Who is this man? 05-23-2021
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Planning to camp
Planning to camp
Two summers ago, we went to CA to visit family,
but we also wanted to do some camping in the Eastern Sierras on the return trip.
We crossed over to highway 395 and went by:
Lone Pine,
Independence
Big Pine and
Bishop.
We spent the night in a hillside camp north of Bishop and then tried to enter Yosemite, from the East side.
But the fires had gotten to it, so we drove on.
We tried to camp in several other places,
they all were closed due to the fires.
So we kept driving.
We got to Lake Tahoe and Settled
for a KOA campground with hundreds of Motor homes, trailers and a few tents.
That little finger of land was right by the main stop sign at the office building. It was not the kind of camping we had planned on.
As the scriptures say
9 In their hearts humans plan their course,
but the Lord establishes their steps.
But what about the plans of God?
Our Story today comes from Mark 4:35-41
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.”
So in one day it appears, Jesus:
Heard the scribes rebuke that Jesus did these things by being in league with the devil
And he told the parable about how to plunder a strong man’s house, first bind the strong man.
He also gave the warning about Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
And he had the confrontation with his family, where they wanted to take him home but he refused to go.
Then apparently the same day, or perhaps some times later Jesus is back by the Sea of Galilee and Jesus tells many parables to the people
So after travelling toward
Mens plans just dont’always work out.
What about God plans?
He told about the different soils and
then explained it in detail to the disciples
He told about the Lamp
about the seed that grows on it’s own, if just planted
and he told about the mustard seed.
starting small and becoming the biggest, strongest garden plant.
He told all of these stories, these Parables at the sea short, while sitting or standing in a boat.
Did you remember that detail?
1 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge.
So now it’s the end of the day,
Jesus is done telling his parables and he says this
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.”
If you or I had said that,
“Let us go over to the other side.”
There would be an understanding that going over was the
plan, but things could happen that could change our plans.
When I was little, the family would go water skiing a couple times each summer.
Us kids would fall asleep on the drive over to the Colorado River and wake up in the morning, there by the river.
One time I woke up in the morning, and things didn’t seem right.
At one of the few stop signs along the path to the river, our car and boat stopped but the car behind us didn’t,
And the boat motor was no longer mounted on the boat,
the women had hit the motor and broke the bow of the boat.
So much for our plans, or really the parents plans for a long weekend of water skiing.
But what about Jesus plans?
Wouldn’t you think, Jesus would be hampered by the same
things that hamper our plans?
In today's passage it’s very important that Jesus
planned to go to the other side that night
Jesus had business to do in the area of the Gerasenes the next morning.
we can read about that in chapter 5.
Lets read more about this evening/night crossing of the Sea of Galilee
36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.
So Jesus dismissed the crowd, and it says
just as he was
they took him in the boat.
What does “just as he was” stand for
without changing into his cassual clothes
no, not likely
without taking time to pack up
without taking time to gather provisions
without taking time to let others know
Just as Jesus was they took him in the boat
that is they started to cross the lake
Tired as he was from a whole long day of speaking, Jesus lay down in the stern of the boat and went to sleep.
We will look at that soon but meanwhile what happened?
37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.
That must have been some windstorm!
NIV said a “furious squall”
NLT called it a “fierce storm”
CEV called it a “great windstorm”
YLT called it a “great storm of wind”
It was dangerous enough that it had the fishermen scared.
The boat was on it’s way to sinking because of all the water coming in from the great waves.
And Jesus is blissfully sleeping on The Cushion in the stern of the boat probably just above the sloshing water.
How much water was in the boat well”
ESV & NSASB say “already filling”
NIV says “nearly swamped”
KJV says “so it was now full”
AMP say “already being swamped”
GNT says “about to fill with water”
So, the ship was on the brink of disaster.
Verse 38 is the one that tells us, Jesus was sleeping but it goes on to say
38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
Why did they wake Jesus?
Where they expecting him to do what he did, rebuke the wind and calm the sea?
No, that comes as a total shock.
So why wake him.
so he could lead them in prayer,
in encouraging them all to bail faster.
I can’t help thinking about Jonah,
running from God, very different from Jesus actions
blissfully sleeping while his boat was in danger of being swamped too.
They wake Jonah to call on his God and join with them in trying to save the ship.
Since Jesus was clearly their leader
the disciples were probably looking to him for direction
pray
bailing
or assessing the situation and calling abandon ship and
swim for shore.
What ever they expected him to do, was not what he did.
By the way, they said to Jesus, do you care if we are perishing.
What were they thinking,
that Jesus was only faking asleep and couldn’t care less that they were going to drown?
Some questions or rebukes are said without thinking.
39 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.
Sometimes I face storms of fears and doubts and thank God
Jesus can come in with that kind of power to calm the storm.
Perhaps you have, had or will have storms in your life and you need Jesus to speak the words
Peace Be still
Can you imagine
going from fighting for your life
going from the absolute roaring of the wind to
Dead calm, absolute silence.
That just may have been an awkward moment
when Jesus says
40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
The disciples had faith in Jesus, but this windstorm shook their faith.
Because they hadn’t realized that Jesus was:
more than just a prophet
more than just a good speaker
more than just a miracle worker
they hadn’t realized that Jesus was
Their faith hadn’t grown yet to see that Jesus was the Word of God. The living breathing Son of God who was a part of creation from the beginning.
They didn’t realize the truth yet that John writes about in
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
They didn’t realized what Paul would write about in Colossians
16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
So, these fishermen were fearful, because they didn’t know Jesus as well as he thought they should
He said “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
How did the disciples react, a way that seems typical of encounters with God’s spirit and power in the bible
41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
So they were terrified.
Jesus is not just a God man.
There are reasons we call him God and the Son of God.
Who is Jesus.
The answer is obvious, yet each one of us needs to answer the question for ourselves.
I say, Jesus is God
Jesus is the Son of God
He is my Lord
and He is my savior
LOUDER
What say you?
Is He God?
Is He Lord ?
Is He Your Savior?
Let’s Pray