The Power of Christ

Introduction

This morning we are continuing our series from the Gospel of Mark and as you may recall, we have been exploring what it means for us to make Christ, the king of our lives.

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?”

If you have heard messages on this passage, you know that the main point of the story is to trust in Jesus espeically during difficult times. But one of the barriers to truly following Jesus and entrusting our entire lives into his hands is rooted in the question of power. We can only trust God up to the point of our belief in both his power and his willigness to use that power for our good. In other words, the power of Christ can’t just remain in the realm of theological facts but it’s also something we have to experience for ouselves in order to grow in faith. As we examine the subject of Christ’s power, there are three points that I want to draw out from this account that I pray will help you to put your full trust in your relationship with Him.

Jesus’ power is relevant

Jesus’ power is ultimate

Jesus’ power is sacrificial

As we approach Christmas, many people will start thinking about all the reasons for the season. Generally people will think about the birth of Christ and consider it to be a good story that teaches us the lessons of love, joy, and good will among men. Without even realizing it, even Christians can find themselves reducing the miraculous events recorded in the gospels as nothing more than methapors whose purpose is to teach us some moral lesson. Now, there are certainly lessons that should be learned from these miracles but the problem is if you only look at these accounts as metaphors or legends or allegories you bypass one of the most important factors to trusting in Christ and that is believing that his power is relevant in our daily lives.

Oftentimes, when we are reading the Bible, the events that are recorded seem like a world away, almost as if they are fictional but when you go to Israel and you walk along sea of Galilee and you watch fishermen getting their boats ready to go out, you realize that this is a regular day in the life of the disciples. There is nothing particularly special about this day except for the fact that Jesus is going to intervene into their lives supernaturally. As an author, Mark is incredibly simplistic in his writing and he writes like he is recording things as he remembers them. The proof of that is in the somewhat pointless details that he inserts into the narrative. We are told that these events unfolded after a long day of preaching in a boat so that the crowds would not press against Jesus. Mark tells us that as evening drew near, Jesus stayed on this boat as he was, without changing, without getting something to eat, and then ordered his disciples to set sail for the other side of the sea. And as they made their way across the sea, a few other boats went along with them but then we are never told what happened to these other boats.

These are all minor and pointless details that don’t really matter to the story except to convey the fact that it really did happen this way. One of the key factors in the conversion of CS Lewis was his expertise in ancient literature. He understood that myths, legends, and works of fiction never contained these realistic but pointless details until recent history. And faced with this fact, Lewis was left with this dilemma, either this simple minded author invented an entirely new category of fiction, what we would now call historical fiction, that had never been seen before and wouldn’t been seen again until the early 19th century, almost 2000 years after the writing of the gospel, or Mark and the authors of the other three gospel were writing what they had seen. This would also make sense given the fact that each of them have slightly varying memories of the same event in much the same way that two of us looking at the same event would emphasize different things we saw and heard. In Matthew’s account, the disciples are recorded as saying something a bit more articulate, “Lord save us, we are perishing.” And it could very well be that one of the discipes said what was recorded in Mark and another disciple said what was recorded in Matthew. I’m sure that in the middle of a storm, with their lives on the line, a lot of things were being said all at the same time. And I bring these point up not to prove the historic accuracy of the Bible but mainly to show that these miracles happened to real people, in real time, in their regular dailly lives. For me that is the definition of relevance and in order to trust Jesus, his power has to be relevant to your daily life. The Celtic Chrisitans have a wonderful prayer that made God’s power a part of their regular day to day.

I arise today Through God's strength to pilot me; God's might to uphold me, God's wisdom to guide me, God's eye to look before me, God's ear to hear me, God's word to speak for me, God's hand to guard me, God's way to lie before me, God's shield to protect me, God's hosts to save me From snares of the devil, From temptations of vices, From every one who desires me ill, Afar and anear, Alone or in a multitude. I summon today all these powers between me and evil,

But not only is God’s power relevant, it’s also ultimate. Because of where it is located, the Sea of Galilee is prone to storms and squalls and you would assume that as seasoned and experienced fisherman that the disciples would not be freaking out if this was a case of light winds and rain. They are not like Californians that fear death when a little rain is forecasted. I remember a few years ago, San Francisco shutting down its schools because there was heavy rain in the forecast. That is not what this is. These men who made a living on the waters of Galilee were afraid for their lives, their boat was taking up water faster than they could pail it out, waves were crashing against them relentlessly, and the winds were so fierce that there was no chance that they could make it back to shore. These men were literally afraid for their lives and Jesus is peacefully sleeping in the stern of the boat. I understand that after a long day of ministry, its pretty tiring but not enough to sleep through hurricane winds with waves crashing over you and your boat ready to capsize. It’s as if Jesus has no concerns whatsover becasue in reality He has no need to worry.

As his disciples wake him up with this somewhat passive aggressive statment, “Teacher do you not care that we are dying!” (And we’ll come back to that question at in the last point) Jesus gives two astonishing statments in response. First, he rebukes the wind and the sea as if these things were nothing more than a misbehaving pet. He doesn’t work himself up in some religious frenzy of prayer. He doesn’t roll up his sleeves and tell the disciples to move aside becasue super Jesus is here. There is no special incantation or ritual dance, it just seems like Jesus is annoyed that something so trivial woke him up from his well needed nap. And to the wind, he says “Peace” and to the sea, he commands it to “Be still” and to the amazement of the disciples, they both obey like little children who got in trouble for bothering their resting parents. Now, what makes this an irrefutable miracle is that Jesus calms both the wind and the sea. If you have ever spent time by the ocean, you know that winds come and go but long after the winds have died down, the water stays turbulent and it continues to generate waves but in one moment Jesus stops the wind and calms the waters.

A few weeks ago, P. Sergio shared from the book of Colossians that things invisible or visible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities were created through Christ and for Christ. This certainly should inform the way we look at political power in the world but the power of Christ goes much further than that, it subdues forces that no human power can control. In the ancient view of relgion, one of the clear differences between man and God is power over the forces of nature. The line between humanity and divinity is very distinct, we find ourselves constantly under the power of natural disasters and something as small and insignificant as a virus can completely alter the course of our lives. God, on the other hand, has dominion and power over these things that bring us to our knees and he cannot be threatened or contained by these forces. This is the foundational premise behind all the miracles that Jesus performs in the gospels espescially this one.

Colossians 1:16–17 ESV

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

In all ancient cultures, the one thing that they all deeply revered was the sheer, uncontrollable force of the ocean. They humbly recognized that they were at the mercy of the gods when it came to the sheer destructive caused by squalls and tidal waves. In their world, the seas and oceans represented ultimate power and for Jesus to treat it like a misbehaving child, was simply asonishing. You’ll notice that in all of the miracle accounts, Jesus never calls on an authority higher than himself because there is no higher power. He never asks or even prays for these miracles but he simply commands these things to be done and the forces of nature bend to his will because Jesus is God in the flesh.

Admittedly becasue God’s power is ultimate, it’s difficult for finite beings like us to relate to that power and even to trust it. And this is where the third and final attribute of Christ’s power allows us to trust him fully. Not only is Jesus’ power relevant and ultimate, it is most importantly sacrificial.

The second statement that Jesus makes to the disciples seem to be rather insensitive. After Jesus is done rebuking the storm, He surprisinigly rebukes the disciples with two searing questions: “Why are you so afraid?” and “Have you still no faith?” And the answers to those questions seem obvious, “We are afraid becasue we are about to die!” and “No, we still don’t have faith becasue all you are doing is sleeping while we are dying.” I think is something we have all experienced during the turmoil of this year. In the middle of all these storms that have rocked our world, it feels like Jesus is asleep on the job. And truth be told, I think some of us would be pretty angry if Jesus showed up in the middle of this pandemic and asked us “Why are you so afraid?” “Where did all your faith disappear to?” We assume that our sweet Jesus would never say such a thing to offend our sensibilities but he says it here to these disciples who are in a far more dire situation. Why are we so afraid and why do we still have no faith? And the answer is right before us, we still don’t beleive that Jesus is with us, that He loves us, and that He has real power over the troubles we’re facing. Espescially in light of the gospel, it makes sense why Jesus might be perturbed at the lack of faith that his followers show in the face of these light and momentary afflictions.

And I’m not advocating throwing caution to the wind and taking foolish risks because that’s not what the disciples are doing here but as they say, life happens, things that are outside of our control will overtake us occasionally, and we will run into bigger storms than the ones that we are facing now. And as we are confronted with situations like this, we have to be open to the hard questions that Jesus might ask us, “Child, why are you so afraid? Have you forgotten who it is that has all dominion, power, and authority? Do you still have so little faith?” And these aren’t questions to disparage us or put us down or make us discouraged, they are asked so that we might make an honest assessment of where we really are in terms of our faith. Most often, a faith that is not tested turns out to be little or no faith at all. And instead of looking at the difficulties and the storms of life as simply negative events, we should look at these as positive steps in the right direction becasue they force us to evaluate the real condition of our faith.

The irony of this miracle is the fact that after Jesus calms the winds and the waves, the disciples aren’t left in a state of celebration. They aren’t giving high-fives to Jesus and congratulating him on a job well done. The disciples find themselves more fearful of Jesus than the storm that just threatened to drown them and they ask the all important question that I believe every person must ask regarding the nature of Christ: Who then is this, that even the winds and the seas obey him? If you don’t beleive that this story happened and I’ve offered you some thoughts on why it happened the way it is written but if you don’t beleive, then that question is moot. But if you believe this account is true, then the appropriate response to Jesus has to be one of fearful wonder as you find yourself in the presence of limitless, unfathomable power.

In American Christianity, we downplay the importance that the fear of the Lord plays in the maturing of our faith. But if we have truly come face to face with the sheer power of Christ, one of the initial reactions has to be one of fear and trembling. There is such a thing as healthy fear which keeps us from danger and allows us to make the right decisions in life. There is also unhealthy fear that consumes us, paralyzes us, and makes us irrational. A healthy fear of the Lord is a prerequisite to growing in faith becasue it means, you have had a true encounter with the living God, you have seen his power and glory, and you know that there is no power that is greater, and therefore there is no other power that you need to fear. That’s the interesting thing about fear, whatever you fear the most will ultimately control your thoughts. You might be afraid of spiders but if there is a lion bearing down on you, you quickly forget about your fear of spiders. And in a strange twist of the human spirit, when you fear God, you suddenly find courage to overcome all your other fears. This is where the journey of faith was meant to take us, to a point where we have such confidence in the power of God, that we fear little else. As the book of Proverbs teaches, the fear of God is not end of our journey of faith, it’s simply the beginning and it’s meant to lead us to a place of complete and utter trust.

And this where the sacrificial power of God makes all the difference in our relationship with Him. When you read this account in the overall context of the Bible, you realize that it sounds very similar to another story in the OT, where a prophet by the name of Jonah is asleep in the hull of a boat while a storm is raging. New Testament scholar RT France points out that the details of these two different incidents separated by thousands of years is remarkably similar. If you remember the story, Jonah is commanded by God to preach a message of repentance to the residents of Nineveh but the prophet disobeys God because he doesn’t want God to show mercy to the Ninevites and he takes a boat going in the exact opposite direction. God follows Jonah and brings a storm that threatens to kill everyone on the boat. And Jonah recognizing what God is doing, offers his life to save the life of these men. We can pick up the narrative there and see the similarities:

Jonah 1:12–17 ESV

He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. Therefore they called out to the Lord, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

The story of Jonah is a foreshadowing of the ministry of Jesus with a key difference. In this story Jonah know that his life has to be sacrificed in order for others to be saved but the Lord is outside of the boat and His character is largely a mystery to these men. But in the gospel account, the Lord takes the place of Jonah inside the boat with His disciples. He has walked with them and demonstrated both his love along with his power firsthand. And so when the disciples ask Him, whether or not He cares that they are about to perish, it draws the anger of Jesus becasue that is exactly why He had come, to save them not just from this storm but more importantly from the storm of sin and death. This draws Jesus’ ire becasue these disciples just don’t get it. Might I suggest that we are not very different from these disciples, we just don’t get it.

In the OT story, Jonah is thrown overboard and the storm ceases and the men are exeedingly fearful of God. In the gospel account, Jesus is not thrown overboard at least not yet becasue he came to save us from so much more than physical storms of life. In the book of Matthew, Jesus proclaims that someone greater than Jonah is here, and the sign that would be proof is that Jesus would be in the belly not of a fish but in the belly of death itself and on the third day, he would be raised from the dead. Calming the winds and the seas required very little power from Jesus, quieting the storms of sin and death by casting himself onto the cross, required every ounce of his strength. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prepared himself for the greatest miracle, calming the storm of God’s wrath against sin and overcoming death, the penalty for our sin. Just the preparation alone, left Jesus in a pool of blood, sweat, and tears. In comparison, every other trouble we face is minor and by conquering the power of death on our behalf, Jesus gives us courage to remain still in the face of any storm that life has to bring.