Who IS this Man? (or, “The
Lord of the Storm”)
Mark 4:35-41
Introduction: We are still in hurricane
season in the Atlantic, with another storm forming even now. Hurricane Ian that
hit Florida a couple of weeks back made me think of a story reported when another
storm hit the state 30 years ago. It was…
…August 24th, 1992.
That was when Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida. …when that great storm began
to bear down on the cities and towns in its path; and the winds were whipping
through the streets, and the trees were snapping, and the lights went out, and
people huddled together in any place that appeared safe. After the storm had
moved up the coast they interviewed a man who slept through the whole thing.
The well-rested man said that when he woke up the worst of it was over. His
wife greeted her husband a little sarcastically and it reminded me of Alice
Cramdon talking to Ralph on the Honeymooners, “Well, Bob you just slept through
the greatest natural disaster to ever hit North America.” And do you know what
his reply was? He said, “Well, ‘Shirley girl’, a good conscience makes for a
good night’s sleep.”
We see the
psalmist talking about a good night’s sleep in Psalm 3 and 4, but it seems that
the basis is trust in God not necessarily a good conscience (Ps 3:5; 4:8). “I
lay down and sleep, I awake, because the Lord sustains me!” Sometimes,
when we look at the world, we can lose sleep. Mark was writing to
Christians in Rome who were in a storm, they were suffering under persecution. As He wrote his gospel,
he included this story about Jesus getting in a boat with His disciples, and then
teaching them a lesson about faith in the midst of the storm. John Newton
wrote, “Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears relieved…”
When we look at the world around us, when we see the violence and the hatred, human
against human, we can ask with the psalmist, “How long o Lord?” Or even
ask as the disciples did in the storm, “Lord, are you sleeping? Don’t you
care if we perish?” Of course, we know better, we would never
say such a thing, right?
At least four of the disciples were fishermen, certainly they knew the lake and
had seen many storms. But remember, it was night, no GPS, no communications in
the event of an emergency, they couldn’t call the Coast Guard, they had limited
light… And then what must have seemed like the perfect storm hit… Some of you may
have been out in rough water… Not me… I got to feeling seasick just riding a
ferry from Nova Scotia to Prince Edward Island in windy conditions! In the
storm, remember who is in the boat.
The BIG
Idea: Storms will
come in life, but don’t panic or despair. Remember who Jesus is and trust Him. Our
King is Lord of all!
I. Count
the cost of discipleship: Following Him may mean stormy times (35,36): What does it mean
to follow Him? Jesus told the disciples to sail across the lake.
They had been obedient to Him, they did exactly what he asked, they were where
He wanted them to be, and they sailed directly into a storm! Storms don’t
necessarily mean we are outside of the will of God. In fact, we may be exactly where
He wants us to be…
35 On that day, when
evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other
side." 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them
in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him…
The scene is clear enough. After a long day of preaching, as evening was
falling, Jesus tells the disciples to take them across the lake. It may be that
Jesus was in the boat from which He had been teaching, as he gave this
instruction to cross over the lake. That may be the intent of the phrase “…just
as He was…” There were other boats as well that went to accompany them on
the short sail across the lake, just a detail that reminds us that this was an
eyewitness account. The disciples were obedient. They were in the boat on
the lake because Jesus had directed them there. Please don’t miss this:
Obedience to God does not guarantee that everything is going to go smoothly in
life. In fact, it may be that we will do exactly what God wants us to do, we
may be where He wants us to be, and still we’ll sail right into some terrifying
storms! Later in this gospel in fact, in what many consider the key
passage in this gospel, Jesus will say,
"If anyone
would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow
me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. 36
For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? (Mark
8:34-36).
Jesus
called them to follow Him, and they came. Now, He directs them to take the boat
across the lake, and they set out to do so. There is no hint of hesitation, no
expression of concern, just obedience. And they encounter a storm. There
is no promise of smooth sailing if we follow Him! Remember what Peter wrote in
his first epistle:
12 Beloved, do not be
surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though
something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice
insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad
when his glory is revealed… (I Peter 4:12,13).
Why should
we be surprised by suffering? Why should the storms we encounter in life catch
us off guard? Remember what Jesus endured, willingly, for us! Obedience to God
doesn’t guarantee a storm-free life. If that is what someone promised you when
they shared Christ, they lied! But we can know this: God understands, and He is
right there with us. Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation.
But be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world!” (Jn 16:33). Storms
don’t mean that we are outside the will of God. The Big Idea: when storms come,
and they will, don’t panic or despair, remember who Jesus is, and trust Him,
our King and Lord of all.
II. Consider
what God may be doing, His Purpose in the Storm: Jesus led them into
the storm. It seems His purpose was to test and grow their faith (37-40).
They asked Jesus, “Don’t you care?” Jesus asks them, “Why were you
afraid? Have you no faith?” The disciples repeatedly show their struggle
with pride, unbelief, and a lack of under-standing. Jesus was in the boat! We may have no control
over that through which we are passing, but He does! He will even
use the storms for our good and for His glory.
37 And a great
windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat
was already filling.
Storms can reveal our need (37). The disciples were comfortable sailing
the Sea of Galilee. Were they too comfortable? We know that at least four of
them, and maybe as many as seven, were experienced fishermen. The topography of
the region around the lake virtually guaranteed that this wasn’t the first time
they had been caught in rough weather on the water. The Sea of Galilee is a freshwater
lake… nearly 700 feet below sea level! Mountains surrounding the region,
including the Golan Heights and Mount Herman, make it very susceptible to
sudden, violent downdrafts. This one hit quickly, and it was bad. Waves were breaking
into the boat, it was in danger of being swamped. Where was Jesus? Their
words almost sound like an accusation…
38 But he was in the
stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, "Teacher,
do you not care that we are perishing?"
Storms can drive us to Jesus, expressing our doubts and fears (38). If
God does not protect us from storms, he will certainly use them to accomplish
His good purpose in us. Paul said in Romans 8:28 that “All things work
together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to
His purpose…” What good can come from trials? Look at Jesus, as He teaches
His disciples…
39 And he awoke and
rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind
ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them,
"Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?"
Storms can grow our faith (39,40). Jesus asked, Why are you fearful and
faithless? As we pass through trials, God can use those things to grow
our faith. James said,
2 Count it all joy,
my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you
know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4
And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and
complete, lacking in nothing… (James 1:2-4).
Count trials
as joy? James said times of testing grow our faith and mature us. Elizabeth
Eliot knew something about storms, about trials in life. She said in the midst
of a time of crisis, “It is in accepting what God
has given that God gives himself.” Or as Chuck Swindoll said, “Nothing
touches us that has not first passed through the hands of our loving heavenly
Father. Nothing.” Peter may have thought back to that stormy evening
in the boat when he wrote,
In this you
rejoice, though now for a little while, as was necessary, you have been grieved
by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith-
more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire- may be found
to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ… (I
Peter 1:6,7).
To God be
the glory! By the
way, the question “…don’t you care that we are perishing?” will be
answered unambiguously as the story unfolds. One writer expressed the depth of
emotion that drives the question…
Their
cry is the ultimate cry of fear, of doubt and abandonment, repeated often in
the stories of God’s people, as for example in the psalms. Where is God in the
midst of my distress? Has God abandoned his people? It is a cry repeated in so
many ways in the midst of the terrors and distresses of our world today. If God
is so great and powerful a creator, if God really cares about this world, then
why do events in the world and in my life go so badly?
Mark’s
readers may have asked that question in the midst of the persecution they were
experiencing. Does Jesus care? In fact, the answer to that question is tied to
another question that Mark has been answering, “Why did He come?” He came
because He does care, He came because He loves us. “For God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should
not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus would later say, “My
sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me, and they shall never perish…”
The same word is used in both those contexts. The disciples asked, “Lord
don’t you care that we are perishing?” He came so that they would not perish!
He came to lay down His life for us, to be our substitute, to shed His blood so
that we could be reconciled to God. Don’t ever doubt that Jesus cares. Storms
will come in life, they may surprise us when they do, but they don’t surprise
the Lord. What might He be teaching us in the storm? Don’t panic and don’t despair, remember who
Jesus is and trust Him, our King is Lord of all!
III. Remember
who Jesus is, Have Confidence in Him: He is God, He is bigger than any storm we
face (41). Storms can deepen our knowledge of and trust in God. Jesus had asked
“Why are you so cowardly? Why do you have such little faith?” Here, the
disciples fear of the storm is replaced by awe – reverence – who is this
man? They were asking, “Who is Jesus?”
41 And they were
filled with great fear and said to one another, "Who then is this, that
even wind and sea obey him?"
Jesus in His humanity was tired, sleeping through the storm as it raged
on the lake. He took on himself a human nature so that He could by His
obedience be our substitute. But He never stopped being God. Fully man, and
fully God. As surely as all things were made by Him and for Him, as He created
the universe by the Word of His power, He spoke, and there was a great calm.
The disciples believed (or at least hoped!) that He was the messiah, but they
still did not understand fully what that meant! They knew the words of the
psalmist in passages like Psalm 89:8-9…
8 O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty as you
are, O Lord, with your
faithfulness all around you? 9 You rule the raging of the sea;
when its waves rise, you still them.
They
knew Psalm 107:23-30, which is almost a poetic description of this event,
showing that God alone controls the sea…
23 Some went down to
the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters; 24 they
saw the deeds of the LORD, his wondrous works in the deep. 25
For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the
sea. 26 They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the
depths; their courage melted away in their evil plight; 27
they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits' end. 28
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their
distress. 29 He made the storm be still, and the waves of
the sea were hushed. 30 Then they were glad that the
waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.
Only God
controls nature… only He could calm the stormy sea! The “Great storm”
(37) was replaced by a “great calm” (39) and as a result “They feared
a great fear…” (41). That is an emphatic way to say that they were
terrified! Even more in the realization of who this one is, who He must be,
than they were of the storm. They had taken him in the boat “just as he
was…” Their understanding however was still limited, incomplete. The storm
revealed the Savior, God the Son, was in their boat! How do fallen humans react
when they realize they are in the presence of holiness? Remember Manoah and his
wife, after they saw the angel of the Lord disappear in the flame of the
offering…
Then Manoah knew
that he was the angel of the LORD. 22 And Manoah said to his
wife, "We shall surely die, for we have seen God…" (Judges 13:21-22).
Isaiah,
after his vision of God on His throne said,
"Woe is me!
For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a
people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of
hosts!" (Isa 6:5).
John
describes his reaction when he got a glimpse of the glorified Christ in
Revelation 1:17, “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead…”
Even Peter, after a miraculous catch of fish, would say, “Depart from me,
for I am a sinful man…” (Lk 5:8). Now think of this: Jesus came so
that we could be in the presence of God. Not because of what we’ve done,
but because of Him! The veil of the Temple is torn in two, and we are
invited into the Holy of Holies! In fact, He has promised to be with us…
always. We are never alone in the storm!
What is God
saying to me in this passage? Storms will come in life, but don’t panic or
despair. Remember who Jesus is, and trust Him, our King is Lord of
all.
What would
God have me to do in response to this passage? Could it be that
you are in the midst of a storm right now? It might be invisible to others, or
not.
1) Recognize your need and trust
Him in the storm. Storms can break our pride and expose our weakness. We are weak, He is strong!
2) Pray in faith. He is there, with
you in the boat, and He is good. As you look through our prayer list, as you
pray for our missionaries, you see examples of people passing through storms as
we live life in this fallen world. As we move ahead, as we carry out the
mission that He has us in the world to do, we can trust Him, we know He cares.
And even the trials will be used for our good, and for His glory! He is
with us in the storm.
3) Ask, what is God teaching me in the
storm? Keep learning, the more you know Him, the more you will trust
Him. The disciples took Him in the boat, “just as He was,” but they still
only understood in part who He was. His power over the stormy sea shook
them deeply. We have more of the story: we know that He is fully man and
fully God. We know that He loves us, He showed that beyond any question by
willingly going to the Cross, for us. We know that He defeated death… the
resurrection proved it. And so, we can trust Him, and obey Him.
Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer,
for I have overcome the world!” (John 16:33).
4) Be a witness. Maybe the last
thing on your mind in a crisis, but how we handle those moments will be a
testimony to those around us: Faith in the storm shows that we believe, God has got this, I trust Him. AMEN.
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