A Painful Joy
Mark 4:35-41
Sometimes an expression used jumps out at me and I have to stop and think about it.
Photo by bennett tobias on Unsplash
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But 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?" He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" And 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
They took him with them in the boat, just as he was.
How was he?
Perhaps he was exhausted, which would explain why he fell asleep in the boat.
There was a reason he wanted to escape to the other side of the lake. And other boats came with them, so he was not going to escape the crowds. He was only going to have a little time to rest while they rowed across.
When I think of how often Jesus was called upon to help others, I imagine a caregiver, someone who is there day and night to respond to the slightest need of an ailing loved one.
Even asleep in the boat, he had to be awakened because the men were afraid.
The one who cares for another is always on call, always alert, even while asleep, ready to respond to the call, the sound of their name.
There is a time in our lives when we, too, will be called upon to give care and aid to someone we love, be it a parent, a spouse, a child.
It will be a painful joy for us.
We will do it without thinking and, like Jesus, we will not rest even as we sleep.
More to come...