Jesus Calms the Storm

Introduction

After the time of teaching the parables that we have looked at the last two weeks Jesus desires to go across the sea to continue to take his message to anyone that he can. In those parables we learned much about the kingdom of God and who gets to enter that kingdom. In this passage tonight we are going to see Jesus display his humanity as well as his divinity. We will also see how the disciples do not yet fully understand that Jesus can help them through every storm, including the storms of life.

To set the scene for you, the sea of Galilee is 696 ft below sea level which results in violent downdrafts and wind storms. Sometimes happening out of nowhere. They are on the water as one of these storms hit. What I want you to look for in this story is what Jesus is doing through it all and the response that they guys on the boat are having to all of this.

lets read the story of the time Jesus calms the storm.

Mark 4:35–41 ESV

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 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?” 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. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

Imagine if you were there on the boat when the storm hit. you were in a panic but Jesus was sound asleep in the resting quarters of the boat. You wake him up and he just stops the storm and ask why you don’t have faith. That had to be a striking moment. It is no wonder the guys were afraid. One thing that scares me is people that are not afraid when they should be and by human standards that was Jesus right here.

We can see a lot about Jesus right here in this story and we can also see a lot about the disciples in the boat. Jesus is fully God and fully man, Jesus can calm the storms of life, and after all of this we sometimes still lack faith.

Lets pray then begin by looking at Jesus’s humanity.

pray

Jesus’s Humanity

Notice that is says that Jesus was in the stern asleep on the cushion in verse 38. Jesus was resting. In the previous sections Jesus has been going and going without a break, he has been skipping meals, he has been rising early for prayer. Jesus was fully human which means that at this point he is tired. Jesus was so tired that the great storm that was bringing water in over the sides of the boat did not wake him.

I myself tend to sleep through big storms. Thunder will rumble and lightning will strike and I will be fast asleep. It is only during the really intense storms where the lightning strikes close that I ever wake up. One thing though is that if it was accompanied by the intense rocking of my bed there is no way I would be able to sleep. Think about the exhaustion that Jesus had to have to sleep through this storm.

It can be difficult to think about the fact that Jesus is completely human, after all he has been healing sickness and casting out demons. We have also seen him be hungry and tempted though. Jesus was a man, though he was not just any man.

Jesus had to be fully human to accomplish what he came to earth for. As a man he served as the representative for all of fallen humanity. For Jesus to die for us he had to be human. It was the humanity of Christ that made our salvation possible. He was the perfect representative for us and to represent us he had to be one of us. On the cross Jesus paid the debt that we could never pay so that we could be saved.

The complete humanity of Jesus also shows us the true power of the gospel. When it got late he didn’t slow down, when the people were there and engaged he would not stop to take a meal break. Jesus would press on for the sake of his message, for the sake of the gospel.

Jesus’s Divinity

During Jesus’s nap the guys that were manning the boat came in and work him up terrified. These were men that grew up on the sea, that shows you just how scary this storm must have been to scare the experienced sailors. Jesus said three words upon his waking up “peace be still!” and the storm ceased at once. There was no more storm, it went away at the voice of Jesus. A simple man cannot do this, only God. The thing is Jesus was more than just a man he was God in the flesh.

The fact that Jesus was God gave him great power that far surpassed human capability. He did face human difficulties such as hunger and tiredness but he was able in a moments notice calm a storm.

The divinity of Jesus is also crucial for the gospel. He had to be fully human to be able to identify with us for his death but he had to be fully God to be able to bear the weight of the wrath of God up on the cross. For him to satisfy the wrath of God and secure salvation for us he had to be divine, he had to be God.

As we see the humanity and the divinity of Jesus must both be true for the gospel to exist. It is evident in this one passage that he accomplished both.

Often times it is easier to picture Jesus as human because we can have a mental image of a person. We see the fake paintings of white Jesus and we are like yeah there is Jesus, he is a dude. But it is harder for us to picture him as God. This is the perfect God come down in the flesh for the sake of our salvation.

The Disciples Understanding

How did the disciples understand all of this? Well the simple answer is that they didn’t. Jesus performs one of the most miraculous things that they have ever experienced and they were scared, wondering who this guy actually was. At this point it does not seem as though they fully understand that he is fully God. They know he is a great teacher, maybe even a prophet. They still lacked full faith in him.

They did not understand the need for faith and they definitely did not have it yet. They were still concerned with the things of this world when Jesus was only focused on furthering the Kingdom of God.

So often we do not have the right understanding and concern in our lives. We are focused on the things of this world like the storms but neglect the things of God and how he might be moving in the situation.

If these guys would have understood they could have asked something like “teacher can you display your great power over this storm please, we know you are mighty and have power over everything, even nature” but instead they asked if he cared about them because he was asleep while they were perishing. This storm was there so that Jesus might display his power. It was also there so that we could get a glimpse into the lives of the people around him and see that they still lack faith.

The Storms of Life

To often we are just like these guys during the storms of life. We follow faithfully and they something comes up and we loose trust in Jesus. Our faith is weak and we begin to crumble. Luckily here Jesus stepped in and showed them his power anyway and helped them in this physical storm. We here today have the full realization of who Jesus is and can rely on him all the way through the storms.

It has been said that if you are not in a metaphorical storm of life now you either just finished one or are about to start one. life has so many different things that it throws at us from injury and illness, to financial difficulties, to struggles with friends and school. In each of these situations we can trust in Jesus to help us through it.

In this Jesus can only help those that he knows. He knows you by you putting your faith in him as the only way to salvation and turning away from your sin. This is the simple message that he preaches and this is the message that the other men in the boat don’t quite get yet.

Make Jesus the boss of your life and then you can trust in him through the storms of life.

Conclusion

Jesus is undoubtedly the most significant figure in all of history, you don’t have to be a Christian to know that. Here in this story it is plain to see that he was a lot more than just some man in history. He is God. Though the storms of life come and we lack faith he is still there and he is still God.

Through faith and repentance we are saved and have him by our side each step of the way. Through the storms of life he is resting in our heart and we should likewise rest in him. Today if you have not put your faith in Jesus you need to do that. That is how you obtain the salvation that he offers. Maybe you were at camp one time or some other event and you went down and said you want to put your faith in Jesus but it wasn’t real. There was no change in your heart afterward. That is not true saving faith, saving faith changes who we are. Are you changed? truly?