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The Forward Day by Day Meditation for July 21, 2021

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WEDNESDAY, July 21 [Maria Skobtsoba]

Mark 4:38 But [Jesus] was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”

A few centuries before this, another man is in a boat, getting thrashed by the wind and waves of a storm, asleep in the hull of a ship. He, too, is awakened by a frightened crew. This man is Jonah, and his story unfolds very differently than Jesus’.

Jonah is a prophet running away, both from God and the people he is called to save. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is running toward those he is called to save.

For three days, Jonah is in the belly of the great fish. For three days, Jesus is in the belly of the earth. Jonah is spit onto land and begrudgingly obeys God. Jesus rises victoriously and willfully obeys God to redeem the world.

“Something greater than Jonah is here,” says Jesus in Matthew 12:41. Something greater, indeed.

Even the wind and the waves obey him.

MOVING FORWARD: Read the book of Jonah. It’s short, with only four chapters. What are the similarities and differences between Jonah’s and Jesus’ stories?

PRAY for the Diocese of Duk (South Sudan)

Ps 119:49-72 * 49, [53] | 1 Samuel 25:23-44 | Acts 14:19-28 | Mark 4:35-41