TGBC Sunday, Jan 10, 2021. Mark 4:35-41
The Good Book Club
Sunday, January 10, 2021
Mark 4:35-41
The Kingdom New Testament: A Contemporary Translation
N T Wright
Jesus Calms the Storm
35 That day, when it was evening, Jesus said to them, "Let's go over to the other side."
36 They left the crowd, and took him with them, in the boat he'd been in. There were other boats with them too.
37 A big windstorm blew up. The waves beat on the boat, and it quickly began to fill. 38 Jesus, however, was asleep on a cushion in the stern. They woke him up.
"Teacher!"they said to him, "We're going down! Don't you care?"
39 He got up, scolded the wind, and said to the sea, 'Silence! Shut up!"
The wind died, and there was a flat calm. 40 Then he said to them, "Why are you scared? Don't you believe yet?"
41 Great fear stole over them. "Who is this?" they said to each other. "Even the wind and the sea do what he says!"
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Online there are dozens, hundreds, thousands? to choose from - - works of art visualizing Jesus calming the storm at sea that evening. Some are quite dramatic. I like them all. It is not easy to choose, and in the past I've picked art that showed Jesus in the boat, victoriously using Creator's power and authority to conquer gigantic waves.
- keeping his head when all about him
- are losing theirs and ... (blaming it on him?)
The translation, I like N T Wright's translation. He says it isn't for liturgical use, but I find it great for personal use, as it might be for bible study. Wright brings alive the story of Jesus. And yes, Hart, yesterday's translation, brings the evangelist to life and helps me "get" Mark - - Hart, an Orthodox scholar, professor and theologian. This morning, Tom Wright, scholar, retired CofE bishop, professor. They're sniping at each other, which intrigued me into buying both books to see the differences, and they are quite different. I'll credit their squabble as integrity, not a marketing gimmick. Seriously.
Now about today's Mark reading. The good news, to answer the disciples' question, is that Jesus does care, and God is in control of Creation. The bad news is that you had to be there with him in the boat two thousand years ago. Or maybe not, maybe he's still here in the boat with us! If so, how? Think about it; think about it right now, you don't have to wait till next Summer, Sunday, June 20th, when this story comes up as our gospel for the day!
On the literary front, Mark continues developing his agenda: these bonehead disciples can't see who Jesus is even though it's perfectly clear - - who but God himself can control nature? And in his question "Don't you believe yet?" Jesus himself is telling the disciples that by now they should realize who he is - - which is part of Mark's way of telling us.
And this: Mark is not writing a bedtime story. Mark is an evangelist proclaiming Christ by telling us about him so that we will believe and also proclaim. Mark's proclamation, bringing us inside the story as participants frustrated at the disciples' mental block, is meant to stir us to action.
Luke tells the story beautifully for his patron Theophilus. Matthew is the Bible-thumper trying to persuade other Jewish Christians that Jesus really was/is the Jewish messiah. But Mark is one of us, a hometown boy who didn't get accepted by the colleges he applied to, clerks at the local grocery store during the week, coaches boys U-6 soccer evenings and Saturdays, teaches the young adults' Sunday school class at his church on Sundays, and wants to make everyone so excited about Jesus Christ the Son of God that we jump up and rush out to tell the good news. Mark's the best, and he's an all time favorite with me!
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