Mark 4:35-41 - Jesus calms the storm, by Myron Crockett

Some Basic Rules: enjoy each other, be honest, be open to growing, be curious

Introduction

• Have you had a time where you felt like God didn't care? What was that like?

Interpreting the Text

Read the text together

• Describe the situation in vv.35-37? (Have the students draw the scene on the sea for 5-10 minutes)
• Imagine that you are a disciple. What are you feeling?
• What is Jesus doing while the storm is raging? What is the nature of the disciples' question in v.38? What do you think they were thinking when they asked the question?
• How does the disciples thinking compare to how you felt in the first question?
• Have you ever been in a situation when you needed God, but you felt as though He was sleeping?
• How does Jesus respond in v.39? What does His response communicate about Him?
• In v. 40, what do Jesus' questions say about His expectations of His followers?
• What fears about the nature of God and Jesus rock your boat? What fears do you harbor about having faith in God?
• How do the disciples react to what Jesus has done? Compare their question in v.38 with their reaction in v. 41. (Ps 107:29-only God controls the nature, Jesus is Divine.)

• How have you reacted to God's work in history? Do you find God's work in history compelling enough to warrant putting your faith in Him? Why/why not?
• How would you respond to Jesus' if today he told you, "Do you still have no faith?"

Some ancient pagan stories told of powerful individuals able to subdue even the forces of nature, but these were nearly always gods or, rarely, heroes of the distant past. Many Jewish people believed that angels controlled the forces of nature, such as winds and sea; yet such angels did have one to whom they must answer. In Jewish tradition, the one who ruled the winds and sea was God himself (Ps 107:29; cf. Jon 1:15). The disciples' surprise at Jesus' power is thus easy to understand.¹