12th Sunday of Ordinary Time, June 21, 2015

(Job 38:1,8-11; 2 Corinthians 5:14-17 ; Mark 4:35-41)

Job is the story of everyone who sets out to learn the meaning of
life; in his case, of why an innocent person suffers. Job had been the
wealthiest man in his land and was blessed with a wife and children
and property. All of his wealth and his wife and children are destroyed.
Job is then stricken with a horrible disease and is left to bemoan his
fate.
Three friends come to argue with Job that he must have done
something terribly sinful to be afflicted with such suffering. The
friends believe that God is the cause of everything that happens, so if
its bad, it must be because of sin. They refuse to believe that God
would inflict such suffering without some reason. Job protests
throughout that he is innocent of any sin. He curses the day of his
birth, but never denies his faith in God.
Finally God responds to Job out of the whirlwind (or storm),
using the force of nature to emphasize the point. The Lord asks Job
Who shut within doors the sea? The question is asked to indicate
to Job that neither he nor his friends were there at the creation so they
could not possibly know the mind of the Lord. This may be also a
potshot at those who worshipped the sea as a god. Many in the
ancient near East did, and this makes plain the biblical claim that
Israels God was far more powerful than any other gods of the
Gentiles. The bottom line is that we get nowhere if we ask God for
explanations of why things happen as they do. The book of Job
suggests that we could not understand the answer anyway.
The Gospel involves Jesus and a storm on the Sea of Galilee,
actually an inland lake of fresh water. It is about 12 miles long and at
its widest point is about 8 miles. In most places one can see across it
with the naked eye. It is subject to occasionally violent storms.
Recalling that the disciples were experienced fishermen begs the
question either of their ability as fishermen or the intensity of the

storm. The further detail of Jesus asleep in the stern suggests either
that he was an incredibly deep sleeper or that something else motivates
the story-teller (Mark).
A violent squall blew up, breaking over the boat. They woke
Jesus using the same Greek verb which means to raise up or rise in
other contexts, including passages related to Jesus rising from the
dead. No doubt, Mark intended the pun here. This is doubly so, since
the disciples are afraid of perishing.
Some commentators will look to Psalm 106:9 or 89:9 or to the
Book of Jonah for a backdrop, but that is more coincidence than
intention on Marks part. Language alone shows Markan construction.
The sleeping Jesus uses another word which the early church chose to
describe death, i.e. falling asleep. That same word for sleeping will be
used in Mark 5:39 to describe the little girls condition (Shes not
dead, but asleep). We have here subtle but certain reminders that the
dead will be raised. It was a concept too hard for the disciples to grasp
(Do you not yet have faith?). Jesus power over the storm uses a form
of the same word used in Mark 1:25 (literally, Be muzzled) to quiet
the demoniac.
The one whom even wind and sea obey is the same one who
silences those possessed by demons and the same one who will rise
from the dead. The demoniac recognized him as the Holy One of
God. The disciples simply do not get it. They can only question
Who is this?
Fr. Lawrence Hummer hummerl@stmarychillicothe.com