Church Fathers Commentary Mark 4:35-41

"And on that day, when even was come, he saith unto them, Let us go over unto the other side. And leaving the multitude, they take him with them, even as he was, in the boat. And other boats were with him. And there ariseth a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the boat, insomuch that the boat was now filling. And he himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion: and they awake him, and say unto him, Teacher, carest thou not that we perish? And he awoke, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye fearful? have ye not yet faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" — Mark 4:35-41 (ASV)

Pseudo-Jerome: After His teaching, they come from that place to the sea and are tossed by the waves.

Therefore it is said, And on that day, when evening had come...

Remigius of Auxerre: The Lord is said to have had three places of refuge: the ship, the mountain, and the desert. As often as He was pressed by the multitude, He would retreat to one of these. When the Lord saw many crowds around Him, He, as a man, wished to avoid their insistence and ordered His disciples to go over to the other side.

There follows: And sending away the multitudes, they took Him...

St. John Chrysostom: The Lord took the disciples so that they might be spectators of the coming miracle, but He took them alone so that no others might see that they had such little faith. ¹

Therefore, to show that others crossed over separately, it is said, And there were also with Him other ships.

So that the disciples might not become proud of being taken alone, He permits them to be in danger. He does this also so that they might learn to bear temptations courageously.

For this reason, it continues, And there arose a great storm of wind... and so that He might impress upon them a greater sense of the miracle to be performed, He allows time for their fear by sleeping.

Therefore, it follows, And He was in the stern of the ship...

For if He had been awake, they either would not have been afraid, would not have asked Him to save them when the storm arose, or they would not have thought Him capable of such things.

Theophylact of Ohrid: Therefore, He allowed them to fall into the fear of danger so that they might experience His power in themselves, after having seen others benefit from Him. But He was sleeping on the ship’s pillow, that is, on a wooden one.

St. John Chrysostom: This showed His humility and thus taught us many lessons of wisdom. But the disciples who remained with Him did not yet know His glory; they thought that if He arose He could command the winds, but that He could by no means do so while resting or asleep. ²

And therefore it follows, And they woke Him and said to Him, “Master, do you not care that we perish?”

Theophylact of Ohrid: But He, arising, first rebukes the wind, which was raising the tempest on the sea and causing the waves to swell. This is expressed in what follows, And He arose and rebuked the wind... then He commands the sea.

For this reason, it goes on, And He said to the sea, “Peace, be still.”

Glossa Ordinaria: The agitation of the sea creates a sound that seems like a threatening voice. Therefore, using a metaphor, He appropriately commands tranquility with a word that means silence. In the same way, He uses a rebuke to restrain the winds, which disturb the sea with their violence.

Men in power are accustomed to restraining those who rudely disturb the peace by threatening punishment. From this, we are to understand that just as a king can suppress violent men with threats and calm the discontent of his people with his decrees, so Christ, the King of all creatures, restrained the violence of the winds with His threats and compelled the sea to be silent.

And the effect followed immediately, for it continues, And the wind ceased... when He had threatened it, and there was a great calm—that is, on the sea, to which He had commanded silence.

Theophylact of Ohrid: He rebuked His disciples for not having faith, for it goes on, And He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” For if they had faith, they would have believed that even while sleeping, He could keep them safe.

There follows, And they were filled with great fear and said to one another...

They were uncertain about Him. Because He stilled the sea—not with a rod like Moses, nor with prayers like Elisha at the Jordan, nor with the ark like Joshua son of Nun—they considered Him truly God. Yet, because He was asleep, they also thought Him a man.

Pseudo-Jerome: Mystically, however, the stern of the ship represents the beginning of the Church. In the Church, the Lord sleeps in His body only, for He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The ship, with its coverings of dead animal skins, protects the living inside, keeps out the waves, and is held together by wood. In the same way, the Church is saved by the cross and the death of the Lord.

The pillow is the body of the Lord, on which His Divinity, which is like His head, has come down.

But the wind and the sea are devils and persecutors, to whom He says “Peace” when He restrains the decrees of impious kings, as He wills. The great calm is the peace of the Church after oppression, or a contemplative life after an active one.

The Venerable Bede: Alternatively, the ship He boarded can be understood as the tree of His passion, by which the faithful reach the safety of the shore. The other ships said to have been with the Lord signify those who are filled with faith in Christ's cross and are not battered by the whirlwind of tribulation, or who, after the storms of temptation, enjoy the serenity of peace.

While His disciples are sailing, Christ is asleep. This signifies that the time of our Lord's Passion came upon His faithful followers while they were meditating on the peace of His future reign. Therefore, it is related that this took place in the evening, so that not only the Lord's sleep but also the hour of fading light might signify the setting of the true Sun.

Again, when He ascended the cross, of which the stern of the ship was a type, His blaspheming persecutors rose like the waves against Him, driven on by the storms of the devils. His own patience, however, is not disturbed, but His foolish disciples are struck with amazement. The disciples awaken the Lord because, with the most earnest wishes, they sought the resurrection of Him whom they had seen die. When He rose, He threatened the wind, because in triumphing through His resurrection, He overthrew the pride of the devil.

He ordered the sea to be still, meaning that by rising again, He subdued the rage of the Jews. The disciples are blamed because after His resurrection, He rebuked them for their unbelief. We also, when marked with the sign of the Lord's cross, determine to leave the world and embark in the ship with Christ. We attempt to cross the sea, but as we sail amid the roaring waters, He falls asleep. This happens when, amid our struggles for virtue or the attacks of evil spirits, wicked men, or our own thoughts, the flame of our love grows cold.

In storms like these, let us diligently strive to awaken Him. He will soon restrain the tempest, pour out peace upon us, and bring us to the harbor of salvation.

1. Hom. in Matt. 28
2. Hom. in Matt. 28