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Lectio Mark: Faith Not Fear
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In the midst of a great storm the disciples cry out in fear. Jesus's words to his frightened disciples are also a challenge to us. In the storms of our life, will we focus on the wind and waves and give in to fear, or will we keep our eyes firmly fixed on Christ in faith?
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Welcome to our Bible study on the Gospel of Mark. Now, in this episode, we're going to see the theme of faith, not fear. We're going to see this in two extraordinary stories and episodes that are very, very dramatic, which Mark loves. We're going to see it at the end of the gospel of Mark 4. 35. We'll start with our first story. And this story takes place on. On the Sea of Galilee and on Peter's boat. We spent a lot of time in Peter's house and besides the waters. Now Mark is taking us offshore into Peter's boat. And we're told that on that day, when evening had come, he said to them, let us go across to the other side. And leaving the crowd, they took him with them just as he was in the boat and other boats were with them. And a great storm of wind arose and the waves beat into the boat so that the boat was already filling. Notice the waves aren't beating against the boat, they're beating into the boat. That's how big these waves are. And that's causing problems of, you know, the threat of capsizing. But what's Jesus doing in the midst of the storm? But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion, and they woke him. Now, before we get to that part, notice that little detail. This is typical of Mark. Even though Mark is the shortest of all the Gospels, he's shorter than Matthew. When Mark tells a story that Matthew has, Mark's account is usually more detailed and longer. Now, you would think, wait a minute, if Mark is just the abbreviator of Matthew, he would be shorter on details. But that is not the case. It's simply that Mark cuts out entire sections, entire speeches of Jesus, like the Sermon on the Mount, which is three chapters long, and very long chapters at that. So Mark cuts out a lot of stuff, but when he describes an event and a narrative and a story, he gives it to us with further and deeper and richer detail than Matthew. And so I like this idea of. And Mark is the only gospel to mention that Jesus was asleep on a cushion. Now, why does Peter remember that? Because it was Peter's boat, and that was probably Peter's cushion. Like, I'm sure Andrew couldn't use Peter's cushion, right? I'm sure James and John couldn't use Peter's cushion. But the Lord uses Peter's cushion, right? So just a little detail that I reflect on, and I think, hmm, I wonder how that got remembered. And that piece was important to Peter, obviously, in his preaching. And so he was in the stern of asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, excuse me, Jesus, can you wake up? No. They say, rabbi, do you not care if we perish? What a wonderful way to wake somebody up from a deep sleep. I mean, Jesus has been teaching all day, and he's exhausted and he's asleep on Peter's cushion. And they come and they wake him up and they say, don't you care if we perish? That's a rude awakening. And he awoke and he rebuked the wind and said to the sea, peace, shalom, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said to them, why are you afraid? Do you not have faith? Now, one of my favorite depictions of this story is a painting of Rembrandt, and we have it here. Rembrandt, who is such a great artist and such a genius, he did this at age 29. And he's got the apostles with Jesus in the boat, and there's the storm. And there's two groupings, in a sense, of the disciples, for the most part, many are surrounding Jesus here and those. And you see Jesus with a kind of a divine light on his face, sitting calmly in the stern. And you see the disciples who are looking at Jesus. They're calm. The further away you get from Jesus, and the more you look away from Jesus, the more strenuous, panicked and uncomfortable things are for those disciples. Of course, we got a disciple here. This is my son's favorite depiction. We have one of the disciples puking over the edge of the boat. He's close to Jesus, but he's not looking at Jesus, right? And so he's a little seasick with the wind. My son loves that when he was little. Then we have the water coming over, and you have some other disciples, probably Andrew and Peter, here, who are working the rigging. So Andrew and Peter, this is their boat. They are going to make this thing work. They're going to work it. John, the beloved disciple, he's back there with Jesus. He's just going to pray with Jesus, right? But I love that imagery because they're fighting. And what you can. What you see is you see the darkness in the backside here, but the clouds are parting and you see an opening. Yet the people who are fighting the storm, they don't see the light. And isn't that true in our lives when we're in storms and trouble? We see the waves, we know about the wind. We're really good with the problem, and we so focus on the problem. That we don't see the blue light ahead, right? We don't believe that there's going to be blue light ahead sometimes, and we just see the storm. And the more we fight the storm, oftentimes the further away we are from Jesus. So I love this story. And the question that Rembrandt has is, where are you in the storm? Where are you in the storm? Are you calmly sitting next to Jesus and trusting? Or are you like Peter and Andrew, stretched out, fighting the storm, trying to control your life, control the world, and bring order to chaos, Right? And just to will it right? And I know for myself, I oftentimes identify with Peter. I'm usually trying to control things and fight things and make things work. I'm going to will my way through it. My usual intuition is not to pray my way through it, like John back there with Jesus. Now we have this painting at home, and it's by our front door. Because I want to be reminded that when I go out into the world to begin my day, I don't know what storms await, but I want to remember that Jesus is in the boat with me. I want to remember that Jesus is with me wherever I go that day. Whatever problems I have, I want to remember that. And remember that as I go through the door. And then as I'm driving down I25, I quickly forget, but I have a better door. And so there's a great story about this painting, of course. If Jesus is with the 12, how many people are in the boat? You'd expect 13, the 12. And Jesus, good biblical math. There's actually 14. And my son, when he was young, we'd have our. When I was teaching at the seminary, we had the seminarians over and. And he would quiz them and he'd say, how many people are in the boat? They'd say, thirteen. Joe would say, wrong. So there's an extra in the cast. So how did an extra get in? And so my son loved, because he knew who the extra was. He loved to ask them, as they were looking at that, who's the extra? Who is not one of the 12, right? It's clear who Jesus is here. Who is the one who doesn't belong. One of these 14 doesn't fit historically. Who is that? Right? And he would quiz them and then he would give him a clue. He'd say, well, he's doing something no one else is. And of course everyone say, well, the guy puking. No, that's not. Of course the guy puking is doing something no one else is but this one figure is doing something in the painting, if you know how paintings work and artworks, he's doing something that should call you out. In fact, I'll tell you who this character is. It's Rembrandt himself. He painted himself into the scene. And so the question is, where are you in the storm? Right? Where are you in the storm? And Rembrandt knew where he was in the storm, and he painted himself into it. And Rembrandt is the one figure, the one character who's looking out at you and me. Everybody else is looking at Jesus. They're looking down at the bottom of the sea, or they're working in the riggings. And there's one character who's looking out and he's in the blue and he's looking out at you, and he's saying, all right, where are you in the storm? Rembrandt's asking you that question. Where are you in Lifestorm? Are you like Andrew and Peter, fighting it all the way, thinking that you can muscle your way through? And of course, that will be to Peter's demise when he ends up denying Jesus because he said, I will not deny you. Right? Peter's going to will it. He's going to make it happen. And of course, it's John who relies on prayer and trust in Jesus, who is the only one who will be faithful at the cross, right? And so Rembrandt's staring there, right out at you, the viewer, saying, where are you in the storm? And I love it because Rembrandt's picking up this very traditional way of prayer. Because art through the Middle Ages is always sacred. Art is always to help you, the viewer, enter into the biblical scene and to put yourself there. We saw that with that beautiful Caravaggio. All of Levi and his friends are dressed in contemporary Italian Renaissance garb. And so the question is, where are you sitting at the table? Are you looking at Jesus? Are you looking down, afraid to look up at the call? Or here for Rembrandt, he puts himself in the scene, looking out, saying to you, where are you in the storm? Where are you? Put yourself in the scene. And Rembrandt does that literally, right? But he's embodying what we are supposed to do with sacred art and with prayer, to put ourselves as we read these stories, not to just read them for head knowledge, but to meditate and to imagine the scene, to imagine the waves, to imagine what that cushion looked like. That was Peter's favorite cushion, right? And maybe his mother in law Sewed it for him, right? But imagine that beautiful scene, but put yourself there so you can see it, you can taste it, you can smell it, you can feel it. That is what the gift of imagination, as St Ignatius Loyola said, and how that great gift of imagination serves our prayer. Because by using our mind and our imagination to imagine it, we can visualize it internally and then we can bring it into our heart. So it's not just a head knowledge, but a heart knowledge of these beautiful scenes in the Scriptures. So we have that terrific thing. And of course, the thing here is fear, not faith. Jesus says to them, why are you afraid? Have you no faith? And they were filled with awe, which actually means great terror and fear, and said to one another, who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him? If you think Mark doesn't think Jesus is God, you haven't read Mark's gospel. Well, right? Because what are the disciples saying here? Who is this guy? Because the two forces in nature that are the most chaotic and the least able for us with all of our technology to tame is wind and waves. The sea and the wind, we cannot tame these. And the name for those two together is called hurricane, right? We can't control those things. We just simply try to predict them, but we can't even do that very well. But here, these two forces of nature, the most potent forces of nature, wind and waves, obey Jesus. So who is this? Who is this that can command the wind and the waves? Now I want to take us into chapter five. We've already covered the beginning story of chapter five with the story of the demoniac who's possessed. I now want to take us into verse 21 of chapter 5 and another story in which fear and faith are pitted and contrasted and compared. And it's a powerful story, and it has a story within a story. So we'll follow in verse 21. And when Jesus had crossed again into the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. And then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name. And seeing him, he fell at his feet and brought him and besought him, saying, my little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her so that she may be made well and live. He wants Jesus to touch his daughter. Remember Jesus? Probably the rumor came out that Jesus touched the leper, and the leper was healed the touch of Jesus, and he went with him. So Jesus goes with Jairus. And a great crowd followed him, and thronged about him. And there was a woman who had a flow of blood for 12 years and who had suffered much under many physicians and had spent all that she had. And she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garments. For she said, if I touch even his garments, I shall be made well. Sodzane in the Greek, which literally means to make well, but also means to be saved, has a double meaning. To be made well or to be saved. I will be made well if I touch even the fringe of his garments. Now, on the fringe of a Jewish rabbi's garments oftentimes were tassels that represented the Torah. Right. So there's a powerful image of this scene in two places that I love. One is one of the most ancient Christian scenes of art. It's a fresco that's in the catacombs. And that image was put when St. John Paul II released the catechism of the Catholic Church. They chose four images for the four pillars of the catechism. And there was an image that introduced each section of the catechism. There was the fresco from the catacombs of the hemorrhaging woman reaching out to touch the fringe of Jesus garment. And that fresco was put as the introduction to the second pillar of the catechism on the sacraments and liturgy. And the idea that what Holy Mother Church was saying there is that if you want to touch Jesus today, you can touch him in the liturgy and in the sacraments. Jesus is once again present in the Eucharist especially, but in all the sacraments. And that's why the church put the image of the hemorrhaging woman who reached out to touch Jesus. But you have the opportunity to touch Jesus even today, right? It's a beautiful thing. And so that image. And then there's a contemporary very, a new just done in the last couple years, a new artistic depiction of this. That's in where they found about just over seven years ago, a synagogue in Magdala where Jesus taught. And they found the best preserved first century synagogue. And they have a place there called the Magdala Center. And it's a beautiful Catholic. It's owned and run by Catholics, the Legionnaires of Christ run it. And they have a Magdala center that they just built. And they have a painting on the lower level where they have a replica of a first century synagogue. And there's a painting that's absolutely spectacular and gorgeous of this woman. All you see is the feet of Jesus in his robe and his sandals. And this woman is reaching out and touching the. The very hem of his garment, of his robe. And at our touch, there's a little bit of light coming out to show the power that comes forth from Jesus. And it's a stunning, stunning piece of art. And it's really quite breathtaking. And that captures what this woman believes. And so she says, even if I touch his garments. And so then what does she do? She reached out and she touched it, and immediately the hemorrhage ceased. And she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone forth from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, who touched my garments? Now, that reminds me of some vacations with my siblings as we were taking long drives in the station wagon. And my sister would say, stop touching me. Stop touching me. And one of her brothers would be poking her. Somebody would be doing that, right? And my dad would say, do I have to pull the car over? Right? And so here Peter kind of gets a little bit insulted. Notice what he says, who touched my garments? And his disciples said to him, you see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, who touched me? Peter's like, are you kidding me? Who hasn't touched you? So you got the celebrity rabbi, and everyone wants to get an autograph and be close. And they're coming through this crowded place, and Jesus stops and says, who touched me? And Peter's right. There's probably a lot of people that touched Jesus, but only one touched him with faith. The woman with the hemorrhage reached out and she just touched the bare fringe of his robe. And immediately power went forth from Jesus into her and healed her. She is healed by that touch. Many people bumped into, elbowed, touched Jesus and jostled against Jesus that day, but power didn't go forth. And that is why the Church uses this image of this woman from the frescoes from the Catacombs as a catechetical lesson for you and I. Because what the Church is saying is, many people go to Mass, many people receive Jesus in the Eucharist, many people receive the sacraments. But we know from the Council of Trent that God is truly present. As the Latin phrase says, ex opere operato. By the very nature of the operation of the sacraments, God becomes present. However, Trent goes on to say, the grace of that sacrament will only bear fruit according to the disposition of the one who receives. If you want the power of Jesus to flow out into your life and into your heart. You have to receive him with faith. You have to receive him with love. You have to receive him with trust. That woman had trust. She had humility. And so when she reached out and touched Jesus, there was a connection made, and power came forth and healed her. Many other people touched Jesus, and no power came forth into their life. It didn't change their life. It didn't heal them that day. And so we have to beware of sacramentalism, thinking that just receiving the sacraments alone is going to change us. Our hearts have to be disposed to receive with love and eagerness and vigilance our Lord. Have you touched Jesus? Right, that's the question here in the story. Have you touched Jesus like she did? And then Jesus looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had been done to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, daughter, I can't imagine what that word would have done to Jairus, whose daughter is dying. And he's eager to get Jesus to get to his house with his daughter dying. You ever have something you have to do and you have to do it urgently, and you're anxious and people keep interrupting you, and people kind of get in the way, and you're like, I got to get this done. And poor Jairus, he's taking Jesus to his home. And. And Jesus stops in the midst of the crowd, says, who touched me? And Peter's like, lord, I'm trying to do crowd control here. Come on, give me a break, right? And Jesus says, no, someone touched me. And Jairus is probably pulling all his hair. He's like, we gotta go. My daughter's dying. And here Jesus is worried about someone who touched him. And then Jesus says, daughter. And of course, that makes our hearts remember Jairus, daughter. And he says to her, daughter, your faith has made you well. So Zayn again has healed you, has saved you, has made you well, your faith has made you well. Go in shalom, go in peace, and be healed of your disease. So again, at the end of mass, what do we do? We take the blessing, and we're told by the priest to go in peace. The priest is echoing the words of Jesus. And here the woman touched Jesus, and she's to take that blessing with peace and to go. And every mass, we're reminded of this story when we're told by the priest or the deacon to go in peace after we receive the blessing, after we, too, have touched Jesus while he was still speaking, there came forth from the ruler's house some who said, you, daughter is dead. Your daughter is dead. Jairus, daughter is dead. Jesus didn't get there in time. Why trouble the rabbi any further? But ignoring what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, do not fear, only believe. And here is one of the key themes of Mark's gospel. Faith, not fear. Faith not fear. Fear crowds out faith. Faith, conversely, taps down and controls fear. When our fears get away from us, our faith gets minimized. When we double down on faith, our fears can be controlled. Do not fear, only believe. And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. And when they came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, he saw a tumult and people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, what? Why do you make atonement and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping. And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother. Notice the compassion of Jesus, right? He brings the father and mother his heart for this couple who've just lost their daughter, right? He brings them in with him. And he went in where the child was and taking her by the hand, and he said to her, talitha kumi, which is Aramaic. And Mark's Gospel, by the way, has more Aramaic than any of the other gospels, which fits. You know, Peter struggling to speak in Greek or Latin in Rome, and he keeps reverting back to his Aramaic. And so Mark, as a good translator, he, at key emotional moments of Peter's memory, the story goes back to the Aramaic. And this is a powerful moment for Peter because he, John and James are taken up there with the parents, with this young girl who is dead. And Jesus says to her, talitha kumi, which means little girl, I say to you, arise. And of course, that's the Aramaic word for resurrection, to arise, kumi. And immediately the girl got up and walked, for she was 12 years old, which is a nice connection because the hemorrhaging woman had hemorrhage for 12 years. And immediately they were overcome with amazement. And he strictly charged them to tell no one, that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat. Wow, what a beautiful story of faith, not fear, and the desire to touch Jesus. Now, in contrast to what we just discovered all the way through in the next story, in chapter six, verse one, he went away from there and he came into his own country. And his disciples followed him. And on the Sabbath, he began to teach in the synagogue. And many who heard him were astonished, saying, where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom given to him? What mighty works are wrought by his hands? Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us? And they took offense at him. And Jesus said to them, a prophet is not without honor except in his own country and among his own kin and in his own house. And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid hands upon a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. So notice what we have here. Two things. First, their unbelief. Jesus is not able to do much there, right? He's not able to do much there because of their unbelief. When we approach God with cynicism and doubt and skepticism, we hamstring God's power. We limit what God can do in our lives, in our family, in our church. And so a doubting community, like the community in Nazareth, is not a community where God's grace is operative to the full. It's not free to flow because of unbelief. That's the one block. And so we see opposite of what we saw with Jairus and especially the hemorrhaging woman who believed. And Jesus power flowed out. Here we have unbelief, which gives us quite a contrast to that belief that they had. Of course, Jesus. Siblings here are, as the church teaches, they are his kin, but they're not his brothers and sisters. The word adolphoi in Greek, which means brothers or sisters, is also used for Lot, who is the nephew of Abraham, and he is called the Adolphus of Abraham, even though he's a nephew. So in a culture where family ties with cousins and aunts and uncles are so tight that you could use that brother or sister for extended kin. Because cousins would live in the same village as cousins. And so they would be like family. Literally, they were family and they would be considered like that. And so we see that, of course, the greatest proof of this is the fact that Jesus gives his mother in the Gospel of John 19 to John the beloved disciple. If Jesus had other brothers, he could not give Mary, his mother, into the care of John the beloved disciple. Because John the beloved disciple is a non kin, right? So that proves that truth and that teaching. But here I want to come back to that last point, just to end on the key theme that Mark is giving us is that it's about faith, not fear. Jesus invites us to trust and remember the opening summons of the Gospel. Repent, which means have your mind transformed and believe. Trust in the Gospel. And that's the question for us. Are we going to trust in the storms and in the tribulation and the waves and the persecution? Are we going to trust? We have to respond to Jesus with faith and trust in the midst of all of our fears. And faith will eclipse our fears and give us the trust and the peace we need to follow Jesus faithfully.