I came across this passage from Mark 4:35-41, and it struck me, we need to fear the power of Jesus.
35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
The word REBUKE is the same in Greek as it is in English, it means you put somebody, or something that you have authority over, underneath you. You rebuke an employee. You rebuke your dog after it has gotten into the trash. You rebuke your child, “you will not talk back to your mom”.
Jesus stands up and He rebukes the weather like it is no big deal. “Be still” in Greek basically means, “Be quiet and stay quiet”. Basically, he put the storm in timeout. That’s a great power to be feared! He calmed the storm in seconds. The disciples went from fearing for their life, to a storm being calmed immediately!
What’s interesting about this, is that in the midst of the storm, they had fear. When Jesus said, “Why are you so afraid?” They had GREATER fear. Why? Seeing Jesus power in action was more fear provoking than the storm itself.
Is there really power in the name of Jesus? The wind and sea obey Him. I’d say so!