Jesus Blew Their Minds

Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!
Mark 4:41.


These words were uttered (perhaps screamed) in panic. The disciples were terrified. As Jewish boys, they feared a great fear.


For a while they were afraid of the sea as it was whipped into a deadly frenzy by the fierce winds off the eastern heights of Decapolis. Now they were terrified of the alien in the boat with them.


"What kind of a man is this...?!" What category do we put him in?


They had categories for all kinds of men: Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Herodians, lepers, tax-collectors, soldiers, emperors, Gentiles, Samaritans. But what kind of man is this? They had no category for a man who commands winds and waves and those winds and waves instantly obey.


Jesus blew the disciples' panicky minds.


Yet, as good Jewish boys, I think they had an inkling of who it was in the boat. Read the section of Psalm 107 below. Who does in Psalm 107 what Jesus did in the boat?


Psalm 107
23 Some went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters.

24 They saw the works of the LORD, his wonderful deeds in the deep.

25 For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves.

26 They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away.

27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards; they were at their wits' end.

28 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.

29 He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.

30 They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven.


Who is in this boat with us?! Could it be the Yahweh, the Lord God of Israel?!

For our own spiritual health Jesus must become alien to us or we will not know him as he truly and fully is.