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Writer's pictureclay werner

Jesus' Question for Your Heart in the Storm

 

This is Part II of Jesus in the storm with the disciples in Mark 4. See Part I here.

 

If someone wanted to see inside your heart, they’d need an MRI or CAT scan. However, if Jesus wants you to see what is inside your heart, he does something much simpler: he asks a question.

 

“Why are you so afraid.”

 

First, Jesus isn’t asking for information in order to be enlightened; nor is he confused and needing clarification. Instead, he is asking a question in order to lead those he is asking into a time of personal reflection to gain insight into what is driving their fear.

 

Second, Jesus isn’t simply asking about the presence of fear in their hearts (‘why are you afraid?’), but rather, he is asking about the depth and intensity the of fear in their hearts (‘why are you so afraid?’).

 

It seems like the disciples might say that the answer to the question is circumstantially obvious. “Um, Jesus, perhaps you don’t have a good memory, but about 5 seconds ago we were going through a storm that was flooding our boat and about to literally drown us all. Does that answer your (silly) question?”

 

Yet, Jesus’ second question is actually seeking to lead them to the true answer that they don’t even realize yet. His question “Do you still have no faith?” shows that the answer to the first question isn’t circumstantially obvious, but spiritually more subtle. The reason they were so afraid at those levels and with that intensity, is because they had yet to know the character- the mercy, grace, love, power, compassion- of Christ and trust him fully.

 

Third, his question “have you still no faith?” makes some pretty major implications. If you say, “She’s still talking on the phone” or “It’s still raining outside” or “the dog is still barking,” it means that something has been happening for a significant amount of time. If you say “he still can’t dribble the ball” or “she still doesn’t know how to use social media,” it tends to mean that it has been a sufficient amount of time to learn something but it has not been learned yet. Thus, Jesus is saying that they have spent such a significant amount of time with him that it should be sufficient for them to know him in such a way that they should not experience those depths and that intensity of fear. Despite all the time they’ve spent together, all the words they’ve heard him speak, all the things they’ve already see him do, they still do not know him sufficiently enough to eradicate the deep fears of their hearts when the storm hits.

 

Thus, Jesus’ tone as he asks this question is not one of criticism and condemnation, but an invitation to know him more deeply and trust him more completely.

 

The next time you walk through a storm, reflect on why you may be so afraid, and then remember the heart of the King who is in the storm with you.

 

 




 

For our final installment on this passage, we’ll see how Jesus gives us peace by entering a different storm on our behalf.

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