When people look at the parallels between Jesus and Jonah focus is usually (rightly) on the sign of Jonah. However I was reading Mark yesterday and read the passage in which Jesus calms the storm (Mark 4:35-41) and my thoughts drifted to the story of Jonah. Jonah is one of my favourite parts of the bible and my thoughts often drift there (I even 'commissioned' my brother to do a print about it once, see picture). Strangely though when looking through my commentaries not all pick up on it and when they do it is only a slight mention which considers the power of God over the weather. However, while Jesus is taking the place of YHWH in this episode I think he is also taking the place of Jonah.
Jesus suggests that they cross the sea of Galilee to go to "the country of the Gerasenes" described by D Bock as "predominantly Gentile, although it had a substantial Jewish population". Although it was unlikely to have been a gentile mission, nevertheless to the Gospel readers that must have come to mind in the light of later events. In contrast Jonah boards a boat to Tarshish to flee the presence of YHWH and the mission he had been given.
Like in Jonah, "a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling." This was no minor squall; as with Jonah the ship was likely going to sink. Obviously though there is no sense that this is God's discipline of Jesus, although in the light of Jesus' later comments it may be discipline of the disciples.
"But [Jesus] was in the stern, asleep on the cushion." just as Jonah had slept in the midst of the storm. "And [the disciples] woke him" as the mariners woke Jesus. The disciples question Jesus, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" There seems no reason to believe that they were calling on Jesus to stop the storm, perhaps they wanted him to help bail out the ship, or like Jonah's shipmates to call on God to still the storm.
"And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, 'Peace! Be still!'" Jesus stops the storm as quickly as YHWH does once Jonah has been thrown overboard. As in all the gospels the the main story is Jesus, who has the same awesome power as YHWH of the OT. The disciples demonstrated they had "no faith" in Jesus to be in control of the weather itself, yet Jesus with a word could rebuke the wind as there was no reason for judgment of the Christ and those with him.
The disciples ask "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" and the answer is provided by the demon (!) a few verses later. Jesus is "Son of the Most High God" but he is also is the man who completed the mission that Israel was too sinful to complete.
Like Jonah he eventually comes to gentile dominated territory. He cleanses the country he finds himself in. The man from the tombs with the "unclean spirit" is healed and the unclean pigs driven into the sea. The Kingdom of God is expanding and driving out the rule of the Devil. Unfortunately unlike the Ninevites the people reject Jesus and drive him back to Galilee. But Jesus does not write off the territory and returns in Mark 7. But I don't know what to make of Jesus' permission to the man to "Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you", which seems to conflict with the theme in Mark of Jesus' refusing to allow people to speak of him. Bock thinks this is because "in a Gentile region there was less chance of misunderstanding". Perhaps it is because Jesus was only visiting and so not risking his life in allowing the news to spread.
Anyway, despite my rambling hopefully we see two things about the identity of Jesus in this passage:
- Jesus as YHWH with power over creation.
- Jesus as Israel should have been, the Kingdom of Priests who bring God's rule and God's message to the world.
