Usually it is when a
loved one dies that I feel the storms of life bearing down upon me. Sometimes,
though, I feel those storms when someone ascribes motives to me that I did not
have or when someone misunderstands my words. “That’s not what I meant at all,
not at all!” At other times, those unhappy winds blow when I have trouble
forgiving myself. It always gets stormy when you realize you cannot go back and
undo what has been done. With the guidance of Christian writer Timothy Keller, I
took a look at some literal storms in scripture and discovered some metaphorical
things.
Jonah knew he was the
cause of the great storm at sea as he napped below deck. You can run from God
but you can’t hide. I suppose we can assume that he was self-sacrificial when
he told his shipmates to quell the storm by throwing him overboard, but we can
also read it as a death wish. At any rate, when the sailors threw Jonah into
the moiling deep, the waters suddenly settled down and they were then scared
sure enough: killing a prophet of a God that powerful was dangerous stuff. What would the consequences be?
There is a parallel to that
Old Testament story in Mark. Jesus was dosing in his companions’ boat in a wild
windstorm. The frantic disciples got him up saying, “Don’t you care if we
perish?” Questioning their faith, Jesus simply rebuked the wind and everything
suddenly settled down. Then the disciples were scared sure enough: what kind of
man is this that can command the wind and the waves? They thought he had gone
to sleep on them in the hour of their great need when it is they who, a little
later, went to sleep in the garden during the hour of his great need.
Both of those stories
give me a bit of comfort as I look back at the storms of my life. They pale by
comparison to the great one at the cross. I have tried to run away from God a
time or two in my life. He never sent a big fish to the rescue, but he did find
ways to get me where he wanted me. It reminds me of a conversation between
Hamlet and Horatio. The former said something like this: Horatio, there is a
plan for our life, rough hew it how we will; to which his companion replies,
something like, Hamlet, you got that right! There are many detours but one
destination.
I do not know whether
or not the Gospel writer had Jonah in mind when presenting the story of Jesus
calming the storm. He does use similar language. I do know that many figures in
the Old Testament prefigure, represent, or typify Christ. Jonah was thrown into
the storm and “resurrected” out of the big fish just where God wanted him to
preach repentance. Jesus was thrown into the storm and resurrected so that all
who turn to him in repentance can be counted as children of the Most High.
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