As we move through Lent, toward the cross and the resurrection, we observe yet another attempt on Jesus’ life. If it’s not the religious leaders as we saw last Sunday, it’s Satan himself:

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. (Mark 4.35 – 5.2, ESV)

The text doesn’t mention Satan explicitly, but it’s reasonable to attribute the storm to him, apparently to prevent Jesus from confronting the demons in Mark 5.

And, of course, it’s a teaching opportunity for the fledging disciples: “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” My friend and Navigator mentor Skip Gray used to say, “Jesus said, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ He didn’t say, ‘Let us go to the middle of the lake and drown.'”

This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. (Ephesians 6.12, MSG)