NOTES for Mar 4:21-41
Today's reading tells us about Jesus' parables, in which He speaks of the gradual and unnoticed coming of the Kingdom of God, which, at the same time, in the end becomes so noticeable that it is impossible not to pay attention to it. In these parables the image of a sprouting grain constantly appears, an image widely spread in antiquity throughout all the countries of the Near East, from Egypt to Babylonia. The sprouting grain became here a symbol of eternal, constantly renewed life, which stands against death and conquers it. It is not surprising that Jesus uses this image to describe the Kingdom of God, for in the Kingdom of God everyone is given the whole fullness of life that can be imagined, and there is no place for death in it. But it does not come all at once, in such a way that the beginning of its coming is noticeable to everyone. Clearly, in order for the Kingdom of God to be revealed in all its fullness, time is needed, and this is exactly what Jesus speaks about, comparing it to a seed that at first is unnoticeable and then grows into a tree visible to everyone. This same passage mentions Jesus' calming of the storm that arose on Lake Gennesaret while He and the disciples were crossing to the opposite Galilean shore. It should be noted that storms on Lake Gennesaret are not uncommon, especially in winter. Winters in Galilee are warm; even in January the temperature rarely drops below +10, but strong winds blow, and on Lake Gennesaret, with its by no means small size, real storms occur. Fishing boats, even fairly large ones, are still not as large as real seagoing ships, and such storms pose serious danger to them. Fishermen caught by a storm far from shore could be in real danger of death, although the event was not taking place on the sea. Jesus calms one of these storms, saving the lives of His companions.