Religion & Spirituality
Today we begin the last section of the first half of Mark's Gospel. You will remember that when we began these studies we divided this gospel into two major divisions: The Servant Who Rules, and the Ruler Who Serves. The theme of this last section of the first division is given to us in the words of the disciples when Jesus stilled the storm on the Sea of Galilee. As he rose from sleep and commanded the wind and waves to cease, and the storm subsided and there came a great calm, the disciples in amazement said to themselves, "Who this is this?" A little later when Jesus went to Nazareth, his hometown, and was with the people among whom he had grown up and whom he had served as a carpenter until he was thirty years of age, when they heard his words they said something similar: "Where did he get all this?" It is striking that the unbelieving citizens of Nazareth, and these believing disciples who had accompanied Jesus now for almost a year of ministry, asked the same question about him: "Who is this?"