Who is Jesus?
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Introduction
Introduction
Introduction
When I was a boy I would spend the night with my grandfather, Papa. Papa and I would stay up late on Friday nights and watch things nourishing for young minds like Alfred Hitchcock Presents. But we would also get up on Saturday mornings (at least that’s when I think it came on) and watch the old black and white Adventures of Superman TV series starring George Reeves.
In that show (as in all other Superman tales I suppose), mild-mannered reporter, Clark Kent, was Superman but Lois Lane, his coworker and love interest, didn’t know that. When trouble struck, Lois thought Clark was pretty much useless, but she only thought because she didn’t know Clark’s real identity.
Had she known that Clark was faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, and that he loved her, she wouldn’t have thought Clark so useless. She would have felt like the safest person in the universe.
His identity and devotion would’ve changed everything about how she felt and acted in troubled times.
Jesus is not a fictional superman; He is someone real, someone much greater than a superhero of human imagination.
But, as we’ll see in our passage this morning, if we understand His true identity and His unending devotion to us, it’ll change everything about how we feel and act in troubled times.
[Reading]
One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”
[Prayer]
[Prayer]
[Context] As we’ve been seeing through , there is a great deal of difference between those who hear the message of Jesus and those who hear the message of Jesus with understanding.
Those who just hear, bear no fruit at all or only bear it for a little while before falling away. This means that those who only take a temporary interest in Jesus will only obey and follow Him temporarily. Soon, however, persecution or the pleasures of the world will reveal that there was never lasting faith in Jesus such a person’s heart.
On the other hand, those who hear the message of Jesus with understanding hold on to it with an honest and good heart, bearing fruit with patience ().
That kind of person obeys and follows Jesus to the end and, therefore, shines like a light in this dark world ().
That kind of person bears the mark of the family of God, which is hearing the Word of God and doing it ().
[INTER] But what does that look like? What does it look like to hear the Word of God and do it?
It looks a lot like these winds and waves in .
[CIT] In Jesus calms a storm with a command and in doing so further reveals Himself as the Son of God, God in the flesh.
[PROP] If we are going to hear Jesus’ word and do it, if we are going to obey Him and follow Him as we should, we must understand that Jesus is God.
[TS] Notice...
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
First, we see that Jesus is God in His sleeping ().
First, we see that Jesus is God in His sleeping ().
One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger.
Jesus, of course, slept because He had a human body as we do. He grew tired from travel and preaching and teaching and travel and preaching and teaching. It’s not surprising that in a quite moment away from the crowds on a boat crossing the Lake of Gennesaret (which was also called the Sea of Tiberias or the Sea of Galilee) that Jesus fell asleep.
One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, 23 and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger.
Jesus slept...
As an aside, we should see here an invitation to catch a nap when we can. We often say about Jesus praying, “If the Lord had to pray, then we should pray.” Well, the same logic applies here, “If the Lord had to sleep, then we should sleep.”
He got tired.
And we should sleep deeply for the same reason Jesus did. It appears that at least on this occasion that Jesus wasn’t a light sleeper. The windstorm came down, the waves grew large, the boat began to take on water, and none of that woke Jesus. In fact, it was only when His disciples came to Him and said, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” that He finally woke up ().
Luke 8:23
He was tired.
How could Jesus sleep amidst such clamor?
We might wonder how we are to sleep when anxiety has piled up in our hearts, when our minds won’t stop spinning the same words and scenarios over and over again. Well, we can sleep even when troubled because Jesus is God.
That’s how Jesus was able to sleep. No one else on the boat was asleep because no one else knew in full what Jesus knew—that He was God in the flesh. Had they understood fully, believing fully from the heart that Jesus was God incarnate, they too would have been calm in the face of the wind and waves.
If we believe that Jesus is God, we too will be calm when we face wind and waves.
Jesus is Creator, and all things hold together by the word of His power.
…because He is God.
He was Creator.
He is Creator, and all things hold together by the word of His power.
He was Ruler.
There’s a great note in the MacArthur Commentary on this passage:
Its says that “the earth is twenty-five thousand miles in circumference, eight thousand miles in diameter and weighs approximately six sextillion tons. It spins on its axis at about one thousand miles per hour, and travels in its approximately one hundred fifty million-mile orbit around the sun at about one thousand miles a minute. The sun itself makes a vast orbit around the center of the Milky Way galaxy. At the other end of the size spectrum, a teaspoon full of water contains trillions of atoms … From the vastness of space to the infinitesimally small realm of the atom, God upholds all things by the word of His power ().”
In Jesus of Nazareth, that God was in the boat with those disciples.
John MacArthur, , MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2011), 206.
Because He knew who He was, Jesus was able to sleep.
When we know who He is, we are able to rest as well even when trouble comes.
[TS] Notice...
In fact, He is so far removed from fear of his creation, that He can sleep like a baby in the midst of this storm.
[Illus]
[Illus] Something about having no fear of something you’ve made because you made and you know how it was built or what it is constructed of.
Let’s say you have a severe peanut allergy, and you make a desert that typically has peanuts in it. However, because of your allergy, you leave the peanuts out.
The dessert is made and you’re enjoying a bit of it, when someone comes in who knows about your peanut allergy (perhaps they even have the same allergy themselves), they SLAP the dessert out of your hand and shout at you, “DON’T YOU KNOW THAT STUFF COULD KILL US?!”
But you have no fear of the dessert. Why? You made it. You know it can’t kill you.
But here’s the thing, it could still kill you. You could choke. You could’ve accidentally let a peanut slip in there somehow. You’re not perfect. You’re no sovereign. The stuff you make can kill you. But Jesus is perfect. He is sovereign. And the stuff He made couldn’t kill Him unless He allowed it to.
God created man and woman in His image, male and female He created them. Adam and Eve were the first humans and they sinned against God. Sin was introduced into the world, and we all have been born into sin. The penalty for sinning against God is death, but God graciously sent His Son Jesus, the one sleeping in the boat in this passage, to pay our penalty upon the cross.
Jesus never sinned. He lived perfectly and was the perfect sacrifice in our place upon the cross. On the cross, He became sin that through faith in Him we might receive His righteousness. In His resurrection, Jesus triumphed over sin and death and became the trailblazer for all who will be raised to eternal salvation through faith in Him. In His ascension, He sent the Holy Spirit to fill, seal, and defend us. He intercedes for us at His Father’s right hand from which He will soon return to take us home where we shall always be with the Lord.
So you see, Jesus could sleep on the boat because He knew He was meant for the cross.
And if we believe that He went to cross and then was raised and then ascended and will soon return, well then, we ought to be able to rest.
The penalty of sin is paid.
The power of sin broken.
And soon we will be in His presence forevermore.
Second, we see that Jesus is God in His commanding ().
Second, we see that Jesus is God in His commanding ().
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .
and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm.
They were panicked, some of them experienced fishermen, the storm at full strength, the boat taking on water, everyone yelling at each other, and then yelling at Jesus, “Master, Master, we are perishing!”
And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. 24 And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm.
That’s what they woke Him up with, “Master, Master, we are perishing!”
And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm.
[Illus] My lovely wife sometimes, when she is very tired, will talk in her sleep. Usually she is having a dream about taking care of one of the kids and in the dream she is trying to keep them from hurting themselves so it’s a lot like real life. The poor woman doesn’t even get a break while sleeping.
But one night we are in the bed. It’s quiet. I’m warm, probably snoring, at rest, when a shout pierces the still darkness, “They’re running through the house! They’re running through the house!”
Now, I’m sure at my funeral they would’ve said it was a heart attack, but it really would’ve been death by surprise.
But Jesus wasn’t startled when they woke Him. He woke up, rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was calm.
Mark tells us that Jesus said, “Peace! Be still!” and that there was great calm.
The sea that was raging a moment before was now still.
How would you have responded to this had you been there?
Perhaps some of us are skeptical of the miraculous and we would’ve immediately thought, “Well, if the storm can build up quickly, I guess it can also dissipate quickly.”
But the timing of the sea’s sudden stillness wouldn’t have allowed for such an explanation because the still became still when Jesus commanded.
Perhaps some with Jesus knew their Bibles though. And rather than trying to explain away what they had witnessed, they would’ve thought to themselves, “This is what the Psalms say Almighty God does!”
In it is God “who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves...”
In God rules “the swelling of the sea; When it’s waves rise, (He) still(s) them.”
who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples,
Listen to ...
Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters; they saw the deeds of the Lord, his wondrous works in the deep. For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their evil plight; they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits’ end. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!
The LORD of was in the boat in .
When the disciples were at their wits end, they cried to Jesus and He brought them out of distress.
Jesus caused the storm to still, so that the waves of the sea were hushed.
He couldn’t have done that if He were not God.
Let me suggest that you cry to Jesus when you are at your wits end. He is God. He can deliver you from your distress.
[TS] ...
And finally, we see that Jesus is God in His questioning ().
And finally, we see that Jesus is God in His questioning ().
He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”
He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”
“Where is your faith?” Jesus’s question to the disciples is one that was meant to make them examine themselves. It ought to make us examine ourselves as well—where is our faith?
For the disciples it might have been in the boat.
Perhaps they thought as the storm began to rapidly build, “This is a sturdy vessel. She’ll see us through the storm.”
But they soon realized that that particular storm would smash the vessel they were in.
Perhaps their faith was in their experience or skill.
At least some of his disciples were career fisherman; at least they were until they began to follow Jesus as fisher’s of men. Perhaps they thought, “We’ve seen storms like this before. We’ve ridden them out. We know what to do. We’ll be fine.”
But they soon understood that their experience and skill wouldn’t help them survive this particular storm.
Or perhaps their faith was in one another.
Here I’m thinking about someone like Matthew, a former tax collector, trusting in an experienced fisherman like Peter, Andrew, James, or John.
I’m also thinking about the fact that Mark says other boats were going with Jesus across the lake. Perhaps they thought that they could lash the ships together in order to survive the storm. Surely there would be safety in numbers.
But if that was the case, they would soon find out they would be no help to one another when facing a storm of this magnitude.
No one’s experience or skill would help. The storm was so sudden they likely wouldn’t have had time to lash the boats together.
You see, because their faith was somewhere other than in Jesus, they cried out, “Master! Master! We are perishing!” (v. 24).
The whole point of this episode is to reveal two things: (1) that Jesus is God, and (2) that His disciples don’t have faith in Him as God.
Their faith was somewhere other than Jesus because they didn’t fully understand who He is.
They asked, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?” (v. 25).
The winds and water only obey God.
And because He is God, we’ve got no reason to fear, be anxious, or panic when calamity strikes!
[App] If we know who Jesus is, it’s never time to panic. If we know who He is, we know He is in control. If we know who He is, we know that every gust of wind and every wave in the ocean and every atom in existence obeys His command.
In fact, those atoms exist only because He exists and He made them because He is God.
[TS] ...
Conclusion
Conclusion
As God, Jesus commands and raises up storms in our lives. What does say?
For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea.
He is good and He does this for our good so that we may see that He is God and that our faith is somewhere else. And faith in someone or something other than Jesus will damn us to Hell forever.
God created man and woman in His image, male and female He created them. Adam and Eve were the first humans and they sinned against God. Sin was introduced into the world, and we all have been born into sin. The penalty for sinning against God is death, but God graciously sent His Son Jesus, the one sleeping in the boat in this passage, to pay our penalty upon the cross.
Make them float
Share the Gospel, look them in the eye
He wouldn’t die in the sea but outside Jerusalem.
Jesus didn’t fear drowning because He knew He was meant for the cross. It wouldn’t be the water He created that killed Him, it would be the men and women that He had made.
God created man and woman in His image, male and female He created them. Adam and Eve were the first humans and they sinned against God. Sin was introduced into the world, and we all have been born into sin. The penalty for sinning against God is death, but God graciously sent His Son Jesus, the one sleeping in the boat in this passage, to pay our penalty upon the cross.
Jesus never sinned. He lived perfectly and was the perfect sacrifice in our place upon the cross. On the cross, He became sin so that through faith in Him we would receive His perfect righteousness.
In His resurrection, Jesus triumphed over sin and death and became the trailblazer for all who will be raised to eternal salvation through faith in Him.
In His ascension, He sent the Holy Spirit to fill, seal, and defend us. He intercedes for us at His Father’s right hand from which He will soon return to take us home where we shall always be with the Lord.
So you see, Jesus could sleep on the boat because He was God. He could command and have the winds and the waves obey because He was God. He could ask questions that laid open the heart of man because as God He knew what was in the heart of man.
And it was this God who went to the cross for us if we trust Him.
If we believe that God-incarnate, Jesus Christ, went to the cross to pay for our sins, was raised to make us right with God forever, ascended to send us the Holy Spirit, and will soon return to take us home, well then, we ought to be able to rest.
The penalty of sin is paid.
The power of sin broken.
And soon we will be in His presence forevermore.
As I said earlier, Jesus is not some fictional superman. Jesus is much faster, much more powerful, much more able! He’s the real deal! He’s the Son of God, God in the flesh; Creator God, the Master of wind and waves and you and me.
If we understand Him, believe Him, trust Him, walk with Him as He is, it’ll change everything about how we act and feel in troubled times.
Especially what would be our most troubled time if not for His saving work on our behalf—that moment we stand before Him in judgment.
The Creator of our universe and everything beyond it has set His love on us.
Where is our faith?
We’d be foolish to set it on anyone other than Jesus who is God.
[prayer]
Invitation
Invitation
Where is your faith this morning?
Perhaps you’ll say, “I’m not sure. I mean, I hope it’s in Jesus, but how can I know?”
It’s simple, ask yourself whose giving the orders in your life.
Who are you hearing and obeying?
Whoever you hear and obey is the one you have faith in.
Most of us hear and obey ourselves, so our faith is in ourselves.
The wind and waves hear and obey Jesus because know that He is God.
Do we have faith that He is God? If we do, we’ll hear and obey Him too.
Turn from sin this morning, turn from yourself, and trust in Jesus.
Only He can save you!