having a squall is a blessing in disguise because otherwise we would have no challenge and no spiritual growth. Surely, if we only live a quiet, river-like life, no disruption or hardship, we will not have any life-altering lessons to learn or great faith to acquire. One interesting story about this from Msn. Mary Kim was that there was a young girl who dreamed about living a quiet, undisturbed, and moderate life. So, she desired to be a landlady in a small house near a university. In that way, she could rent several rooms to college students and lead a comfortable life without any problems or worries. Years later, however, when she actually became a landlady, she lectured on whoever came to her house, saying, “Do not desire a quiet, river-like life such as mine. Instead, desire a more challenging, ocean-like life so as not to regret like me.” According to her advice, one girl student ventured out to be a shepherdess instead of becoming a dentist, raising up many disciples and sending out some as missionaries now. Indeed, the disciples would encounter all kinds of difficulties and persecution as Jesus trained in this passage. In the book of Acts, in Ch. 5, we see how mature and strong they became in the midst of a big life-squall when they were flogged and threatened not to preach. They were joyful instead, because they believed they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the name of Jesus. May God use our small squalls to mold us into big people of faith like the disciples!

2. Do you still have no faith? (39-41)

Look at verse 39. What did Jesus do when he awoke? “He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.” He rebuked the wind and quieted the squall. This shows that Jesus was in control over everything. His words had almighty power. Ps 33:6-7 truly demonstrates his authority over nature. “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses.” His identity was the Creator God. One thing we also observe in this verse is that he rebuked the wind. It is possible that Jesus rebuked evil forces behind the wind so that their attempts to discourage the disciples might not succeed.

Jesus’ rebuking did not stop there. Look at verse 40. Jesus rebuked his disciples. Maybe subtly because Mark did not use the term “rebuke”? What problem did Jesus point out? He pointed out why they were afraid and why they still had no faith. The word “still” implies that they were supposed to have faith and stand still during the time of a squall, but they did not. Moses gives us what to do during such a time, in his famous speech in Ex 14:13-14, which read, “… Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” What we need to do is to be still and see the deliverance of the Lord. 

The ISBC is fast-approaching, and many things will come all at the same time, making things like the time of a squall. The total number of attendants will be in the thousands, and we will be in and out of a huge, Colosseum-like amphitheater with new experiences of all types of things such as World Mission Night. There will be beautiful dances like Tajikistan dance and K-pop dance. There will be twelve life-testimonies who would share how God changed their life and a special speaker from Kentucky will reinforce the theme how much God loves the MZ generation and eagerly wants a new revival among them. An ice-cream social and young-people exclusive gathering will be there. Before and after the ISBC, DuPage UBF will have a wonderful fellowship with brave Kyiv coworkers. If this is not enough, then we will have Nek and Danny’s Thai mission report to hear right after it. In all these things, we need to be still and see what God is doing. It probably needs our patience as well. 

Look at verse 41. How did the disciples respond? They were terrified and it was a good fear. Instead of fearing a squall, they began to have a holy reverence toward Jesus. In other words, they had new discovery about Jesus. They could believe that Jesus was the Messiah who could have authority over nature. In that way, they laid their firm foundation on him and when other disciples and the crowd left him at the time of a hard teaching, they remained true to him. When a crucial time comes, this type of discovery makes us remain true to him as well. 

The famous hymn, “It Is Well with My Soul” was composed by Philip Paul Bliss but what makes us moved most is the lyrics, written by Horatio Spafford. Mr. Spafford was a businessman and had to send his wife and his four daughters ahead of him to England on a vacation to ease the pain of losing their youngest boy. However, during the voyage, there was a shipwreck and 200 people died including all his four daughters. Upon this tragedy, Mr. Spafford immediately set sail for England. On his voyage, the captain of the ship, aware of Mr. Spafford’s story, stopped at the spot where the shipwreck happened so that Mr. Spafford might commemorate his daughters. At that moment, God’s comfort suddenly came to him, and Mr. Spafford began to write it in a form of hymn. 

“When peace like a river, attendeth my way, 

When sorrows like sea billows roll—

Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to know

It is well, it is well with my soul.”

Perhaps, that comfort has continued and has given us strength to remain true to Jesus.

In conclusion, we learned Jesus’ physical sleeping shows his humanity and yet he still watches over us in his sleep. We also learned a squall can prepare us to be great people of faith that overcome the bigger squalls of life like the disciples in the Acts. We learn who Jesus really is through a squall, so it is a blessing in disguise. May God strengthen us to be the people of faith and overcome all squall-like things to see His glory in the ISBC.