Hope for the hopeless
ON THE BRINK
Last of three parts Jacob M. Van Zyl
Jesus planned to send his disciples out to bring hope to the hopeless. To empathize with the hopeless, they first had to feel hopeless themselves.
On a calm, sunny afternoon, they set off by boat to the eastern side of the lake, called the Sea of Galilee. When they were halfway, a severe storm rolled in, sweeping the water up to big waves.
Four of the disciples were fisherman who knew how to handle a boat in bad weather. As the storm intensified, they realized that this was not the usual type encountered on the lake. This was a killer storm.
Some tried to keep the bow to the wind, so they could ride the waves. If those waves would hit them from the side, the boat would capsize. Others tried to bail out water with a bucket and with their cupped hands.
The strong wind lashed their faces and bodies with spray. They became drenched like wet chickens. Despite their frantic activities, their wet clothes in the strong wind made them cold and clumsy.
When another big wave swamped the boat, cancelling their hard work, they were overcome with a helpless feeling. In their hopelessness, they went to Jesus who slept at the stern. A few years later, they would sleep when he was in his Gethsemane storm.
Jesus got up, calmed the wind and waves, and repudiated their lack of faith. It dawned on them that Jesus must be more than human to exercise such authority over the forces of nature.
When they arrived on the eastern shore of the lake the next morning, they met with another kind of storm — the storm created by demons inside a person. The demoniac lived like a wild animal; he broke the chains with which people tried to restrain him. He charged down to Jesus, fell at his feet, and begged for mercy. The man was a hopeless victim of the demons. After Jesus expelled them, the man sat calmly at the feet of his new Master, pleading to be accepted as his disciple.
When the Jesus-group returned to Capernaum, Jesus helped two other hopeless people: a bleeding woman and distressed parents whose only child was dying. The father waited anxiously for Jesus’ return.
On the way to his home, they were delayed by a woman who was bleeding constantly. Doctors could not help her. In desperation, she wanted to touch Jesus, hoping against hope for a miracle.
While Jesus attended to her, the tensed father got the message that his daughter had died. His hopelessness spiked to a point of utter despair. Jesus encouraged him to keep faith. Gently, Jesus brought her back to life with “Talitha koum.”
Jacob Van Zyl of Lethbridge is a retired counsellor and the author of several faith-based books.