Mark 4: 35-41
Sometimes a bit of scripture jumps out at me in an odd sort of way and makes me wonder why it has been included in a passage. That happened as I read today’s selection from Mark 4. “On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was” (Mark 4:35-36a). What is the significance, I wonder, of the disciples taking Jesus with them “just as he was”? How else would they have taken him? How else is there to take Jesus?
I was curious so I googled the phrase “just as he was Jesus.” One response popped up that pertained to this passage, a blog post by a pastor named Ron Edmondson. Edmondson writes, “Too many times we try to take Jesus, as we want Jesus to be, not as He intends for us to be. We like Jesus to do things on our terms, not His terms. We try to put our stamp on Jesus rather than allow His stamp on us” (http://www.ronedmondson.com/2009/06/taking-jesus-just-as-he-is.html). That’s a great point. And it led me to consider things a bit further. Personally I have a hard time figuring out who I should be sometimes. I play different roles, put on different guises, assume different personalities almost. Sometimes I am funny when I should be serious. Sometimes I am disengaged when I should be paying attention. Sometimes I lack confidence when what I need to do it to trust God. With Jesus there is none of that. Sure, we can say different things about Jesus: the Son of God, the Word Incarnate, the Alpha and the Omega, the Lamb of God, and so forth. But Jesus is still Jesus, just as he is. I may waver or drift, I may get tossed around by the wind and the waves, I may give into fear and doubt, but Jesus remains steadfast and sure, the calmer of storms, the Lord of all nature.
Jesus is. And there really is no other way to take Jesus.
Prayer: Lord, open us up to your grace and your peace that we may see you as you are and live as you would have us live. Amen.
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