Mark 4:35-41

³⁵ On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.”

³⁶ Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him.

³⁷ And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.

³⁸ But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”

³⁹ Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.

⁴⁰ But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”

⁴¹ And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

Also found in Matthew 8:18, 23-27 and Luke 8:22-25.

We have reached a point at which Mark records a special outshining of miraculous power. Four striking works follow each other without a break, and it mush not for a moment be supposed that the narrative is thus constructed, certain intermediate discourses and events being sacrificed for the purpose, without a deliberate and a truthful intention. That intention is to represent the effect, intense and exalting, produced by such a cycle of wonders on the minds of His disciples.. They saw them come close upon each other: we should lose the impression as we read, if other incidents were allowed to interpose themselves. — Chadwick, page 130.

On the same day (v.35) — The day included everything from Mark 3:22.

What a day it had been, the blasphemous accusation, the visit of the mother and brothers to take Him home, the leaving of the crowded house for the seaside, then in the house again, and now out of the house for the open sea. The designation of the time is of especial note, for Mark does not usually call attention to this. Our Lord and His disciples were on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, and a trip over to the eastern shore would be a delightful and refreshing change for the weary Lord Jesus. This was His only way to escape the crowds. — Wuest, pages 95-96.

__________

They took Him (v.36) — The simple verb means “to take,” the prefixes preposition “alongside.” The same verb is used where the angel says to Joseph, “Take the young child and His mother, and flee into Egypt” (Matthew 2:13), that is, “Take the young child and His mother under your protection and care.” The disciples took the exhausted Lord Jesus under their care just as He was, in the boat. the word is ploion, referring to the larger fishing boat, not a rowboat this time. — Wuest, page 96.

as He was (v.36) — exhausted from the long day of teaching

windstorm (v.37) = furious storm, hurricane, not just a gust or even a strong wind, but a violent storm. The same word is used of the whirlwind out of which God answered Job.

The sudden storm is characteristic of the region around the Sea of Galilee, where the movement of the air currents causes the wind to sweep with tremendous violence down the narrow gorges that descend to the shore from the surrounding hills. — Guthrie, pages 861-862

The surface of the Sea of Galilee is 682 feet below that of the Mediterranean Sea, and as the sea is in a basin, the air warms up, which would make a storm push down with great force. Storms like this are common on the sea to this day.

waves beat (v.37) = throwing themselves into the boat. The tense indicates that this was a continuous action.

This is the only place in Scripture that mentions Jesus sleeping.

pillow (v.38) — probably  not a soft pillow but rather, the leather cushion of the steersman or the bench at the stern of the boat where the steersman could sit or where crew members could grab a quick nap.

Teacher (v.38) = O, Teacher. They were imploring Him.

That Jesus slept while the waves were crashing into the boat, the wind was roaring, and the boat must have been violently rocking indicates how tired He must have been.

Peace, by still! (v.39) — “Peace” is … “to be silent, still, hushed, calm.” “Be still” is … “to close the mouth with a muzzle, to muzzle,” used of muzzling an ox and of Jesus muzzling (silencing) the Pharisees. The first verb is present imperative, literally, “Be being calmed,” the second, perfect imperative, “Be muzzled and stay that way.” — Wuest, page 98.

__________

Observe the poetic parallelism in this verse: wind and sea separately addressed, and the corresponding effects separately specified: lulled wind, calmed sea. [Mark] realizes the dramatic situation. Silence! hush! laconic, majestic, probably the very words.” — Wuest, page 98

fearful (v.40) — an adjective used as a plural noun — “Why are you such timid, fearful ones?”

After all, Jesus hadn’t said, “Let us go to sea and drown.” He said, “Let us pass over to the other side.” That should have been enough assurance for the disciples.

The disciples had to accept what had happened, but they didn’t know what to make of it. They had just seen an exhibition of power like nothing they had ever known. Their statement to each other was in the form of a logical argument, “Since these things are so, who then is this?”