We’re not the first ones to struggle with spiritual heart disease. The early followers of Christ did too.
In The Gospel of Mark 4:35-41, there’s a story that showed that the heart condition of the disciples. At this point in the ministry of Jesus, his followers were still getting used to him. He had been healing people and helping people in the area of Galilee which was in the north part of ancient Palestine. They had come to the sea of Galilee and they were crossing over to the other side to connect with more people. Winds coming off of the eastern desert combined with the low elevation of the Sea of Galilee can often lead to violent, sudden storms. This is a good sized body of water.
Picture yourself in this scene. In the early evening, while Jesus slept peacefully in the rear of the boat, some dark clouds suddenly appeared above them – lightning and thunder began to happen all around them. The wind was rattling the small boat – waves splashing all around – water pouring in over the sides … The disciples were grabbing Jesus by the shoulders – waking him up — said, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” They wanted him to help them bail out some of the water that was coming in. As Jesus began to get up, he did something that no ordinary sailor could ever do. He stood up in the rocking boat and spread his hands out – with a clear, strong voice – and he commanded the storm to stop. Instantly – the storm ceased and everything was calm again.
The disciples were stunned. They were scared. “Storms we understand. But, Jesus – we don’t understand.” He doesn’t fit in any of our nice little spiritual boxes. They may have been thinking – “Who is this guy?” Jesus blew up their idea of who they thought he was.
He challenged their lack of faith. The disciples just wanted someone to help bail out some of the water in the boat and work alongside of them. They had no idea that Jesus would do something beyond their wildest dreams like calming the storm. He actually took care of the whole situation in a much bigger way than just bailing out the boat with them. But, Jesus has a way of taking control of every life situation that he is invited into.