THE CROSSING (Based on Mk 4:35-41)
Getting on board was easy. The days had been so wonderful, with huge crowds coming to hear Jesus speak; at times even feeling like they would lift Him up as king and savior to free us from the Romans. So when he said “Let us cross to the other side” it was easy and fun and exciting to jump aboard. All the days of preaching and handling the crowds and helping people come to Jesus while listening for his every word had weakened all of us. Jesus got on board and promptly fell asleep on a pile of cloth in the stern hold of the boat.
We were exhausted and thankful for the rhythmic movement of the boat and found peace in the sound of the sails as they filled with the wind which gusted unusually from the north. It felt good just to get off our feet and feel the occasional spray of water on our faces. I remember John telling us to leave Jesus alone for a while because He needed some sleep. But most of us were too excited to sleep. Our conversations were so exciting as we reminisced about the incredible miracles and the powerful, yet healing and loving words of Jesus. We all looked forward to telling all these great stories to our families and friends once we saw them again.
We all knew our lives would never be the same after following Him and seeing and hearing all we had done over the last couple years. We all truly loved each other as brothers, and knew that Jesus loved us all. But we still had a wide range of ideas about what would eventually happen. Judas wanted Jesus to lead the Zealots in another uprising while others felt that eventually Jesus would be proclaimed King and lead a revolution with the power of God to free us all. And a few of us wondered what role we’d play in His kingdom. We thought it would be an earthly one, but Matthew and Peter and James and John and a couple others thought of another kind of kingdom, not of this world. Many of us couldn’t understand what they were talking about.
Although we were all convinced of one thing: This man talked to God and called Him Father, and was at the very least a great prophet and healer. None of us knew what would really happen months, weeks, even days from now. But we all knew this journey with Jesus was leading to something incredibly powerful in meaning and effect on the world and He had earned our trust and love.
It came as a real surprise to the boat owner who had sailed this sea for years and to all of us as a sudden stillness happened followed by a gust from the other direction which snapped our sail back and stopped us dead in the water almost pushing us backward. Then another gust, then another, and those of us who were not fisherman began to worry. The fishermen among us including Peter said don’t worry, this kind of thing happens all the time in the Sea of Galilee just take down the sail and we’ll be ok. These little storms come up from time to time in the hot afternoons.
Some of us were not fishermen and began to worry, holding on to the ropes and the side of the small sailboat as it began to rock from side to side, then rise almost straight up onto a wave higher than our sail. The wind now was blowing stronger and stronger and with every gust the boat seemed to be tossed from side to side, rising up mountains of waves, then racing down the other sides while being battered by driving rain.
Rocking from one side to the other the waves began to fill the boat and while we held on we began to throw out the water with the one bucket we had on board. I was scared and yelled out God save us which I guess scared the rest of us too as we all began to think that this wasn’t just another storm. We may perish. I don’t know who started it but someone yelled, Jesus wake up! He was sleeping through this! We all began to call on Him to wake up and when He did He asked, why don’t you have faith?
Faith? We were perishing and He was sleeping! I never thought He’d do something like this to us, and if He was a great Prophet at least He could pray with us for God to save us instead of sleeping! We all yelled out to Him to wake up and wondered if He even cared!
It was then, at that moment, in the throes of losing faith and belief and trust in Him, that our whole lives were changed forever. I’ll never forget that moment as He stood up in the boat as it was being tossed like a cork in the storm and He amazingly seemed to be standing on firm ground when He looked at us with a look that pierced the fierce storm and each of us felt he was looking into each one individually as He said “Oh you of little faith. Do you still not yet believe?” As He raised His arms and with a voice we had never before or never after heard, told the sea to be calm and the winds to stop. What?! Telling the sea to calm and the winds to stop!? We all looked at each other like Jesus had lost His mind and we had followed Him to our death.
As the sea suddenly calmed to a steady low rhythm of waves, and the winds to a gentle but firm breeze we all stared at each other and at Him and wondered the same thing : “ Who was this man that even the wind and the seas obey Him?” This is not an ordinary man. He who calls God His Father and merely speaks to the wind and the sea as they belong to Him and they obey! This isn’t just a prophet or great teacher. This man is much more. But who is he, what is he, how did he do that? Surely He at least talks to God who he calls Father and who listens to Him and answers His prayers.
What marvels we can tell of this man to those we meet!! But will anyone believe us that he alone did this? Will people think we’d all lost our minds in fear of our own deaths? Will they think we made this up?!
We were all in awe and couldn’t even ask Him how he did this, and so relieved that we’d been saved. All we could do was say: “Jesus thank you, thank You Lord!”
We had all lost our trust in Him and our faith in the will of the Father. And we had even accused Him of not caring, and did not deserve to be His disciples any longer but He never once reminded us of that failure caused by our weakness of faith! As we came to shore He told us to have faith in Him and entrust our very lives to Him and we would all be with Him in His kingdom.
I tell you this as I await the gift of my death in a distant land on a cross shaped like an “ X “ joyful and humbled to share in this way in Jesus death like those who have died before me for preaching of Jesus the savior of the world. I have travelled the world to the north and east of where I was born spreading the good news of salvation as Jesus taught us and the Holy Spirit inspired us to teach on that day in the upper room. And I swear I will preach the kingdom of God and tell of not only this miracle but of the many other marvels of God’s love I have seen with my own eyes until the moment of my joining Jesus in His kingdom of Heaven.
Andrew the Apostle
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