JUST AS HE WAS

I remember years ago seeing this phrase, “just as he was” in reading the Gospel of Mark and I recently saw it again in a short article by Anita Davidson. Mark 4:35-36: “On that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let’s go over to the other side.” After dismissing the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him.” Davidson asks,
“In the preceding verses of the chapter, Jesus was telling one parable after another. Does it mean that he was worn out after teaching all day? Or that he wasn’t dressed for a sail? It’s just such an odd phrase – just as he was.”

I see a lot of humanity and honesty in Mark’s description of the boat ride. I think Jesus was maybe tired, perhaps frustrated, and emotionally spent, needing rest or just some peace and quiet. The very next verse says, “But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.” But Just as He Was… “Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion.” I say he was tired and weary. He was ‘just as he was’ and asleep during a storm.

The hymn, ‘Just As I Am’ is appropriate here to remind us that the Lord receives us ‘Just As I Am’ and never leaves us ‘Just As I Was.’ As in this verse, Jesus has to “rebuke the storm” that is driving us to ruin and sinking our boat. Verse 39 says, “Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm.”
“Peace, be still! Why are you so afraid?” Jesus