Back to the Basics: Who is Jesus Sermon (6)

Scripture Reading: Matthew 8:23-27

Passage: Mark 4:35-41

Intro: The title of the message today is Who is Jesus. So I would like to start off this sermon with asking you that very question. Who is Jesus. One of my favorite authors C.S. Lewis, says that this question has only three legitimate answers; he is either a Liar. That he claimed to be God, and he wasn’t so he is liar. Or lunatic that he is crazy. Or he is Lord. That he is who he says he is.

In today’s text we see that the author Mark asks the reader this very question, Who can this man be? Now remember, Mark has already told us his thesis, that Jesus is Lord, and this book will prove it, but now at this point he is saying that we know enough of Jesus where we need to start asking, who Jesus truly is.

Passage Context: As we continue through the book of Mark we are finding ourselves at the end of chapter 4. Remember chapter 4 begins with Jesus in Capernaun, by the Sea of Galilee with a large crowd surrounding Jesus. So Jesus wanting to teach knew that for his safety and to be able to teach he would need to get into a boat, and preach from the boat off the banks of the sea. And in chapter four we see that Jesus preach four parables to the crowd. And now we pick up with Jesus finishing his parables. And see what happens after he taught the crowds.

READ PASSAGE HERE

Passage explanation: Now when we read this passage we see that Jesus has just done the biggest miracle to this point in the book of Mark. That we see that Jesus is the very one who speaks and the wind and the water listens. So who can speak and the wind and water listen? Well God! So mark tells this story to ask you this question; do you believe or are you starting to believe that Jesus is God?

Main Point: The main point of this passage is to show that Disciples still questioned who Jesus is, even after he quieted the storm.

Call to Action: This passage breaks down into three main scenes that show Who Jesus truly is.

Scene 1: Jesus Says he’s the Christ. Mark 4:35-36

Point 1: Jesus Declared The kingdom of God is at hand

Explanation: Look at how this narrative starts in verse 35, “On the same day, when evening had come,” So the events that are to come are on the same day that Jesus is teaching the parables. So we see that Jesus has now preached all day Jesus gives a command to his disciples, “Let us cross over to the other side.” So now we see that after Jesus had been preaching all day, he told his disciples that they should go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. So now he’s been teaching, he’s tired, he tells his disciples that it is time for them to leave Capernaaum, and go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.

So now we get to verse 36, “Now when they had left the multitude they took Him along in the boat as He was.” So now we see further background of what is going on, that Jesus was still in the boat that he used as a make shift stage, and the multitudes left, and they started to leave. But we also see, “And other little boats were also with Him.” So we see that there were several boats that traveled with them. Remember several of Jesus’ disciples were professional fishermen, who owned several boats. So it is likely that they are in some of those boats.

Illustration:

Application:Now I want you to realize the narrative scene that Mark is giving, that Jesus has just taught four parables about the kingdom of God. The very kingdom that John has declared that Jesus is ushering in. Now also remember that Mark has made it clear, that Jesus preached in a parables so the crowds would question and would not fully understand. Yet he explained these parables to his disciples. The very disciples that are witnessing these events.

Remember Church the very kingdom that Jesus preached about is at all because of Jesus being who he claimed to be. Jesus ushered in the kingdom that he preached about, the kingdom of God that you can be a

Transition: Now I want you to see the next scene in the narrative that Mark gives, Mark goes from telling us about how Jesus declared the kingdom of God is at hand, to proving that Jesus is who he said he is.

Part 2: Jesus Proves he’s the Christ Mark 4:37-39

Point 2: Jesus Showed the Kingdom of God is at hand

Explanation: Look at verse 37, “And a great windstorm arose.” Now remember in this scene Jesus and his disciples are on the Sea of Galilee in small boats. And now the scene has changed, they are in the Middle of the Sea of Galilee, and in the Sea, all of a sudden, a wind storm started.

And then Mark describes what is happening to the boats in the windstorm, “and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.” So now we see that the wind storm is so bad, that the boat is filling with water. Now let me ask you all a question, what happens when a boat starts to fill with water? It starts to sink. Now you do not want to be in a sunken boat in the middle of the sea, in the middle of a windstorm. That is how people drown.

But there is an aspect that Mark wants us to know, even though it is not in this passage, who are Jesus? disciples? Most are fishermen. They are experienced fishermen. So he is showing the direness of the situation. That even with experienced fishermen who spent their entire lives in the Sea of Galilee, the boat is still sinking.

Yet look at what Jesus was doing in verse 38, “But He (Jesus) was in the stern, asleep on a pillow.” Now I had to google stern, but apparently the stern is the back of a boat. So here is Jesus in the back of the boat. But Mark tells us what Jesus was doing in the back of the boat. He was asleep. On a pillow. Now this fascinates me. See I am a very light sleeper. The lightest noise will wake me. So there is no way I could sleep during this, but when you realize how exhausted Jesus had to be, remember Jesus is fully human, so he was cold, hot, tired, happy, sad, he felt all the emotions that men feel. And Jesus was not exempt from exhaustion. See he spent the entire day preaching, so on a boat so the sun had probably been beating on him, and he is worn out. So even in this storm Jesus is asleep. Now I also want you to realize something; there is a theological reason behind this too. Jesus knew that the Father would protect him, so even during the storm Jesus could sleep. And this is a good lesson for us too. That we trust the Lord enough that we can sleep even in the storms.

Yet even as Jesus is asleep on the boat, we see what the disciples do, “And they awoke Him and said to Him, ‘Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?’” Now remember these are experienced fishermen, so they know how to sail, yet they are so scared they wake up Jesus.

Yet look at what Mark records them saying, “Do you not care that we are perishing?” Jesus! The boat is sinking! Do you now care? We are going to die. Now again realize, of course Jesus cared. But he also knew that the Father would protect them.

But then we see what Jesus did. in verse 39. “He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” Now realize that Jesus woke up, he got up, he looked at the wind rebuked it, and looked at the sea and said Peace be still. Maybe your version says the word Silent be still. See the command that Jesus gives is the Greek word Siopao. It is a command to be silent.

And look at what happened, “And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.” So Jesus commands the sea to be still and the winds stopped and the sea was still. Now I think this is something that my mom wished she had when my brother and I were kids. That she could look at us and sternly say be still and we would be still. Yet she didn’t.

But Jesus just spoke and he commanded the sea and winds to be still and they were!

Think about it, the storm was so violent, Yet Jesus commands the sea to be still, and it was probably the most still that water had ever been.

Illustration:

Application: See I want you to realize something Church, because Jesus proved who he is, we know that in the storms he is in charge. He can still the waters, he can calm the wind. He is the one who not only says that he is God, but he has the power to prove he is God. And we can trust in him, knowing that he is all powerful.

Transition: Yet, after the disciples saw that Jesus has the power to calm the seas, and he is all powerful, we see that the disciples are frightful, and question who Jesus is. And we see that a new scene happens.

Part 3: The Disciples still question Who Jesus is. Mark 4:40-41

Point 3: The Disciples lacked faith.

Explanation: Now the waters are calm, but the disciples are not. Look at verse 40, “But he said to them, ‘Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?’” So now we see that Jesus looks at the disciples and asks them why they are so fearful. Look what is happening in this scene. The water is calm, the wind has stopped, yet Jesus looks at his disciples asks them why they are fearful. Why were they so afraid? Didn’t they know who they were with? Yet the disciples were scared.

(Go to illustration and come back) Ye the disciples fear, according to Jesus , was because they lacked faith. The disciples feared because they lacked faith.

But then look at the next verse, “And they feared exceedingly” now we see a new fear. This fear did not come from the storm, yet they have a new product of their fear, They are now fearful of Christ. SO much so that they “Said to one another, ‘Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” So now the object of their fear is Christ, and they question who Jesus even is. They look at each other and they say, who is this man? He speaks and the sea obeys him. They are questioning the very identity of Christ. They are questioning the man that they have seen do so many good works.

Illustration:And Look at what Jesus says there fear comes from “How is it that you have no faith?” Jesus attributes there fear to their lack of faith. Now I want you to realize something, our fears, show a lack of faith. Think about it, if you are afraid of death, why? Now I am a wimp, so I am fearful of the pain that leads to death, but I am not afraid of death itself. Why? Because I know to be absaint of the body is to be present with the Lord. So death does not scare me. Yet there are a lot of Christians that are afraid of death, but that is inconsistent of our faith. You should not fear, because you have faith.

Application: Now church I want you to realize why Mark shows this question. It is because he wants the reader to ask the very same question. Who could this Jesus be. Who could the man be that controls the very sky and the sea?

So church I want to ask you that very question. Who is Jesus?

Conclusion: The main point of this passage is so that the reader, would ask themselves this question right now. See Mark has told us that Jesus is Lord. Now he has given us his teachings, and Now he shows the very question the disciples had, to ask this question to you; Who is Jesus.

So Let me ask you the question that we started with Who is Jesus? C.S. Lewis said that there is three ways to actually answer this question: He is either a liar, a lunatic or Lord. He has to be one of those threes. So let me ask, who is Jesus? Do you know him as Lord? If not today can be the day that your life is forever changes.