Mark 4:35
- Jesus worked hard and got a lot of attention from a lot of people. Now Jesus wanted to get away from the attention to rest and to be alone with the disciples.
Mark 4:37
- Lake Gennesaret is known for its rapid weather changes.
- Jesus’ disciples were experienced fishermen, yet they could not in their own strength “row ashore” this storm.
- God has never claimed that we should be able to obey him in our own strength. On the contrary, we need the Spirit of God to accomplish our mission (Acts 1:8).
Mark 4:38
- Although Jesus is God, he was born as a human being to fully share our human condition (Phil 2:6-8).
- Storm, noise and waves could not wake Jesus, so deep was his sleep. But as soon as his disciples cried out to him in distress, he awoke, so deep is his love.
Mark 4:40
- Jesus had explicitly told them to cross over to the other side of the lake.
- If the disciples had known who Jesus really is, they would have believed Jesus’ words even in the storm.
- Even today we can receive words from God that we can believe and trust that he will carry out, even in the face of storms.
Mark 4:41
- Here the disciples not only saw the humanity of Jesus, they also saw the divinity of Jesus.
- Although it is not explicitly stated that Jesus is God in Mark’s gospel, Mark shows this indirectly when he describes Jesus doing things that only God can do (Mark 2:7, 4:41, 10:18).
- When Jesus calmed the storm, he did something that only God can do, which probably began to shed light on who Jesus really is to the disciples (Psalm 89:9-10).