From fear to awe

The narrative of the storm that was calmed in the Gospel of Mark (4:35-41) begin with fear and ends with awe. At the beginning of the episode, the apostles are terrified by the violence of the storm. When Jesus awakened and calmed the wind and the sea with his word, they were awestruck.

What did they expect from Jesus when they woke him? Perhaps simply that he too would help bail out the water and thus empty the boat and prevent it from sinking. When we call out for Jesus to help us, we often simply ask for the solution to a temporary problem and to allow us to immediately get on with “normal” life. The apostles were terrified by a natural phenomenon that overwhelmed their capacities. They were saved from danger by the manifestation of divine power, which, in a different way, terrifies them as much as the storm. One does not call out to Jesus for help as one might call a plumber or an electrician. Meeting him places us in the very presence of the mystery of God and there is the danger that we might be caught up in more than we had asked for or expected.