Calms the wind

Calms the wind

 

Mark 4:39-40 『And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?』

On the surface, Jesus Christ was the Creator in the kingdom of God, but on earth he would be thought of as the Son of God, endowed with God's power and controlling nature. But we must think of the spiritual meaning in this passage.

『And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.』The reason the waves beat happens is because of the wind. Wind means the Holy Spirit. Waves arose because of the wind. So a big wave hit the ship. In the boat were Jesus and his disciples. A ship is an ark. The ark symbolizes Christ. The disciples are on a boat. The sea represents the law. The saying, “A great wave arose in the sea” means that the work of the Holy Spirit takes place within the law, and people realize that they are destined to die by the waves, and they discover Christ and awaken Him.

『Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith? 』Here, 『Why』 means 『certain things』. Even though they were disciples, because they had been under the law for a long time, the need to keep the law must have frightened them.

Jesus said, “And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still.” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 』Here, the word 『rebuked』 is the Greek word 『epitimao』, which is a combination of the preposition epi (to) and the verb timao (to set a price, to criticize). That is. In Zechariah 11:10-13, “In order to abolish the covenant (law) that God had established with Israel, he cut off the stick called grace (new covenant: Christ) and abolished the covenant. When the hearers (the poor sheep) heard it, they liked it and paid for it ( gave 30)." At this time, the word for paying the price is 『Timao』. Judas Iscariot sold Jesus to the priest for 30 pieces of silver. Here, the word 『Ephitimao』 tells us that “He is the Son of Man (Savior) for whom the audience set a price of 30 pieces of silver.” It means that the Savior was revealed to the wind and the sea. Because Jesus came, the winds and the sea calmed down.

Matthew 14:25-32『And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spoke to them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter came down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?And when they came into the ship, the wind ceased.』

“The reason the Bible tells this story” is that even though Peter (the Jew) relies on Jesus, the law torments them. so. It is a warning that “he will fall into the law again.” Eventually, he discovers Peter relying on his own strength. As he looks again at the law, he sees himself in fear within the law. When a person looks at Jesus, he is completely free from the law, and he becomes motivated to rely on his own strength. This is the same story that Peter denied three times before Jesus was crucified. This means that if a person does not look at Jesus dying on the cross and is not united with Jesus, he will ultimately end up relying on himself. “What Peter was asking for” was not Jesus on the cross, but Jesus working miracles, and he was still such a legalistic person who relied on himself.

Peter ate five loaves of bread and two fish that day. And when he saw the Lord standing on the water, he said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you.” He said, “Lord,” but set the condition, “if it is you, Lord.” Faith first denies oneself and then gives it to Jesus. Is this possible? Jesus rescued Peter from drowning and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Faith must be a faith that is united with Jesus Christ.

It is necessary to compare these words with 『The woman who was suffering from an issue of blood prayed that she might touch the hem of Jesus' clothes, and everyone who touched them was healed』. What Peter sought was the miraculous Jesus. And the woman's earnest desire to be cured of her illness is also healing. Those who are not saved only pursue the miraculous results of faith. I only pursue going to heaven. Jesus is not the goal; Jesus is the method. Those for whom Jesus is the goal die on the cross with Jesus and are resurrected with Christ, but those for whom Jesus is the method only seek salvation by relying on Jesus' death. I hold on to the resurrected Son of God in order to go to heaven. However, those who repent become those who are united with the death and resurrection of the cross.