We’ve all heard the old mariner’s proverb. “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky at morning, sailor take warning.”  Long before the complexities of modern meteorology, the proverb was the gold standard of weather prediction. 

The science is simple.  Weather systems generally move from west to east.  High pressure systems trap airborne particles within a stable air mass.  This diffuses the shorter wavelength colors in the spectrum but allows longer wavelength reds and oranges to reach your eye.  If the evening sky is red, the stable, high-pressure system is west of you and fair weather is on its way. 

But behind high pressure systems are the low pressure ones which bring stormy weather.  If the morning sky is reddish, then the fair weather is passed, and stormy weather may be moving in.  This simple observation has guided weather forecasting for millennia.  And our proverb is so old that we find Jesus quoting it.

And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So, he left them and departed. -Matthew 16:1-4

Our ability to predict the weather, to ‘see the signs,’ is light years ahead of the ancient mariner’s ditty.  We have 24-hour news channels, weather apps that notify us of turbulent weather anywhere on the globe, and watches with sophisticated sensors that can forecast both the meteorological and the medical storms forming on our horizon.  

But are we any better at understanding who Jesus is?  Are Jesus’ words to ancient unbelievers even more pointed in our day?  Despite all we have seen, heard, and learned of him, is Jesus’ rebuke of his disciples on a becalmed lake apt for us, “why are you afraid, O you of little faith?”

It is easy when reading the Gospels to get caught up in the emotions, the personalities, and the crises of the stories and forget they are God’s Word to us.  Given to expose us for who we are and reveal to us who Jesus really is.  In Mark 4:35-41 we encounter a compelling account of Jesus calming the storm, a story recounted in Matthew and Luke as well. 

With all the marks of an eyewitness account, we see a turbulent storm and turbulent disciples.  We hear echoes of Jonah’s story in both comparison and in contrast.  We see Jesus’ humanity and divinity.  We see him calm and becalming, harshly rebuked and gently rebuking.  We see the disciples’ fear of death replaced by an even more potent fear.   And in the intensity of the story, there are warnings about what it means to follow Jesus.

Join us as we examine Mark 4:35-41, the calming of the storm, and consider its warnings to us about what it means to follow Jesus. We meet Sundays at 10:30 am on the square in Pottsville, Arkansas right next to historic Potts’ Inn for worship.  Get directions here or contact us for more info.  Or join our livestream on YouTube.