Calming the Storm

16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

Title: “Calming the Storm”

Intro

Man is obsessed with control.

But there’s one sure thing we have not figured out to control: the elements. We’ve figured out our heat and AC. But when storms come, we don’t have any control at all. Just ask Florida. Or if you go down to the Gulf Coast, you can still see (if you look hard) the effects of Katrina, and other hurricanes and storms. Tornadoes...

There was once a Youth Rally in Corning, AR in which a deluge came down so strong that the power went out during service. Kept having church!

But, friend, I want to tell you in the Spirit: there are some things you are not going to be able to control!

The Day Jesus Proved His Deity

There was a particular day of Jesus’ life in the Gospels that I’m not sure there is another day in Scripture in which His full itinerary of the day is described as thoroughly. And that’s the day leading up to Him calming the stormy sea.

This day was so full that it ended with Jesus falling into a deep, deep sleep on a pillow that the disciples laid under His head. It’s the only account we’re given at all of Jesus sleeping.

On that day, needy men and women surrounded Him, touched Him, begged Him, and brought their children to Him. He pulled demons completely out of men’s lives. And for His troubles, He was accused of doing it all by the power of the devil. He blessed people who were broken. He cleansed a leper. He healed Peter’s mother-in-law. He healed a paralytic. Listened to a centurion. And healed the centurion’s servant. And still yet, He climbed up a small mountain and commissioned His twelve disciples.

He spent the day in a sea of people - one request after another. Pushed and pulled in every direction. Testing His physical endurance.

At one point, the crowds were so full and drew in so close that Jesus was backed onto the shore of the Galilee, right up to the edge of the water. He was now out of space, but He still needed to teach. And so He had to get into a boat and push off a little from the shore to create some separation between Himself and the people.

Once he was done teaching there and it was evening, He found that His work still wasn’t done! His disciples were confused by His parables, so they asked Him to teach it again, but this time with explanation.

We’re really, really talking about a full day, here!

Even the Wind and Sea Obey Him

And we know that Jesus would rise up out of sleep and calm a storm.

But… before we get there, we should consider the sea for a minute. What does this sea represent?

For ancient Israelites, the sea represents chaos, a place under the control of forces that come against God. Now, we know that the sea and all things in nature are truly under God’s authority. But, the Israelites tended to fear the sea and avoid it as much as possible.

In some ways, the sea seemed to resist the orderliness of God’s Creation.

In the beginning, the sea had to be divided in order for the rest of Creation to unfold.

The beast in Revelation is said to rise up out of the sea, as if to say that the beast is empowered by Satan to bring chaos.

When John heard the voice of Jesus, John compared His voice to the “voice… of many waters” (Revelation 1:15). After hearing that voice, John fell at Christ’s feet “as dead,” Scripture says.

And listen to this: when John got ready to tell us what kind of peace is in Heaven, he wrote that a sea like glass surrounds God’s throne. In other words, there is no chaos or disorder or disharmony where God rules n His fulness.

And so, if your are experiencing some chaotic waters today, perhaps the first response you should have is to make absolute certain that He is still Lord of your life - in every way!

Now, this sea that Jesus and His disciples were sailing on was not symbolic. It was the Sea of Galilee. And it was basically (from all I can tell) a modest lake.

But although it was a lake, there were very cool winds that would roll in from Mt. Hermon and clash with the dry, warmer winds that came from the desert. And what happens when cool winds and warm winds meet? In Arkansas, that means get ahold of Ryan Vaughn - something’s about to go down outside!

For them, it was a violent windstorm.

Now, they had surely seen the signs. Fishermen knew when and when not to sail. But Jesus asked them to sail anyway. And they must have believed they would be okay; Jesus knew things they didn’t. But then, this storm arose. And it tossed their small ship around a bit. And they thought that their seconds were numbered.

One disciple went over and pulled in the sails. Another one used buckets to throw out the water coming in. Others grabbed an oar and tried to keep the boat pointed against the waves.

They could try to shout at each other, but the thunder, wind, and rain drowned them out.

Think of the streaks of lightning that formed. The sea pulling an oar right out of someone’s tight grip.

And then, one disciple decides to go and see how the Master was handling all of this. And when he found Him, He was still asleep, almost comatose. The disciple crawled over the things in the boat, grabbed Jesus, and shook Him…

Mark 4:38 KJV 1900

38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?

And from somewhere deep in dreams, Jesus awakened.

His eyelids flew open, and the disciples saw the lightning etched on His pupils! He lifted His head off the pillow and stood to His feet. They had just given up hope on being saved by their own skill. And now they looked back at jesus as the wind whipped through His hair and pulled at His wet robe. More flashes of lightning streaked through the sky.

AND THEN… OUT OF HIS MOUTH CAME JUST THREE WORDS:

Mark 4:39 NKJV

39 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.

“PEACE BE STILL!” And it was!

Let me ask you something: When are you going to realize that the storm you’re in can’t be calmed by your doing? You need to give up hope on your own power and let God tell the storm and the winds what to do!

These disciples… they had seen leprosy disappear from sick bodies. They’d seen demons leech out of men’s souls at just Jesus’ command…

But… who controls the wind???

Where is the switch in nature that turns off a storm? And who has access to it?

Anyone can tell the wind to be at peace. Did you know that many years earlier from this, Xerxes the son of Darius, emperor of Persia, rebuked the sea. And He gave it 300 lashes. He also inserted molten swords into the water as punishment for not listening to his demand for a smooth voyage… but the wind doesn’t listen - not even to emperors!

YET… out on the Sea of Galilee, suddenly, after three quick words… waves started flattening out, the rain turned to sprinkles and the sprinkles stopped soon after. Wind came down to a whistle and then to nothing at all.

And it was not because the storm ran out of power or someone had prayed an impressive prayer… The storm ceased from three short words from the lips of Jesus! It was as if somebody had pulled the power cord on that thing!

It reminds me of “darkness over the face of the deep” in the beginning. And even then, there were just a few short words that changed things: “Let there be light!” BOOM. DONE.

You’d better know this: there is POWER when God speaks!

So, let Him speak! And for God’s sake, listen!

Who Is This Jesus?

And after everything had calmed, the disciples’ eyes turned back to Jesus. Their mouths fell open wide. And it was slowly dawning on them that Jesus, with them in the boat, was far more powerful and fearful than the storm they had just been saved from.

They had gone from dread to an even greater dread.

Mark 4:41 NKJV

41 And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

Now, don’t miss this…

They knew full well that Jesus was a man. They had just watched Him spend Himself like a man. They had carried Him to a place to sleep. But WHAT KIND OF MAN???

In their songbook, Psalm 107 had taught them that GOD, not a MAN, calms the sea. So, what kind of MAN could do this? No mere man could, but Jesus did. And therefore, Jesus was no mere man!

As they would all soon come to more fully understand, Jesus was the God-man: fully man and fully God - Jesus was God in flesh!

I Believe Jesus Is Who He Said He Is

In our age today, some people have a difficult time believing that Jesus was God.

Many in our day believe He came as a man. They have no trouble believing Jesus was a carpenter, a rabbi, a prophet, even a miracle worker. But they cannot muster the faith to declare He is God.

But in the early Christian era, people tended to have a more difficult time believing Jesus was a man! Many of them believed He was God, and His humanity was just a matter of appearances.

But both of these are wrong. But the Gospels take out places to specifically stress and declare that Jesus’ humanity was true humanity, and His deity was true deity! And we can know that He is everything His Word promises!

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Jesus’ True Identity

Now, just because they were seeing God as Jesus didn’t mean they were seeing God out of character. The humanity of Christ didn’t hide God - it revealed God!

When Jesus wept, He wasn’t betraying making God look weak. The Incarnation gave God a body that was capable of suffering physical pains. But there are also pains that go beyond the body. Jesus wept not just because He had physical tears; He wept because God has always wept.

When we see the Son of God, we are seeing God at His most authentic, not His least. The flesh of God wasn’t a veil, hiding God’s nature.

God’s flesh of the incarnation was a window through which we could see God more clearly.

God’s flesh doesn’t reveal God’s weakest side, His best side, or any “side.” The Incarnation shows us God’s most complete self!

Jesus Is God in Flesh

God in flesh is really the beating heart of Christian faith. And the gospels show the weakness of humanity Jesus went through, but He also very clearly worked as only He can.

I find it very interesting that Mark showed Jesus in such a human way in this story - a story when a problem arose that only God could solve. It’s almost as if this was by design. Designed for the weakness of humanity and power of deity to clash!

They had just carried Jesus asleep into the boat, and then they faced a mighty storm, beyond their power to manage. And the man they had watched collapse from exhaustion earlier… what would He do? Yes, He had performed miracles earlier that day - but prophets long ago had done similar miracles. NEVER had a man controlled a wild sea.

I Will Trust Jesus to Calm My Storms

I’m amazed sometimes when I look back at how so many of the disciples missed it. Jesus was telling them who He was! He demonstrated it: He was divine! But they didn’t see it.

We have the benefit of all of the Scriptures telling us exactly who He was - we KNOW!

But at the same time, if we’re not careful, we can let our own disappointment, illnesses, and hardships cloud our view that Jesus really is able to calm all our storms because He is the Creator! Let me tell you that God wants to speak over your storm and your waves and your soul!

Jesus IS who He said He is! Today you can leave encouraged! Your burden can be lifted! You can have rest!

BECAUSE GOD STILL SPEAKS TO THE STORM!!!

Conclusion

Quit trying to be perfect. God didn’t call perfect. He called a vessel.

We were having this conversation yesterday in our minister’s meeting.

You don’t have to know it all. You just have to be willing to give it to God and let Him use you. You don’t have to have everything all together - but you do have to be 100% committed to Him!

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