Few of us have ever experienced a storm at sea. We can only imagine the terrifying feeling of complete helplessness. But today’s Gospel account of the storm at sea (Mark 4:35-41) is one of the most familiar and popular. Even if we haven’t been in that specific situation, we still see in the story two things that we often suspect of God. First, that He allows terrible storms to come upon us; He tries and tests us. Second, that during our storms and trials, He Himself is silent, dormant, seemingly unconcerned about it all.
Now, we must acknowledge that the first suspicion is valid. God does try us and put us to the test. He did allow the Apostles to be assaulted by the storm on the Sea of Galilee. Nor was that the only time. After the multiplication of the loaves and fish, Jesus sent the Apostles across the Sea without Him while He retired to the mountain to pray. Later, looking out on the Sea, “He saw that they were tossed about while rowing, for the wind was against them.” (Mark 6:48) The all-good and all-powerful One allowed His closest friends to suffer that trial.
In fact, this is how God treats those closest and most devoted to Him. The fruitful vine must be pruned. (cf. John 15:2) So, He tried his own people Israel in the desert. He allowed the mystical Saint Paul to be beaten by an angel of Satan, (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:7) He permits His own Bride, the Church, to be assaulted by storms that seem to overwhelm her. He lets each of us be tried and tested. Saint Theresa, one of His sorely tried intimates, quipped to him, “If this is how you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few!”
So, we must have this sober recognition that God permits storms in our lives and allows us to be tried. This seemingly harsh truth frees us from the modern worship of a therapeutic god whose only role is to bring us comfort. If all you want is comfort, find another God.
Still, there’s that other suspicion. If God puts us to the test, where is he in the meantime?
“Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion.” It’s an age-old question: Why is God seemingly inactive when we are in the midst of difficulties and trials? If He is all-powerful, why doesn’t He use that power immediately or, better, to prevent this from happening in the first place. Why does He seemingly do nothing while we struggle through the storm? Why does God seemingly do nothing while his Church is lashed by the wind and waves?
To help us grow in faith. He withdraws not to abandon us but to beckon us to trust Him more. The faithful vine is pruned to bear greater fruit. So, after rebuking the wind and sea, He rebukes the Apostles as if to explain his sleep: “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?”
Clearly, they had faith, but it seems to have been a worldly one. Even now in the boat, after all the exorcisms and healings they had seen Him do, they still call Him only “Teacher.” But once He rebukes the wind and sea, they have to think of Him differently. Now they have to have faith in Him not only as a great teacher, but as the One with authority over the natural world.
And over the preternatural world also, it would seem. Jesus rebukes the storm with the same term that He rebuked demons earlier: Quiet! That hints that there are more than natural forces at work in the storm. The storm is a tactic of the devil to disturb and disquiet the Apostles after the Lord’s teaching – to keep His words from taking root. But that assault is thwarted. This man has authority over the demons as well.
More to the point, even before His authoritative rebuke of the elements, His very sleep is a lesson in faith. Because there are different kinds of sleep. There is one of carelessness or neglect, as when we oversleep. There is the sleep that overcomes a person in deep sorrow and anxiety, as with the Apostles in the Garden. But then there is the sleep of one perfectly at peace. The sleep of One who rests in complete security even in a storm.
Saint John’s Gospel declares that the Son of God is “in the bosom of the Father” or “in the heart of the Father.” (John 1:18) When the Son of God comes into the world as Jesus of Nazareth, that rest in the Father’s heart does not cease. At every moment, Jesus is at rest in the Father’s love. This is why we find Him so calm and composed in every situation. When persecutions mount, when He is tested, when He stands before Pontius Pilate and the Sanhedrin, when He hangs upon the Cross – He is at peace.
And at this moment in the storm on the Sea of Galilee, He is at peace. He sleeps to give us an example. It teaches us that to have faith means to trust in Him as he rests in the Father. Indeed, His sleep is an invitation to rest with Him in sinu Patris, in the Father’s heart.
