Ever had one of those days that starts out so good you think nothing could ruin it, and then everything falls apart at once? That's exactly what happens to the disciples in Mark 4 and 5. They spend a beautiful afternoon on the shore of Galilee soaking up teaching from Jesus, and then, exhausted, He says, "Let's go to the other side." What follows is a storm, a demoniac, a bleeding woman, and a dead girl — all in one night. It's a wild ride, but underneath it all is one question the disciples actually say out loud, and it's a question you and I have asked in the quiet, dark corners of our own minds: does God even care?
Teacher, Don't You Care?
Jesus is so genuinely human, so truly worn out from a day of teaching and discipling, that He falls asleep in the stern of the boat during a storm that has grown men — professional fishermen — terrified for their lives. Mark tells us the waves were breaking into the boat so that it was already filling up. This wasn't a light mist in the face. They were going down.
So what do the disciples do? They don't wake Him with faith. They wake Him with an accusation:
"Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" (Mark 4:38)
Notice they didn't doubt His ability. They doubted His compassion. That's usually how it goes with us too, isn't it? We rarely say, "God, I don't think You can fix this." We say, "God, I don't think You care that this is happening to me." Life has a way of making itself look bigger than the Lord, even after we've seen Him move before.
Peace, Be Still
Here's the difference between us and Jesus in the storm: He's with us, but He is nothing like us. He's present, but He's at peace. He's in it, but He has power over all of it.
"Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, 'Peace, be still!' And the wind ceased and there was a great calm." (Mark 4:39)
The word picture here is that Jesus muzzles the storm the way you'd muzzle a rabid dog. It doesn't gradually die down like waves settling in a swimming pool. It's roaring one second, and dead calm the next. Instant. Total. That's not a nice metaphor for feeling better — that's the Creator of heaven and earth speaking to His own creation and it obeying instantly.
Then He turns to the men and asks, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?" (Mark 4:40). Not because they doubted His power, but because they'd already seen enough of Him to know better than to accuse Him of not caring. Maybe you have too. Maybe you've watched God move in your life before, and yet the next storm still has you whispering, "Lord, do You even see this?" He does. And He cares more than you know.
No One Is Too Far Gone
The disciples probably figured they'd get a break on the other side. Instead, they step out of the boat straight into a man possessed by a legion of demons — at minimum two thousand of them, based on what happens later to the pigs. This man couldn't be held by chains. He lived among the tombs, cutting himself, howling day and night. Every attempt the town made to bind him and manage him had failed.
And Jesus doesn't flinch. He walks right up to a man who is aggressive, desperate, and terrifying, and asks him a simple, human question: "What is your name?" (Mark 5:9). Not "what have you done" or "how did you get here," just — what's your name. Jesus looks past the chaos to the person underneath it.
After the demons are cast out and the pigs run into the sea, the town comes out and finds this same man "sitting and clothed and in his right mind" (Mark 5:15). That's one of the most beautiful pictures in all of Scripture. If a man possessed by a legion of demons can run and fall at the feet of Jesus and be made whole, church, no one is too far gone. Not your prodigal kid. Not your marriage. Not that addiction you've hidden for years. Not you.
But here's the sobering part. The town, having seen this miracle with their own eyes, asks Jesus to leave. They don't deny His power. They just don't want it disrupting the comfortable life they already had. That's a warning worth sitting with — it's entirely possible to believe Jesus is real and powerful and still want Him kept at arm's length so He doesn't rearrange your life.
Faith That Reaches Out
Jesus sails back across and is immediately met by Jairus, a synagogue ruler, begging Him to come heal his dying daughter. On the way, pressed in by a crushing crowd, a woman who had suffered constant bleeding for twelve years — broke, exhausted, and cut off from her community — reaches out and grabs His garment. Not a timid brush. Mark's language says she grabbed hold.
"Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction." (Mark 5:34)
There was a whole crowd pressing against Jesus that day, but only one woman actually touched Him in faith. That's worth sitting with. You can be surrounded by church, worship, Bibles, and community, and still just be part of the crowd instead of reaching out and taking hold of Jesus yourself. Doing Christianity is not the same as pursuing Christ.
While Jesus is still speaking to her, word comes that Jairus's daughter has died. "Why trouble the Teacher any further?" they ask. But Jesus cuts right through it: "Do not be afraid; only believe" (Mark 5:36). He goes into that house, takes the girl by the hand, and she stands up alive. A rabbi touching a dead body should have made Him unclean. Instead, life flowed the other direction — because you cannot defile a holy God. He doesn't get contaminated by death; He conquers it.
So, Does He Care?
Look at the whole night together: a raging storm calmed with a word, a man chained by demons set free and given his mind back, a woman suffering for twelve years healed by a single desperate touch, and a little girl raised from the dead. That is not a distant, disinterested God. That is a Savior who is with you in every storm, but never overwhelmed like you are.
Maybe today the storm in your life isn't misting your face — it's filling the boat. Maybe you feel chained to something you can't break free from. Maybe you've been bleeding out for years, trying every remedy, and nothing's worked. Jesus isn't asking you to have it all figured out. He's asking you to do what the woman did — reach out and take hold of Him — and what Jairus did — keep walking toward Him even when the news gets worse before it gets better.
Do not be afraid. Only believe. With Christ in the vessel, you can smile at the storm — not because the storm isn't real, but because He is more real, and He has already proven, in the wind and the waves and the tombs and the sickbed, that He cares.
This article is drawn from the message "Mark 4:35 – Mark 5: Does God Care" by Pastor David Ax, part of our ongoing series through the Gospel of Mark. Watch the full message on our YouTube channel.
