Caught In The Storm Series

 200403.ser

“Caught in a Storm”

CLBC January 18, 2004

Subject: Life and Ministry of Jesus

Theme: Deity, Humanity, Power over Nature

Passage: John 6: 14 - 21. Mark 5:45 - 52; Matthew 14:22 - 33

No one gets through life without experiencing the storm!

You’ve noticed that, haven’t you? In fact, most lives contains more than one storm which

threatens our entire state of well being. The storm takes many different forms, and affects our

lives in many different ways, but all storms contain some common elements: they usually come on

rather suddenly, they take us by surprise, they tend to fill our hearts with fear, they test our faith,

and it is to be hoped that they cause us to cry out to our Lord and Saviour for help. If so, then the

storms of life become building blocks of faith which actually equip us for the storms which are yet

to come.

Think of some of the storms of life which have invaded the life of yourself or of someone

you know.

• the storm of illness - sudden or prolonged;

• the storm of death - the death of a loved one,- a child, a partner; especially one not

expected to die ;

• the storm of rejection- divorce, separation, abandonment;

• the storm of unjust criticism;

• the storm of emotional trauma - hatred, anger, resentment, bitterness;

• the storm of physical loss - loss of home, loss of job, loss of money, loss of security;

• the storm of accident, or some event which may change the course of our life in an instant

of time.

One thing I have discovered: Being a Christian, a follower of Jesus, does not exempt us

from the trials of life. What about you? Have you experienced some storms in your life? Is there

any storm threatening you at the present time?

Take heart: the disciples of Jesus were not exempt either. In fact:

1. It was Jesus who sent them into the storm.

Now this may be hard for us to understand. Isn’t Jesus the one who is supposed to protect

us from the storms of life? After all, doesn’t Matthew 10:31 assure us that “not one sparrow falls

to the ground apart from your Father’s will. The very hairs of your head are all numbered”? And

didn’t we grow up singing, “God sees the little sparrow fall; it meets His tender view; if God so

loves the little things, I’m sure he loves me too.”

But if you check the context of that verse, it is not a promise of freedom from trial; it was

given to comfort the disciples as he warned them of the cost of being His followers. “Men will

deliver you up to councils... brother will deliver up brother to death... and you will be hated by all

men for my name’s sake... but remember, not one sparrow falls to the ground apart from your

Father’s will.” Far from assuring them of exemption from trial that verse was comforting them

that the trials would not overwhelm them.

So why would Jesus send them out into a storm?

a. Jesus sent them into the storm to protect them from temptation:

Look with me at John 6:15 “Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to

come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by

Himself alone.”

1) The desire of the crowds to make him the king of Israel was not a temptation to Jesus.

For Jesus knew what other did not yet understand. He knew that he was the Messiah, the King,

but He knew that his kingdom was not that for which the Jews were looking. They were seeking a

political leader of pomp and power, to lead them against Rome. He knew that they were far more

concerned about the tyranny of Rome than they were concerned about the tyranny of sin. Jesus

spoke continuously about his kingdom - the kingdom of heaven or the Kingdom of God. But as

he later said to Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My

servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not

from here."

2) But he knew that this desire of the crowds could be a huge temptation to his disciples.

Here was the height of success! They saw the huge crowds following their master; they

saw his miracles of healing and multiplication of food; and now the people want to crown their

master as King? They were not yet mature enough to distinguish popularity from success.

And so Jesus sent them away in the boat, while he dispersed the crowds, and went up into