gest to the mind o f the child of God in the midst of trial. Unbelief cried out, “Master, carest thou not that we perish ?” What a question to be asked by those who had wit nessed His miracle-working pow er on behalf of smitten humanity, so much that “his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee” (Mark 1: 28). What a question to ask of the One who came to save, to give His life a ransom for sinners! “Master, carest thou not?” Oh, yes, He cares, even to the full ex tent of Calvary. The Sovereign Saviour speaks of the majesty of deity in our Lord, as He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, “ Peace, be still” ; “be silent, be muzzled.” No other could deal with such a storm, when Satan was the cause of it. Our Lord can, and did. The Stillness is the grand as surance that the cry of the sup pliant reached the heart of our Lord: “And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm” (Mark 4:39). What an interpretation is this o f our Saviour, as the peace in His own heart was symbolized in the calm that prevailed at His word, where the storm had so re cently threatened to overwhelm all in its fury! It is a picture of a heart at rest, when the sinner’s sins are forgiven, and he has “ peace with God,” and enjoys “ the peace o f God, which passeth all understanding.” It is a picture too, following Satan’s final over throw, when the peace of God shall prevail as “ the kingdoms of this world are become the king doms o f our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever” (Rev. 11:15). In this strange and remarkable setting, the divine purpose was to present the person o f our Lord in the matchless dignity of His deity, not only in defeating Satan, but also in awakening in His dis ciples the faith and wonder .ex pressed in the exclamation and question, “What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” HD
as it appears in the Greek text, in order to apprehend the divine purpose as revealing our Lord’s conquest over Satan. For “ Peace, be still,” the Greek reads, Siopa pephimoso. Siopa is derived from siopao, meaning “ to be silent,” “keep silence,” and being in the imperative, it becomes a com mand, “be silent!” The noun phimos means “ a muzzle,” which is used in connection with the muzzling of the ox, as in I Corin thians 9:9. From this comes the verb, phimoo, meaning “ to muzzle, to put to silence” ; or, as Thayer gives it, “ to close the mouth with a muzzle.” Hence, the word in our text, pephimoso, being a impera tive passive, is a command, “be muzzled, be speechless!” Here is seen that authority of our Lord, expressed in the Gospel accord ing to Mark (1 :2 7 ): “And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among them selves, saying, What th ing is this? . . . for with authority com- mandeth he even the unclean spir its, and they obey him.” Accord ingly, the words, “ Peace, be still,” were the command of our Lord to the Evil One who caused the tempest, and might well read, “ Be silent! Be muzzled!” What a picture is here! We see our Lord facing the powers of hell, and commanding them to si lence. What encouragement is this to the child o f God, as we see our Lord, in the stilling of the temp est, muzzling the great enemy of our souls, who, as a roaring lion, goeth about, seeking whom he may devour. This graphic ac count of the storm and our Sav iour has a deep message for our hearts. The Storm speaks of the sudden squall which may burst over the calm bosom of our lives, even as the sudden gusts of wind swept down the mountains on to the calm waters o f the blue Galilee. From heights of 2,000 feet above the lake, the winds roared down the ravines and gorges, increas ing in velocity, until they con verged upon the calm waters in a violent storm. What a picture of
life this presents! Just as sud denly, the calm of our souls can become so agitated that it seems as though all hell were let loose upon us. The fact that we are in the will of God does not spare us from such testings, for these dis ciples were storm-tossed while in the will of God. It was the Lord Jesus Himself who started them out on that journey across the lake, for “ he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side” (Mark 4:35). Obedience does not exclude trial. The Sleeper speaks of One whose heart was at rest, even in the storm. Can Jesus be safe, and not His disciples? Yes, the disci ples were just as safe as their Lord. With Christ our Lord on board, we may always know that we are just as safe and secure as He. Christ on the pages of the New Testament is as powerless in your life as Christ in a painting; but Christ in the heart stills the storm. John Newton expressed this thought: With Christ in the vessel, I smile at the storm. What a place to sleep! It speaks o f the triumph of trust in trial. “O Blessed Life! the heart at rest, When all without tumultuous seems, That trusts a higher will, and deems That higher will, not mine, the best." The Sleepless speak o f those who are so fearful, and very much afraid, in the midst o f life’s test ings. These disciples were more occupied with the storm and their fears than with the Saviour. They were more conscious o f the near ness o f the storm than the pres ence o f their Lord, who ever breathes His word of assurance, “Because I live, ye shall live also” (John 14:19). This should cre ate the confidence in our hearts that no ship can sink, nor disci ples perish, with Christ on board. The Shuddering Suppliants speak of the mistaken conception of our Lord which Satan can sug
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JULY, 1968
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