The Texts for Sunday, June 28th, 2015, the 5th Sunday after Pentecost

First Reading: Lamentations 3:22–33

²²The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,

his mercies never come to an end;

  ²³they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

  ²⁴"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,

"therefore I will hope in him."

  ²⁵The LORD is good to those who wait for him,

to the soul that seeks him.

  ²⁶It is good that one should wait quietly

for the salvation of the LORD.

  ²⁷It is good for one to bear

the yoke in youth,

  ²⁸to sit alone in silence

when the LORD has imposed it,

  ²⁹to put one's mouth to the dust

(there may yet be hope),

  ³⁰to give one's cheek to the smiter,

and be filled with insults.

  ³¹For the LORD will not

reject forever.

  ³²Although he causes grief, he will have compassion

according to the abundance of his steadfast love;

  ³³for he does not willingly afflict

or grieve anyone.

The Word of the Lord

Psalm 30

¹I will exalt you, O LORD, because you have lifted me up

and have not let my enemies triumph over me.

²O LORD my God, I cried out to you,

and you restored me to health.

³You brought me up, O LORD, from the dead;

you restored my life as I was going down to the grave.

⁴Sing to the LORD, you servants of his;

give thanks for the remembrance of his holiness.

⁵For his wrath endures but the twinkling of an eye,

his favor for a lifetime.

⁶Weeping may spend the night,

but joy comes in the morning.

⁷While I felt secure, I said, "I shall never be disturbed.

You, LORD, with your favor, made me as strong as the mountains."

⁸Then you hid your face,

and I was filled with fear.

⁹I cried to you, O LORD;

I pleaded with the Lord, saying,

¹⁰"What profit is there in my blood, if I go down to the pit?

Will the dust praise you or declare your faithfulness?

¹¹Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me;

O LORD, be my helper."

¹²You have turned my wailing into dancing;

you have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.

¹³Therefore my heart sings to you without ceasing;

O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 8:7–15

⁷Now as you excel in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you — so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.

⁸I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others.  ⁹For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.  ¹⁰And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something —  ¹¹now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means.  ¹²For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has — not according to what one does not have.  ¹³I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between  ¹⁴your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance.  ¹⁵As it is written,

"The one who had much did not have too much,

and the one who had little did not have too little.”

The Word of the Lord

Gospel: Mark 5:21–43

²¹When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea.  ²²Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet  ²³and begged him repeatedly, "My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live."  ²⁴So he went with him.

And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him.  ²⁵Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years.  ²⁶She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse.  ²⁷She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,  ²⁸for she said, "If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well."  ²⁹Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.  ³⁰Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?"  ³¹And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, 'Who touched me?'"  ³²He looked all around to see who had done it.  ³³But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth.  ³⁴He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease."

³⁵While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader's house to say, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?"  ³⁶But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, "Do not fear, only believe."  ³⁷He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.  ³⁸When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly.  ³⁹When he had entered, he said to them, "Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping."  ⁴⁰And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was.  ⁴¹He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha cum," which means, "Little girl, get up!"  ⁴²And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement.  ⁴³He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Mark 5:21-43, Studies of the Greek text

Greek Study Mark 5:21-43

Mark often weaves together two pieces of tradition to form one. The story about Jairus is composed of short sentences dominated by the historical present; the one about the bleeding women has long complex sentences and is dominated by the aorist tense. The fact that all three synoptic gospels record this indicate Mark as the origin, but it more likely indicates two separate stories woven together early in the period of oral tradition and preserved as one. 

v21 διαπερασαντος (διαπεραω) aor. part. "When [Jesus] had [again] crossed over" - the genitive absolute forms a temporal clause. 

παλιν adv. "again" - Sequential adverb- either Jesus crossed over the lake again, or a crowd gathered around him again.

v22 των αρχισυναγωγων (ος) gen. "[one] of the synagogue rulers" - a manager of the synagogue, a lay official responsible for the management of the synagogue program, facilities and complex. 

ονοματι (α) dat. "named [Jairus]" - dative of reference; omitted in some manuscripts; maybe added for symbolic effect, the root meaning of the name is "he awakes."

ιδων (οραω) aor. part. "when he saw [Jesus]" πιπτει (πιπτω) pres. "falls down”- falling at the feet of Jesus as a supplicant, indicates the depth of fear he has for his child.

v23 παρακαλει (παρακαλεω) pres. "he pleaded [earnestly] with".

πολλα adv. "earnestly" – idiom; beseeched Jesus much. Note how the alliteration

παρακαλειν πολλα serves to emphasize his pleading; "he persistently pleaded."

το θυγαταριον "little daughter" - the diminutive is possibly implying "dear".

εσχατως εχει (εχω) "is dying" - the adverb εσχατως, "finally", with the verb εχει, "have", means to reach an extremity, here an idiom meaning “the last gasp, at death's door.

σωθη και ζηση aor. pas. sub. "she may be healed and live" – the word σοζο has an interchangeable meaning: "healed/saved" and "live/live eternally." It seems likely that Jairus is asking that she be healed and so be able to live out her life, but the words rightly que us to their deeper significance, such that what this girl needs, as we all need, is to be saved and gain eternal life.

v24 συνεθλιβον (συνθλιβω) imperf. "pressed around" - crowding in upon. At 3:9 the verb appears without a prefix so there it is only the danger of a crush; but here it is real thing.

v25 Jesus' confrontation with dark powers continues in the healing of the woman with the issue of blood, v25-34. The first Gk. sentence covers v25-28. Between the noun, γυνη, "woman", and the principle verb ηψατο, "she touched", v27, Mark has a string of subordinate participle clauses. The first set are adjectival, attributive, describing / limiting γυνη, "woman" ουσα, "who had [an issue of blood]"; παθουσα, "and who had suffered [much from many doctors]"; δαπανησασα, "and who had spent all she had"; μηδεν ωφεληθεισα, "without gaining anything"; ελθουσα, "[but] who had became worse." The next two participles, ακουσασα, "having heard", and ελθουσα, "having come", attend the main verb ηψατο, "she touched." Given that she is "unclean" and has touched a Rabbi, the participial clauses serve to gain our sympathy before telling us that she touched Jesus.

αιματος (α ατος) gen. "bleeding" - genitive is verbal. She suffered from constant bleeding which rendered her unclean and unable to share in normal community life, Lev.15:25-30. 

v26 παθουσα (πασχω) aor. part. "suffered" – an adjectival participle, see above.

υπο + gen. "under the care of"- submitted to…

δαπανησασα (δαπαναω) aor. part. "had spent [all she had]" - she spent everything she had for medical help without any benefit which serves to underline her desperate condition (also as good as dead) in contrast to her healing.

ωφεληθεισα (ωφελεω) aor. part. "[instead of] getting better".

ελθουσα (ερχομαι) aor. part. "she grew" the participle, as above.

το χειρον comp. adj. "worse" - [into] the worse condition. The adjective serves as a substantive. "On the contrary, she was getting worse."

v27 ακουσασα (ακουω) aor. part. "When she heard"  

ελθουσα (ερχομαι) aor. part. "she came up" – both attendant circumstance participles.

ηψατο (απτω) "touched" - Jesus usually does the touching, although the gospels and Acts remind us of the common belief that healing can come by touching a healer's clothing, or even by passing under their shadow. Such a belief leans toward the magical, but in this story both the faith of the woman and its consequence is uplifted.

ιματιου (ον) gen. "his [cloak]" the power of his ‘cloak’ is referred to later when the soldiers cast lots for it.

v28 ελεγεν (λεγω) imperf. "she thought" – an idiom where the imperfect functions as a pluperfect, "had been saying", and expressing emphasis and ongoing action, so "she kept saying to herself over and over…”.

σωθησομαι (σωζω) fut. pas. "I will be made whole” "healing" not “salvation” is certainly in the woman's mind, but this word's eschatological sense is always lurking in the background. It is used 14 time by Mark and takes the sense "deliverance from the enemies of life" and so is closely related to "gaining eternal life".

v29 ευθυς adv. "immediately" – Mark’s favorite word used here for dramatic effect.

του αι{ματος (α ατος) gen. "[her] bleeding" εξηρανθη (ξηραινω) aor. pas. "dried up”.

ιαται (ιαομαι) perf. pas. "she was freed" - the Perfect is used to indicate the healing is complete, without relapse. 

μαστιγος (ιξ ιγος) "her suffering" – literally the whip, scourge, affliction a strong word used to emphasize her condition and the power of the healing.

v30 επιγνους εν εαυτω  "[Jesus] knew” - participle provides the verbal element of a temporal clause; "was at once aware".

εξελθουσαν (εξερχομαι) aor. part. "that [power] had gone out [from him]" -  The sense of this verb is more like "preceded" than "come out"; so "his power of healing had gone forth". The Greek has Jesus aware of the transfer of power immediately upon it taking place not before, so his knowledge is limited to the present, not the future. 

επιστραφεις (επιστρεφω) aor. pas. part. "turned around [in the crowd]" - The crowd is pressing in and because the touch comes from behind; he turned around and asked.  Again this indicates extreme awareness of his surroundings.  Jesus is, as we would say, ‘in the moment”.

των ιμαρτιων (ον) gen. "[who touched my] clothes?" – a genitive of direct object. Jesus wanted to draw out the woman's faith and affirm it.

v31 συνθλιβοντα (σιμθλιβω) pres. part. "pressing against” The disciples "you see the crowd pressing you and you ask 'who touched me'" is not very gracious even in the Greek and so is softened by Luke and left out by Matthew.

v32 περιεβλεπετο (περιβλεπω) imperf. "kept looking around" – a verb used 7 times in the NT, mostly in the gospels and with Jesus doing the looking. 

v33 φοβηθεισα (φοβεομαι) part. "fear" this participle, as with τρεμουσα, "trembling", and ειδυια, "knowing", is adverbial expressing the manner of her coming to Jesus; she ηλθεν, "came", fearing, trembling and knowing. Scholars lean toward the idea that she knows she has made Jesus ritually unclean but also accept that Mark does not draw this same conclusion. Fear and trembling are standard Biblical reactions to a theophany.

προσεπεσεν αυτω "fell at [his] feet" – the traditional posture for worship

πασαν την αληθειαν "the whole truth" - A judicial term used even today in court!

v34 θυγατηρ "daughter" - Jesus may be declaring her status in his family of faith. In the vocative; so it may be a more formal, "my young lady."

η πιστις (ις εως) "[your] faith" – in the Greek ’faith’ implies not just intellectual assent but emotional involvement and trust. Her trust in God and his power operative in Jesus both heals and saves. In John's gospel it is often the other way around; the miracle prompts faith/trust. In the synoptic gospels Jesus' miracles prompt either anger (when done on the Sabbath), amazement, or faith. The faith heals order reflects the faith saves order fixed in the epistles so some scholars float the notion that this order not original, but may reflect early Christian preaching. It’s a stretch.

σεσωκεν (σωζω) perf. "has healed [you]" – perhaps Mark intends both "healed" and "saved" as the perfect tense indicating the completeness of her new condition. It also reflects the Hebraic notion that humans are BOTH body and spirit, one without the other is no complete.  Resurrection is about the salvation/healing of the entire human being – the Greeks imported the later notion of the body/spirit separation..

υπαγε εις ειρηνην "go in peace" – another idiom, go in wellbeing rather than in trouble. ισθι pres. imp. "be [freed from your suffering]" - present imperative of the verb to-be is durative, commanding a continuing state. Jesus declares as a fact her ongoing health.

v35 We now return to the raising of Jairus' daughter.

λαλουντος (λαλεω) gen. pres. part. "while [Jesus] was [still] speaking" 

απεθανεν (αποθηνησκω) aor. "is dead" The perfect "has died" would be expected, but the aorist "is dead" serves to stress that “she’s not only merely dead, but really most sincerely dead”.

σκυλλεις (σκυλλω) pres. "bother" - originally the word meant “to flay, or skin”. Mark is making the point that from a human perspective, the situation is now hopeless, so Jesus' aid is no longer needed.

v36 παρακουσας (παρακουω) aor. part. "overhear" - participle is adverbial, often rendered "Jesus ignored their remarks" but the base meaning of the word is "hear beside" and can mean "ignore" or even "disobey” but "overhear" seems best as Jesus does not ignore their words but tells Jairus to believe.

μη φοβου (φοβεομαι) pres. imp. "do not be afraid". The negative with the present imperative serves as a command to cease doing something, so "stop being afraid."

πιστευε (πιστευω) pres. imp. "believe" – a command to buck up a failing Jarius.

v37 συνακολουθησαι (συνακολουθεω) aor. inf. "[he did not let anyone] follow" - infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the negated verb "did not allow." By allowing only three disciples and the parents to witness the miracle, Jesus is obviously keeping the sign away from the unbelieving crowd, but at the same time providing the minimum number of witnesses needed for public scrutiny. In light of Mark’s emphasis on the ’messianic secret’ this may seem contradictory, but n truth is it is the best way to allow for both faithful future proclamation and unwarranted present day speculation.  

v38 θορυβον (ος) "a commotion" - uproar, turmoil – a word often associate with the funerals of public figures. Jairus was a leader of the Synagogue, in John 11 there are mourners wailing at the tomb of Lazarus, the rich man of Bethany.

κλαιοντας (κλαιω) pres. part. "with people crying [and wailing]" - adjectival, possibly epexegetic, explaining the commotion. It is often argued that the mourners are a professional group hired for the purpose of making loud wailings, but there has really not been time to bring in a team of local thespians so it is likely the mourners are family and household members and the wailing is genuine.

v39 παιδιον "this child" – little child; sometimes an affectionate term but usually referring to one who is politically or economically powerless.  In the negative it might be used to refer to the underclass of a community, the “παιδιον” were those without money or clout. Hard to have less clout than when you are dead.

καθευδει (καθευδω) pres. "asleep" - the verb in the present tense carries a perfect sense. The mob says she is dead; Jesus says she is not. It is possible Jesus is seeking to maintain the messianic secret by being less than straightforward with the crowd, but he may also be employing a euphemism for the death of a person about to be raised to life. The term was later used in the epistles to describe the state of a believer who has died and awaits resurrection.

v40 κατεγελων (καταγελαω) imperf. "they laughed at" - they deride Jesus for his faulty diagnosis, presumably made without seeing the child

εκβαλων (εκβαλλω) aor. part. "after he threw them out". For Mark, this is a strong word taking the sense "cast out" rather than "dismiss", this sign is not for unbelievers.

παραλαμβανει (παραλαμβανω) pres. "he took" - the faith of the parents and disciples are granted the privilege of seeing this sign up close and personal.

v41 κρατησας (κρατεω) aor. part. "he took grasped her" – a similar action to the healing of Peter's mother-in-law.

εστιν μεθερμηνευομενον (μεθερμηνευω) pres. pas. part. "which means" – a periphrastic present construction. The actual words are stark and simple and remove any sense of a magical incantation. The words Jesus uses are Aramaic, strange to his readers but in his own language and that of the family he is helping.

το κορασιον "little girl" – note the change of Greek word here, now we are dealing with Someone older than a young child – likely a prepubescent teen on the verge of FULL womanhood, and therefore full of promise and potential and at the opposite social and physical end of the scale from the women Jesus just healed who is literally ‘past her prime”.  Yet both are παιδιον – powerless and both are worthy of σοζα.

v42 ανεστη (ανιστημι) aor. "stood up" - stood, arose and also the owrd that is used, post Calvary, for ‘resurrection”. 

περιεπατει (περιπατεω) imperf. "began to walk around and therefore now capable of fulfilling the promise and potential she represented before death. Like the woman with the issue of blood, she is resorted to her place and purpose within the community

εκστασει μεγαλη dat. "[they were] completely [astonished]" - dative is adverbial. Such  response, particularly from the disciples, is kind of disappointing. According to Mark faith is the proper response. 

v43 διεστειλατο (διαστελλω) aor. mid. "he gave [strict] orders" – literally “to divide”  but in the middle tense "to command". 

δοθηναι (διδωμι) aor. pas. inf. "[told them] give" – the infinitive serves as a command.

φαγειν (εσθιω) aor. inf. "to eat" – eating is a clear sign of being alive, you have to eat to live and you have to be alive to eat.  But it also bears the image of being returned to the table, that communal place where the family gathered and still today represents the center of communal life.

Don't fear. Believe!

Time implies duration, but eternity excludes time. — Chrysologus, Bishop of Ravenna (5th cent.)

Last week we crossed the lake in a storm. Today, we have returned from the other side and Jesus is immediately surrounded by petitioners who seek healing. Jairus, a leader in the synagogue that Jesus has entered pleas for help with a dying daughter. An unknown woman is also healed on the way. Yet, before there is a healing our text leaves out. Over on the other side, Jesus has met Legion, the Gerasene demoniac. 

So, there are three stories of healing told here. In the first, there was no talk of faith. The man was mad and the demons spoke for him. Yet, they knew who Jesus was and they knew they had every reason to be afraid. The Gerasenes share the demons’ disposition. They are afraid of Jesus’ presence and ask him to depart.

After an uneventful crossing of the lake we are now on the way to Jairus’ house. A woman who has been ill for a long time has gotten it into her head that if she could just touch his garment, she would be well and indeed, it is made so. Only after her healing she draws close, in fear, as it was with the Gerasenes, and told Jesus that she has “snatched,” as it were, a healing from him.

Word comes in the middle of this interruption that Jairus’ daughter has died. “Why bother the teacher any longer,” is the word from the household. Jesus answers not the messengers but Jairus: “Do not be afraid, only believe,” and he uses “believe,” not “have faith.” 

Fear is all around it would seem. On the lake, Jesus had accused his disciples of cowardice. (Mk 4:40) Then there is the fear of a power greater than the Geresenes were comfortable with. Fear that partaking of the providence of God will bring judgement. She has “taken” her healing from Jesus and he had been adamant that he needed to find out who had taken healing power from him. Jairus' fear that he has acted too late? The fear that there are supplications, needs and desires of our heart that even God cannot supply? 

Through their fears the woman and Jairus will learn about the character of God in Jesus, as did the disciples on the lake in the storm. (Mk 4:40) It may not be their fears but the resolution of the fears that actually teaches the lesson. Is this true for the Gerasenes as well? They have asked him to leave. Who will fend for them? 

As we listen to this part of the story it might be wise to take stock of the fears we harbor. Will our faith be enough to overcome? Are some fears Holy Fears, in the sense of Awe? The woman somehow does model for us an attitude that will bow deeply before Jesus and accept what he might say next. His response to her might guide our living: Deeds done in Faith are never judged but instead lead to healing, perhaps even the healing of fear.

He will need us to relinquish our fear. It is written that the women who discover the empty tomb and the young man in white run away and in fear say nothing to anyone. (Mk 16) A resurrection unobserved and untold will change little. A resurrection proclaimed and believed will change much but also raise many fears. To us and all says Jesus: “Don’t be afraid, Believe.” 

What are your fears telling you? 

The Texts for Sunday June 21st, the 4th Sunday After Pentecost, 2015

First Reading: Job 38:1–11

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:

²"Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

  ³Gird up your loins like a man,

I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

  ⁴"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?

Tell me, if you have understanding.

  ⁵Who determined its measurements — surely you know!

Or who stretched the line upon it?

  ⁶On what were its bases sunk,

or who laid its cornerstone

  ⁷when the morning stars sang together

and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?

  ⁸"Or who shut in the sea with doors

when it burst out from the womb? — 

  ⁹when I made the clouds its garment,

and thick darkness its swaddling band,

  ¹⁰and prescribed bounds for it,

and set bars and doors,

  ¹¹and said, 'Thus far shall you come, and no farther,

and here shall your proud waves be stopped'?\

The Word of the Lord

Psalm 107:1–3, 23–32

¹Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,

and his mercy endures forever.

²Let all those whom the LORD has redeemed proclaim

that he redeemed them from the hand of the foe.

³He gathered them out of the lands;

from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south

²³Some went down to the sea in ships

and plied their trade in deep waters;

²⁴they beheld the works of the LORD

and his wonders in the deep.

²⁵Then he spoke, and a stormy wind arose,

which tossed high the waves of the sea.

²⁶They mounted up to the heavens and fell back to the depths;

their hearts melted because of their peril.

²⁷They reeled and staggered like drunkards

and were at their wits' end.

²⁸Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress.

²⁹He stilled the storm to a whisper

and quieted the waves of the sea.

³⁰Then were they glad because of the calm,

and he brought them to the harbor they were bound for.

³¹Let them give thanks to the LORD for his mercy

and the wonders he does for his children.

³²Let them exalt him in the congregation of the people

and praise him in the council of the elders.

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 6:1–13

As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain.  ²For he says,

"At an acceptable time I have listened to you,

and on a day of salvation I have helped you."

See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!  ³We are putting no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry,  ⁴but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities,  ⁵beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger;  ⁶by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love,  ⁷truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left;  ⁸in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true;  ⁹as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see — we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed;  ¹⁰as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

¹¹We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you.  ¹²There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours.  ¹³In return — I speak as to children — open wide your hearts also.

The Word of the Lord

Gospel: Mark 4:35–41

³⁵On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side."  ³⁶And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him.  ³⁷A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.  ³⁸But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"  ³⁹He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.  ⁴⁰He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?"  ⁴¹And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

Mark 4:35-41 Greek Studies

Mark 4:35-41

This incident falls within the later Galilean ministry of Jesus. It is part of a set of stories which demonstrate Jesus' victory over powers hostile to God, 4:35-5:43. In fact, it serves as part of an artistically packaged set stories. We see Jesus victorious over the powers of the deep (leviathan / Satan), demon possession, sickness and death. In these stories we are confronted with Jesus' word of power over dark forces, a word that interplays with the human response of faith.    The stilling of the storm does more than tell us that Jesus is Lord over nature. The roaring sea corresponds with the rage of the demoniac in the next story, 5:1-20, as does the calm of the sea with the demoniac's calm after the demon is cast out. So, what we have in this story is Jesus subduing the evil powers of darkness. It was common belief that such powers dwell in the deep, in the waters of the sea. The great leviathan represents this power of darkness. So, this incident represents a satanic attack upon Jesus. The howling wind, the waves breaking into the boat, represent Satan reaching out to frustrate, even end Jesus' mission. Yet Jesus, the messiah, is on a divine mission and no earthly or spiritual can stand in his way. The disciples demonstrate their lack of faith in failing to understand that Jesus is Lord over the powers of darkness. These powers may rant and rave, but they cannot frustrate the dawning kingdom.  The narrative form of this pericope is that of a nature miracle. It evidences the vivid details of an eyewitness account. This does not mean that Mark was present, just that the tradition he drew from has preserved the substantial elements of personal observation.

v35 γενομενης (γινομαι) οψιας (a)  aor. part. "when evening came" - participle is adverbial, temporal.

λεγει (λεγω) pres. "he said" - historic present, used for narrative style.

διελθωμεν (διερχομαι) aor. subj. "let's pass through" – a hortatory subjunctive. 

v36 αφεντες (αφιημι) aor. part. "leaving/releasing” attendant circumstance participle, expressing action accompanying the main verb "they take" - sometimes the sense "dismiss" although Mark rarely uses the word in this way. 

αυτου pro. "him" - [and other boats were with] him, it. Genitive after μετα, "with". Either with Jesus or with the boat; no further mention is made of other boats, this is one of those interesting pieces of the original setting preserved in the oral tradition.

  
v37 λαιλαψ (αψ απος) "a [furious] squall" – lit. whirlwind,.

ανεμου (ος) gen. there came about - genitive is adjectival, technically of material, identifying what the great squall is made of, namely "wind", so "a violent wind".

v38 καθευδων (καθευδω) pres. part. "sleeping" - participle functions as an object, "he was in the stern sleeping", being nominative and not in agreement with "stern", it is more properly a periphrastic imperfect construction with the imperfect verb to-be h|n; "he was sleeping on a cushion in the stern".

το προσκεφαλαιον (ον) "a cushion" - article implies only one, it might be the rowers leather seat or possibly a cushion for a guest normally placed in the stern.

εγειρουσιν (εγειρω)Äpres. "[the disciples] woke [him]" – literally “raised or roused” the historic present for a more vivid narrative.

σοι dat. pro. "[don't] you [care]" - [does it not matter] to you. Dative of interest. "Teacher, don't you care that we are all about to 

απολλυμεθα (απολλυμι)Äpres. mid. "drown" – actually “perish, destroyed”. The words are a rebuke (notice how they are softened by Matthew and Luke). 

v39 διεγερθεις (διεγειρω) aor. pas. part. "he got up" – woke up - attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the main verb "he rebuked". Although most illustrations have Jesus standing up in the back of the boat, blond hair blowing in the wind, arms outstretched like Charlton Heston the best translation is "he woke up" because it is highly unlikely Jesus would be stupid enough to stand up in a small sailing boat during a storm on the Sea of Galilee!

επετιμησεν (επιτιμαω) aor. + dat. "rebuked" - spoke sternly to, warned sternly. Jesus rebukes the wind speaking as its master. 

τω ανεμω (ος) dat. "the wind" and τη θαλασση (α) " the waves" dative indirect object.

σιωπα (σιωπαω) pres. imp. "Quiet" – idiom; "shut up!" Given that this story is tied to Jesus' exorcising "legion", it is likely that we are dealing with something more than Jesus' mastery over nature. 

πεφιμωσο (φιμοω) perf. pas. imp. "be still" – muzzled; the emphatic reinforces the sense that Jesus is instructing the dark powers of the underworld, so “shut up and stay that way!"

εκοπασεν (κοπαζω) aor. "died down" - the ring of the eyewitness is present in the vivid brevity of this account. It is devoid of embellishment.

γαληνη (η) "[it was completely] calm" - long vowels in the Greek serve to promote an atmosphere of complete peace.

  
v40 δειλοι adj. "cowardly”!

ουπω "[do you] still [have] no [faith]?" - [you have] not yet [faith]. ..... Variant πως ουκ, giving the sense "how is it that you do not have faith?” The text is disturbed here with words alternating or being left out; "do you not yet have faith?" Either way by this time the disciples (dense as they are) should have learned something!

πιστιν (ις εως) "faith" - in the sense of reliance on Christ, that he is both willing and able to resist the powers of darkness. There is debate over the intended focus of this faith. Many commentators see the faith as focused in God’s fatherly care, not in Jesus' mission, but the context is the disciples' fear of being swamped by a storm. Jesus is inaugurating the kingdom of God; so the question is can the powers of darkness resist the dawning of a new age? The Red Sea could not stand in the way of Israel; certainly a storm on the Sea of Galilee will not overcome the Messiah!

  

v41 εφοβηθησαν (φοβεομαι) aor. pas. "were terrified" Mark’s favorite word. 

ελεγον (λεγω) imperf. "they asked" an inceptive imperfect where the emphasis is on the beginning of the action, "they began to say”.

αλληλουςÄpro. "each other" – an animated conversation (talk amongst yourselves!)

ο ανεμος (ος) "wind" - not "spirit" and η θαλασσα (a) "waves".

υπακουει (υπακουω) pres. "obey" - Who is this that both the wind and the sea obey him? The answer is obviously God but in context Moses or messiah is correct!