God is in the Boat

Bible Passage Mark 4:35-41

INTRO

“Soma Church exists to love the body of Christ and equip them to do the work of ministry here, near and far, all for the glory of God.”

I want to focus our attention as does the story that we are studying today on the purpose of the gospel accounts.

Namely Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

Are these books written to tell us some cool stories about a wise man, a good teacher? Are they just another collection of historical accounts that merely tell us things that were happening at that moment in time?

Or are they so much more?

Let’s let the authors tell us what they want their readers to walk away with when they read their writings…

Matthew 1:1, 22-23 “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).”

Mark 1:1 “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

Luke 2:10–11 “And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

John 1:1–2 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”

The intention of the authors seems to be incredibly clear, they want their readers to come to the same conclusion that they themselves have come to…

Jesus is no ordinary man. He is unlike any other rabbi.

He is God in the flesh. This is the Theos Anthropos (God-Man). This is the second person of the trinitarian God we worship. This is the active participant in the creation account of Genesis 1.

This Jesus is God!

So when we read the gospel account, we are participating in the privilege of getting to look at God.

To see His heart, hear how He talks, watch His movements all carried out in the person of Jesus

Jesus himself said John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.”” and He also said in John 12:44–45 “And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me.”

Those who are following Jesus in the story this morning are going to see the Godness of Jesus up close and personal and they will learn that Jesus is the God of Nature.

BODY

Last week, Pastor Clayton finished up a series of 4 parables or teachings of Jesus on the Kingdom of God

Jesus finishes his teachings, looks at His disciples and says in verse 35…

Read Mark 4:35

After teaching on the boat for what would seem most of the day, he tells his disciples to hoist the sails and take him to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.

Show Map of Sea of Galilee

We know based on Mark 5:1 that the other side meant that they were traveling from Capernaum to Gergesa

Read Mark 4:36-37

So Jesus finishes teaching, and goes “Just as he was.” No stopping by the house, no rest, just teaching and then setting sail.

These verses also tell us that there were other boats with him as they traveled across the water.

While they are sailing, a windstorm came upon them.

This was not uncommon for the Sea of Galilee because of the place in which it sets

Show photo of The Sea of Galilee

When the conditions are right, this giant freshwater lake is one of the most beautiful bodies of water on the planet

The purity of the water made it perfect for fishing and because of it’s location in reference to the surrounding cities, it was also a great travel option for trade and commerce

But, because of where it was positioned, it was also the perfect place for terribly dangerous storms

Show arial shot of Sea of Galilee

The Sea of Galilee is essentially a fish bowl enclosed by mountain ranges in every direction except for the southern most portion of the lake

Because of this, during the hot season, the cooler air would fall down off the mountain ranges and rest on top of the water making the winds extremely intense.

In the case of the story we are reading today, the storm was so great and the waves so large that the boat was beginning to fill with water.

All the while, Jesus is asleep… Read Mark 4:38a

Speaking from experience, there is no nap better than a post sermon Sunday afternoon nap

We will see the God-ness of Jesus here in a moment but it is good for us to take time to appreciate the humanity of our savior

Our LORD has just spent his entire day birthing a sermon and delivering it to a group of people who are constantly asking for his time and attention.

This causes fatigue and because “He went as He was” he didn’t go home and rest, this wasn’t the next day, this was immediately after teaching for a whole day in the middle eastern desert sun.

Jesus was tired, so he rested. some might even say he sabbathed.

Some of his disciples took exception to this… Read Mark 4:38b

Couple of things to note…

First, this must have been a really aggressive storm for a boat full of fishermen to be this afraid

They were on these waters everyday. They know what bad weather feels like when out on the water and this was bad enough that they were afraid for their lives.

So afraid in fact that they end up doing the right thing in the wrong way.

They go to Jesus for help…

Even though they haven’t quite connected the dots of who He actually is, they have seen enough of His power to know that if they have any chance of surviving this, it would be through Jesus doing something miraculous.

But even though they rightly went to Jesus for help, they approach Him completely wrong.

They do this by questioning His care for them

“Jesus, if you actually cared, you wouldn’t be sleeping.”

How many times have you made that statement in your life?

“Jesus, if you truly cared you would change my situation!”

“Jesus, do you not see the waves crashing into my boat?”

“Jesus, do you not care that my marriage is on the verge of destruction?”

“Jesus, do you not care that I can’t pay my bills?”

“Jesus, do you not care that I can’t kill this habitual sin?”

“Jesus, do you not care that I so desperately want to be married?”

Have you ever considered that fear of storms in our life has more to do with our perspective than the size of the storm?

Look at the text with me and I’ll show you what I mean…

Read Mark 4:38-40

Jesus, as the one who created the wind and waves, has the authority to calm the wind and waves.

And with nothing more than 3 words brings them to a halt

The greek word for calm in verse 39 means to be still without any movement. Like a lake of glass.

Then he turns to his disciples and with love and gentleness, the Good Shepherd turns to his sheep and asks them “Why are you so afraid? Do you still not believe?”

The disciples perspective of the storm was bigger than their perspective of Jesus.

They failed to realize that God was in the boat…

How might their approach to Jesus have been different if they saw clearly who He was?

Maybe instead of questioning His care for them, they would have said something like…

“Jesus, we know you are our only hope! Would you be our help?”

“Jesus, would you be God in this storm?!”

How many of us fail to realize in the middle of our storms that God is in the boat?

The disciples quickly realize the error in their perspective in verse 41

Read Mark 4:41

They quickly became more afraid of their rabbi than they were of the storms

It must have dawned on them at least a little in that moment, that if they are actually seeing God, then God also sees them.

They stand their completely exposed.

Yet, even in their unbelief and arrogance, Jesus still has tender love, grace and patience.

CLOSING

I think the takeaway this morning should be this…

If God is in the boat, then we need not fear the storms.

For those struggling with the storms of life right now, how can you shift your perspective to get a bigger picture of Jesus?

Some of you need to be reminded that having Jesus is better than having earthly security

That He is better than the sin you are holding on to.

He is better than the things of the world that we chase after

Jesus is in the boat with you, what more could you need?

Some of you are in a boat and Jesus isn’t there with you?

Maybe today you need jump ship and swim over to the boat that Jesus is in.

PRAY