Mark 4:39
Have
you ever been afraid of a barking, growling dog? It catches you off guard and
suddenly there it is, and you are on its lunch menu. I am sure you have seen
the news stories about dogs mauling people. If the people survive the damage is
long-lasting and often life-altering. One breed is often the culprit. They have
been breed to be mean and then the owners wonder how their dog could have done
such a thing. Some places have banned the bread altogether.
I
have been caught by surprise several times in my life. In those moments I just
want to yell, “Shut Up!” and have the dog obey. But that doesn’t seem to work,
at least for me. A few times there has been a temporary lull in the barking,
but then it starts right back up again. My words just don’t have any power over
the dogs. But when the owner comes out and speaks to the dog, it listens. The
owner’s words mean something to the dog. The dog recognizes the owner’s
authority to get them to shut up.
Words
like this don’t mean much unless there is authority to back them up. If you try
to tell someone else’s teenager to stop something, they just look at you and
say, “You’re not my parent” and walk away. They know we don’t have the
authority to get them to obey.
Jesus
has been asleep in the back of the boat. The storm has overtaken them, and even
the experienced sailors are taken up in fear. They have tried everything they
know and still there is no change in their situation. They think Jesus doesn’t
care. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Lack
of action does not mean lack of care. And what Jesus does to solve the problem
of the storm shows that He does care about their safety. Once Jesus is awoken
He simply speaks to the storm and it obeys. The word Jesus uses for “quiet” or
“shut up” is the same word Jesus uses when He is telling demons to be quiet, to
stop speaking.
When
someone is “quiet” in this sense they are unable to talk because they know the
person who told them to be quiet has the authority to tell them and the power
to enforce the silence. Jesus spoke to demons and they obeyed because Jesus in
God, and He has the authority and the power to back up His words with actions,
actions that will result in involuntary silence. Jesus is like the dog’s owner
or the teenager’s parents. He has authority to speak to demons and tell them to
shut up.
Jesus
talks to the storm as if it were a noisy dog under His authority. And the storm
listens because it is under His authority. Jesus has the right to speak to the
storm. It may be very hard for us to accept, but Jesus has the right to control
the weather because He is the One who created the weather.
Before
you get too far off course, just because He created it does not mean that every
weather related tragedy is a distinct act of God aimed at those who are
affected. Jesus does not send lightning bolts at people to carry out judgment. At
this point in time God allows the results of sin to move in the world and this
includes weather.
The
Psalms (89:8-9; 104:5-9; 106:8-9; 107:23-32) declare that the LORD has
authority over the elements. He created them and He can take them under control
of them at a moment’s notice. That is because He has the authority to do so.
I would not suggest that you become a “Storm
Chaser” and travel the country speaking to storms. You don’t have that
authority. Jesus did and does. He spoke to the storm and it listened and
obeyed. As God in the flesh He has that authority.