Mark 4:40 Why are you timid?

Mark 4:40  And He [Jesus] said to them: Why are you timid? Don’t you have faith yet?

The idea of timidity is not a common theme in the Bible, but it is certainly one of the more important ones.

Most English Bibles translate that word in this verse as ‘afraid,’ why are you afraid; and when they do that, I think they are missing something really big. 

This is a question that Jesus asked His disciples: why are you timid?  And the question is emphatic, why TIMID are you?  The Greek often uses word order to emphasize the words.  Or why are you TIMID?  Like that’s the last thing you should be.

Well, they were in a boat during a very severe storm, and the boat was filling up with water and in danger of sinking.  They had no life preservers, and it’s hard to swim to shore when the sea is absolutely wild. 

OK, but why are you timid? 

One of the most basic themes in the Bible is that of the Promised Land.  God delivers His people out of bondage in Egypt and brings them to a Promised Land, flowing with milk and honey.

The land is a picture of life in the Kingdom of God, our lives, today. 

The surprising thing about the whole matter was that the land was already occupied.  And by giants.  The land had to be conquered.  And over and over, the people were told that they had to be strong and courageous.  And they were not to be afraid or TIMID.  God had so much that He wanted to give them, but they had to believe that God was going to do that, in spite of circumstances that said that that was not going to happen.

It takes courage to be a good Christian.  Because it takes courage to believe in God’s goodness and His promises in the face of circumstances that seemingly deny it. 

Consider some of the things told to God’s people just before they were about to enter this Promised Land.

Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble [do not fear nor be timid or tremble] at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”
Deuteronomy 31:8 “The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed [timid].”
Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble [be timid] or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

[The Greek word for ‘timid’ in Jesus’ question is δειλός day - los´.  What we have done here is to trace its use in the Greek Old Testament, which was the Bible commonly in use by the early Christians.]

I have no doubt that, when Jesus asked His disciples in that boat during that storm why they were timid, He had these passages in mind, and the disciples would have caught the reference.  If I caught the reference, they would have caught it.

 

Before Jesus had asked them that question, He was sleeping.  When they had wakened Him, that was when He asked them why they were timid.  Meaning, if they had not been timid, He would not have expected them to waken Him.  If they had had faith, they would have let Him sleep. 

A storm is obviously not something that mere mortals normally control, so having faith here or not being timid in the midst of the storm suggests that when things happen to God’s people far above what we are capable of managing, that we should be able to rest in God’s care and protection to keep us safe through it and bring us out the other end all in one piece.

Yes, the common reaction is to go crazy in fear and panic that we are about to die tragically, but it seems quite clear to me here that God wants His people to rise about common mortal fears and believe in a God who is bigger than all this, who cares for His people, and who will deliver them from all their fears.  (Psalm 34:4)

 

 

 

 

Deuteronomy 1:21 ‘See, the Lord your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. Do not fear or be dismayed [timid].’
Deuteronomy 20:8 “Then the officers shall speak further to the people and say, ‘Who is the man that is afraid and fainthearted (LXX timid in heart)? Let him depart and return to his house, so that he might not make his brothers’ hearts melt like his heart.’
Joshua 8:1 Now the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear or be dismayed [timid]. Take all the people of war with you and arise, go up to Ai; see, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land.
Joshua 10:25 Joshua then said to them, “Do not fear or be dismayed [timid]! Be strong and courageous,

Judges 7:3 “Now therefore come, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is afraid and trembling [timid], let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.’ ” So 22,000 people returned, but 10,000 remained.

Psalm 27:1 A Psalm of David. The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense (or, refuge) of my life; Whom shall I dread [be cowardly of, fearful of, timid before]?
Psalm 78:53 He led them safely, so that they did not fear [were not timid]; but the sea engulfed their enemies.
Sirach 2:12   Woe to timid hearts and to slack hands, and to the sinner who walks along two ways! 

Sirach 34:14 He that feareth the Lord is afraid of nothing, and doth not lose courage [is not timid]—for He is his hope.

Matthew 8:26 He said to them, “Why are you afraid [timid], you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. 

Mark 4:40 And He said to them, “Why are you afraid [timid]? How is it that you have no faith?” (Lit. Don’t you have faith yet?)

John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful [timid].       

II Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.  

Revelation 21:8 “But for the cowardly [timid] and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”