Jesus in the Storm
Jesus has just finished feeding 10 to 12 thousand people with 5 little loaves of barley bread and two small fish. He provides for the people so abundantly that everyone eats their fill and there are still 12 baskets of food left over.
What an amazing thing that must have been to see. To be one of the disciples handing out the food that Jesus provided. I’m sure they were overwhelmed with the sight and were probably full of joy to see Jesus’ power and ministry.
But some joyous days have difficult nights. In our text today — you can open your Bibles to John 6, page 606 of the white pew Bible — in our text today we’re going to see the excitement of the disciples change to fear, the sun of Jesus’ majesty eclipsed by a storm. The men who had been rejoicing in Jesus’ service are now left to endure the sad experience of everyone who follows Jesus — everything is dark, the seas are raging, and Jesus is not in the boat.
Big Idea
We can’t always feel the presence of God in a storm, but He has not abandoned us to sea.
John 6:15–21 CSB
15 Therefore, when Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea,
17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. Darkness had already set in, but Jesus had not yet come to them.
18 A high wind arose, and the sea began to churn.
19 After they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea. He was coming near the boat, and they were afraid.
20 But he said to them, “It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
21 Then they were willing to take him on board, and at once the boat was at the shore where they were heading.
The Pain of the Storm
The Puritan Thomas Brooks once wrote:
God sometimes hides Himself that we may cleave the closer to Him and hang the faster upon Him.
In Christ, nothing can separate us from the love of God — we affirm that truth wholeheartedly and yet must admit that there are times when God seems to be far from us. We see from this text that Jesus was not with them in the boat when this great storm struck.
At that moment — in the midst of the storm — the disciples were truly sheep without a shepherd. We always need Jesus, but we are made especially aware of that need in the midst of trial. The pain of Jesus’ absence is particularly acute when we feel lost at sea in a storm — when we recognize there is nowhere else for us to turn.
If you’ve never felt the presence of Christ, then you may not feel the sorrow of his absence. But for one who has been in communion with Christ, there is no greater feeling of spiritual poverty than to lack his comforting presence.
These disciples felt the pain of the storm because they understood the pain of Jesus’ absence. They’ve already gone through one storm with Jesus in the boat and seen him calm the waves with a word. But Jesus is not there this time. The pain of the storm is multiplied by Jesus’ absence.
You’ve felt that before, I’m sure. Times in your life when it felt like God wasn’t listening. When it felt like He was far away. When He wasn’t watching over you.
And you are probably expecting me to say right about now that it’s not true, that God wouldn’t do that — but I can’t. There really are times in life when God withdraws the sense of His presence. Look over and over in the Psalms when David cries out, “Where are you, God?” “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” “Why aren’t you answering me? Open your ears to hear me, Lord.” The prophet Ezekiel paints a vivid picture of the presence of the Lord leaving the temple before the exile:
Ezekiel 10:15–19 CSB
15 The cherubim ascended; these were the living creatures I had seen by the Chebar Canal.
16 When the cherubim moved, the wheels moved beside them, and when they lifted their wings to rise from the earth, even then the wheels did not veer away from them.
17 When the cherubim stopped, the wheels stood still, and when they ascended, the wheels ascended with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in them.
18 Then the glory of the Lord moved away from the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim.
19 The cherubim lifted their wings and ascended from the earth right before my eyes; the wheels were beside them as they went. The glory of the God of Israel was above them, and it stopped at the entrance to the eastern gate of the Lord’s house.
and a little later:
Ezekiel 11:22–23 CSB
22 Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, lifted their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.
23 The glory of the Lord rose up from within the city and stopped on the mountain east of the city.
God’s glory left his house and Ezekiel was devastated. Sometimes God does withdraw the sense of his presence. And that withdrawing presence makes the storm feel that much more painful.
Doubtless, the disciples felt both the intensity of the storm and the absence of the Savior that night. The darkness probably seemed darker. The waves seemed higher. The wind seemed stronger. The churning of the sea seemed more violent.
When Jesus is with us, he makes our paths straight. The valleys are raised up and the mountains are torn down to make smooth roads. But when he is absent, the smooth roads grow rough. The crosses we are called to bear seem all the heavier. When the darkness falls and the waves grow rough, it’s scary when Jesus is not in the boat with us.
Charles Spurgeon wrote:
If Christ be in the boat with us, I do not know that it matters much whether the sun shall shine or no; for, if the sun shall shine, we shall see HIM, and delight to see him, by the light of the sun; but if it be dark, we will see Christ by his own light, and rejoice to see.
But sometimes, as we see from this text, Jesus isn’t in the boat. And that multiplies the pain of the storm.
There are a great many Christians — I dare say probably some here — who appear to have a firm faith, but it is only because your health is good and you have money in the bank and your relationships are generally in good shape. But firm faith is not built by the multiplied loaves and the fish.
The true nature of faith is revealed when the cancer diagnosis comes. The true nature of our faith is revealed when someone we love is tragically and unexpectedly taken from us; when we get fired from our job; when our children walk away from the faith. It’s in the storm when we see faith evaporate in many.
It’s easy to talk about how great God is when everything is going well. It’s easy to feel that everything is going great when everything is going great. But it is in the storm that faith is revealed.
And it’s in the storm that faith is built. It’s in the storm that we call out to God. It’s in the storm that we have anxieties to cast upon the Lord. It’s the storm that we recognize that we are not sanctified and have something to repent, especially our weak faith. It’s in the storm that we cry out like the man with the sick child, “I believe, help my unbelief.”
The storm is especially painful when we can’t feel the presence of Jesus.
The Comfort in the Storm
But, there is comfort in the midst of the storm. In fact, I want you to consider 6 comforts in the midst of the storm. 6 things that may spring joy when Christ is not in the boat with you.
First, the storm may not be what you think it is. Yes, it’s definitely a storm but not all storms are the same. And not all storms are bad.
Turn in your Bibles to Mark 6, page 573 of the pew Bible. Mark includes an interesting fact in his telling of this story that John leaves out. Look at verse 45:
Mark 6:45 CSB
45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.
Jesus made the disciples get into the boat. Jesus sent his disciples into the storm. The storm you are going through may be a result of doing precisely what God has asked of you.
Not every storm is God’s discipline to bring us back when we are straying. Be sure, God does use storms in that way, look at Jonah. But not every storm is that. Sometimes the storm is exactly where God sends you.
And sometimes the storm is to protect us from something even darker. Matthew and Mark both wrote Jesus made them get into the boat — in fact the word is compel or force. He put them in the boat and said “Go, get out of here.” Why?
Well, we talked about it last week. After being fed by Jesus, the people got riled up and wanted to make Jesus their earthly king. Jesus withdrew himself from crowd, but first, he puts his disciples into a boat and says get out of here. I don’t want you to get swept up in this political fervor. This is so dangerous that I’m putting you into a boat and sending you into a storm. The trial of the storm was better for the disciples than the temptation of a politicized Jesus. For the protection of their soul, Jesus sent them into a storm rather than letting them be a part of that crowd who would make him king.
Why would that be protection? Why is the storm better? Because the storm reveals that the disciples needed a divine king Jesus, not an earthly king Jesus. The storm refines our understanding of our own need. In the times of plenty, when Jesus gloriously fills ours stomachs, we begin to think that we need more of that food. In the storm, we realize that we need Jesus.
The storm may not be what you think it is — it may be exactly where God wants you, for your protection or your refining. So be comforted in the storm.
A second reason you can be comforted in the midst of the storm when Jesus seems absent — if you are in Christ, you can be sure that you have not driven Christ away by your sin. If Christ seems absent in the midst of the storm, rest with complete confidence that you did not drive him away.
Now, if you know yourself to be in sin, then by all means now is the time to repent. The storm may be to make you aware of that sin. But, that’s not really what I’m talking about here. Christian, if you feel that you have lost the presence of Christ, if your joy has evaporated, remember that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. God is much better at forgiving than we are at repenting and you have not driven Christ away by your sin. Take comfort in that in the midst of the storm.
Next, if Jesus is not in the boat, though it is dark and stormy, take comfort in the thought that Jesus still loves you. Jesus was not in the boat with the disciples, but he loves them still and his heart is set on them.
Before the throne of God above, I have a strong and perfect plea A great high priest whose name is Love who ever lives and pleads for me My name is graven on his hands, my name is written on his heart
God’s love for you — listen to this — God’s love for you is not dependent on whether you feel it or not. God’s love for you is not dependent on whether you are consciously enjoying it at the moment. There is no shadow of turning with God; he does not change; and when you are in the middle of a storm being racked by waves, the love of Jesus for you is the same as on the smooth road in the sunshine. Take that comfort in the midst of the storm.
And more comfort: in the middle of the storm you may not be able to see Jesus, but he loves you and he can come for you. The disciples were three or four miles from shore without Jesus, but the distance could not stop him from coming. They were in the middle of the sea, and the lack of a boat could not stop Jesus from coming. If the thought ever crosses your mind that you are too far from Jesus, know that thought is a lie. You never have and you never will be in a place where Jesus cannot come to you. In the midst of the storm, Jesus can come to you, so take comfort.
And not only that, but take comfort that Jesus will come to you, just like he came to the disciples. He may wait, it may feel like too long without his presence. He may wait until you realize that you can’t row your way out of this one on your own. But he will come. Jesus always goes after the lost sheep. He always finds the lost coin. He always runs to the lost son. Jesus can come to you and he will come before too long. Keep looking.
Keep looking and you will see him coming and you will hear his voice, “It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
Conclusion
Following Christ will bring us into storms. Sometimes those storms are of His own design and sometimes he withdraws the sense of His presence in the midst of those storms. But it is comforting to know that he sees all of it. It’s comforting to know that He’s in control of it. It’s comforting to know that He may actually be protecting us by sending us into the storm. It’s comforting to know that we haven’t driven Him away. It’s comforting to know that He can comes to us no matter where we are. And it’s comforting to know that He will come to us in His perfect time.
Are you going through the storms of life now? Jesus sees and he loves. Believe that, rest in it. Rejoice in the understanding that help is on the way and nothing can hinder it. I don’t want to oversell this — the storm may not be quieted, but Jesus will be in the boat. And when Jesus is in the boat, the roughest seas feel like a peaceful river.
Does the darkness feel overwhelming? Do you wonder if there is a way out? Keep watching for him to come because he often comes at the last hour, when all other help has been exhausted. Keep your eyes fixed on where you know Him to be, even when you can’t see Him.
We can’t always feel the presence of God in a storm, but He has not abandoned us to sea. Keep looking for Him, and be willing to take him on board.