Good Fear Bad Fear - Mark 4:35-41 Series

Mark 4:35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 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?" 39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind stopped and it was completely calm. 40 He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" 41 They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

Introduction

How Do You Measure Faith?

If you had to rate your faith on a scale of 1-10, how would you rate it? What about God—how would he rate your faith? If you’re like most Christians, your answer to both questions is probably, “I don’t know.” One of the purposes of the book of Mark is to teach us what it means to have faith in Jesus Christ. At the beginning of the book of Mark it summarizes Jesus’ ministry by saying he went around calling people to repent and believe. And the way that Mark teaches about faith is not by giving explanations and descriptions of the concept of faith, but by showing us examples of people who have it and who don’t have it in various situations.

So far we’ve seen one of those examples, back in ch.2, with the guys who dug a hole in Jesus’ roof to get their friend to Jesus. And it says Jesus saw their faith and he was pleased with it. So the first thing we learn about faith is that it will drive you to get close to Christ, and to bring others to him.

Today we’re going to see another aspect. We’re going to learn how faith responds when life is out of control and nothing makes sense. And if you think the answer is, “Oh, true faith is relaxed in times like that,” that’s not what this passage teaches us. Let’s take a look.

The Storm

Mark 4:35 That day…

What day? The day Jesus was getting mobbed by so many crowds that he had to preach from a boat, and he gave them all those parables about the kingdom of God and the power of his word.

35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side."

So they are going to cross over into Gentile territory.

36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat.

Jesus is from inland, Peter, Andrew, James, and John were commercial fishermen, so they are the ones directing the boat, and they take Jesus along. “Jesus, we’ll take care of this. You can just relax in the stern.” “Which one is the stern again?” “The back of the boat.” “Oh yeah, right. OK, I’ll be back there.” And he grabs a cushion, lays down, and makes himself comfortable. And with the gentle rocking of the boat as they rowed, and the sounds of the water, Jesus rests his eyes a little bit, and…

Luke 8:23 As they sailed, he fell asleep.

The Peril

37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.

The Sea of Galilee is known for its sudden, violent storms. Those were routine, professional fishermen like these guys handled those all the time, but this one was different. The language used here describes this as an unusual, cataclysmic storm. And the disciples are panicked. But look at Jesus.

Jesus’ Sleep

38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.

That’s amazing, because this was probably a fairly small boat. In 1986 they dredged up a boat from the bottom of the Sea of Galilee that is dated to Jesus’ time. It’s 26.5 ft. long, 7.5 ft. wide and 4.5 ft. high. There was a place for oars as well as a mast. It took a crew of 5 and could carry about 10 people. How could Jesus be sleeping in a storm like this, with waves crashing over him and all the chaos of the storm and the panicked disciples? I’m going to go way out on a limb and give you my theory: he was really tired.

Back in v.36 it says they took him “just as he was.” How was he? Exhausted. Getting up before sunrise to pray, dealing with relentless, frenzied crowds, preaching to crowd after crowd, being out under the sun all day—eventually the fatigue catches up to you. The human body can only do so much before it shuts down.