Mark 4:35–41
35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
In this account we see the patient heart of Jesus for his disciples. The sarcastic remark of the disciples as they wake Jesus comes across as rude and disrespectful. Who can blame them? These guys know sailing. This situation doesn't look good and Jesus is sleeping! This is a totally normal response by someone in a desperate situation.
Yet, how tempting it must have been for Jesus to not snap back with a sarcastic comment of his own, "Of course I care you fools. Do you remember me healing a paralytic, a leper, a man with a withered hand? Do you remember me casting out demons? You don't remember any of that?" At least that's what I would have wanted to say. Their fear of perishing here seems directly linked to their lack of faith in who he is. If he is the Son of God on a mission to bring God's kingdom here and save the lost he isn't going to die in an unfortunate boating accident. His patience could've run out with them here for their lack of faith. He could've said, as we've been noting all along in this study, "What more do you need to see to believe in me?"
In one sense this gives us great comfort to know how patient Jesus is with us as we draw conclusions as to his identity. As we saw on Tuesday, Mark doesn't hesitate to cast the disciples in a negative light here. Even in the face of undeniable evidence that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, they still aren't fully convinced—that doesn't come till after the resurrection. Jesus doesn't want his followers to make flippant decisions to be his disciples. He wants them to count the cost, to know who he is, not just think they know. He wants fully devoted disciples and he is patient with them.
In another sense this gives us a clue as to how we should do discipleship with others in the church. As we've been seeing throughout this series, note the value of just going through life events together with people. This wasn't a planned Bible study. Crossing the Sea of Galilee was a normal event in their lives, yet Jesus used this moment to teach and disciple. This moment clearly had a major impact on Peter's life. How we respond to interruptions in the day-to-day rhythm can be some of the most impactful discipleship moments.