Jesus Stills The Storm (Mark 4:35–41) -- By: Wayne Slusser

Journal: Journal of Ministry and Theology
Volume: JMAT 22:2 (Fall 2018)
Article: Jesus Stills The Storm (Mark 4:35–41)
Author: Wayne Slusser


Jesus Stills The Storm (Mark 4:35–41)

Wayne Slusser1

My remembrance of Dr. Bill Arp: It was an honor and a privilege to be a doctoral student of Dr. Arp. His passion and care for the text, along with expressions of uncanny humor, were exhibited to his students both inside and outside the classroom. As a doctoral student who was taking courses at BBS and away from my family, I found myself on numerous occasions invited either to his house for dinner or to the Waverly deli for lunch. It is at these moments I realized that he didn’t just teach his students God’s word; he also lived it in front of us (Titus 2:1).

Although I cannot possibly alliterate quite as well as he could, I will nonetheless express my gratitude through three powerful take-aways. First, I learned to have a greater appreciation for the text itself. It is literally the creative breath of God (2 Tim 3:16). Second, I learned to expound with an exegetical passion, always looking to discover the author’s intended meaning within its given context. His simple, yet profound statement comes to mind, “What does the text say?” Third, I learned that the goal of the interpretation, or meaning of any text, was its significance to me and others. The study of the text should ultimately be for the church and her growth. He would help his students balance their academic pursuits with a reminder, “Keep your people in mind.”

It is with great respect and admiration for Dr. Arp that I pen this article. Two courses come to mind, NT-8 (Seminar in Gospel Studies) and NT-1 (Seminar in NT Hermeneutics and Exegetical Method), courses that generated a love for discourse analysis and the Gospel of Mark. These subjects eventually were woven together to serve as my dissertation. The article below is an example of discourse analysis applied to a miracle episode within the Gospel of Mark.

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The Gospel of Mark seems to be the “go-to Gospel” when one discusses a passage within the synoptic Gospels.2 Although this is often the case, the decision made to choose Mark 4:35–41 for this article is due to its theological significance within the narrative of Mark, not due to Mark’s position as source.3 For no other reason, this miracle episode presents an example of Jesus’ authority, a theme Mark intends to communicate by answering the question, “Who is he?” Hooker claims t...

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