Mark 4:38-40 (NKJV) But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” 39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. 40 But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”
Sometimes we tend to be passive or excuse ourselves from all responsibility including stepping out in faith when we are faced with a tribulation. In fact, we might even get bitter against God if we are not careful with our thought life when we are not properly taught and can differentiate the work of the devil and God.
In the case of the disciples, they questioned God “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” when they were faced with the storm. You could almost hear the attitude of the disciples when they found Jesus asleep in the stern of the boat with the comfort of a pillow while they were panicking. Maybe, the exclamation of the disciples is exactly what we are thinking and meditating in our heart regarding why God is not responding to the challenges that we are facing! God! Don’t you care about ME when you are clearly able to see that I am going through a very difficult period! Where are you?!
There are two possible reactions from these twelve men which will be either fear of perishing or faith in God. Isn’t that what Jesus asked of them? “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”
1 John 4:18 (NKJV) There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
Fear was tormenting them. They started to doubt the love of Jesus for them.
Fear is tormenting because it grips us mentally, emotionally, and at times physically depending on how we have allowed it to immobilize us with the unknown. The fear of the different scenarios, outcomes, and consequences of what we are facing in life at that moment. The fear of death overcame the disciples and caused them to question Jesus. The disciples were human and had just been taught the word of God. In fact, they didn’t have the full counsel of the word of God yet. We have the full counsel of the word of God. The Bible. We are in a much better position than the disciples because we have the 66 books of the Bible in our hand to develop our faith in God. It should help us to react and deal with hardship, tribulation, and adversity better. This is what Jesus expects of us since we are listening to the word, meditating on the word, and have the full counsel of the word to help us to know Him better. Hence we should not let fear overcome us when we face trials and tribulations but rather focus on the word of God to get us through our challenges.
Sermon Series: Teacher, Do You Not Care that We Are Perishing?
人的反应
马可福音 4:38-40 38耶稣在船尾上，枕着枕头睡觉。门徒叫醒了他，说：“夫子！我们丧命，你不顾吗？” 39耶稣醒了，斥责风，向海说：“住了吧！静了吧！” 风就止住，大大地平静了。40耶稣对他们说：“为什么胆怯？你们还没有信心吗？”41他们就大大地惧怕，彼此说：“这到底是谁，连风和海也听从他了。
有时我们倾向于被动地，或者以借口逃避所有的责任，包括当我们面对苦难时拒绝凭着信心踏出去。事实上，当我们没有得到正确的教导，不能区分魔鬼和神的作为时，我们若不谨慎地对待我们的思想生命，我们甚至可能会怨恨神。
就门徒而言，当他们面对风暴时，他们质问神：“夫子！我们丧命，你不顾吗？” 当他们发现耶稣在船尾上，枕着枕头舒服地睡觉，而他们却惊慌失措，你几乎可以从中听到门徒的怨怼。也许，门徒们的感叹正是我们心中所思所想的，为什么神不回应我们所面临的挑战呢！你明明看到我正焦头烂额吗，难道你不顾我吗！ 你在哪里？！
这十二个门徒有两种可能的反应，一是害怕丧命，一是相信神。这不正是耶稣对他们的要求吗？“为什么胆怯？你们还没有信心吗？”
约翰一书 4:18爱里没有惧怕；爱既完全，就把惧怕除去。因为惧怕里含着刑罚，惧怕的人在爱里未得完全。
惧怕在折磨着他们。他们开始怀疑耶稣对他们的爱。
惧怕之所以令人痛苦，是因为它在心理、情感、有时在身体上紧紧地抓住我们，这取决于我们如何允许它在未知面前束缚住我们。对我们在生活中所面临的不同情景、结果和后果的恐惧。当然，每个人最终的挣扎都将是在临终前。对死亡的恐惧战胜了门徒，使他们质问耶稣。“夫子，我们丧命，你不顾吗?” 门徒们是人，刚刚被教导神的话。事实上，当时的他们尚未拥有神全部的话语。我们有神全部的话语–圣经。我们的处境比门徒要好得多，因为我们手中有圣经的66卷书，可以建立我们对神的信心。它应该帮助我们能更好地应对和处理困难、患难和逆境。真的，这是耶稣对我们的期望，因为我们在听道，默想道，并有神话语全部的训言来帮助我们更好地认识祂。因此，在面对困境和患难时我们不应该让恐惧吞噬我们，而是定睛在神的话语上以帮助自己渡过难关。
讲章系列：夫子，我们丧命你不顾吗？