THE HOLINESS OF CHRIST

MARK 4:35–41

They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

(Mark 4:41).

What was it about Jesus Christ that so enraged the people of His day that they clamored for His death? I think we can see what it was from a story in Mark 4. Jesus had finished preaching, and He and His disciples got into a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee. A furious storm arose, and the disciples, who were seasoned fishermen and had been in these waters thousands of times, were overcome with fear at its magnitude.

The power of God

Jesus was asleep in the back of the boat, and the disciples shook Him awake, saying “Master, do something, or we perish!” What did He do? He looked around, assessed the situation, and then the Lord God incarnate, Creator of heaven and earth, issued a verbal command to the sea and the wind in a loud voice, “Peace, be still!” And instantly the cosmos obeyed.

Now, what was the response of the disciples when Jesus removed this imminent threat of nature? Were they jubilant? No, the text tells us that they became very much afraid. Rather than having their fears allayed, the disciples found their fears intensified. There is something that we fear in our hearts more than any of the forces of nature, and that something is the power and the presence of the holiness of God.

The holiness of Christ

Recall our discussion yesterday about xenophobia, the fear of what is different. The disciples experienced it on this occasion. “What manner of man is this?” they asked. They were encountering a kind of humanity with which they were utterly unfamiliar. They were encountering holiness.

Yet this holy God did not reject them. Rather, He accepted them and said, “Come unto Me.” The Christian knows that the one place we can be comfortable is in the presence of Christ. Even though we have an innate antipathy and fear of the Holy One, and even though we recognize that we are unholy, yet in Christ we are welcome.

CORAM DEO

The Christian’s prayer before the holiness of Christ is surely found in Psalm 139:23–24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Make that your prayer today.

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