The book of Job details Job’s trials and tribulations. The first 37 chapters describe him as a righteous man who remained faithful to God while his world collapsed, and his friends accused him of sin because they interpreted his misfortune as punishment. Job had asked God, many times, to explain.

In the first reading for Sunday June 20th, (Job 38: 1-11) God finally answered him.Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?… I will question you, and you shall declare to me. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? …Who determined its measurements …or who laid its cornerstonewhen the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?“ Or who shut in the sea with doors…and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,    and here shall your proud waves be stopped’?

The answer, of course, is that God laid the foundation of the earth and set limits on the waves of the sea. God’s response to Job is to dazzle him with divine glory and to stretch his mind with a sense of awe.

But God’s answer is not a direct reply to Job’s questions about what wrong he might have committed. (God later rewards Job for his faithfulness.) The answer is an assurance of God’s presence in all of creation, even a whirlwind… a theme that continues in the gospel for this day.

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The gospel for June 20th (Mark 4:35-41) takes place on the same day that Jesus had told the parables about the farmer who scatters seed, which grows overnight, and the second parable of the tiny mustard seed which grew into a dense bush and became the home for many birds. Nature was a rich source for Jesus’ teaching. And it would become the same in today’s gospel.

The actual gospel begins, On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. The other side refers to the Gentile district, the land of the Gerasenes, on the east side of the Sea of Galilee.

By imaking such a journey Jesus demonstrated that his ministry was not just to the Jews, but to those beyond the Jewish community. 

The presence of other boats with them indicates that others were following Jesus, not just figuratively but also literally. They wanted to be near him.

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In 1986 two brothers, amateur archeologists, discovered the hull of a 1st century boat in the mud near the shore of the Sea of Galilee when the water level had fallen during a drought. (https://www.disappearingman.com/archaeology/the-jesus-boat/ ) The size and shape, suggest that this was the type of boat that could have been used for ferrying or fishing during Jesus’ day. It had space for four rowers and a central sail. Its dimensions indicate that it could have held as many as 12-15 people. While no direct connection was established with Jesus, the discovery indicates the kind of vessel that was in use at the time of the gospel stories.

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A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he (Jesus) was in the stern, asleep on the cushion… Jesus’ sleep implies that he was exhausted. The fury of the windstorm, through which he slept, indicated how tired he was. 

Some read Jesus’ sleep as a sign of his sense of peace in nature. They recall that God spoke out of the whirlwind to Job…and out of thunderstorms to Moses. The windstorm, as they interpret it, may have suggested the presence of his Father’s voice.

Regardless of the specific interpretation of Jesus’ sleep, at least four of his disciples, Andrew, Peter, James and John, were experienced fisherman and used to the waters, were alarmed. They understood the real threat of being swamped or capsized. They woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Their trust in him had already grown to the point that they looked to Jesus for a solution.

At the same time, they called him by the respectful term, Teacher. They knew that he was a holy person, endowed with powers from God, but had not yet fully understood his divine nature. 

He woke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

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His disciples had heard Jesus teach in parables, seen him drive out demons, cure many and challenge the Scribes, but stilling the winds so that there was dead calm nevertheless amazed them. In their experience, windstorms gradually subsided, they did not drop to dead calm in an instant.

When they saw Jesus cure and exorcise they were witnesses to others being helped. In this event, they were full, if unwilling, participants in need of the help. They had trusted Jesus to 'do something’ about the storm in their desperation, but Jesus’ comment, Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith, suggests that they still needed to grow in their belief in him.

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The evangelist didn’t connect Jesus’ powers with God’s directly, but anyone looking at the part of Job that we read this morning….

Who shut in the sea with doors…and said (to the waters), ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped’? …

or at Genesis 1, which reads, 

a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. …And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. … God called the dome Sky…And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas…

would recognize that Jesus shared God’s mastery over nature. 

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In interpreting this passage, some read the boat and the storm as a metaphor for the church community, buffeted by the winds of cynicism, historical wrongs, declining membership and financial woes. Others read the metaphor more individually, as each person faces some combination of illness, doubts, fears, sadness and loss. In each situation, the threats and dangers are real. Nonetheless, Jesus is the one we are called to turn to by faith when we encounter our windstorms.

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  • By crossing to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, to the land of the Gerasenes, Jesus stretched the disciples’ sense of whom God’s kingdom included. This was an alien land. Does it make us wonder about whom else we are to include in his kingdom?
  • How do you interpret Jesus being in the stern, asleep on the cushion? Was he exhausted? Was he at peace in nature? Was he just pretending to be asleep (how could anyone sleep through such a storm!) to test his disciples’ faith?  
  • The scriptures frequently use nature as an example of God’s grace and power. Recall last week’s parables of the farmer who sows seeds which grow during the night until they are ready for harvest, and the parable of the mustard seed. As you experience the natural world, what aspects most draw your attention to God’s grace? Storms or blue skies? Birds or the scent of flowers? Other? (Do some aspects… wasps or black flies?... make you wonder about what God intended for them?)

Peace

Michael