Who Can This Be?

Mark 4:35-41 

Wind and Wave Obey Jesus

35 On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side." 36 Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. 38 But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"

39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. 40 But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?" 41 And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!"

The question of the disciples echoes down through time from the days Jesus Christ walked among mankind until this day and until time ends and eternity begins.  The setting prompting the question followed a long day of Jesus speaking to a great crowd seeking healing of body and soul in His presence.  The Lord called the disciples to get in a small dinghy and cross the sea to get to the other side and save days of walking the long way around the large body of water.  He needed to be about His Father’s business and this was the most direct way of getting across to continue doing that.  However, that small inland sea had a terrible storm with high waves caused by it being so shallow.  These waves were driven by a strong windstorm which came up quickly without warning and the disciples feared for their lives as the waves washed over them as a perfect storm threatened the safety and integrity of the boat.  Jesus was fast asleep during all this as unmoved by their perceived danger and distress.  He was woken by the fearful followers as they asked how He did not seem to care that they were all about to die.  What did Jesus do?  He addressed the circumstance with calm and divine authority.  He sovereignly spoke against the storm with the words, “Peace, he still.”  Immediately the wind turned off and calm covered the waves with a peaceful settling on the surface of the sea.  It was a great calm in which the disciples heard the Master ask them why they were so afraid in His presence when faith in His providential protection to keep them safe was what was expected from them.  This only exacerbated their fear as they asked each other, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”  That is the question echoing through time in the storms of life when we sit in the calm of His grace to hear His still small voice (1 Kings 19:12) and consider His sovereign rule over all His creation and its creatures.  The question we all must ask and hear the answer to is, “Who can this be?”  That answer determines our destiny.  If we understand and confess Him as Lord of all creation and of us personally (Romans 10:9, Philippians 2:11), we find peace with God (Romans 5:1) through that divine man who is God among us, Immanuel, and who alone is able to bring peace to our souls in the troubled waters of this sin-scarred world.  If we still fear we must ask ourselves, “How is it that you have no faith?” and begin to fear no longer because we believe and receive the reconciliation of Christ (Romans 5:11) which keeps us from eternal separation from God and which message we broadcast to others (2 Corinthians 5:18-20) as we journey across this perilous world (2 Timothy 3:1, Galatians 1:4, Jude 1:17-18) to the other side.  May we trust His work and keeping of our souls in these turbulent times therefore.  We now know who this man is, the Son of God and Son of Man who has power over life and death (John 5:24, Romans 8:2, 2 Timothy 1:10) and gives us peace with our God forever.  Trust Him, only trust Him, because we know Him.