All three synoptic Gospels give accounts of the calming of the storm – see Matthew 8:23–27; Luke 8:22–25 and Mark 4:35-41 which is today’s Gospel. Each of the accounts is remarkably similar. There is one extraordinary detail, however, that sets Mark’s account apart. At the height of their fear, Mark tells us that “they” – the disciples – said to Jesus, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Don’t you care! What a thing to say to Jesus!
The fact that Jesus is asleep in the boat suggests to the disciples that he has, in effect, abandoned them to the dark forces of the world: “The image of the storm or of great waters was a metaphor for evil forces active in the world and especially for the tribulations of just people, from which only the power of God could save (Pss 18:16; 69:2, 14–15)” (Daniel J Harrington, S.J., The Gospel of Mark, Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2002, 160).
Have you ever felt abandoned by God? Pause. Give the question time to sink in.
The story of the disciples in the storm, with Jesus asleep in the boat, shares something in common with God’s revelation to Moses on Horeb – see Exodus 3:1-14. God is revealed – “I will be with you” – as one who remains hidden – “I am who I am”. In the revealing is a concealing. We must always bow to the sovereignty of God. In acknowledging God’s unknowability, uncontrollability and utter otherness, we actually protect – paradoxically – the amazing truth of God’s closeness, immanence and capacity to love each of us unconditionally. Only God could make the promise: “Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God …. I have called you by name, you are mine” (Isaiah 41:10 & 43:1).
Listen to the reflections of a 5th or 6th century Christian author whose works have come down to us under the name of Dyonisius the Areopagite. He represents the Tradition well: “As for the love of Christ for humanity, the Word of God, I believe, uses this term to hint that the transcendent has put aside its own hiddenness, and has revealed itself to us by becoming a human being. But he is hidden even after this revelation, or, if I may speak in a more divine fashion, is hidden even amid the revelation. For this mystery of Jesus remains hidden and can be drawn out by no word or mind. What is to be said of it remains unsayable; what is to be understood of it remains unknowable” (Christos Yannaras, On the Absence and Unkowability of God – Heidegger and the Areopagite, translated by Haralambos Ventis, T & T Clark International, 2005, 93).
One of the greatest challenges – and opportunities – in our lives, must surely be God’s being in the flesh. What it conceals is in direct proportion to what it reveals. But isn’t this the way it is with all loving encounters?
(Audio Available)
