TWELFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, CYCLE
B
MARK 4:35-41
WHEN YOU STUDY THE HISTORY OF THE NEW
TESTAMENT, YOU LEARN THAT THE GOSPEL OF MARK WAS THE FIRST TO BE
WRITTEN. THIS WAS ABOUT THIRTY YEARS AFTER THE DEATH OF CHRIST.
WHEN YOU READ THE OTHER GOSPELS, PRODUCED TWENTY TO 35 YEARS AFTER
THIS, YOU CAN SEE THAT THEY'VE TAKEN THE BASIC STORY OF JESUS AND
USED THE EVENTS IN HIS LIFE AND HIS TEACHINGS TO PUT FORTH A POINT OF
VIEW IN TERMS OF THEOLOGY. MATTHEW WANTS HIS JEWISH READERS TO
COMPARE JESUS TO MOSES AND SEE A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE HISTORY OF
ISRAEL AND THE LIFE OF JESUS. LUKE WANTS HIS READERS TO KNOW THAT
JESUS LOVED THE POOR AND THE OUTCASTS, AND WAS WILLING TO STAND UP TO
THE AUTHORITIES FOR THEM – SOMETHING LIKE POPE FRANCIS, I GUESS.
AND JOHN MAKES NO BONES ABOUT IT. JESUS IS GOD PURE AND SIMPLE.
THERE IS A LEGEND ABOUT THE ORIGIN OF THE GOSPEL OF MARK WHICH IS
PROBABLY NOT TRUE, BUT MAYBE TRUTHY. IT IS THAT MARK TOOK DICTATION
FROM PETER, AND THAT PETER TOOK PAINS TO SHOW THAT THE APOSTLES, AND
ESPECIALLY HIMSELF, SAID FOOLISH THINGS AND DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THERE
IS A LOT IN THE GOSPEL THAT SUGGESTS THAT PETER HAD SOMETHING TO DO
WITH IT. BUT THAT'S FOR ANOTHER TIME.
IN MARK, THE DISCIPLES ARE GENERALLY
PORTRAYED AS BLOCK-HEADED. THEY NEVER QUITE GET WHAT JESUS IS TRYING
TO SAY. PETER IS THE WORST OF THEM. AND I THINK TODAY'S GOSPEL
NEEDS TO BE SEEN FROM THAT STANDPOINT. WHEN YOU FIRST READ THE
GOSPEL, IT SOUNDS LIKE JESUS EXERCISED HIS GOD-LIKE POWERS TO SAVE
THE APOSTLES, AND THEY WERE TRULY AMAZED AT WHAT THEY SAW. AND WE GO
AWAY SAYING, YES, THAT JESUS – HE'S NOT LIKE YOU AND ME, HE TELLS
THE WIND AND WAVES TO OBEY, AND THEY DO. AND SINCE WE CAN'T DO THAT,
WE SEE JESUS AS “OTHER”. WHAT CAN THIS GOSPEL STORY TELL US?
HOW SHOULD IT IMPACT OUR LIVES? DOES IT MEAN WE SHOULD PRAY WHEN WE
ARE IN TROUBLE, HOPING THAT HE'LL COME TO OUR RESCUE? WE PROBABLY
ALREADY DO THAT. DOES IT MEAN THAT WHEN WE ARE THREATENED, GOD WILL
COME TO OUR RESCUE AND SAVE US? WELL, WE KNOW THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN,
AT LEAST NOT CONSISTENTLY, AND WE DON'T REALLY KNOW WHY.
BUT WHEN YOU GO OVER THE STORY, THESE
THINGS STAND OUT. JESUS IS ASLEEP. THAT'S BECAUSE HE IS HUMAN. YOU
DON'T SEE HIM SLEEPING IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. BUT JESUS IS SLEEPING
ON A CUSHION. THE APOSTLES ARE FIGHTING TO KEEP THE BOAT UPRIGHT AND
BAILING WATER OUT LIKE CRAZY, AND THEY WAKE HIM UP. AND YOU CAN TELL
THEY ARE IN FULL PANIC MODE. THEY SAY, “DON'T YOU CARE THAT WE ARE
PERISHING?” THINK ABOUT THIS FOR A MINUTE. IF YOU, A HUMAN BEING,
WOKE UP IN THAT CIRCUMSTANCE, WHAT WOULD YOU DO? YOU'D PROBABLY GRAB
A BUCKET AND START BAILING, OR FALL ON YOUR KNEES AND PRAY, OR RUN
AROUND LIKE A CHICKEN. BUT JESUS, WHO IS COMPLETELY HUMAN, SIMPLY
TELLS THE WIND AND WAVES TO BE STILL, AND THEY DO. HE THEN ASKS THE
APOSTLES, “WHY ARE YOU TERRIFIED? DON'T YOU YET HAVE FAITH?”
THE APOSTLES CONCENTRATE ON THE MIRACLE, BUT JESUS IS POINTING TO
SOMETHING ELSE.
I CAN'T THINK OF A SINGLE EPISODE IN
THE GOSPELS, ESPECIALLY THE GOSPEL OF MARK WHERE JESUS APPEARS THE
MOST HUMAN, WHERE HE WAS AFRAID. SURE, WHEN HE KNEW HE WAS GOING TO
BE CRUCIFIED, HE SWEATED BULLETS AND ASKED THE FATHER TO SPARE HIM
THIS. BUT EVEN THEN HE COULD HAVE BACKED OUT. BUT JESUS WAS NEVER
AFRAID, BECAUSE HE FULLY UNDERSTOOD AND BELIEVED THAT THE FATHER ONLY
HAD HIS BEST INTERESTS AT HEART. WOULD YOU BE AFRAID IF THE VILLAGE
PEOPLE WERE TRYING TO THROW YOU OVER A CLIFF? JESUS WASN'T, AND
WALKED RIGHT THROUGH THEIR MIDST. WOULD YOU CALL THE KING OF JUDEA,
WHO USED THE TITLE “LION OF JUDAH” A FOX IN PUBLIC? THAT WAS A
REAL INSULT, AND PROBABLY GOT BACK TO HEROD. JESUS WASN'T AFRAID.
AND AS YOU LOOK AT JESUS' LIFE, YOU CAN FIND MANY MORE INCIDENTS
WHERE A NORMAL PERSON, EVEN SOMEONE WHO HAD SOME COURAGE, MIGHT BE A
LITTLE AFRAID.
IN THIS STORY OF THE BOAT AND THE
STORM, I THINK JESUS IS MODELING FOR HIS DISCIPLES AND FOR US WHAT IT
MEANS TO BE A SON OR DAUGHTER OF GOD. THERE IS NO CAUSE FOR FEAR.
PRUDENCE, YES. DO WHAT YOU CAN, YES. BUT FEAR, THAT USELESS EMOTION
THAT CLOUDS YOUR THINKING AND MAKES YOUR HEART RACE AND CAUSES YOU TO
MAKE STUPID MISTAKES, THERE IS NO ROOM FOR FEAR IN THE PERSON WHO
KNOWS HIMSELF OR HERSELF TO BE A SON OR DAUGHTER OF THE FATHER.
I THINK THE MARTYRS KNEW THIS, THOSE
IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE CHURCH AS WELL AS THOSE WHO ARE BEING PUT TO
DEATH BECAUSE THEY ARE CHRISTIANS. IT ISN'T EVEN A MATTER OF
BELIEVING IN LIFE AFTER DEATH – IT'S JUST A MATTER OF TRUSTING THAT
WHATEVER HAPPENS THE FATHER WILL BRING GOOD OUT OF IT. AND PART OF
THAT GOOD IS ALWAYS THE FACT THAT HE WILL NOT ABANDON HIS SONS AND
DAUGHTERS; NOTHING IMPORTANT WILL BE LOST, ONLY CHANGED.
SO JESUS SHOWS US THAT BEING A
CHRISTIAN MEANS THAT WE CAN LET GO OF FEAR, WE NEVER HAVE TO ALLOW IT
IN OUR LIVES. WHEN WE ARE IN A FEARFUL SITUATION, WE KNOW THAT THE
FATHER HAS US IN HIS HANDS, THE FATHER IS WATCHING US, LOVING US, AND
HAS GUARANTEED THAT NOTHING CAN REALLY HARM US.
THINK ABOUT IT. AFTER JESUS ROSE FROM
THE DEAD, HE SPENT FORTY MORE DAYS WALKING THE EARTH. HE ATE AND
DRANK WITH HIS DISCIPLES. AND IT SAYS THAT MORE THAN 500 PEOPLE WERE
WITNESSES TO HIS RESURRECTION. THEY PROBABLY WEREN'T ALL CHRISTIANS,
AND I DOUBT THEY COULD ALL KEEP THEIR MOUTHS SHUT. AND ONE DAY PETER
GOES UP TO JESUS AND SAYS, “LORD, YOU'VE GOT TO STOP APPEARING IN
PUBLIC, OR AT LEAST GET OUT OF JERUSALEM. ONE OF THESE DAYS THE
ROMANS AND THE HIGH PRIESTS ARE GOING TO COME AFTER YOU AGAIN.”
AND JESUS COULD SAY TO PETER, “AND DO WHAT? THEY'VE ALREADY KILLED
ME AND THAT DIDN'T WORK.” YOU AND I, ONCE BAPTIZED, INHERIT THE
RESURRECTION. WE CAN SAY IN CHRIST TO THOSE WHO WANT TO HARM US, WE
CAN SAY TO NATURAL DISASTERS, WE CAN SAY TO DISEASE AND PAIN AND
LOSS, “YOU'VE ALREADY KILLED ME AND THAT DIDN'T WORK.”
ONCE JESUS SAID, PERFECT JOY CASTS OUT
FEAR. SO THE NEXT TIME YOU FEEL FEAR, AND YOU WILL, REMEMBER NOT THE
APOSTLES FLAILING AROUND IN THE BOAT, BUT JESUS, WHO WAKES UP AND
SHOWS NO FEAR AT ALL, BECAUSE HE KNOWS WHAT YOU KNOW – THE FATHER
WILL NOT LET ANYTHING HAPPEN THAT HE WON'T TURN INTO SOMETHING GOOD;
AND THE FATHER WILL NEVER ABANDON HIS SONS AND DAUGHTERS, BECAUSE
THEY HAVE CONQUERED SIN AND DEATH IN THEIR BROTHER JESUS.
