Chapter # 4 Paragraph # 9 Study # 5
August 18, 2020
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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(181)
Thesis: It is
because "disciples" attempt to be such
without the qualifying characteristics of a legitimate faith and love that difficult experiences come.
Introduction: In our last study of this paragraph we noted that the disciples had two major problems: a flawed "theology" and a flawed "love".
When these two problems dominate the hearts and minds of Jesus' chosen disciples, He is forced to make life difficult for them. There is no comfortable path over the hurdles of bad theology and bad life-goals. This is the point Mark was trying to make in this final paragraph of chapter four.
- I. The Actual Picture Mark Presented in Words.
- A. The verb in 4:38, translated by the NASB, "...and woke Him..." is misleading.
- 1. Their action did wake Him from His sleep, but that's not Mark's point.
- 2. The verb means "...they raised Him..." and it means that they took hold of Him and raised Him from His reclining position on the cushion.
- B. The verb in 4:39, translated by the NASB, "...He got up..." is also misleading.
- 1. He did stand up, but that's not Mark's point.
- 2. The verb is an intensified form of the same verb that is in 4:38 so that the picture is that Jesus had been "raised to a sitting position" by the desperate hands of the terrified disciples so that they could express their bad theology and bad value system.
- 3. This intensified verb is also a passive voice participle tied to a third person singular main verb, which means that "He was raised all the way up" (to His feet).
- 4. The very strong implication here is that Jesus was somewhat groggy from deep sleep as He was sitting on the cushion and reached out His hands so that they could raise Him to His feet.
- C. The main verb in the first part of 4:39 is "He rebuked".
- 1. He "rebuked" the wind means, etymologically, "He forced the wind to place honor upon Him with the consequence that it was forced to cease its present activity".
- a. This verb was used by Mark in 1:25 where he told us that Jesus forced the unclean spirit to stop talking and come out of its victim/host (His "force" in words was "force" because the words of "The Holy One of The God" (1:24) are inescapable).
- b. The issue involved in such "force" was the issue of the fierce winds stirring up huge waves to sink the boat, so that Jesus forced the wind to cease attempting to drown them.
- 2. In all of Mark's six uses of "wind" in his record, it is "oppositional", attempting to frustrate the plans of Jesus, and His "rebuke" was a demand for them to recognize Him and submit to His plan and words.
- D. The next verb is "He said".
- 1. The words He spoke were addressed to "the sea" as the waves driven by the fierce wind.
- 2. What He said was "be silent" as a recognition that the crashing waves were noisily pressing the intent to sink the boat.
- E. Then, "the wind ceased" and "there came to be a great "calm" (a noun only used in reference to this event in Matthew, Mark, and Luke)...smooth as glass.
- F. And, then, He "said" to the disciples...
- 1. According to Matthew 8:26, this is the second time He said the same words.
- 2. His first words were "Why are you so wretched?"
- a. The word can mean "cowardly" (if the lexicons can be trusted), but it really means "so emotionally distraught that the perception is of total disaster".
- b. In the light of the disciples' "false love" (fixated upon physical life), this is the epitome of desperate fear.
- 3. His next words were "Do you not yet have faith?"
- a. This means that He viewed the development of "faith" to be a major aspect of His pursuit.
- 1) He had told the disciples that He was going to transform them from being "fishers of fish" to being "fishers of men": this was His "promise" to them.
- 2) For such a transformation to occur, "faith" is a critical methodological necessity.
- 3) For "faith" to exist, there must be a "promise made", an accurate theology developed, and a legitimate "love" embraced.
- b. This also means that He was going to do whatever it took to fulfill His promise.
- 1) Thus, the emotional terror, as uncomfortable as it always is, was necessary.
- 2) The path over the "problems" is seldom easy.
- G. Mark's final comments focused upon what needed to occur for the "faith" to take hold.
- 1. The terror needed to increase.
- a. They were made to fear a great fear.
- b. This is most uncomfortable, but necessary.
- c. It has to do with "placing the proper honor upon Jesus" (the word "rebuke").
- 2. The disciples needed to come to grips with the "Identity of Jesus".
- a. This was a "forced" issue by virtue of Jesus' ability to "speak and be heard" by the wind and the sea.
- b. This is a critical issue: Promises can only be kept by One capable of keeping them.
