12th Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Year B ~ Mark 4:35-41
This week’s Gospel marks the beginning of a chapters-long section that stretches between the teaching of chapter 4 and the next section of teaching in chapter 7. Throughout, Jesus is at the center of a series of dramatic and dynamic miraculous events. This section includes six of the best-known miracles in the gospels: the calming of the storm (Mk 4:35-41); the deliverance of the Gerasene demoniac (Mk 5:1-20); the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mk 5:21-24, 35-43); the healing of the woman with a severe hemorrhage (Mk 5:25-34); the feeding of the 5,000 (Mk 6:30-44); and Jesus walking on the water (Mk 6:45-52). The general impression that the segment of Mark 4:35–6.56 makes is that Jesus is a highly successful worker of deeds, wondrous and beyond normal human ability
Sea of Galilee
The Sea of Galilee is a unique feature in the Synoptic Gospels. It is an inland lake, one of the world’s lowest-lying bodies of fresh water. The lake is heart or harp-shaped, approximately 33 miles in circumference, about 13 miles long, and 8 miles wide. Although Galilee is fed by some underground springs, most of its water is derived through the Jordan River, which flows from modern day Lebanon in the north to Israel and Jordan in the south. These passages recall a number of others that mention storms, which are often a symbol of chaos and destruction: the primeval narrative of creation (Gen 1:2, 6-8) or the Great Flood (Gen 6-9). First century Jews had a deep distrust of the sea and water, because, in the Old Testament, the sea was the abode of untamed monsters like Leviathan. Symbolically, such as in Daniel 7, the sea was the source of powers arising from those who were deeply opposed to God and His people.
Analyzing Key Expressions in the Gospel
The seemingly practical phrase “Let us cross to the other side” belies its importance. The crossing represents not only physical movement but also a shift in thinking and action. The other side of Lake Galilee involves moving to the eastern shores of the lake where Gentiles lived. This is a move to the other side—the Gentile side, the country of the unclean. Yet, while Jesus and the Apostles were in one boat, there were “other boats…with him” too. Unexpectedly, “a violent squall” assailed the boat. The lake’s location, surrounded by hills, makes it subject to sudden and violent storms as the wind comes over the eastern mountains and drops suddenly onto the sea. Storms are particularly likely when an east wind blows cool air over the warm air that covers the sea. The cold air (being heavier) drops as the warm air rises. This sudden change can produce surprisingly furious storms in a short time.
Jesus was serenely asleep “in the stern…on a cushion.” Fearing for their survival, the disciples rouse Jesus from His sleep and seemingly chastise the Lord for His indifference in regard to their plight. Jesus rebukes the wind, commanding those natural malevolent forces to, “Quiet! Be still!” Much has been made of that dual command of Jesus. While He often speaks peace to the world around, the peace that arises from the peace that He has within Himself is markedly different. But we should note that the term here is not eirēnē (Gk. ειρήνη) that is the usual Greek word for peace but the verb siópaó (Gk. σιωπάω) meaning to be silent. The miracle here is not simply that the storm stops raging, but that the waves immediately become calm, when naturally that would take some time.
Jesus asks them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not have faith?” The Apostles, in the boat with Him, do not understand Jesus and His mission. Here again they fail to see what is being asked of them and respond in fear. For fishermen who should have been very used to storms on the Lake, this reaction seems particularly inappropriate. Their fear is not in regard to survival as much as it is derived from what they are being asked to believe, seen in both the sleeping and acting Jesus. Awed by what had just happened, together they try to make sense out of it, asking themselves, “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”
There is a wonderful irony in Jesus’ rebuke to the disciples and their subsequent response. He challenges their lack of faith in Him—and the result is the realization that they still have neither faith nor understanding. And having been terrified by the storm, they are even more terrified by the calm and the One who has the power to bring it about.
Excerpts from http://www.ncec.catholic.edu.au and Ian Paul. http://www.psephizo.com. “Jesus calms the storm in Mark 4” 17 June 2021
Nature and dignity 