Mark gives a vivid portrayal of Jesus in His full humanity…he has given us an authentic picture of Jesus as “God with sandals on.” In Jesus, the Creator of the universe has become local.

Most New Testament scholars agree that Mark was the first of the four gospel accounts to be written. Mark’s gospel is a simple, concise account, focusing more on what Jesus did than on what He taught.

Mark’s recounting of events has an ‘on-the-spot’ quality that is characteristic of eyewitness reports. Early Christian tradition closely associates Mark (not one of Jesus’ twelve chosen disciples) with the apostle Peter. Thus, they regard Mark’s Gospel as mainly recording the reminiscences and preaching of Peter, who refers affectionately to Mark as “my son” (1 Peter 5:13). However, Mark himself might have seen some of the events. Many scholars believe he was the anonymous fleeing naked man in Mark 14:51–52, an event not mentioned by the other Gospels.

John the Baptist prepares the way for Jesus.

Before Jesus is introduced to centre-stage, however, Mark puts the beginning of His ministry in its proper scriptural context by quoting two Old Testament passages (Malachi 3:1; Isaiah 40:3) which point to John the Baptist as the one sent by God to ‘prepare the way’ for Jesus (1:2–3). The devout Simeon was just one of many who were longing for “the consolation of Israel” (Luke 2:25). One can appreciate, therefore, the excitement that ran through the country when John appeared in the Jordan valley, breaking four centuries of prophetic silence and proclaiming the urgent need for repentance in view of the imminent appearance of the ‘Coming One’. And, to quell any speculation that John himself might be the ‘Coming One’, he self-effacingly declared, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (1:7–8).

Jesus in a boat on Lake Galilee.

In our mind’s eye, then, let us follow a typical day in the earthly life of Jesus (as recorded in Mark 4). It is morning. The shores of Lake Galilee are crowded with people who have come to hear Jesus. He is so hard-pressed by the milling crowd that He gets into a boat and puts out a little way from the shore. They listen with rapt attention to His every word as He teaches them many things in parables.

As evening approaches, Jesus dismisses the crowd and, at His behest, the band of disciples sets out to cross over to the eastern side of the lake. Jesus, exhausted after a long hard day, settles down in the back of the boat for a sleep.

Suddenly there is a furious squall. Lake Galilee is notorious for sudden storms of this kind.

Jesus calms the storm.

This was no ordinary storm. The boat rolled, pitched, and was tossed like a cork. The waves broke over it, almost swamping it. But Jesus slept on. Nothing seemed to disturb Him. Finally, in desperation, the disciples woke Him. “He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm” (4:39).

Jesus’ mastery of the storm shook the disciples to their core: “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (4:41). This phenomenon is more than a mere display of His power; it is a clue to His identity. John’s Gospel explicitly identifies “the Word” as God (1:1–2) and affirms His role in creation: “All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made” (1:3). And to remove all doubt about the identity of “the Word”, John affirms, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (1:14). Alan Cole writes, “Only He who had created the wind and the sea in the first place would dare to address them so: and their instant obedience shows His full deity as Creator as well as Redeemer.” ¹

The key to understanding this incident on the lake is the disciples’ question, ‘Who is this?’ In chapters 5-6, Mark has recorded a cluster of supernatural episodes that provide further answers to that question.

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