The One Who Calms the Storm

Introduction

Have you ever been in a really bad storm?

How did you feel?

Were you excited, anxious, or afraid?

Raetta and I have gone through some major snow storms, rain and thunderstorms, wind storms, and one hurricane.

There was some fear, some anxiety, and trepidation about what was going to happen.

How about the storms that life throws at you?

The Christian life may have more stormy weather than calm seas and may present life-threatening challenges.

It is not just smooth sailing and triumphant living.

As Christ’s followers, we must be prepared for the storms that will surely come.

We must not surrender to the stress, but remain resilient, solve our problems, and recover from setbacks.

With faith in Christ, we can pray, trust, and move ahead.

When a squall approaches, we can praise God and lean into the wind.

As continue through the gospel of Mark getting a glimpse of who Jesus really is we see Him and His disciples facing a great storm.

Let’s read together Mark 4:35-41

Mark 4:35–41 CSB

35 On that day, when evening had come, he told them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.” 36 So they left the crowd and took him along since he was in the boat. And other boats were with him. 37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 Then he said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 And they were terrified and asked one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”

He Who Has Ears Hear the Word of the Lord

In the first 34 verses, Jesus shares a number of parables about the Kingdom of God and its spread.

He said at the end of the first one, ““Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.”

Mark uses the miracles that follow beginning with the calming of the sea to show Jesus’ authority as the Son of God.

He has authority over nature, over demons, over sickness, and over death.

The story exhibits sophisticated theological thought and reflects in particular the influence of Jonah 1 and Ps 107:23–32.

The calming of the storm illustrates Mark’s larger purpose of interpreting historical events theologically so as to show Jesus as God incarnate and his significance for discipleship.

Psalm 107 speaks of God’s stirring up a tempest at sea that causes sailors to melt in fear.

They cry to the Lord in their distress, and “He stilled the storm to a whisper; and the waves of the sea were hushed” (107:29).

The language and pattern of this psalm are unmistakably reflected in Mark’s story.

In the OT God alone possesses power to quell natural storms such as this (Pss 65:7; 89:9; 104:7; also T. Adam 3:1).

In this story, Mark informs us that the same power and authority belong to Jesus.

In a final allusion to the Jonah story in v. 41, Mark says that the disciples were terrified at the calming of the storm.

Again we see this passage is marked by careful accuracy and detail.

No doubt we have the memories of Peter who was the eyewitness authority behind Mark’s gospel.

He remembered the time of the day, evening, the cushion in the boat, and the place where Jesus slept.

We also see the embarrassing fear and lack of faith by the apostles.

God orchestrates an event in the lives of the apostles to increase their faith in the One they should already trust.

This story is not about Jesus’ getting you through the storms of life.

He does that, of course, but this account is about the One who is the sovereign and all-powerful Lord.

Demons rightly recognize Him as God (5: 7), and we should fully trust Him.

Six biblical truths stand out for our consideration and edification.

God is Working Through the Circumstances in Our Lives Verses 35-37

Jesus had been teaching all day, evening was approaching and He and the Twelve needed to get some rest.

He tells them “Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.”

He heads east on the Sea of Galilee and with a few other boats with them.

Once they get away, Jesus immediately falls into a deep sleep.

Suddenly, hurricane type winds come up with large waves that could have been as high as 20 feet.

The waves were crashing into the boat and they were taking on water.

We see the similarity with Jonah, where the experienced sailors/fishermen find themselves in a storm like they’ve never experienced.

Me and Mahershal fishing trip our of Astoria, calm as we headed out, cross the bar, foggy and wavy, bad going back to town, once we crossed the bar it was calm.

I want you to note that it was Jesus who led them into the storm.

It was not accidental

This did not catch God off guard.

We should not be alarmed by surprises in our lives.

They are divinely ordained moments whereby God is working in the everyday circumstances of our lives to reveal who He is, who we are, and who we need!

Trials and tribulations, difficulties and desperate moments are when God does His greatest work in our lives.

When He brings us to the end of ourselves, we are driven to Him and Him alone as Savior and Rescuer.

If He does not act, we will not be saved.

Would you really want it any other way?

Faith answers a resounding no!

Aside From Sin Jesus is Fully Human Verse 38

With Jesus being tired, affirms His humanity.

Remember, the Bible and the Church has always believed that Jesus was both fully God and fully human.

He is 100 % divine and 100% human in one person.

The only qualification related to His humanity is that He is without sin.

He has no sin nature

He never committed a single sin.

1 Corinthians 5:21 says, “He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

And in Hebrews 4:15 it says, “ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.”

Both His humanity and His divinity is on display in this story.

He was tired but he also got hungry, got angry, cried, and died.

Now He slept and kept on sleeping right through the storm.

Have you done that before?

Mahershal sleeping during the fire alarm in the hotel.

He is truly human.

He also had complete trust in the providential care of His Father.

The twelve were all afraid, but He slept soundly.

Lottie Moon said, “I have a firm conviction that I am immortal till my work is done.”

He knew he had work to complete on the cross and was confident in His Father’s promise to finish.

When We Lose Faith in the One We Should Trust, We Panic! Verse 38

The Apostles were afraid because the storm was beyond their control.

They began to panic

And like the captain of Jonah’s ship who panicked and chastised Jonah for sleeping the apostles did the same.

They, too, criticized Jesus for sleeping.

“Do you not care that we are perishing?”

They question His love and concern for them.

Frustrated by what appears to be indifference to their plight and facing a desperate situation they have no hope of handling themselves, they lash out in a rude outburst rather than exhibiting faith in the One who has proven Himself trustworthy.

Do you ever fume when you are in the midst of a storm waiting for God to help.

It’s amazing how we can see Him being faithful over and over, yet when we are caught by surprise in the storm, we get angry.

All we need to do is show faith and trust in His ability and not doubt.

Jesus Has Authority Over Nature As God Verse 39

Jesus could have easily and rightly so rebuke the apostles for being rude in their panic.

Yet, his gracious humility is on display as He doesn’t.

Instead in a simple, non-magical statement He rebukes the wind and says to the sea, “Silence! Be Still!

The word rebuke could mean censure.

It is used only twice earlier Mark as Jesus rebuking evil spirits.

Could this storm have demonically instigated?

Be still carries the idea of a muzzle.

The idea is “be still and stay still”.

The response of both the wind and sea is immediate because their master has spoken.

We see Jesus’ full and glorious divinity on display here.

Trials and Difficulties Are For The Benefit Of Our Faith Verse 40

Jesus then turns to His disciples and expresses a mild rebuke: “Why are you fearful?” “Do you still have no faith?”

By now you would hope they had greater comprehension and understanding of who Jesus is.

In the eye of the storm, rather than trusting Him, the disciples accuse Jesus of forsaking them (v. 38).

Unfortunately, this will not be the last time Jesus must point out their lack of faith (7: 18; 8: 17,21,33; 9: 9).

Until they see the resurrected Christ and fully understand what He did for them on the cross, they are going to struggle.

We, in contrast, have no excuse.

We know Jesus is all-powerful and all-knowing God.

We know He has taken care of all our sin.

We know He rose from the dead.

We know He can be trusted no matter what!

Trials and difficulties are divine appointments to strengthen our faith.

So why are we still afraid? Do we still have no faith?

The Identity of Jesus Is An Issue We All Must Settle Verse 41

The story ends with the disciples asking “Who is this?”

A questions each one of must face as well.

How would answer it?

The text says they were “terrified.”

The fear of the disciples at what Jesus has done and who He might be exceeds the fear they had over the storm.

The presence of God is far more frightening than the most destructive forces of nature.

One can take your life.

The other can claim your soul.

They ask, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

After all they had seen and heard, they still aren’t sure just who He was.

The miracles they witnessed should help them answer that question and settle the issue.

As Peter would later say, “You are the Christ, the Son of God.” is the answer.

The famous atheist Bertrand Russell (1872– 1970) was asked what he would say to God if he discovered upon his death that God existed and he was wrong.

His response was: “I will say, ‘Not enough evidence, God, not enough evidence’” (Dawkins, Delusion, 141).

That excuse will not fly.

The evidence is in and it is overwhelming.

The time to settle the issue is now.

So, Who Is This Man?

When Mark recorded this event, persecution against Christians had begun.

Thus the story had become an analogy of the persecution and trials of the early church.

The disciples were surrounded by a sea that threatened to sink them; the church was surrounded by enemies who threatened to destroy it (first the Jews who tried to undermine the Christian faith, then the Roman Empire and its eventual widespread persecution of Christians).

Having Jesus with us in the boat does not mean we will not encounter storms.

Our peace and faith come with the knowledge that Jesus has power over all storms, whatever their source or strength.

He can quiet them if he chooses.

Often the early Christians hoped for Jesus to quiet the storm of persecution, but he did not.

So they were forced to rely, instead, on their faith in the power of their Savior and the eternal rest promised to them.

When we become Christians, we enter a cosmic struggle because Satan hates people to believe in Jesus.

Satan’s limited power is launched against believers individually and the church in general, hoping to sink us to the depths of the sea.

But we have the ultimate power on our side, and the final victory is assured.

Jesus should not be a mystery to us, causing us to fearfully ask, “Who then is this?”

He should be our Savior, to whom we turn with all our needs and fears, knowing that he does care and will help.

So Who Is This Man named Jesus?

Let’s pray