Storm
| That day when evening came, He said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." Leaving the crowd behind, they took Him along, just as He was, in the boat. There were also other boats with Him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to Him, "Teacher, don't You care if we drown?" He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to His disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey Him!" (Mark4:35-41) |
It's a magnificent depiction of the drama of the moment and a study in Rembrandt's use of colour and light. But it's Rembrandt's ability to convey emotion and character that grabs me...
Working from the front of the boat to the back, let's look at that characters we find in any storm.
In the front is the man with a plan - he's going to do whatever he can to rescue the situation. He is optimistic and his example inspires others to help. But sometimes the storm is just too big.
Then there's the three around the mast. They're following the other guy's lead, but there's a desperation about them - They're not far from giving up. I think the guy clinging to the rope looking out at the waves is the lookout - warning when they should brace.
Then there's the guy just staring into the hold. He seems to have given up - His back is to Jesus. The man in shadows at the back seems lost in fear. He seems to have disconnected completely. There's a poor guy getting sick over the edge - sometimes trouble just makes us sick to the stomach. There's the guy kneeling in prayer before Jesus and although this looks pious, Rembrandt has him in shadow - maybe this is more fear than faith. There are two angry disciples "Don't you care if we drown?" And then there's the guy at the tiller. He's strangely calm. His hands are big and firm on the tiller, his head cocked in expectation - it's as though he has one eye on the storm and one eye on Jesus.
Look at the man who's holding his head and looking back to land (or directly at the viewer) - he's the 13th "disciple" in the boat and many believe it's Rembrandt depicting himself and inviting us to put ourselves in the picture.
The first bottom line: We all react to differently to a crisis. But Jesus is in the boat with us, whether we recognise it or not.
The second bottom line is Jesus. There's a light emanating from Him. His face shows both surprise and compassion as He looks directly at the men remonstrating with Him. He was asleep, but woke when they needed Him and then He calmed the storm with a word.
We are at Wednesday in Holy Week. There is no activity recorded in any of the gospels for Holy Week Wednesday. Jesus rested. He rested because on Thursday He would become the Passover Lamb and on Friday He would lay down His life in the storm of our sin and brokenness and then He'd wake again on Sunday morning to show us that the storm is over.
