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Hi everyone and welcome back to 
the podcast. 

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Today, we're looking at a fairly
famous passage of Jesus, calming

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the storm. 
So let's start by reading the 

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passage. 
It's Mark chapter 4, and then 

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we'll have a look at the meaning
of some of the key ideas. 

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What's Mark? 
Trying to convey? 

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So, Mark 4:35 to 41. 
With the coming of evening. 

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Jesus said to his disciples, let
us cross over to the other side.

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And leaving the crowd behind. 
They took him just as he was in 

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the boat and there were other 
boats with him. 

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Then it began to blow a gale and
the waves were breaking into the

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boat so that it was almost 
swamped but he was in the stern.

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His head on the cushion asleep. 
They woke him and said to him, 

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Master, do you not care? 
We are going down and he woke up

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and rebuked the wind and said to
the Sea quiet. 

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Now be calm. 
And the wind dropped and always 

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calm again. 
Then he said to them. 

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Why are you so frightened? 
How is it that you have no 

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faith? 
They were filled with or and 

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said to one another, who can 
this be? 

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Even the wind and the Sea obey 
him? 

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So verse 35 at the start here, 
it says, with the coming of 

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evening or a better translation 
here, that makes it a bit 

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clearer in terms of the timing 
is on that day when evening had 

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come. 
So this event has happened on 

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the same day that Mark has just 
narrated before this. 

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And the thing that Mark told us 
about just before this was 

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Jesus, sermon on the sea where 
he tells all those Parables 

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about about the seeds. 
So that's what he's just been 

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talking about. 
And now it's the very same 

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night. 
And evening has come Jesus says 

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to them. 
Let us go across to the other 

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side. 
So this is Jesus initiative 

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here. 
So in terms of geography, he's 

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been preaching on the shore of 
Capernaum, which is on the 

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western side of the Sea of 
Galilee. 

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And he's just said, let's cross.
Let's cross the sea. 

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So they're going to go to the 
Eastern side of the Sea of 

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Galilee, which is a 
predominantly Gentile area. 

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So this is the first time in 
Mark, the Jesus is moving 

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towards Gentile area. 
He'll do that a few times 

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though. 
So the lake or the Sea of 

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Galilee, it's not that big. 
It's actually only about seven 

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or eight miles across. 
You can easily see to the other 

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side. 
So, normally wouldn't take all 

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that long to cross. 
So, it's possible that Jesus 

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knows that the storm is about to
happen. 

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It's possible because you 
doesn't give a reason as to why 

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they should cross. 
So maybe he sees the storm 

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coming and he wants the apostles
to go through it. 

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That's possible, but we don't 
really know verse 36. 36, they 

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took him with them just as he 
was in the boat. 

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So the apostles the disciples 
collect Jesus. 

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They didn't collect any supplies
or do any preparations. 

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They, it says that they took him
with them just as he was. 

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So they just started crossing 
the boat. 

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They got in the boat and left. 
Notice it also says, and other 

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Boats were with him. 
So often in pictures of this, in

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fact, pretty much all the time 
and pictures of this event. 

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You'll see it as just like one 
boat that's been tossed around 

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in the sea. 
There's several boats involved 

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here. 
So probably his disciples are in

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one boat with him. 
And then the rest of his inner 

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circle, his clothes followers 
are in other boats nearby and so

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they all get caught in the storm
together. 

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Verse 37. 
Then our translation in the 

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lectionary says then it began to
blow a gale and the waves were 

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breaking into the boat so that 
it was almost swamped. 

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It's probably a bit watered 
down, translation more literal 

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translation says a great storm 
of wind arose and the waves beat

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into the boat so that the boat 
was already filling. 

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So you can hear sort of marks. 
Dramatic Flair really painting 

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the picture for us coming 
through. 

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So the Sea of Galilee that 
they're on is A small Lake but 

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it could have massive storms and
it still does today because the 

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wind would whip down the hills 
surrounding the Sea of Galilee 

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on all sides yet. 
Actually get these quite strong 

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storms. 
And if you go there today to the

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Sea of Galilee fishes will tell 
you that this does occur, the 

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have really strong storms first 
38, but where's Jesus? 

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He's in the stern, which is the 
back of the boat and he's 

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asleep. 
And lots has been written about 

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the fact that Jesus is asleep. 
It's really showing Jesus 

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Humanity, which is possibly a 
side. 

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We don't get to talk as much 
about So probably, why is he 

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asleep? 
Because he's tired from think 

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about. 
It has been all day. 

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He's been preaching to the 
crowds in the hot, Middle 

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Eastern Sun. 
So it makes sense that he's 

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tired, and many scholars have 
pointed out. 

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The fact that Jesus can sleep 
through the storm is in self 

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itself, a miracle, really. 
And he's untroubled, sleep. 

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In fact, shows his perfect trust
in God, there's lots of Old 

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Testament passages which talked 
about the man who has an 

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untroubled. 
Sleep has gone. 

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Odds favor. 
And so some schools have seen a 

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connection there. 
Possibly, it says, he has his 

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head on the cushion. 
And so, this is strong evidence 

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that this story comes from an 
eyewitness. 

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Remember the main source for the
Mark's gospel, is Peter, and he 

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can really hear that coming 
through here, as we hear that 

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Jesus had his on the cushion. 
And the disciples say to him 

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master or teacher, this is the 
first time he's called teacher 

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in Mark, but he has just been 
teaching for a full day so that 

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certainly makes sense teacher. 
Do you not care? 

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We are going down or we are 
perishing. 

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So the fact that the disciples 
are panicking indicates, it's 

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quite a serious storm. 
There's professional fisherman, 

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amongst them, and they would be 
used to storms. 

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So perhaps there's a satanic 
element to this storm, possibly 

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because the professional 
fishermen are freaking out. 

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And why the disciples saying do 
you not care? 

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Well, the disciples no. 
Because they've been with Jesus 

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a little while. 
The Jesus should have the power 

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to do something about it. 
They've seen him do Miracles. 

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So from their perspective, it 
looks like it just doesn't care 

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in this situation. 
This attitude of God's followers

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saying things like God, do you 
not care? 

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Actually shows up in the Old 
Testament a little bit. 

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So in Exodus 14 verse 10, 
there's this God, do not care 

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and it's a similar thing going 
on here with the apostles. 

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So what's going on with Jesus? 
So in all likelihood, Jesus knew

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that God would preserve them and
that the storm would pass and 

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that they would be okay. 
And that's why he's not 

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panicking and that's why he went
to sleep. 

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Because he knows that in the 
end, they won't be harmed by the

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storm. 
Verse 39. 

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So Jesus wakes up, he rebukes 
the wind that would rebuke 

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there, possibly. 
Although not definitely, but it 

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possibly implies that the storm 
comes from Satan because he's 

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rebuking the storm, which would 
make sense be given that Jesus 

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has given. 
The Jesus has just begun to 

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preach the kingdom of God. 
And that's all about overtaking.

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The kingdom of Satan. 
So maybe Satan is trying to 

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retaliate here by sending a 
storm Mark. 

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Doesn't record the words that 
Jesus uses to rebuke? 

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The wind. 
But he does record the words he 

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uses on the sea which is this 
peace be still or a more literal

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translation is being muzzled. 
So notice here, Jesus does not 

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pray to God or the father. 
He just commands the storm on 

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his own authority and the wind 
ceased and there was a great 

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calm. 
So this Echo is Psalm 107 verse.

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28 29 which says this and you'll
notice the similarity in their 

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distress, they cried to the Lord
who brought them out of their 

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Peril hushed, the storm to a 
murmur. 

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The waves of the sea was 
stilled, So certainly this 

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nature miracle that Jesus 
performs probably would have 

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evoked in the disciples. 
Probably would have made them 

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recall this particular psalm So 
this miracle, that Jesus does 

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where he calms, the Storm shows 
to both the disciples and to 

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Mark's readers, the Jesus has 
power over nature. 

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So, this would prompt all the 
readers in the hearers to think 

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about Jesus identity because 
only God has that kind of power 

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over nature. 
So, this story Marcus put it in 

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there to make the readers. 
Think God, who is this, is this 

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and that probably it's going to 
make them believe or hopefully 

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tip them more towards believing 
that he is the son of What? 

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Verse 40, Jesus says to the 
disciples. 

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Why are you afraid? 
Have you? 

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No faith. 
So might seem a little bit harsh

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because most people would be 
afraid in a serious storm. 

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But think about, you know what? 
They've seen of Jesus. 

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They should have known that they
could trust users. 

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So, by saying this Jesus implies
that the correct response for 

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the apostles during the storm 
would have been to trust that 

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God would preserve them through 
it. 

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It was what he expected the 
apostles to do. 

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Rather than Panic. 
So in this way Jesus teaches the

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disciples, the the storm is both
under God's control and under 

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his control. 
There's that sort of element of 

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both of them coming through 
there. 

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Well, you could interpret this, 
another way when Jesus says, 

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have you no faith as in having 
no faith in him. 

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Why don't you trust me? 
Jesus says, Jesus had called 

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them to complete a task. 
On the other side of the sea, 

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remember it was his initiative. 
He said, let's go across to the 

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other side of the sea. 
So you could interpret this as 

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saying, well, the Apostle should
have known that. 

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Jesus would preserve them 
through it if he's going to call

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them to the other side of the 
sea in the first place. 

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Verse 41, they were filled with 
awe, or literally. 

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I like this translation, they 
feared a great fear. 

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So, their fear of nature is now 
replaced with a reverent fear of

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the presence of God in Jesus. 
They've just witnessed a man 

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that can control nature. 
So they've got this kind of or 

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response and they say among 
themselves who then is this that

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even Wind and Sea obey him. 
So that who then is, this phrase

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is key. 
Remember, one of the aims of 

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Mark's gospel is to invite his 
readers to consider who they 

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believe Mark is who do you say 
that I am. 

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So this is one of those times 
that's going to make the 

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readers. 
Think as the disciples did, who 

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is this guy? 
Also this story would have been 

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remember Market selected which 
stories who wanted in and which 

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ones he didn't think were 
relevant. 

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He probably included this story 
because it would have been an 

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encouragement to the early 
Christians who were around at 

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the time Mark was writing at the
time. 

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Mark was riding there was a 
small Church, a struggling 

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church that felt as though they 
were being tossed around by the 

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vast, Roman Empire and they're 
constantly amidst a storm of 

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persecution and to them, it 
would have seen that Jesus is 

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apparently asleep. 
So the message for those early 

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Christians is that in the end, 
nothing can truly harm those who

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trust in Jesus and possibly, 
that's what they would have 

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realized by reading this story. 
Okay. 

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So that's the exegesis. 
And there's actually no links to

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this particular passage today in
the catechism that is, but if 

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you look at Matthews version, 
there are some references in the

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catechism. 
And when we look at Matthews 

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version a bit later on, in the 
podcast, you'll get to hear more

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about the Catholic teaching 
based on that. 

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Passage one other thing to say 
about this is the story we've 

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just heard is the story of Jesus
coming, the see it's not the 

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same story as when Jesus passes 
by and they think he's a ghost. 

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And he walks on the water that's
a different story but sometimes 

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people get them confused because
they both involve a storm but 

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they are distinct and we'll get 
to that other story of Jesus 

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walking on water a bit later on 
in Mark's gospel. 

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Thanks for listening, I hope you
learned something new and please

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keep sharing the podcast and 
talking to people about it so 

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that we can all grow in our 
knowledge and love of the 

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scriptures. 
We'll see you again tomorrow. 

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No.