Jesus Calms the Storm

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We are continuing a series of messages that I have entitled, “Isn’t That Just Like Jesus?”

Jesus has assembled his twelve disciples.

They have already seen him do remarkable things:

Teaching with authority, live they’ve never heard before

Healing the Sick

Casting out demons

Performing various miracles

As we are going to see, the penny hasn’t fully dropped for the disciples.

They know Jesus is special, but they fully have not grasped Who He is.

This morning: Jesus calms a storm

This morning, we come to a passage where the disciples will come the closest they have yet to understanding just who this man is that they are following.

READ:

1. The Reality of the Situation

Here we see how things become very real to the disciples

Jesus has been teaching the crowd

Jesus has also privately taught the disciples

Jesus is tired and would like to rest as they head to the next eternal appointment before him.

Jesus directs the

A. Jesus points to the outcome

Jesus points to the outcome

Jesus directs the disciples to get in the boat, because where he’s going is across the Sea of Galilee

Jesus gave specifics about what was going to happen.

READ: Mark 4:35

We are going to the other side

We are all going to go together

B. Jesus pinpoints the audience

Jesus pinpoints the audience

This excursion isn’t for everyone- only the disciples

READ: Mark 4:36

God reveals things about himself to those who are his, that he does not reveal to others who are not.

C. Jesus’ presence during the storm

READ: Mark 36-38

A great windstorm - common on the Sea of Galilee

At least a quarter of the disciples (the leaders) are experience fishermen (on the Sea of Galilee)

The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed, and everyone was freaking out!

Where is Jesus? Asleep in the back of the boat

If you need to know if its really bad, look to the one in charge.

Jesus was not afraid, he was asleep through the whole thing!

2. The Reaction of the Disciples

READ:

The disciples didn’t nonchalantly nudge Jesus awake

“Hey, Jesus, some of the guys are a little nervous about what’s going on up here. I’m okay, but Thomas, you know how he is- ‘Mr. Glass-half-empty’- well, he’s losing his mind! If it wouldn’t be a bother, could you just come on up here and see if there’s anything you can do?”

No! They were all losing their minds!!!

A. Amiss in their understanding

Notice what they called him, “Teacher.”

They didn’t have a full understanding of who was in the boat with them!

They had the Creator of the World in the stern of the boat!

ILLUS: If you have Superman in the back of the bus, you don’t call for a tow-truck!

B. Accusatory in their observation

READ:

Can you believe their accusation- “Hey! You don’t care about us!”

Jesus was doing everything he was because He cared!!!

C. Afraid in their predicament

They were terrified!

Their circumstance eclipsed their view of who God is and what He could do.

3. The Rebuke by Jesus

READ:

Without a word to the disciples, he got up and did something I don’t think the disciples ever expected.

Maybe they thought he was going to help them with the rigging or bailing out some water.

A. Rebuking the wind

READ:

Jesus rebukes the wind and the sea goes from great turmoil to as smooth as glass.

B. Rebuking the disciples

READ:

The disciples definitely didn’t expect what Jesus does next:

READ:

Jesus is disappointed in the disciples and rebukes them as well (for two reasons):

They were...

1. Full of Fear

When you have God in the boat with you, what do we have to fear?

Jesus rebukes them for a second reason. They were...

2. Empty of Faith

a. They didn’t believe that Jesus truly cared for them.

b. They didn’t believe that Jesus would take care of them.

4. The Revelation of Jesus to the Disciples

READ:

They were face to face with someone much more powerful than they imagined.

The physical storm around them was over

But

The inner storm of who was really in front of them had just started.

Jesus revealed something about Himself to these disciples. As a result:

They had a newly formed...

A. Awe of God

They had a newly formed...

B. Awareness of God

Application

1. Being in the center of God’s will is the safest place to be.

2. Be aware of God’s presence even in the toughest storms.

3. Because of our experience with God, we grow deeper in our knowledge and worship of God.