He
awoke, and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? How is it that you have no faith?”
Mark 4:39-40
Mark 4 [35.] On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let’s go over to the other side.” Leaving the multitude, they took him with them, even as he was, in the boat. Other small boats were also with him. A big wind storm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so much that the boat was already filled. He himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion, and they woke him up, and told him, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are dying?”
Mark 4 [39.] He awoke, and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? How is it that you have no faith?”
Mark 4 [41.] They were greatly afraid, and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Meaning:
The disciples had woken Jesus in the middle of a violent storm, crying, "Teacher, don’t you care that we are dying?" (Mark 4:38). These verses record his response. First he speaks to the wind and the sea, and they obey at once. Then he speaks to his disciples, not with comfort first but with two searching questions about their fear and their faith. In a few words Mark reveals both the authority of Jesus over creation and his deep concern for the hearts of his followers.
- He Rebuked the Wind
Mark uses the same word for Jesus' rebuke of the wind that he used when Jesus confronted an unclean spirit in the synagogue at Capernaum: "Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!”" (Mark 1:25). The storm is treated as a hostile power that must submit to its Lord. Jesus does not pray for the storm to stop or call on God's name as the prophets did; he simply commands it.
To Jewish ears this was astonishing. The Scriptures teach that only the Creator rules the sea. "You rule the pride of the sea. When its waves rise up, you calm them" (Psalm 89:9). "He makes the storm a calm, so that its waves are still" (Psalm 107:29). What the psalms say of Yahweh, Jesus does in the boat.
- "Peace! Be Still!"
The second command literally means "Be muzzled!", as one might silence a raging animal. The effect was immediate: "The wind ceased, and there was a great calm." Anyone who has been on the water knows that even after a wind dies down, the waves keep heaving for hours. Here both wind and waves stopped at once. The "big wind storm" of Mark 4:37 is answered by "a great calm".
The same voice that spoke creation into being, bringing order out of the dark waters at the beginning (Genesis 1:2), now brings peace to a stormy lake in Galilee.
- "Why Are You So Afraid?"
Having calmed the sea, Jesus turns to the storm inside his disciples. Their fear had made them doubt his care, though he was right there in the boat. Jesus' question is not harsh contempt but a teacher's challenge. They had seen him heal the sick, cast out demons and forgive sins; they had just heard him teach that God's Kingdom grows by God's power. Yet when the waves rose, all of that seemed forgotten.
Later Peter would walk on the water toward Jesus and begin to sink when he saw the wind, and Jesus would say, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14:31). Fear and faith pull in opposite directions, and Jesus patiently trains his disciples to trust him.
- "How Is It That You Have No Faith?"
Faith in the Gospels is not a feeling of calm but trust in the person of Jesus: confidence that he is who he says he is and will do what he has promised. Jesus had said, "Let’s go over to the other side" (Mark 4:35). Faith would have held on to that word even in the storm. "Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him" (Hebrews 11:6).
Even weak faith can turn to Jesus. A father in Mark's Gospel later cried, "I believe. Help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24), and Jesus answered him.
The Significance of Mark 4:39-40
- Jesus Is Lord of Every Storm
No circumstance is beyond the authority of Jesus. He may calm the storm around us, or he may calm the storm within us while the winds still blow. Either way, he gives a peace the world cannot give: "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, give I to you. Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful" (John 14:27).
- Growing from Fear to Faith
Jesus' questions invite us to examine our own responses to trouble. Faith grows as we remember his past faithfulness, listen to his word and bring our fears to him in prayer. "In the world you have oppression; but cheer up! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).
Cross-References:
Psalm 89:9: "You rule the pride of the sea. When its waves rise up, you calm them." Jesus does what the psalmist says only God can do.
Psalm 107:29: "He makes the storm a calm, so that its waves are still." The great calm on Galilee fulfils the pattern of God’s rescue in Psalm 107.
Matthew 14:31: "Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”" Jesus again challenges fear and little faith on the Sea of Galilee, while still saving his disciple.
Isaiah 41:10: "Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God." God’s presence is the answer to fear, just as Jesus’ presence in the boat was enough.
Conclusion: In Mark 4:39-40 Jesus speaks two words to the storm and it is silent; then he speaks two questions to his disciples and exposes their fear. He is the Lord of wind and waves, and he cares enough about his followers to grow their faith. When the storms of life rage, let us remember who is in the boat with us, trust his word, and receive the great calm that only he can give.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible