• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Wednesday in the Word

what the Bible means and how we know

  • Home
  • Bible Studies
    • New Testament Bible Studies
    • Old Testament Bible Studies
    • Topical Bible Studies
    • What is the Gospel?
  • Study Help
    • Resource Library
    • Resources by Book of the Bible
    • Bible Study 101: Learn to Study the Bible
    • Bible Study 201: Learn to teach the Bible
  • Articles
    • Theology
    • Faith & Life
    • Family
    • Women’s Ministry Resources
    • Most Popular
  • What is WitW?
    • Meet Krisan
    • What We Believe
    • Looking Back
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Passages / Mark / 04 Why are you so afraid? Mark 4:35-41

04 Why are you so afraid? Mark 4:35-41

July 19, 2020 by Krisan Marotta

https://media.blubrry.com/wednesday_in_the_word_with/www.wednesdayintheword.com/wp-content/uploads/sermons/QJA-20141015-KM.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:20 — 8.0MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | RSS | More

04 Why are you so afraid? Mark 4:35-41 | WednesdayintheWord.com

Perhaps the most difficult question that skeptics ask is the question of suffering. How can God be all-powerful and all-loving and allow His people to live in tragedy and anguish? The disciples ask “Don’t you care if we drown?” Jesus responds reveals the problem of suffering is ultimately a problem of faith.

Passage

4:35On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.”  36And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.  37And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”  – Mark 4:35-41

  • Jesus was exhausted after a long day of teaching. His exhaustion points to his humanity and the extent of his empathy with us.
  • While its early in Jesus’ ministry, the disciples have a lot of evidence here to testify that Jesus of Nazareth is in fact the Messiah from his baptism to his teaching and miracles.
  • The storm is dangerous, but the disciples ought to be able to handle it. Several of them were fisherman who spent their lives on this sea and Jesus is able to sleep through it.
  • The disciples panic because they are afraid Jesus no longer loves them or they fear Jesus is not who he claims to be..
  • Maturity comes from trusting God when there is no visible evidence of His presence. Storms are the school in which we learn faith. Emotional overreaction to demanding circumstances is one indicator of how much we have left to learn.
  • After calming the storm as if it were an over-eager puppy, Jesus responds to their lack of faith.
  • To have faith is to be more impressed with Christ than we are with the problems in front of us.
  • The conclusion Mark wants us to draw from this account is: Who is this man? This is Jesus Christ, the Messiah, son of the living God, the savior of mankind. Trust him.
  • The boat won’t sink and the storm won’t last forever.

For more detail and explanation, please listen to the podcast.

Next: 05 What is your name? Mark 5:1-20

Previous: 03 Good or evil, life or death? Mark 2:23-3:6

Series: Questions Jesus Asked

Resources: Gospel of Mark

For help learning to study, see Bible Study 101.

Photo by Jaka Škrlep on Unsplash

(This article has been read 328 times plus 9 today.)

Related posts:

  1. 05 What is your name? Mark 5:1-20
  2. 08 How many loaves do you have? Mark 6:30-46
  3. 14 What do you want me to do for you? Mark 10:32-45
  4. 10 Do you see anything? Mark 8:11-26
  5. 11 Who do you say that I am? Mark 8:27-38

Filed Under: Mark, Passages Tagged With: Mark, Questions Jesus Asked

Primary Sidebar

Footer

Find the podcast on:


  • Facebook

  • Instagram

  • Google Play

  • iTunes Podcasts

  • Apple Music

  • Pinterest

  • SoundCloud

  • Spotify

  • Stitcher

  • TuneIn

  • iHeart

  • Email

  • RSS Feed

Wednesday in the Word is the podcast about what the Bible means and how we know.

Contact us

Privacy Policy

Legal Disclaimers

Copyright © 2023 · Krisan Marotta, WednesdayintheWord · Log in