The Shepherd of the Storm.

Jesus sometimes sends his disciples into storms...

Below we invite you into a different space. As we retell the story of a week in the life of Jesus and his disciples, look for yourself in the story. Think about the storms in your life. Think about where you’re heading.

Could it be that Jesus knows about your storm? Could it be that his eyes are on you in the storm? Perhaps the storm is a call to worship? And that your destination is not a desert but a place of worship?

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Martin Luther said…

"The human heart is like a ship on a stormy sea driven about by the winds blowing from all four corners of heaven."

In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 6, verses 45 onwards, we find a story of a storm, the disciples, and Jesus.

But is it really about the storm?

Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.

Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn, he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified.

Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there.

One could imagine it had been a grueling week.

Jesus’ cousin John is dead. He was well known for his defiance of the Roman way and the Pharisees. The one who heralded his coming on the shores of the Jordan River, who pointed out the lamb of God and released his disciples to go follow the messiah. Slain by Herod to please his mistress, John's head was served up on a platter at a dinner party for challenging Herod's debaucherous lifestyle.

It had been a busy time for Jesus - he'd been preaching everywhere.

Healing the sick.

Confronting the kingdom of darkness.

And delivering a demon-posed man living in a graveyard from self-mutilation and torment.

He upsets the local economy when he drives spirits into pigs and is asked to leave town.

Only to be met with an anxious father needing a miracle for his desperately ill 12-year-old daughter.

Jesus ends up raising her dead body back to life, but not before he is met by a passionate crowd pressing in on him and a woman who has been bleeding for 12 long years seeking her healing.

In fact, in a crowd, as she reaches out to him, the draw on him is so great that it states, "He felt the power go from him."¹

What was it that left him?

What did he feel?

And if that wasn't enough, his family came to collect Jesus after hearing the rumors of what he was doing and the trouble he was causing.

In a culture that traded in shame and honor as we trade in currency, his family could well have wanted to protect their social standing and avoid being compromised.

No doubt they were not wanting to be discredited or written off by Jesus' crazy talk and antics. He'd be much safer within the confines of their home… where they could monitor or perhaps control him.

And then…

He sends out the 12, teaching them the ways of the ministry. And when they return, all they want to do is boast. They want to tell him all the stories of their exploits and their accomplishments.

But in amongst all that…