Mark 4:36

Have you ever discovered some new insight or detail in a passage of scripture that you have read multiple times in the past? There is a little detail that is revealed here in Mark’s account of Jesus calming the storm that is not detailed in the other two gospel accounts of this story. Verses 35 through 41 of Mark 4 tell the familiar story of Jesus and His disciples caught in a boat during a severe windstorm. Jesus slept peacefully while the disciples fretted as the boat took on water. They woke Jesus, Who with a few words, immediately calmed the storm, demonstrating His divinity.

The detail that I had not noticed before was that other little boats were also with Jesus. I am not entirely sure why God only recorded this particular detail in Mark, but it is an interesting one when you ponder it. For one thing, this detail reveals to us the fact that the disciples were not the only witnesses to this fantastic miracle. The riders on the other boats most certainly would have experienced the same terror as the disciples, and therefore the same relief when calmness fell on the sea as Jesus commanded, “Peace be still.” These additional eyewitnesses would be able to later corroborate and confirm Mark’s gospel account to doubters, detractors, and naysayers.

By the Holy Spirit, God’s Word speaks to us, and He may want to teach us something new in passages that we have read before. We must habitually be in the Word of God in order to create the opportunities for God to teach us something new or give us new insights, and we need to read with a prayerful expectation that He will reveal His truths to our heart. If we read without focus and intensity, we are going to miss what He wants to teach us. Lord, by your Spirit, draw us into your Word daily, and give us hungry hearts looking to be fed with your truth.

Jeff Mericle